A/N: Long time since the last chapter. I mostly blame E3, the release of The Last of Us and the fact that I got to participate in the FF14 beta. Anyway, let's just get back in the saddle. Hope you enjoy.
Chapter 11
One week. Naruto had been living in Mount Justice for one whole week, and he was bored out of his skull. He had missed the team's last mission, and now it seemed like the bad guys had all decided to take a vacation.
Ever since Naruto's less than cordial encounter with Lex Luthor in Metropolis, Batman hadn't approached the team with any more missions, and any time the inhabitants of the mountain approached Red Tornado his only answer was some half-baked excuse before he begged off to be somewhere else. For a robot, Red Tornado could certainly weasel out of a tough situation as well as any human.
It didn't help Naruto's boredom that Happy Harbor, Rhode Island was possibly the most peaceful and idyllic piece of American suburbia that could be found in any part of the country. Crime was rare, super powered crime was nonexistent, and all of the residents were generally friendly and helpful to each other. It was the kind of thing that warmed Naruto's heart to see. That is until he came to the painful realization that such peace made for a very dull life.
And so, with no other recourse to abate his boredom, Naruto filled his days with friendly conversation with his teammates, though it was fairly forced when it came to Superboy, and training.
"This is pointless."
Naruto grunted as he continued to dodge Superboy's wild flurry of punches. Of course it was pointless. Superboy's wild fighting style and severe lack of experience basically reduced any merit that could be found in sparring with the clone to nothing.
"Yeah, well, there's nothing else to do. Weight training's pointless if I can't find anything small enough to wear around and heavy enough to actually feel the benefit. And fighting clones is just dumb. What's the point if we all know exactly what we're gonna do every second of the fight?"
"This is just as much a waste of time as anything you just described. This boy is a berserker. Not an ounce of skill or strategy in him."
Naruto could certainly agree with Kurama on that one. It seemed that no matter how many times he and Superboy had their less than friendly spars, nothing got through to the clone. Superboy was a being driven almost entirely by his impotent rage.
After a final big swing by Superboy, Naruto decided it was time to end this. With blistering speed, Naruto boxed Superboy's ears. The clone reeled back in pain and shock, before a chakra empowered punch came screaming into his stomach, lifting him from the ground momentarily and causing him to double over. Finally, a rising knee to the face knocked Superboy for a loop and he ended up flat on his back. Of course, with his kryptonian invulnerability and seething anger, Superboy was back up on his feet and ready for more in no time. The clone began to charge, before Naruto's raised hand stopped him.
"Alright, stop! I mean come on, we've been here for like an hour and you haven't been able to hit me. It's ridiculous. Just let me teach you some stuff so you're not so... bad."
"I'm a living weapon! What could you possibly have to teach me?!" Superboy didn't wait for Naruto's answer before charging forward, right hand reared back for what would certainly be a devastating punch. That is if it landed at all. As Superboy reached him, Naruto sidestepped the punch and stuck his foot in the clone's path, tripping him up and sending him face first into the floor.
"I dunno, I guess I could teach you not to get completely humiliated every time you're in a fight. Exactly like I just did you to you there."
Superboy stood once more and quickly dropped into a ready stance. "My strength and invulnerability make me unstoppable. So what if you can hit me a couple times, I'll keep getting up until I win!"
Naruto palmed his face and thought, "Jeez, is this really what I was like as a kid?"
"Just as stubborn, but you at least tried to learn from your mistakes. But I suppose idiocy is idiocy. In this world and the next."
"Ah, shut up!"
Naruto quickly started dodging around Superboy's renewed assault. It seemed Superboy only respected power. Well, Naruto had power in spades.
Before Superboy could loose his next punch, Naruto preempted him with a lightning fast strike of his own. This difference between this punch and the ones before were immediately apparent to Superboy. For one, it actually hurt. And secondly, it sent him flying into the training room wall, creating a spiderweb of cracks at the point of impact. Superboy picked himself up of the floor and looked up to see Naruto gesturing at him in a come hither motion. The result was just as intended and Superboy charged blindly into more punishment.
Before the clone could enact whatever plan of attack he had concocted, Naruto blurred into motion. When the ninja reappeared, his knee was firmly planted in Superboy's face and the clone was sent flying in the opposite direction. His trajectory was interrupted by a second Naruto driving his interlocked hands down in a hammer blow upon Superboy's face mid flight. The result was a harsh meeting with the floor and an uncomfortable slide across the training room floor.
Before Superboy could gather himself and stand up once more, he was being threatened by two Narutos, both with bright blue balls clutched in each of their hands.
"You get it now? I'm more powerful than you. These are the facts. But I could make you strong. As strong as myself... as strong as Superman! If you'd just let me."
Superboy looked away from the Naruto that had spoken and seemed to consider his options. Though Naruto didn't understand what options Superboy was considering. It seemed like a pretty cut and dry deal. Finally, Superboy mumbled something.
"What's that? You're gonna have to speak up."
"I said fine!"
One of the Narutos poofed away in a cloud of smoke and the real one stood and held his hand out for Superboy to take. The clone regarded the hand for a few seconds before slapping it away and getting back to his feet on his own. Naruto interlaced his fingers behind the back of his head and grinned at the clone before speaking.
"Well, don't look so excited about it."
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Several days later found a frustrated Naruto nursing a lukewarm cup of noodles in the kitchen of Mount Justice. The cause of his frustration was currently off doing whatever it was a clone of Superman did in his spare time.
In the few days since Naruto had started to train Superboy, the ninja had gained a new appreciation for the grievous frustration all teachers must feel when dealing with a particularly thick student. It wasn't that Superboy didn't learn, or didn't want to learn. In fact, Naruto had managed to teach the clone a few simple and effective striking techniques and a few simple throws. The problem lay in the fact that when the two of them started sparring it was like Superboy flipped a switch and immediately abandoned all form of technique or strategy. He defaulted to mindless charges and slow haymaker blows after the first few minutes of their spars.
Naruto was at a complete loss over what to do about the situation. Beating the tar out of Superboy every time he lapsed into his berserker rage didn't seem to do the trick and Naruto was out of ideas.
"Just throw him to the wolves."
"What the hell are you talking about? He's invulnerable. Wolves wouldn't do anything."
"Not the literal wolves, you dolt. Take him somewhere so he can cut his teeth on a real threat. No matter how many times you slap him around this place, there's no actual danger because he knows you would never kill him."
"I guess that could work, but no one's up to anything. What am I gonna do, have him fight some mugger in an alley?"
"Figure it out. I'm beyond bored of this already."
"So that's that? You're just done? We're having a conversation-" Before Naruto could finish his thought he heard a new voice coming from the doorway.
"Naruto! Hello!" There was Koriand'r, exuberant as ever.
"Now this is more like it. I keep telling you I like this one. A bit slow, but so..." Kurama trailed off into an appreciative hum and Naruto fought down a blush as he greeted the alien princess.
"Hey, Kory. How's things?"
"How's things? Smooth."
"Shut up!"
"Things are good! But Megan is visiting with her uncle. I find myself - what's the word?" She cast about for a suitable word for a moment before continuing. "Bored! That is it! I find myself bored."
Naruto couldn't say he'd ever been bored with such cheer and excitement, but he could certainly sympathize.
"You and me both. There's nothing to do here! What did you used to do for fun on your planet?"
"We spent our days communing with nature, frolicking with the animals, and enjoying the tropical utopia of Tamaran." Koriand'r had a far off look in her eyes as she reminisced of times long since passed.
"That sounds like something out of a fairy tail. How am I supposed to respond to that?"
"What is it that you do for fun here?" Before Kurama could answer the question, Koriand'r had returned with one of her own.
Naruto scratched the back of his head in thought before answering. "I dunno about here exactly, but back home I used to do all kinds of stuff. I used to train with my teammates, go out to eat with my friends, get on Granny Tsunade's nerves... All kinds of stuff." A melancholic smile crossed Naruto's face and he grew uncharacteristically silent.
"You said back home. Are you not from here? From Earth?"
Naruto shook his head and answered. "Nah, I'm from somewhere very far away. Not Earth, but not exactly another planet." The ninja seemed ready to drop into another solemn silence before he perked up. "But enough about that sad stuff! Let's go out and see what we can do about all this boredom!"
Koriand'r clapped in excitement and exclaimed, "Yes! Let us seek out the fun and vanquish this foe called boredom!"
"Yeah! That!"
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As it turned out, Naruto and Koriand'r's search for fun really just consisted of watching television.
"Oh, man, this is terrible! Who could watch this crap all day?!"
"You're sitting in very close proximity to a beautiful girl. Try not to complain about it so much."
Kurama had a point. Naruto was having a lazy day, plopped down in front of a large television, with a drop dead gorgeous woman at his side. No man alive would rather be anywhere else. But Naruto wasn't just any man. Sitting idle for long amounts of time did wonders to drive him up the wall. It also didn't help that the only thing Koriand'r seemed to want to watch was some sort of boring sport that involved ten guys standing around on a diamond shaped field while one of them threw a ball at another guy so he could hit it with a stick.
Naruto looked at Koriand'r as she gazed with rapt attention at the television screen. He couldn't fathom why she seemed so interested in this game, but he knew he had to find something for them to do before he died of boredom on this couch. And like a bolt from the blue, his prayers were answered.
A panel on the nearby wall lit up and started ringing, notifying the room's occupants of an incoming call. Naruto bolted from his seat and rushed to the wall panel to answer the call.
"Hello!?" He hoped whoever was calling didn't hear the desperation in his voice.
"Naruto? Good, just the person I wanted to talk to." It was Superman on the line.
"Oh, man, I hope you have something good for me."
"Well, as it turns out, I do. There have been reports of some strange creatures causing havoc in a warehouse in New York City. They authorities have called in for League assistance, but I figure you must be going a little stir crazy being cooped up in that mountain for so long. So do you want to take this one?"
"Yes! Send the coordinates!"
Naruto turned away from the panel, a huge grin on his face. He was finally going to do something productive! He turned to Koriand'r, who had taken up a position behind him to listen in to the call, and ran over and hugged her, lifting her from the ground and spinning her once.
"Finally! Something to do!" Naruto set Koriand'r, though apparently it was her turn to pick him up as she repeated his actions with just as much enthusiasm. When Koriand'r set him down Naruto set off to his room to get changed before they left.
"Superboy! Come on, we're going to New York! We've got a mission!"
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Once they arrived in New York, it took the heroes a few minutes to find exactly where Superman had said these strange creatures were. When they arrived at the location, the scene they encountered was strange, to say the least.
The warehouse was in ruins. There were boxes strewn about, having been torn apart by hands that were obviously not human. By the state of door, it could be surmised that the creatures had torn through it and ripped through the contents of the warehouse in a frenzied manner before exiting through a large hole in the warehouse wall.
With nothing to be found in the first warehouse, the heroes followed the trail of destruction. They passed through four more buildings before coming across their quarry.
The creatures were certainly strange. LIke nothing any of them had ever seen before. They were human-sized, but extremely muscular, and they seemed to be made completely out of a bright white light. The light creatures had large hands, the fingers of which were tipped with sinister looking claws. They were in the process of using those claws to tear apart the contents of the warehouse.
"They're looking for something."
"No shit."
Shinobi didn't waste time giving orders, his teammates knew what to do. He closed the distance swiftly, knocking one of the monsters aside before moving to the next. He chained his strikes from one monster to another, dealing ruthless punishment in a single blow and moving on.
The fight was over in less than a minute. Whatever these monsters were, they were not very durable and one strike from any of the three heroes was enough to cause them to dissipate into motes of white light.
"That... was way less exciting than I thought it would be." Shinobi let out a sigh of disappointment. After over a week of boredom, his only fight was something so unfulfilling.
"Yes, they were surprisingly weak. How did they manage to cause all this damage?" Starfire titled her head in puzzlement as she pondered her own question.
"Whatever. So they were weak. We dealt with 'em. Let's just get out of here," said Superboy.
"No. Weak or not, they were looking for something in these warehouses. We can't just leave without finding out what it was." Kurama had made a good point. All of the warehouses the monsters had targeted contained roughly the same type of cargo. It was all made of metal and looked to Shinobi to be vaguely scientific. It was the kind of stuff one might find in S.T.A.R. Labs.
Shinobi set off to rifle through the piles of debris to try to get a hint of what the monsters might have been searching for, but was stopped when a voice echoed through the building.
"What they were looking for is none of your concern!"
Shinobi turned to look at the source of the new voice but was blindsided by a beam of energy that sent him rolling across the warehouse floor. He recovered quickly, using the momentum of his roll to regain his feet. Shinobi took the time to reassess the situation.
Superboy and Starfire had already engaged the enemy in the time that it took Shinobi to recover. The enemy in question was a man, wearing a black bodysuit with a white belt and white gloves. He also wore a long white cape that seemed to glow with some strange luminescence, and there was a white symbol on his chest that reminded Shinobi of the Sun. The man maintaining a glowing yellow force field that protected him from all of Superboy and Starfire's attacks.
Shinobi charged a Rasengan and leaped into the air, landing on the dome and setting to work trying to break through it. Cracks began to form in the force field before it burst in a blinding white flash of light and the heroes were thrown back by force.
Shinobi kipped up to his feet and took the chance provided by the lull in the fighting to ask this unidentified man a few questions.
"Who the hell are you and what are you doing here? I guess it's obvious you made those things back there, but why?"
"I am Doctor Light, and what my purpose is here is none of your-"
"Concern. Yeah, I got that."
It was obvious the good Doctor wasn't going to answer Shinobi's questions so he decided to get right back into the action. He pulled a salvo of shuriken and threw them at Doctor Light. Light's force field materialized once more, protecting him from the assault, but Shinobi was already in motion. He'd taken the chance provided by his distraction to charge two Rasengans and had closed the distance and begun busily assaulting the force field. Superboy and Starfire were quick to join in, the Boy of Steel beating on the shield repeatedly while the alien vixen fired one continuous green energy beam.
It seemed like the heroes held the advantage until a smirk spread across Doctor Light's face.
"You know, my powers go beyond shields and beams. I can also absorb energy from all sources of light!"
Doctor Light's shield grew brighter, and Starfire's beam of energy began to grow dimmer until it died completely. Before the heroes could react, the shield reconstituted itself as a glowing white ball of energy and then three beams fired from it, striking each of the young heroes in the chest.
The doctor's smirk widened at his apparent victory and he immediately began his departure. A disc of light formed under his feet and he began to rise into the air. As he floated towards the ceiling, he gather power into his hands and fired upwards, creating a large hole through which he would make his escape. It all seemed to be going in his favor, until two shuriken flew passed him and seemed to spontaneously change direction mid flight, sailing around him several times until he was snugly wrapped in a nearly invisible wire.
"Superboy!" Shinobi pulled on the wires and brought Doctor Light falling down in an arc that would make certain he collided violently with Superboy's fist. However, the doctor regained his bearings quickly, creating another force field around himself, this time spherical, and severing the wires that bound him. It was already too late though. Doctor Light's flight path continued and Superboy's punched would not be stopped.
The result was quite comical, if extremely inconvenient. Superboy punched the spherical force field that held Doctor Light, immediately reversing its momentum and sending it flying through the building's roof and off into the distance.
Shinobi pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance.
"Are you for real right now? You seriously punched him out of the building?"
Superboy shrugged and said, "Not my fault."
"Friends, he is getting away!"
Superboy and Shinobi looked at each other and nodded before they all made their exit through one of the two holes in the warehouse roof.
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As it turned out, Doctor Light's impromptu flight had taken him over several buildings and past four city blocks, depositing him just outside of the Warehouse District.
The heroes arrived to see him stumbling away from the car he had apparently landed on, trying to dazedly make his escape down the street. The pedestrians were giving him a wide berth. Shinobi slapped Superboy across the back of the head.
"Are you an idiot or something? You can't just punch guys that hard! If he hadn't have made that force field, he probably wouldn't have a head right now!"
"Hey! You were the one that set him up for that punch! Why the hell are you blaming me?!"
"I didn't expect you to try to murder him!"
"You're both idiots. He's escaping!"
Superboy and Shinobi's argument wound down and they set off to apprehend Doctor Light. It seemed the doctor had rounded a corner and the heroes rushed off to follow him. As they rounded a corner they were met by several floating balls of light that began firing a salvo of energy projectiles as they rounded the corner.
Starfire quickly blasted the balls of light into nothingness, and pointed at the retreating form of the doctor as he rounded the next corner.
"There he is!"
The team resumed their pursuit and when they rounded the corner, they saw Doctor Light driving away in a recently stolen blue sedan. Starfire flew over to help the victim while Shinobi and Superboy began arguing again.
"You know what? This is your fault. You go catch him!" Shinobi said while pointing after the fleeing vehicle, though Light's progress was slow in the New York City afternoon traffic.
"Oh, it's my fault he stole a car?"
"It's your fault we didn't put him down in the warehouse! Now go!"
Superboy growled in anger before jumping high into the air. Shinobi tracked his movement and saw where he was going to land and groaned in annoyance when he realized what Superboy's strategy was.
Superboy fell out of the sky, landing feet first on the front of Doctor Light's getaway car. The car's hood was crushed under the pressure, and the back wheels were lifted off the ground before Superboy jumped off the hood. The car settled on the sidewalk, much the worse for wear. Superboy prepared to rip the villain from the driver's seat before Doctor Light came out by himself. Superboy reared back to punch him before the doctor raised his hands in a sign of surrender.
"I give! Please, just take me to jail!"
Superboy lowered his fist, sighed, and began dragging the doctor back to his teammates, leading him by the wrist like a scolded child. As he approached them, Starfire clapped her hands together in excitement.
"You did it! We must rejoice!"
The carjacking victim was much less impressed, however. The woman in question was quick to lay into the clone.
"You destroyed my car! I was still making payments on it! What's my husband gonna say, huh?!"
Superboy crossed his arms and scowled at her before asking, "How about some gratitude?"
"Gratitude for what? You totaled my car!"
While Superboy was being showered with insults, Shinobi tied Doctor Light's wrists together and gave him a stern look.
"I'm gonna make a call. Don't try to run away, or I'll kick your ass."
Doctor Light nodded, a look of deep sincerity in his eyes.
"This is way more trouble than it's worth. How do people do this every day?"
"You get used to it." Shinobi placed a hand to his ear and said, "Call Superman, designation 01."
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Arthur Light sat in the back of a transport van, inhibitor collar around his neck and handcuffs on his wrists. The van was transporting him to Belle Reve Penitentiary in Belle Reve Parish, Louisiana. The two armed guards sat across from him, chatting idly to pass the time.
In Arthur's opinion, this was the best place he could have ended up after his ill-fated foray into supervillainy. He was lucky not to be dead right now. That boy in the Superman shirt was a real monster. Arthur had decided he would serve his time as peacefully as possible and use his powers for good once he was released. As long as he never had to be on the receiving end of another super powered punch for the rest of his life.
Arthur continued to sit in silence, sometimes offering up his opinion on any subject the rather friendly guards discussed, and generally counting his lucky stars that he had this second chance. That is until the tires screeched and the van was sent rolling before stopping at the side of the road.
The back doors of the van were ripped open violently and Arthur watched in dazed horror as the guards were shot, twice each. He waited for his vision to clear and took in the figure that was silhouetted by the sun at his back. He wore black and orange armor, and a mask that had only one eyehole.
"Arthur Light, my employers have need of your services."
"Oh, God! No, please, I just want to serve my time! Please!"
The man took out a small metal pellet and rolled it around in his fingers. He dropped the pellet into the van and said, "That's not an option here, Arthur."
With a hiss, the pellet started to release a green gas into the back of the van. Arthur breathed it in and his world started to go black. Before he lost consciousness completely, he heard the man utter one more sentence.
"You work for the Light now."
A/N: There it is. Kind of a filler chapter. Some interaction between Naruto, Koriand'r, and Superboy. A small fight. And more scheming by the Light. Also, before anyone asks, I know that Doctor Light started out using machines and later internalized his powers. I just made him a metahuman from the start, just to keep things simple. Hope you enjoy. Might be another two week wait for the next chapter; my dad just had surgery and I'm gonna be taking care of him for a bit. Also, thanks to WingZeroAlchemist for beta-ing this chapter. Until next time.