Injustice: The Path to Hell.
Book 2: Darkness in the Light.
Chapter VII – Homefront.
"Normal Speech."
'Normal Thought.'
"Telepathic Speech."
"Demon Speech."
'Demon Thought.'
Location/Time
-X- Line Break -X-
Wednesday 16th September, 14:50.
New Jersey,
Gotham City,
Gotham Heights.
Slowly, Naruto's eyes flickered open as he rose one hand up to cover his eyes as to allow them to adjust to the brightness in the room. With a groan, he eventually sat up and looked around and took stock of his surroundings. He wasn't in the Cave that was for sure, instead he seemed to be in some kind of training ground.
A large wide-open space with numerous medieval weapons and suits of armour decorating the room. Lanterns burning with a dull orange flame that lit up the room and a number of bookcase on one side of the wall.
Naruto himself seemed to be laying on a large sand pit, easily the size of a small football field. And as he looked round, he picked up on the sound of movement and looked to the only door in the room and watched it open to reveal Jason Blood. The Demonologist paused upon seeing Naruto awake, but eventually smiled and walked forwards.
"I'm glad to see that you are awake." Jason said as he summoned a small tray with a large jug filled with water and a glass sat upon it. "You were asleep for around three hours."
Nodding his head, Naruto took the offered cup and quickly downed the water to help quench the first he felt.
"How are you feeling?"
"Sore." Naruto admitted, getting to his feet as he did. "How well did I do?"
Jason sighed at once again being asked the same question that Naruto always asked. "We've been over this before Naruto, you're not going to experience huge gains in growth. It will instead only be small increments, there is no set guide on learning how to use a Demons power. If you were possessed or sharing the body of a Demon, I may be able to help you much more, but your situation is different."
"I know. It's just..."
"Frustrating?" Naruto nodded his head and Jason patted Naruto's shoulder in comfort. "I'm sure it is, Demons are fickle beings, their powers more so. You have access to a very vast and powerful source of Demonic energy and the fact that you're able to even use a fraction of that without losing control is in of itself, a huge achievement. Especially so soon after receiving such powers."
Naruto remained silent still not pleased with how little progress he had made. After the incident in Bialya, Naruto had taken a temporary leave from the team as to try and sort out his current problems. He had called up Jason Blood soon after and had been here ever since, but the progress he made was small.
At most, he would spend hours just meditating while his powers were activated. Only ever occasionally training with them in a physical sense. One thing Naruto knew he needed was control, control over his emotions because otherwise, he may very well lose control like before.
But like Jason said, progress was slow.
His powers were both very simple and fickle. Simple in that he knew they were linked to his anger, but fickle in the fact he didn't know how to control said anger. Because the moment he tried to go beyond his limits and tap into more power, he risked losing control at just the slightest annoyance or irritating thing. Just moving too soon could very well force him to lose concentration and make him go berserk.
"Do you know why I agreed to help you?" Jason asked, directing Naruto towards a small table.
"Because you wanted to stop me from losing control."
The older man chuckled and shook his head. "That's partly true. Your powers are very dangerous and if fully mastered I'd wager that you would be one of the strongest individuals on this planet. So yes, I did help you in order to stop that power from taking control of you, but it's not the whole reason."
"Then why?"
"Because I recognise that our situations are very similar. Do you remember what I told you about my past?" Jason asked and Naruto hesitantly nodded his head.
"You fused with the Demon Etrigan and in the aftereffect, lost your wife and kids."
"Yes, but do you know why I fused with Etrigan?" Naruto shook his head. "A powerful wizard, Merlin, you may recognise the name, fused Etrigan with me. I had no say in the matter and I was suddenly forced to deal with my new situation alone. Just like you were forcibly given Demonic blood and power and now forced to deal with it alone. I doubt I could live with myself if I didn't at least attempt to help you."
Naruto was silent, unsure on what to say. There were a number of thing he wanted to say, some part of him wanted to apologise for what Merlin did, to offer his sympathies, but that felt wrong. Some part of him wanted to be angry at the situation as a whole, but much like a lot recently, Naruto just didn't know what to say or do.
"Know this Naruto, I will do everything I can to help you and I think I may have found some way to help you gain control. But it will be difficult and will include a lot of patience. The progress you see will be slow, but this is as much aid I believe I will ever be able to provide you. Like I said, your powers are uniquely different to my own, so my knowledge is limited."
"I'll do it." Naruto responded instantly.
"Naruto. You must think..."
"All I've been doing is thinking!" Naruto snapped. "Thinking about what to do with my life. Thinking about what will happen if I lose control again. Thinking about how the hell I'm meant to lead a team when I only find myself more and more lost. I'm done thinking about these things. You say this can help me, even just a little. Are you certain about that?"
Jason was silent a moment, but eventually sighed. "Yes, it will be a long process thou..."
"Then I'll do it." Naruto responded quickly.
Again, there was silence before Jason nodded his head. "Very well." Waving his hand to the training area, both he and Naruto entered with Jason moving further away from Naruto as he did. "One thing I've learned about Demons is they love to fight. To help you, I need you to come at me with the intent to kill."
Both Jason and Naruto narrowed their eyes at one another, the former raising hand to show a smoke of some kind emitting from it.
"Don't hold back." Jason warned and Naruto lowered himself into a ready stance.
Wednesday 16th September, 19:00.
Rhode Island,
Happy Harbour,
The Cave.
"Naruto." Looking over his shoulder, the blonde turned to see Batman coming up to him. He had returned a few minutes ago from his day of training with Jason Blood and had come to get something to eat before going to bed. He didn't remember much from the training earlier today, but the soreness of his fatigued body told him it had been difficult. "Come with me."
Sighing, Naruto reluctantly followed after the Caped Crusader and entered into a conference room where both sat down. "What's this about, Bruce. I'm tired." Batman gave Naruto a once over, recognised the tell-tale signs of fatigue. The fact that despite his enhancements, Naruto was in this stage of exhaustion, was a telling sign of just how hard he had worked. It wasn't just a matter of mental exhaustion, but physically he looked drained.
"Then I'll make this quick." Batman pulled up a holographic computer. "You remember what has happened the past few days?"
"Yea, the peace summit between North and South Rhelasia that the League of Shadows attempted to sabotage and the recent Belle Reve infiltration, why?" Naruto asked.
Batman clasped his hands in front of him and looked directly at Naruto to show just how serious he's being. "There has been a common consensus between many of the Leaguers for a while now that recent villain activity is no longer random, but organised. We believe that there is someone or an organisation that is manipulating things from behind the scenes."
"Wait a minute!" Naruto said urgently, sitting upright in his seat. "You're saying someone's controlling all villain activity? That's insane, there's too many personalities, too many agendas. It'd be impossible to keep so many people in line without something slipping through the cracks."
"Unless they had a common enemy." Batman countered.
"The League." Naruto answered in realisation and Batman nodded his head. "So, someone has managed to unite the villains all in order to defeat the League. It'd make sense as to why the villains are working together so seamlessly without any hint of it reaching us. They know that their own agendas mean nothing if the League continues to stand in their way."
"Yes, and that is why the apprehension of Mister Freeze, Icicle Jr. and Killer Frost, the latter's temporary escape none withstanding were too easy and therefore suspicious. I was correct in my assumptions as both Superboy and Miss Martian reported that the villains had attempted a mass prison escape and nearly succeeded." Batman informed him.
"How many escaped?"
"Two." The screen shifted revealing one Edward Nygma. "The Riddler was originally the only one we were sure had escaped, it took a day for all villains inside Belle Reve Penitentiary to be rounded up and accounted for. That's why the next individual went unnoticed, until after the fact." By the graveness in Batman's voice, it made Naruto shift uneasily.
"Who?"
"Alton Carver." Batman answered, Naruto turning to stare at the owl masked figure on the screen.
Wednesday 16th September, 20:30.
Location Unknown.
Following after Sportsmaster silently, Alton looked around at everything warily, just waiting for an attack. He didn't expect one, but he was prepared for one just in case, a force of habit and one he should have remembered at the moment of his triumph. Perhaps if he had, he would have succeeded.
'Alas, that is not the case and I have learned a valuable lesson from it.' After being defeated, healed, and then transported to Belle Reve, Alton had kept his head down. He had known about Icicle Sr. plan to escape from Belle Reve, it wasn't hard to overhear the hushed conversations the various factions of villains had. They may have been able to keep it secret from those guards that weren't corrupt, but to him it was laughably easy to figure out.
Now, he could have helped, and Alton had even considered offering to do so.
Perhaps if he had he might have warned Icicle Sr. about the impostor amongst his ranks. Tommy Terror had been incredibly unsubtle in his true intentions, but Alton guessed that the rest of the villains were too focused on the coming prison escape to notice.
But despite knowing this, Alton had decided to keep quiet, just like Edward Nygma had.
Both having the exact same idea of sneaking out in all the chaos and it worked perfectly and suddenly, Alton was free. He had hidden down in a number of secret Court safe houses that were scattered throughout America and had planned his next steps carefully. His initial plan was to seek revenge, but that was too risky.
Alton knew that the last thing he should do is rush into something without first carefully planning. He had all but succeeded in his plans by meticulously planning every step, it was his own feeling that betrayed him at the last moment.
His feelings that snatched victory from his grasp.
So, he ignored his feelings and desire for revenge for a more logical approach. It was in that moment when his current companion had arrived, one Sportsmaster. A well-known and quite infamous assassin and Alton had originally expected to have to fight.
Only to be surprised when Sportsmaster did nothing of the sort.
No, Alton was instead offered a job.
"We're here." Sportsmaster said through his hockey mask as the slick, metal doors slid open revealing a darkened room. As they stepped inside, a number of monitors flashed on, filling the room with a light glow and while at first, Alton squinted with the sudden assault of light, he slowly managed to make out the sight of hidden figures in the light.
He couldn't tell who or what they were, but he could make their figures slightly. "Welcome, Alton Carver." The man from the middle monitor spoke, his voice holding a tint of ancient wisdom in its gravelly voice. "To the Light."
Tuesday 22nd September, 16:40.
Rhode Island,
Happy Harbour,
The Cave.
"Recognise: Maelstrom, B-0-7." There was a flash of light from the Zeta-beam and Naruto stepped out into the Cave as he looked around. He saw Connor and M'gann near his bike and smiled when he saw them kissing. It was nice to see that they were happy, especially considering their relationship seemed to be helping Connor a lot with his anger issues.
It was no secret that out of everyone in the team, Connor seemed to have the biggest chip on his shoulder. The knowledge that everything he was, was made in a test tube had certainly left Connor without a real sense of self. He was thrust into a world he didn't really understand despite the education he was given at Cadmus. This had left a deep mark upon him and Connor struggled a great deal.
It didn't help that the person he was cloned from wanted nothing to do with him. That had in fact only worsened the situation.
Naruto liked to think that the friendship he and Kaldur offered was helping and he was confident that it was, but the still new relationship between Connor and M'gann had already done wonders for his anger issues. He smiled more, talked more and he was just calmer all around.
Turning away from them, Naruto took note of Kaldur speaking in hushed tones with Red Tornado in one corner of the Cave. As he moved closer, Wally walking past and up to Connor and M'gann, Naruto's enhanced hearing picking up the ending of their conversation.
"So, you have told no one else of this; mole?" Red Tornado asked monotonously.
Kaldur crossed his arms over his chest. "I cannot be sure if one even exists." He spoke. "And if it does, if the team is being betrayed from within then I must investigate without tipping my hand."
"Have you told Batman?" Naruto asked, both Kaldur and Red Tornado turning to him. "About the mole?"
Kaldur hesitated momentarily, caught by surprise by Naruto's sudden arrival and there was a momentary look of both guilt and suspicion. It didn't take a genius to figure out that Kaldur truly was considering all possible options and scrutinising everyone. Naruto though, was far from insulted.
"I have considered it." Kaldur eventually admitted.
"Generally, the Batman expects the team to handle its own problems." Red Tornado informed them. "But the decision is yours. I will return after monitor duty on the Watchtower." Both Naruto and Kaldur stepped to the side allowing Red Tornado to walk past them.
The Zeta-Beam whirled to life, a light glowing from inside. "Recognise: Red Tornado, 1-6."
As Red Tornado disappeared, Kaldur frowned in thought. "I thought he was exempt from monitor duty since becoming our den mother?"
"Maybe he's been asked to cover for someone." Naruto shrugged before turning back to Kaldur. "Now, what's this about a mole? Where did you even get this information from?" Once again, Kaldur hesitated, he trusted Naruto, had grown close to the blonde and considered him one of his greatest friends. But part of him couldn't overlook the fact he had been held captive for eight months.
He had conversed with Roy on many occasions and Kaldur had only ruled out three people: himself, Barbara, and Dick. Everyone else was a suspect and that was something he hated. Both Naruto and Connor had been held in Cadmus for months and with the telepathic G-Gnomes that they had that had fed Connor an education, could have done more than that.
M'gann as sweet and as innocent as she was, there was no proof to who she truly was. No proof that she was the niece of Martian Manhunter. And it was the same for Artemis, no one actually believed that she was the niece of Green Arrow. But that beggared the question of who she truly was and where she was trained and by who.
"Look, you can believe it's me all you want, but I've already learned about the mole. What's the harm in telling me more? If I'm the mole then simply telling me where you got the information isn't going to change anything. It's obvious you don't have any more information."
"I know, I'm sorry." Kaldur apologised and Naruto just wrapped one arm around his shoulder.
"Meh, don't worry about it. I can understand why you have your doubts."
Kaldur smiled at Naruto's words. "It pleases me to hear you say that." He admitted before sighing. "You remember the peace summit two weeks ago, when the League of Shadows attempted to cause a war?" Naruto nodded his head. "Sportsmaster was one of the assassins working with them and he was the one who told me."
"I see." Naruto murmured. "And that's why you're still unsure on whether the bit about the mole is true or not?"
"Yes, I'm not sure whether Sportsmaster told me that simply to distract me and make me suspicious of my teammates. Or if it's the truth." Kaldur said. "Either way, I believe his aim was not only to distract me, but to possibly sow discord between us."
"It was a good idea to keep it quiet. Who knows if it's true or not and if the rest of the team found out, that question would slowly split us apart." Naruto concurred.
Tuesday 22nd September, 17:50.
New Jersey,
Gotham City,
Gotham Heights.
"Oh, this is going to be so fun." Robin cackled as he and Batgirl watched Artemis walk down the alleyway towards a telephone booth, the sign 'Out of Order' hanging from the front. Just as Artemis went to open it up, Robin moved out. "Artemis?"
Batgirl stifled a smile behind her hand as Artemis gasped out in fright, turning sharply to Robin with a look of shock on her faceless. "Robin?" Artemis replied back loudly, eyes wide as she looked at the Boy Wonder and then to Batgirl as she stepped out next the young hero in question.
Ignoring her stuttered attempts to explain her presence here in Gotham, Robin continued on, his voice entirely too amused to incriminate him as anything but; guilty. "How random that you're here in Gotham City instead of Star City where your uncle," the stressing of that last bit made Artemis shift uncomfortably. "Green Arrow lives?"
"I'm, eh. Here...to see my...cousin?" At first Batgirl was against this, there was obviously a reason Artemis was here and she didn't want to make her uncomfortably, especially considering that Artemis still seemed a little unsure about her position on the team, but this was just too amusing for her to stop. "She...was in the state spelling bee. Here, in Gotham. City."
"C-o-o-l." Robin replied, and Batgirl couldn't hide her amusement any longer, her shoulders shaking attracting the attention of Artemis. "Did she w-i-n?"
This time Artemis was no longer fumbling around having been caught off-guard by their sudden appearance, now she was more like her usual snappy self. "N-o!"
Realising this could go on forever, Batgirl elbowed Robin in the side, stopping him from egging Artemis on anymore. "Come on you two, you can flirt back at the Cave." She teased, walking past the two and into the booth.
"Recognise: Batgirl, B-0-2." There was a flash of light and Batgirl found herself in the cave only to freeze when she looked around. There was water flooding the entire bottom section of the Cave and where there wasn't water, there was fire and smoke. From it, Batgirl only had a moment to recognise something incredibly hot rushing towards her before a fireball burst from the smoke.
She quickly dove to one side and it was in that moment that Robin arrived, followed soon after by Artemis. It was impossible to tell who was attacking them or how many, their infrared vision courtesy of their inbuilt lenses picked up nothing thanks to the fires burning all around the cave and no life signs were being picked up by their radar.
They were blind.
It eventually boiled down to the three of them throwing Batarangs and firing arrows in every which direction, dodging fireballs, and then focusing their fire at where it came from. But nothing happened.
"Damnit, where the hell are these guys?" Artemis cursed, firing another few arrows into the smoke hoping to hit something, only to be forced to dodge when a stream of fire came from her right.
"I don't know, but the smokes clearing!" Batgirl called.
And just like she said, the smoke in the room was beginning to clear and Robin picked out a shadowed figure in it. Quickly spinning round, he threw a number of Batarangs and was left stomped when they not only hit, but there was a sound of it hitting metal.
Before he could think more on it, he jumped to the side as to avoid the stream of fire that came his way. Rolling to a stop beside Artemis and Batgirl they watched the shadowed figure walk directly towards them as if recognising that the time for hiding was over. Then a powerful stream of fire, larger and hotter than before rushed towards them.
"Who are we fighting?" Artemis cried out.
"Don't know, but we're sitting ducks by these tubes. Head to the exits!" All three rushed over, throwing and firing Batarangs and arrows respectively at the shadowed figure who fired numerous streams of flames at them as they did, hoping to cut them off. But the three managed to make it through, diving underneath one stream as they did.
"Quickly, we need to head into another room otherwise we'll be leaving our backs exposed." Batgirl cried looking over her shoulder just in time to see a large wall of flames rushing towards them.
"The library should be up ahead!" Robin called out, quickly reaching up to his ear. "Robin to team, does anyone copy?" But there was only silence in response.
'Naruto, you better be okay.' Barbara thought worriedly.
Eventually the three manage to arrive at the library, the doors shutting behind them as they hide inside. They moved quickly and quietly around till they managed to reach a control panel and as Batgirl and Artemis stood on guard, vigilantly watching for any sign of their attacker, Robin tried contacting both the Batcave and the Justice League.
"Damnit, it's not going through!" He cursed clenching his fists in anger.
"What about our enemy?" Batgirl asked.
"No idea, they must have not only jammed our communications but also hacked into our motion and heat sensors. Whoever they are, they're good they've stonewalled every attempt I've made at retaking control of them, I only just managed to disable them."
"What about security feeds?" Artemis asked and Robin typed something extra into his holographic computer and they watched as a screen popped up showing Naruto and Kaldur moving over to M'gann, Connor and Wally, even Sphere was there. They were crouched down over Connor's bike with Wally working to fix it.
They were talking about homework and how the team were coping with the workload, though Kaldur suddenly shifted the conversation towards Artemis which was odd. Not so subtly questioning whether she would be able to maintain her loyalty to the team with her attending a new school, the narrowed eyes and anger that radiated from the girl in question was obvious to both Robin and Batgirl.
Just as Wally was in the middle of speaking, there was an explosion as all members of the team gasped out in shock.
"What happened?"
Robin narrowed his eyes at Artemis' question. "Explosion took out the camera, I'll find another angle." Again, he typed into the computer, searching through the numerous security feeds to find said angle, zooming in on the sight of numerous pillars rushing out to attack the downed team, one eventually taking out the camera. Another one showed the team recovering before rushing to attack an unseen enemy only for another tidal wave of water to rush and engulf them, destroying the camera in the progress.
The next security feed showed Kaldur and M'gann rushing up some stairs, water violently moving around to attack someone while a pillar of flames took out the camera and presumably M'gann and Kaldur as well.
Robin released a sigh, his arm dropping, the holographic screen shutting down. "That's it's, that's all of them dead." There was momentary glance from both Batgirl and Artemis and he quickly amended his statement, realising how it sounded. "The cameras! I mean the cameras! I'm sure the others are okay!"
Even as he said it, he didn't sound sure, almost as if he was trying to convince himself more than either of them.
That's when the sound of the library door opening caught their attention, each of them turning to its general direction and tensely waiting. Both Robin and Batgirl preparing a number of Batarangs while Artemis nocked an arrow into place.
The footsteps that followed were heavy and foreboding, carrying an ominous feel with the silent library. "Artemis? Robin? Batgirl?" The monotonous voice that followed was one they recognised, though to the latter two, something didn't feel right.
"It's Red Tornado!" Before either Batgirl or Robin could stop her, Artemis stepped out and turned, expecting to see the Justice League member there. Only to be horrified when she realised it was not Red Tornado.
It was a red Android in the shape of a man, but it did not have the signature T shape on his chest nor the arrow on his head. He instead had an inverted trident symbol on both his forehead and chest.
Unable to stop while in mid movement, Artemis watched in horror as he extended one hand only for Robin to tackle her to the ground avoiding his grasp. "Yes on the Red!" He cried as Batgirl threw a handful of Batarangs at the androids face. "No on the Tornado."
Both Robin and Batgirl dived under the table while Batgirl rushed back down a shelf of books. Each meeting up and rushing towards the back entrance only for another Android to step into view, a yellow stripe going down her chest and another on her left thigh. All three noticing the flames gathering on her hands and just as they went to dive out the way, they heard a familiar roar.
The feminine Android turning to her left at the unseen figure as all three young heroes watched her fire a stream of flames at the person. However, they could not be stopped, and a powerful punch slammed into the androids jaw launching them backwards revealing a topless Superboy.
"Come on!"
While mentally they were still recovering from the shocking reveal that Superboy was okay despite having expected him to be indisposed just like the rest of them. However, physically they burst into action, running without thought towards Superboy and down the corridor, Batgirl pausing just momentarily to throw a smoke bomb down to cover their escape.
At the same time, Superboy ripped the door off its hinges, tearing it in half and threw one half at the male Android while another was thrown down at the feminine Android. With this done, the group of four rush down the corridor, Robin indicating for them to get into one of the access tunnels which they all did so.
Most of the initial journey was done in silence till they were absolutely certain they weren't being followed, Superboy constantly straining his hearing to make sure that wasn't the case,
"We're clear." He eventually called and the group came to a stop in the tunnel. It was neither too small nor too big, just enough room to not be uncomfortable, but not enough room to be able to sit comfortably. As a result, the group shuffled till they were all sat down facing one end of the tunnel.
"Is everyone okay?" Batgirl asked and Superboy silently shrugged his shoulders, his fists clenched tightly in anger. "What do you mean? Are they or are they not okay?"
"I don't know." Superboy snapped out. "I've been spending the vast majority of the last hour being hunted throughout the Cave by these fucking machines. I haven't really been given much in the way of time to check on the others. Hell, I only got a little breathing room because the fire one split off to deal with you."
"I-I'm sorry." Batgirl apologised, ashamed of snapping at him. "I was just worried."
"How did you last this long?" Robin asked.
"Almost didn't. Me, Naruto, and Wally got separated from M'gann and Kaldur pretty early on. We had to deal with the water guy while they had to deal with the fire one. It was only when she arrived that we knew Kaldur and M'gann were beaten." Superboy sighed. "Wally got taken out pretty soon after that so it was just me and Naruto then."
Tuesday 22nd September, 16:55.
Rhode Island,
Happy Harbour,
The Cave.
With a cry, a large pillar of water slammed into Wally's front and drove him into the wall. The impact actually cracked the wall slightly and when the torrent of water subsided, Wally collapsed to the ground unconscious.
Both Naruto and Superboy glanced back, but before they could do anything they were forced to jump back as a powerful ball of flames struck the ground and exploded where they once stood. Landing on all fours, Naruto dug his claws into the ground, his blood red eyes locking upon the two Androids.
He knew that remaining on the defensive would only make things far more difficult for him in the long run. With the wide-open area, it was a terrain that benefited his enemies and one that Naruto couldn't allow them to continue possessing.
The only way to gain an advantage would be to do one of two things.
First, retreat.
Naruto didn't like this one at all for a number of reasons, mainly he hated losing. Back when he had been Black Hood he had hated constantly losing despite the fact that he knew his opponents were so far beyond his level that the only conceivable way to win was if they messed up enough to allow him. They rarely had and Naruto was beaten time and time again, still Naruto didn't like it one bit.
The second reason he refused to retreat was because Barbara, Dick and Artemis could return at any moment. He didn't know if their emergency signal had gone through or not and if it did, that meant reinforcements could be on their way. The last thing he wanted to do was to leave only for said reinforcements to come walking into an ambush.
So, Naruto dug his feet into the ground and let his powers flare to life one more. A red, bubbling cloak sprung to life surrounding his body, one tail waving behind him as he glared up at the Androids.
A fireball came his way and in response, Naruto released a roar, that dispersed the flames. Soon after, Naruto burst forwards with explosive speeds, quite literally as the ground he was previously stood on exploded outwards.
Closing the distance between him and the fire Android quickly, Naruto punched it across the face. Before the android could go too far, he gripped hold of her ankle and threw her towards the male android who in turn had been thrown by Superboy. The Kryptonian clone having trained and fought with Naruto's numerous times, had grown to know what Naruto how Naruto thought.
The constant melding of their minds with the psychic link that M'gann would create each mission only strengthened that bond. So, it was no surprise to the other when they seemed to be able to work together extremely well.
The two Androids may have been programmed with each other's strengths and weaknesses in mind, capable of defending while the other would attack, but they couldn't improvise. Naruto's could and he was very good at it. When shit hit the fan, Naruto was capable of thinking on his feet and Superboy, he followed Naruto's lead,
While the Androids were capable of having one attacking the other defending, Naruto and Superboy were capable of switching between the two seamlessly. When Superboy attacked, Naruto would be there to cover his flanks and vice versa. And perhaps the biggest advantage they had, was that unlike the androids, they were capable of both attacking.
You see, the ability to control fire and water was very dangerous. But it had one pretty big weakness, water cancelled out fire and if hot enough, fire could do the same. This meant that neither of them could attack while the other did the same.
Naruto and Connor didn't have that weakness.
'We can win.' Naruto thought with a smile, his tail whipping round and smacking the feminine Android towards Connor who clotheslined her. He then grabbed her by the ankles and threw her towards the water controlling Android. The two tumbled along the ground in a heap, directly towards Naruto.
With both hands, he gripped their heads and drove them further into the ground, burying them into the concrete of the Cave.
"They're not so tough." Connor said as he looked down at the defeated Androids.
"Even so." Naruto cracked his knuckles. "Let's finish them off here and now."
Connor nodded his head and just as he went down to grab the male one, the female Android released powerful flames from her hands into the ground. They were small and pressurised, nothing like the large swaths of flames that they had been prior. As a result, they struck the ground and exploded outwards.
It was in this moment that the male also took control of the water and directed it towards Naruto and Connor, smacking them out of the air.
As they landed, both scrambled to their feet quickly and watched as the two Androids thrust water and fire against one another. At first they thought it had been a temporary malfunction, but once the hot steam filled the cave, blinding their vision, they realised it had been on purpose.
'Damnit.' Without saying a word, both Naruto and Connor stood back-to-back as they looked around, there was very little visibility so they couldn't see much. Instead, they relied upon their other senses, smelling was out considering they lacked an actual scent, it was impossible to smell them.
"I see one." Connor whispered, his superior vision breaking through the steam and locking onto a red figure moving across. "To our left."
"On three." Naruto whispered back, both counting internally to three. 'One. Two. Three. Now!' By some unanimous signal, both turned on their heels and rushed towards the left, Naruto allowing Superboy to take the lead.
Connor was right as a powerful blast of flames engulfed them, but thanks to Connor's Kryptonian physiology and the cloak that surrounded Naruto both managed to rush through unscathed. They pushed on through, the power behind the flames actually managing to slow them down the closer they got to the epicentre, when suddenly it cut out.
It was like when you were playing a game of tug of war. Both sides are pulling with such strength that if someone were to cut the rope in the middle, suddenly there'd be no resistance and both teams would fall over.
The same thing happened here.
Naruto and Connor pushed on through the flames, struggling against the resistance they put up and when they suddenly stopped, they just shot forwards and slammed straight into the wall of the Cave. The android having jumped out of the way just in time.
Shaking their heads, both Connor and Naruto saw the shadow descend over them and looked over their shoulders to see a large wall of water rising up behind them. Only for it all to converge at the top and shoot towards them.
Recognising that with the amount of force behind all that water would be enough to knock him out and probably even Connor, Naruto wrapped his tail around Connor's waist and threw him away just in time before the pillar of water slammed into him. At least this way, ensuring one of them would be capable of getting out of here.
Tuesday 22nd September, 18:20.
Rhode Island,
Happy Harbour,
The Cave.
"That's the last I saw of Naruto or the rest of the team. I spent the rest of my time just trying to survive. Those machines, they've been chasing me ever since, I reckon if you had arrived a few minutes later I'd been done for." Connor admitted with an angry frown.
"Well, we're here now." Robin comforted.
"Do you any idea where they might be keeping the rest of the team?" Artemis asked and Connor shook his head.
"Haven't really had time to think about it." Connor shot back.
"Attention, Robin. Attention, Batgirl. Attention, Artemis. Attention, Superboy." Before anyone could say anymore, a masculine, robotic voice sounded over the comms. "You have exactly ten minutes to surrender or the lives of your teammates will be extinguished."
No one said anything, each looking towards one another for answers.
Grunting, Wally strained against the twisted and warped chunks of metal that held him in place. He had been unconscious for god knows how long and when he woke up, it was to find water steadily rising up his body. It was a slow pace, occasionally stopping, but it was terrifying to him. He couldn't exert enough force to break his way out nor could he vibrate his molecules in order to phase through his prison.
'I guess it could be worse.' He thought looking towards M'gann and Kaldur, both were severely weakened while being held in the fire prison, their physiologies natural weakness to heat proving to be too much for either to hold on for very long, drifting in and out of consciousness constantly.
His eyes then turned to Naruto.
He'd had it the worst, every time he woke up he'd be knocked unconscious soon after by huge torrents of water. The androids had learned their lesson after the first time in which Naruto awoke and nearly broke free, his cloak slowly but surely eroding away the metal holding him in place.
Ever since then they took a great deal of care in ensuring he stayed unconscious for as long as possible.
Wally had begun to fear the worse.
Superboy had been doing well to survive for as long as he had, but Wally wasn't too sure how long he could survive on his own.
Then reinforcements arrived.
Now as much as Wally didn't discriminate against non-superpowered heroes, Batman had proved that you didn't need to have superpowers to be a crime fighter. But Robin, Batgirl and Artemis, they weren't Batman.
He'd only managed to catch a glimpse of their fight with the androids and it hadn't been a pretty sight. They'd been overwhelmed, caught by surprise and unable to do anything against the androids. Now he and the others were being held hostage as to lure the rest of the team here, into the open where the androids would have the advantage.
Looking to the androids, he watched them stand there on guard. They didn't move, didn't speak, just stood there watching and analysing. Their gaze would flicker amongst them all, pausing momentarily on each of them before moving onto the next.
But they never made a sound.
It was with great relief, that something broke though the unnerving silence, a guttural roar.
Looking up, he along with Kaldur, M'gann and the androids watched as Superboy leaped towards them. He landed on the ground, cracking the concrete before he rushed towards the androids, quickly leaping to one side to avoid the torrent of water, and rolled to his feet. He quickly jumped straight through it and socked the fire wielding Android across the face.
That's when he was struck from behind by water.
Wally cursed as he saw this, redoubling his efforts and trying to break free. It was obvious that Superboy wouldn't be able to take them both on, their powers were just too great, not to mention they seemed to have the durability to actually withstand a number of blows from their heavy hitters. The only damage they seemed to have was from where Naruto's cloak had struck them and even then it wasn't much.
As he struggled, Wally noticed something out of the corner of his eye, movement up on the platform where Kaldur and M'gann were being held and looked to see both Robin and Batgirl there.
A smile came onto his face, even as he saw Superboy getting battered by both androids. Struck by fire and then struck by water. The initial attack had caught the androids off guard, but now they were prepared and were stopping each and every attempt the clone made to beat them. Every time Superboy looked like he was about to land a blow, the other Android would use their respective element to intervene.
It was a one-sided beat down.
Up above, he watched as Batgirl and Robin studied the fire prison, sneaking something through the bars to Kaldur and then rushed towards the ledge. Just as Superboy got knocked onto all fours by an explosive fireball, a powerful pillar of water slammed down on top of him, holding the clone in place.
That was when both Robin and Batgirl fired grappling down at the ground where the androids stood.
Both flew down at speed and threw a handful of Batarangs towards the androids. Each one exploded stumbling their opponents and as they landed, both of Batman' protégés landed with a roll between the androids.
As they came out of the other side, the smoke clearing, Robin smirked.
Before the androids could attack them, beeping sounded and the Batarangs that had been placed at their feet exploded.
Shaking his head, Superboy pushed himself to his feet and rushed forwards, his enhanced vision easily seeing through the smoke. He burst inside, gripping hold of the male by his wrist, and slamming a powerful punch into his face. Before the Android could stumble back, Connor, keeping a tight grip on his wrist jelled him back and slammed another powerful blow into his face.
He lashed out with a kick striking the female in the abdomen launching her backwards, while he turned his attention fully onto the male. Blow after blow struck against its temple till he eventually picked it up and threw him into the wall.
Meanwhile, Batgirl and Robin pulled out their respective weapons, Robin two escrima sticks while Batgirl pulled out a staff and began to attack the female. With similar fighting styles and experience with working together, they flowed around one another. Both simultaneously striking their enemy while defending their ally.
The Android could do nothing much at first, simply be struck by the blows that seemingly stalled its attempts to create fire. But in most cases, the enemy would have accumulated some measure of damage, or at least their minds would be too focused on being attacked to do anything else but try and defend themselves. This would have been the wrong choice to make as the only way to stop Robin and Batgirl at this point was to disrupt their attack pattern.
And the only way to do that was to attack in turn.
But again, a normal human wouldn't have thought of this and this wasn't a human. As a result, the Android discarded defence and her powers all together, both hands lashing, one grabbing hold of Batgirls staff and the other, grabbing hold of one of Robin's wrist. Holding them in place with superior strength, heat started to gather around her hands and while Batgirl let go of her staff quickly, Robin wasn't able to move and let out a cry of pain.
Batgirl unsuccessfully struck out with her foot, a roundhouse kick slamming into its head yet the Android didn't even budge. It's head continuing to stare at Robin even with Batgirl's foot on her cheek.
'That was a bad idea.' She winced, jumping back and threw a Batarangs, non-explosive this time at the Android's face. But while it struck the side of its face and actually buried into the metal, it did nothing else.
"Gah!" Robin cried out, dropping to his knees as he felt his hand beginning to burn.
Luckily, he was saved when Superboy gripped hold of her wrist, his own grip actually making the metal of the androids body squeal and groan. Robin quickly jumped back, going onto his knees as he clutched his hand tightly in pain.
"Artemis, any day now." He called over the psychic link, glad to see that the water he had provided to Kaldur and was given to M'gann allowed to elevate some of the pain she was going through. At least enough to set up a link between him and Artemis.
"Give me a minute."
"We don't have a minute." Robin called over the link as Artemis landed near the power grid, fitting the section of the X-Ray machine, a Vircator they had pulled out that would help form an EMP according to Barbara. However, now she faced a new problem.
"There's a problem." Artemis told him, trying to get the EMP to work only for it to do nothing. "It's not responding. I told you I should have been part of the distraction. I don't have a clue as to what I'm doing."
"I'll send the feedback to you, Robin." M'gann called tiredly over the radio.
"It's not connected, you'll need something small and conductible." Nodding her head, Artemis reached behind her and pulled out an arrow, carefully she slotted it into place and stepped back, pressing the start button.
"It worked!" Artemis exclaimed happily as she zip-lined down to join the rest of the team. With no one to control, the steadily rising water nor the fire prison burning, they slowly lowered and dissipated, respectively.
Connor quickly jumped up towards where Kaldur and M'gann were, taking the almost passed out M'gann from Kaldur. Batgirl meanwhile ran to check on the unconscious Naruto while Robin crouched down over the robots, Artemis soon joining him.
"How's your arm?" Artemis asked and Robin just shook his head as if to say, 'it's fine, don't worry about it.'
"What happened here?" Quickly the conscious members of the team looked to see Red Tornado flying towards them, a small red tornado working to propel him through the air before he came to a stop before Robin and Artemis.
"A little visit from your...family?" Robin sighed.
"Your extremely nasty family." Artemis chimed in.
It was difficult to tell whether Red Tornado was shocked or not, his face nor tone of voice ever shifting from the usual dead, monotone voice they were used to. "I was not aware I had relations."
"Where've you been?" Barbara asked, watching as Red Tornado crouched down beside the female Android.
"Monitor duty on the Watchtower." Red Tornado replied shortly. "When it became clear that Cave communications were down I attempted to investigate. But your Zeta-Tubes were also non-functional. I transported to Providence and proceeded here."
It was just as Red Tornado reached out to connect with the female Android that Sphere whirled to life, bursting out from where it had been stuck to the wall.
"The pulse has worn off!" Both Robin and Wally exclaimed in shock, turning to see Red a tornado touch the Android. "Wait!"
But it was too late, unseen to them a spark travelled between the female Android and Red Tornado and suddenly, the League member attacked. He drew all the surrounding air away from the team, effectively trapping them in a vacuum. They didn't stand a chance, within seconds they all dropped to the ground unconscious.
Wednesday 23rd September, 06:30.
Rhode Island,
Happy Harbour,
The Cave.
Standing with his arms crossed, Naruto stood beside Kaldur and the rest of the team as they watched some of the Justice League members work to fix the Cave. The androids that had recently been codenamed, Red Torpedo and Red Inferno had caused a great deal of damage. A lot of the electrics had been severely damaged by the copious amounts of water that had flooded the system, further damaged by the EMP blast they themselves had produced.
Extensive burn damage surrounded the Cave and there was even explosive damage from where Red Inferno had compressed the flames it could control. Overall, the damage was extensive and would take a great deal of time to fix.
However, thanks to the Justice League's help along with the various minds and powers put to work, it wouldn't take more than a few hours at most. Far sooner than any other construction team could repair a base of this size. And as they stood watching, the team were left silent, this was the first devastating defeat they had suffered when all together. Sure, they had been defeated by Matthew Hagen, but they had not all been there.
When the entire team was gathered, they hadn't suffered a defeat and had in fact, won quite comfortably in most cases. The fight against Amazo being the closest they had come to a defeat when the entire team was working together.
However, their ability to work together had enabled them to overcome a foe who had been able to beat numerous members of the Justice League.
But yesterday was the first major defeat they had suffered, and many were still reeling from it. For those like M'gann, Connor and Wally, defeat was a strange and rare feeling for them. Even for people like Barbara and Dick, it was also a rare circumstance, they having experienced it early on in their career and after a while, had grown more and more experienced till defeat became a thing of the past. It was only in the past year that defeat had become more common.
So, while the sting of defeat was not as strongly felt by them, it was still there.
But it was not them that reeled most, but Kaldur and Naruto that felt the sting more than anyone else. For Kaldur, he had known defeat back in Atlantis and had known defeat when performing his duties as Aqualad, but the defeat that shook his confidence the most was the defeat they suffered at the hands of Matthew Hagen.
That was his first mission as acting leader and he had failed. Team moral had been high when the mission came about, why wouldn't it be so? They hadn't failed yet and when victory seemed uncertain, they had managed to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.
Even his actions in leading the team in the Tower of Fate had resulted in their near defeat. If it weren't for Wally becoming Doctor Fate temporarily, defeat would have been there's. Even so, despite his failings, they had won. Matthew Hagen had been the first defeat they suffered, and it was his fault. Now once again, they had failed, the entire team had been defeated and the enemy escaped with no one knowing where they were.
Kaldur was beginning to question himself and doubt his abilities with these string of defeats.
As for Naruto, defeat was an old friend, he had experienced defeat many times when first starting out as Black Hood. He had faced off against enemies far stronger and more skilled than himself and had lost, just as one should expect.
Even when he had grown stronger, Naruto was faced with the hard truth that there were still those stronger than him. Perhaps that's why the defeat he felt as an individual was non-existent. But the defeat as a leader, the knowledge that he had failed to save his teammates and that they could have been killed stung more than he had ever imagined.
'Is this what it means to lead?' He questioned internally. 'To experience feelings of defeat more clearly and intensely than ever before?' If that was the case, Naruto understood for the first time why leadership was not a privilege, but a responsibility.
"Recognise: Batman, 0-2."
There was a flash from the Zeta-Tubes and outstepped Batman, who paused, taking one look around the Cave before looking to the team. More specifically, he looked at Naruto and Kaldur, nodding his head to the side.
Naruto and Kaldur shared a look before moving after him, the rest of the team watching until Green Arrow arrived, asking them to recount what happened. Meanwhile, the two lead members of the team moved to stand beside Batman who looked at them, studying their various states of injury.
Naruto looked fine, his clothes were damaged, but physically the serum he had taken had deal with the superficial wounds he had received. Kaldur was in far better shape, though he looked more tired, his body still recovering from the exposure to heat.
"What happened?" Batman growled.
"Don't waste my time, you already know what happened." Naruto shot back frustratedly. "You've already seen the footage that Dick gathered from the cameras."
Kaldur placed a calming hand upon Naruto's shoulders. "As much as I disagree with the way he put it, I agree with Naruto." Kaldur said, much more calmly, though even Batman could see the hint of frustration hidden behind his visage.
Conceding this, Batman nodded his head stiffly. "What are your theories?"
"During the peace conference between North and South Rhelasia, Sportsmaster revealed the possibility of a mole. Red Tornado, would appear to be the traitor and whether he betrayed us willingly or not, is unsure."
"I don't think Tornado is the mole though." Naruto argued, both Kaldur and Batman looking to him for an explanation. "What is the purpose of a mole? He's someone who infiltrates an organisation and feeds intel to their masters. To blatantly attack us in such a way is counterproductive to his aim."
"He could have got what he wanted." Kaldur suggested, but neither of them agreed with it.
"Possibly." Naruto continued. "But it's more than likely that Red Tornado was the target of this attack, not us. Those androids shared a remarkable similarity in not only build but in the aspect of their powers relating to an element. I believe that whoever designed those androids is possibly T.O Morrow and he wanted Tornado."
"Morrow hasn't been seen in years, he's presumed to be dead." Batman stated and Naruto scoffed.
"I'd agree with you on that, but dead don't exactly mean much anymore. Undead Talons, the Lazarus Pit, things that are dead don't tend to stay dead anymore. Besides, if it's not T.O Morrow, it could be an apprentice we're not aware existed." Naruto shrugged, the other two going silent as they considered the possibility. "Red Tornado may not be the mole, but in my opinion, he was the target of this attack and we were bait."
Connor, who had listened from a distance and had gradually grown angrier and angrier, snapped. "You knew!" He shouted, bursting forwards and gripping hold of Naruto by the jacket, and lifting him up into the air. "That Android and his maniac family nearly killed M'gann."
"Connor, enough!" Kaldur exclaimed, gripping hold of Connor's wrist, but the Kryptonian clone just glared at him. The rest of the team rushing to see what was going on, even the Leaguers gathered paused in what they were doing as they watched the proceedings.
"Connor, what are you doing?" M'gann asked.
"Naruto and Kaldur knew we had a traitor amongst us and said nothing!" Connor snapped out angrily, turning to glare at Naruto's angrily who just stared down at him indifferently. The initial shock had worn off and now Naruto was ready.
"You knew?"
"And didn't tell us?" Both Dick and Wally angrily asked, respectively.
"Guys, calm down." Barbara said, stepping in front of Dick, Wally, and Artemis. "They're must be a reason so let's hear them out."
Kaldur took his opportunity while Naruto remained silent. "I sought to protect the team, Naruto only found out before we were attacked and that was because he overheard me speaking with Red Tornado." Kaldur explained, trying to shift as much of the blame off Naruto and onto himself. He recognised that splitting the team apart was exactly what Sportsmaster intended and he wanted to avoid that. Ensuring trust in leadership was one such way to ensure security and that way, he could leave without further causing discord.
"Protect us from what?" Artemis snapped angrily. "Knowledge that might have saved our lives?"
Seeing Batman shift to break the team up before it could possibly come to blows, Naruto shook his head. There was a momentary look from Batman, wordlessly asking if he was sure and Naruto nodded his head. Giving a short nod of his own, Batman stepped back allowing Naruto to handle the situation on his own.
"Connor, let go of me." Naruto said calmly.
"Or what?"
Frowning, Naruto stared down at him. "That wasn't a request." Eyes shifting red as he tapped into his powers, Naruto gripped hold of Connor's wrist and let his claws just slightly, prick the skin. Reflexively, Connor let him go and Naruto let his powers dissipate. "Now, I'm going to explain this to you, and you will listen."
"Why? You obviously don't trust us!" Wally snapped.
"You're welcome to leave if you want." Naruto shot back and some looked willing to do so, the anger getting to them. When Kaldur went to argue, Naruto just gave him a look and reluctantly, Kaldur kept quiet. "Just know this; if you walk out now, then you're done. You're off the team."
"Oh yea, you haven't got the authority to do that." Wally snapped, but the raised brow Naruto gave that said, 'try me' stumped him and many others. "Does he?" Wally and the others looked to Batman who just stood their stoically, neither denying nor confirming the statements this lack of answer froze them were they stood, each of them hesitating to risk the possibility of that being the truth.
"Let's hear them out." Barbara suggested, trying to mediate some of the attention.
Nodding his head in thanks, Naruto looked at each member of the team individually. "Like Kaldur said, I only found out yesterday, mere moments before Red Tornado left for the Watchtower and we were attacked. But even if I had found out sooner, I'd have done the exact same thing." Naruto turned to Connor. "You overheard our conversation, right? So, you must have heard Kaldur saying where he got this information from, why don't you tell them?"
Gritting his teeth, Connor was silent, his anger still stewing as he glared at Naruto. "Connor?" M'gann asked.
"…Sportsmaster." Connor spat out.
Artemis was the first to react and it was with shock. "What? You can't trust him!" Those words seemed to send a ripple through the rest of the team, each looking to Kaldur in understanding.
"You didn't, did you?" Dick muttered, though he already knew the answer to it.
"It seemed likely that Sportsmaster intentions were to split us apart." Kaldur explained.
"And given how we just reacted; he would have succeeded." Barbara finished, Kaldur nodding his head.
"But you have to consider that it might be true." Dick posed, Kaldur and Naruto sharing a look.
"I did." Kaldur stated. "And as a result, I did not wish to alert the traitor."
None of the team knew what to say, each looking to Kaldur and then to Naruto. "Come on, as much as we would hate to admit, we'd all do the exact same thing in their shoes." Barbara argued.
Even so, despite agreeing with that statement, not many were pleased by it.
So here we are, another chapter done, hope you enjoyed. Think I did a good job of showing just how powerful Red Inferno and Torpedo are while giving a nice twist to show that Superboy was still fighting when the others arrived. Also, the Talon has escaped and is joining the Light and Naruto is training under Jason Blood.
Now, I want to address this again because I've received a fair few PMs claiming that they didn't like how well Aqualad did against Naruto. Admittedly, I've receive more reviews and PMs saying they liked what I did, but just to clarify for anyone with any confusion. In my first book 1 I originally thought Naruto would do very well at the start, I was still pretty blind to how powerful the DC universe was. I then further made an incorrect statement by saying that Naruto just barely made it into the top 100. The reason I say it's wrong is because in fact, he doesn't even make the top 100, now before you all get you pitchforks and whatever, let me explain.
Now, as I said before, Naruto is OP, in the NARUTOVERSE. I'm stressing that part because the first time round people incorrectly asked me if I thought Naruto was weak, I don't, but just because he's OP in one universe does not mean he's OP in every other franchise in existence. To be honest, I've done a lot of research for this story and the reason I'm telling you this is because, I vastly underestimated just how many OP characters there are. There's of course the ones we all know and love, Superman, Wonder Woman, Shazam, Martian Manhunter, Captain Atom, Black Adam, Trigon, Darkseid, Doomsday, Lobo, Monarch, etc. But even those guys we don't view as powerful as them, like the Green Lanterns are above Naruto.
Now, the reason I say this, and I ask you to be patient and for those serious Naruto fans who believe Naruto solo everyone, I ask that you be calm and read what I say very carefully. Naruto, at most, is a planetary being and that's at his most powerful. Every Green Lantern and Lantern wielder is a planetary being and the upper tier ones likes Hal Jordan, Kyle Rayner, John Stewart, etc. Are way beyond that. Just let that sink in for a minute, every Lantern are planetary beings and there are thousands.
Powerful Naruto is in his universe, but in DC he's nowhere on that level, so for those of you who keep on complaining and saying canon Naruto would do this and that, stop. Just stop, do your research on DC properly and look at the feats they've accomplished before saying things like that. You can delude yourselves all you want, but you won't be able to change my mind as I've done a lot of research on these characters so I've got a pretty good understanding on just how powerful they are. And I'll point out that the the Green Lanterns can move at trillions if not quadrillions of times the speed of light when Naruto has at most shown light speed, and even if you want him, maybe two-three times.
Then some of you last time pointed out that Chakra can do a lot of things, yeah, so what? The Lantern rings can create whatever the user wants so long as they have the imagination and will or fear, etc. to do so. As versatile and powerful as chakra is, a lantern ring is far more powerful and versatile.
I love Naruto, he's one of the characters I grew up watching so I can understand what it's like to look through these Rose-tinted glasses that make Naruto the most powerful being no matter where they are. I spent a lot of time looking through those glasses as well so believe me when I tell you, I know what it's like. But that's far from the truth.
Aqualad is fast and powerful, an atlantean that can withstand the insane pressures of the ocean. For context, Aquaman is a person who is someone who can deal out enough strength to knock superman around and every time he goes up against top tier leaguers, he always has a good showing. Admittedly, ranking Aquaman is difficult because he's an individual that is too strong for the top tier leaguers to hold back against and too strong for them to go all out against. However, Aqualad falls into a similar category. He's an atlantean and incredibly fast and strong, not on par with Aquaman but is not to be underestimated.
Naruto's powers on the other hand are wild and unpredictable, almost inconsistent in how they're portrayed and that's for a purpose. Not a plot purpose to make Naruto weaker or stronger in certain situations. But actually serves a part in a wider story arc, the same story arc that I have been hinting too for a long time. It maybe confusion now, but believe me, it will make more sense in the future.
Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter and let's get onto the questions:
DylanTheDemon: I have thought of it yes, I did consider the God-Killer as a sort of a gift from Deathstroke to Naruto, but I thought that to be honest, it'd mean more if it was given to Rose. However, I think that as Naruto gets stronger and has more powers, using weapons would be less important considering he himself would become one. That doesn't mean he won't use them, just that for Naruto who literally becomes a living Universal-Ending weapon that having an actual weapon would be less important.
Guest: Kurama is present and is linked to his powers, just not in the canon way. I can't really say anything without spoiling anything, but Kurama will be linked to Naruto's powers in a way that hopefully is new and cool. As for the clips and the magazines thing, thank you for that.
Vizard890: Blackmail? Yes and no, people are aware that Naruto is the apprentice of Deathstroke, but the number of people who know he is Black Hood is limited solely to Deathstroke and the Batfamily for now. That will change of course, but the Light, especially two members will have an interest in Naruto. As for Constantine, yes, he will be helping Naruto though it won't be actual teaching more just little hints and tips here and there when they team up occasionally. Zatanna however will kind of be a study partner sort of where they share notes and help each other out when they're struggling to do something.
Yakuza2010: Yes and no, I've answered the question about blackmail in my review to Vizard890, so go check that out. As for informants, the Black Hood supporters have not been forgotten and will be making an appearance again in the next book. But I will be mentioning them in passing at some point in this book.
Guest: I love how guests like you feel the need to insult a person's work, but don't have the balls to either write your own stories or don't have the balls to insult someone's work under your own profile. What's wrong? Too scared to write your own work or are you simply too scared to have people point out that your work is shitter than mine? I wouldn't do that because you're quite frankly, not worth my time.
Ficeater69: Not an inconsistency, it's a matter of context. Cheshire threw throwing stars at Aqualad coated in Jellyfish toxin however he was unaware of the last bit. Therefore, he didn't avoid them because he knew they wouldn't be able to hurt him. In doing so, the Jellyfish toxin got into his bloodstream and while largely unaffected by it, it did slow him down enough for Cheshire to land the finishing strike. His loss to Cheshire was due to overconfidence in his abilities and Cheshire being incredibly careful and skilled.
His fight against a berserk Naruto is due to the fact that Naruto had none of the fighting skill he would usually possesses. Therefore, his blows were predictable and therefore avoidable. Kaldur had also learned his lesson from his defeat against Cheshire and was able to get stronger from that. It's not inconsistency like I said, it's a matter context and circumstances. And he never properly recovered, he was still weakened as noted by himself and Barbara multiple times.
Naruto's powers right now may seem inconsistent and constantly changing in terms of power, but that's for a purpose. Not to make Naruto lose in certain situations and win others. There's actually a story purpose behind it that will become more aware later on in the arc I have been hinting in authors notes many times before.
MonkeyDGarby: No didn't skip a chapter. Naruto had his talk with Jason Blood and much like in canon, the team don't remember anything between that time and then waking up in Bialya. Similar thing happened to the team here, its purposefully jarring. And to be honest, while I am changing things here and there, adding moments between the team and showing how Naruto's presence is changing things, maybe not in a big way but a small way, I will be going through the first season much quicker.
Mostly because as a reader and a writer, the first season of YJ has been done to death therefore, I want to cut out unnecessary scenes that don't have any real changes of bearing on the story. I'll also be skipping over entire episodes that much like before, don't have much changes to them so I can focus more on the actual progression of the plot. If it seems like theres a huge skip and that a chapter is missing, that just means that the episode and stuff in between that is no different to canon so I didn't write it out and you can go watch those episodes to get the meaning behind it.
Mohamadoulo23: Because he was raised in America and therefore, doesn't use Japanese jargon.
Sultan Asil Arslan: Yes, in line with both actually. There will be specific techniques similar to the Narutoverse, but the little things will be more in line with Avatar.
: Yes, she very well could, but she doesn't have the mentality for it yet. Not to mention there are other factors in play that are yet to be revealed.
SandaKagami: Glad to see you enjoyed that, I'm surprised at how many people got butthurt over the fact that Aqualad could actually do that. Do people really believe Aqualad is that weak? I mean, his feats speak for themselves so I'm confused as to why people think he's so weak. Do people not realise that animation limits what the animators can show in terms of true power? As for the language, actually that's the Persian language that I chose as what the Bialyan people would speak. I'm not sure if that is the language they speak, but that's around the area which Bialya is in comics.
M.D. Hurricane: Glad to see you enjoyed it, always confused as to why people think Aqualad is weak and why they got butthurt over him losing. You wouldn't believe the number of PMs I got from people saying Aqualad being able to fight Naruto is impossible.
Vongola Ninja: It won't be a falling out with the team and more he needs to learn how to control his powers. In fact, he will be training in magic during that time skip and will have his own adventures that focus on the more supernatural and Demonic forces in DC comics.
As for missing out on YJ, I understand where you are coming from, but to be honest it's not fun for me as a writer to write out chapters based on episodes that won't be going under much changes. Therefore, I skip them out as to get through YJ season 1 as quickly as possible. I know that people don't like how little changes I'm making to the storyline of YJ and they're a bit tired of the whole, copy and paste of canon so I'm trying get through as quickly as possible so I can really get back into changing things up again. The time skip and season 2 is where more and more changes will appear.
Yohnos: Yeah, I agree, especially considering they also had a berserk Superboy to deal with as well. But I like to think of it as Psimon working independently rather than Queen Bee specifically ordering it.
Anyway, hope this clears up any questions and if not, please let me know and I'll try and answer them as best as I can.