At Death's Door
I don't own Naruto, The Flash, Young Justice, or any other properties.
Rio calmly sat in Jump City with Artemis and Jade, who were in the middle of an awkward silence, while they ate outside a café.
"You two are going to have to talk to each other sometime in the next century," said Rio with a sigh.
"Are you sure it's wise to do this?" questioned Artemis, "We did just fight her a couple weeks ago."
"Have you still not told your team that I'm your sister?" teased Jade.
"I didn't ask you both here to talk about your family reunion," said Rio as she handed them each several files, "I need you two to go through these files and find candidates for a team Batman is having me put together."
"Batman wants you to put together a team?" questioned Artemis as she examined a file.
"Like the one we're on," said Rio as she shot Jade a quick glance as though to tell her to keep quiet, "But I'm not going to accept just anyone onto this team. You two have some of the best minds I know. Plus, Jade here has a degree in psychology so that helps with the profiling."
"You have a degree in psychology?" asked Artemis in surprise of her sister.
"How do you think I deal with tough missions?" asked Jade with a smile as she looked at the file on top.
"Are you sure you're up to this?" asked Artemis of her fellow blond.
"I pretty good at multitasking," said Rio casually as she too looked through a file.
"This one seems good," said Jade as she handed Rio a file to look at.
Rio took the file and examined it.
"Victor Stone," said Jade, "He's an athlete that had a major accident and his parents, who were both scientists, fitted him out with cybernetics."
"What about his personality?" questioned Rio as she flipped through the file.
"He's stubborn," said Jade with a sigh, "He feels like an outcast to the rest of the world. But he really does try to do good."
"I'll see what he's about," said Rio before an explosion went off down the street.
"What was that?" questioned Artemis as they got to their feet.
"Egnahc rieht sehtolc otni rieht smorfinu," said Rio as she ran toward the blast.
A magical energy circled Artemis and Jade then dispersed, leaving them in their uniforms.
A girl of about thirteen with long red hair and glowing green eyes with her hands bound in shackles that covered them swung her arms around, destroying several large objects. The girl struggled to break the restraints on her arms before she stopped with a sigh. She looked at the column of a two-story pizza parlor and flew over to it. She began banging the restraints against it while shouting in her native language. However, she was unaware of the people on the balcony she was about to take down. The balcony was about to break off just as the girl pulled her arms back for a final swing. A Crescent Dart cut through the air, hitting the metal around the girl's face and causing her to stagger away from the pillar. The girl glared at Moon Knight, who got into a fighting stance.
"Who are you?" questioned Moon Knight in a serious tone.
The girl jump toward Moon Knight then brought down her restraints. Moon Knight jumped back calmly and dodged the girl with ease.
"Judging from the language she's using, I'd say she's from outer space," thought Moon Knight as she moved flawlessly back from the attacking alien girl, "With training and a little restraint, she would be a powerful warrior."
Jumping back from the girl, Moon Knight quickly thought up a plan but that was put on hold as the girl had kicked a car at her with ease. Dodging the flying car that hit a building behind her, Moon Knight grunted as she felt like something in her stomach had vanished. This was all the opening the alien girl needed to whack Moon Knight in the head and send her back a couple yards. Moon Knight rolled onto her feet to dodge the girl's attack just in time. Pulling out her bo staff, Moon Knight hit the girl with it to send her flying back into a car. The staff then shattered, surprising Moon Knight, just as the girl got up and popped her neck. Lunging at Moon Knight again, the girl was suddenly knocked away by an arrow exploding right next to her face.
"Need a little help?" questioned Artemis with a smile.
"I would say thanks for the help but…" said Moon Knight as she pointed in the direction the girl had gone flying in.
The girl threw a bus at them and Moon Knight tackled Artemis away just as a young man wearing a gray hoodie jumped in front of the bus. What surprised the pair was that the man had managed to catch the bus with easy then tossed it over his shoulder.
"Victor Stone," muttered Moon Knight in approval.
"Yo!" shouted Stone, "Who here's messin' up my neighborhood?!"
"Guess Mr. Rodger's lyics were wrong," quipped Moon Knight as she and Artemis got to their feet and in front of Stone.
The girl gritted her teeth then slammed her restraints on the ground, making the earth tremble while also freeing her hands but her arms remained bound. She then held them up at the trio before firing bolts of green energy from her hands. The trio ran out of the smoke and away from the bolts as the girl started firing randomly to try and hit them. After a few more seconds, the girl took several deep breaths as she fell to her knees while several destroyed buildings smoked.
"She's going to destroy the whole city," said Stone as they hid behind the now flaming bus.
"We can't let her do that," said Artemis to Moon Knight.
"We may have no choice," said Moon Knight before they all ran around the front of the bus.
They skidded to a halt as an enormous black bird made of energy appeared between them and the girl.
"Maybe fighting isn't the answer here," said a voice familiar to Moon Knight.
They looked back and Moon Knight smiled under her hood when she saw Raven, who was wearing a black cloak with the hood up.
"You're right," said Moon Knight as she flipped her hood off and lost her uniform, "Stand down."
"You think you're the boss or something?" questioned Stone.
"Yes," said Rio as she calmly walked toward the alien girl.
The girl got to her feet and held her glowing hands toward Rio with a scowl on her face.
"Easy," said Rio as she held up her hands, "My name is Rio. I don't want to hurt you."
The girl showed something in her native language as Rio reached into her pocket and pulled out a lock pick. She slowly and gently grabbed the girl's arm and picked the restraints. The girl's eyes stopped glowing as the restraints clattered to the ground. She felt her wrists and stretched them as Rio smiled.
"There," said Rio, "Now, we…"
Rio was instantly shut up as the girl had grabbed her head and kissed her on the lips. The jaws of Artemis and Stone dropped just as Cheshire arrived on the scene. The girl then shoved Rio to the ground and her eyes began to glow again.
"If you do not wish to be destroyed, you will leave me alone," stated the girl as she turned.
She started to fly away when Rio grabbed her hand.
"Raeh em tuo erofeb uoy evael," said Rio.
The girl fell to the ground and glared back at Rio.
"What did you do to me?" she demanded.
"I made it so you had to listen to me before you leave, Korriand'r," said Rio as the others approached.
"How do you know my name?" demanded Korriand'r.
"A simple spell," said Rio casually, "It let me search your mind and read your memories, Kori."
"Don't call me that!" snapped Korriand'r, "I'll listen to what you wish to say but then I'm leaving."
"She's a real piece of work," muttered Stone out of the corner of his mouth to Raven.
"It's also good that you're here, Mr. Stone," said Rio as she turned to him, "Based on what I saw, you've just made the cut along with Xena here."
"The cut for what?" asked Stone.
"The cut for…" said Rio before a silver blur giving off white lightning pinned her against the wall.
"Remember me?" questioned Savitar as he drove his forearm deeper into Rio's neck.
"Savitar?!" questioned Rio in disbelief.
The two then disappeared, scorched pavement now where Savitar had stood.
"That was Savitar?!" exclaimed Artemis.
"This is bad," said Cheshire in concern, "If he's still alive, Rio is done for."
"Who is this Savitar guy anyway?" questioned Stone.
"Savitar is a person with super speed just like the Flash and Kid Flash," explained Artemis, "He's Rio's doppelganger from a parallel Earth that wants to kill her."
"Well, this is none of my concern," said Korriand'r as she turned to take off into the air but fell flat on her face.
"Rio's spell is still in effect," said Cheshire, "Until she says what she wants to say to you, you won't be able to leave."
Korriand'r growled then got to her feet. Stone started to leave when a wormhole opened up in front of him. The Flash jumped out of it before looking around.
"Oh no," said Flash with dread, "I came too late."
"What are you doing here?" asked Artemis.
"Oh, Naruto told me to come back to this time and help with Savitar," said Flash as he looked at his hand, "I'll never get used to the way this Earth feels."
"Wait," said Raven suspiciously, "This Earth?"
Barry removed his cowl and showed he looked strikingly different from the Flash that they knew and he appeared to be in his mid-twenties.
"My name is Barry Allen," said Flash, "I'm the Flash from the Earth that Naruto is from."
Rio grunted and struggled against the restraints she had been put in as Savitar removed his armor.
"How are you alive?" questioned Rio.
"Wouldn't you like to know," said Savitar with hate laced in his voice.
"Yes, I would," said Rio as Lady Shiva walked into the room, "Who's the hot and evil version of Rosie O'Donnell?"
"This is Shiva," said Savitar as Lady Shiva injected the contents of a syringe into Rio's arm.
Rio tensed as a burning sensation went through her arm then she screamed in pain as her body vibrated uncontrollably. It stopped a few seconds later, leaving a sweating and out of breath Rio still restrained.
"What happened?" demanded Savitar.
"It appears that she burned through the Velocity-9 and rejected it," observed Lady Shiva as Rio tried to regain her breath.
"No," said Savitar as an idea dawned on him.
He went up to Rio and picked up her chin to force her to look directly into his eyes.
"Speed Sickness?" he asked and only got a death glare in response.
He began laughing as he let Rio's head fall then walked around the room.
"This is too perfect!" he exclaimed as he spun around, "Up the dosage and give it to her every seven minutes."
He left and Lady Shiva injected more Velocity-9 into Rio, causing her to scream in pain.
Everyone sat in the library of the House of Mystery around a large oak table as Barry talked with Constantine.
"Can I get anything for you all?" asked Constantine as he looked over at them.
"Now's not the time for drinks, John," said Jade with a scowl, "We need to get Rio back from Savitar."
"Why don't we just ask the League to help?" questioned Artemis.
"No," said Barry almost instantly as he went over to the table, "Naruto was very specific about how this goes down. We can't involve the League or Young Justice."
"Young what?" questioned Stone.
"That's what Naruto calls the groups he's in with Artemis and the others," explained Barry as he held up a burnt stopwatch and examined the back, "He said that you all are the only ones that can help me rescue him and stop Savitar."
"You keep referring to Rio as a he," said Jade.
"Oh, when he comes back to our Earth, Naruto, or Rio as you know her, becomes male again," explained Barry before he paused, "And I guess I should be calling him Rio since I'm on this Earth now."
"Why does she even want our help?" questioned Korriand'r, "We don't even know her."
"Not now," said Barry as he tossed her a picture, "But you all will."
Korriand'r picked up the photo then froze. She showed it to Raven and Stone before Artemis got a look at it. It was a photo of Moon Knight posing with Korriand'r, Stone, Raven, a boy with green skin, and someone that looked like a humanoid beetle.
"What is this?" she asked Barry.
"That is a photo of the Teen Titans," said Barry with a smile, "Moon Knight, Starfire, Raven, Cyborg, Beast Boy, and Blue Beetle. Robin also was also a member before that photo was taken."
"How can we be sure that this man is who he says he is?" asked Raven as she was unsure of Barry.
"He can be trusted," said Orchid as she appeared behind Barry.
He jumped away from Orchid and looked at her.
"So, you're Orchid," said Barry as he regained his barrings.
"You're conflicted," said Orchid as he examined Barry closely, "You trust Rio but you are also cautious of her. You admire her but also are ashamed to know her."
"Uh…" said Barry as he looked over at Constantine.
"She does that a lot," he explained.
"Well, if we're going to find this girl and stop this Savitar, we need to find out where they are," said Stone.
"Something just doesn't seem right," said Jade as she cleared one of her sai, "From what I was told, Savitar tried to kill her on sight last time and just how are we going to defeat him?"
"We're going to have to figure it out in two days," said Barry, "That's how much time we have before Savitar kills Naruto."
"Couldn't we just go get that Johnny Quick and Max Mercury that helped last time?" asked Constantine.
"Unless you can open a portal to their Earth, that's not going to work," said Barry.
"Don't bother," said Max as she walked through the door, "I'm here."
"How did you get in here?" questioned Korriand'r.
"I brought her here," said Orchid, "She's been waiting outside the room for the past five minutes."
"Johnny stayed behind to take care of things on our Earth," said Max as she took a seat, "I should warn you that I can only advise you all."
"Why?" asked Artemis.
Max remained silent before holding her stomach and everyone got the hint.
"Right," said Constantine, "Jade, take our guests back to yours and Rio's apartment while young Artemis will go back to her team, keeping in mind to not talk about what has happened."
Everyone but Barry, Max, and Constantine left and Max laid her head down on the table.
"Why now?" she whined as she felt queasy.
"You really shouldn't have come," said Constantine, "You should be resting."
"That's why I came here," said Max as Orchid placed a blanket over her, "Thanks. I was in so much stress last time I was sick that I almost died."
She fell asleep and Constantine waved his hand, causing her to vanish.
"I sent her upstairs," said Constantine as he turned to Barry, "I've already cast a locator spell and Rio is still within the limits of the city."
"I'll go search then," said Barry as he pulled his cowl up and ran out of the room.
"Orchid, I need your help preparing a summoning ritual," said Constantine as he left the room with Orchid.
Rio panted after Shiva had injected her with more Velocity-9 but couldn't even find the strength to move her head when Savitar entered the room.
"And how is our guest doing?" asked Savitar.
"Her body should be degrading but it appears to be working slower than normal," said Shiva as she readied another syringe.
"Leave us," said Savitar.
"Yes, sir," said Shiva as she bowed then left.
"Why don't you just kill me?" questioned Rio weakly.
"Because I want you to suffer," said Savitar as he slowly walked around Rio, "Speed Sickness, when exposed to a speed enhancer, causing the infected to degenerate out of existence. A side effect of this is that it causes immense pain."
He grabbed the syringe and jammed it into Rio's neck. The girl roared and screamed in pain as lightning came off her body. Reaper appeared out of the shadows and watched as Savitar left. Reaper walked up to Rio and she managed to raise her head. Reaper then removed his mask, giving Rio a look at his face.
"S-Sas… uke," said Rio weakly as she faded in and out of existence.
Reaper's hand became enveloped in a red smoke and he placed it against Rio's chest. Rio tensed as her pupils dialated. She began screaming as Reaper vanished and Savitar came speeding inside. Rio's flesh started rotting as a black suit formed on her body. The screams turned into monstrous roars as a torn cowl covered her had as red lightning shot out from her body. Rio broke free of the restraints then roared and the quaking Savitar. An instant later, Savitar ran out of the room with Rio moving equally as fast.
Flash stopped on a barren street to rest and took a deep breath. He saw a streak of white and red race past him and his face become one of horror.
"Oh, no," said Flash as he raced after them.
He managed to catch up and tackled the Black Flash, enabling Savitar to escape. Flash quickly got away from Black Flash as the other speedster spun around and roared at him.
"Why are we traveling like this?" questioned Korriand'r as they were all packed into a minivan.
"We can't really travel out in the open with the damage you caused," said the annoyed Jade as she drove through the streets.
"Why didn't you just open a Boom Tube?" asked Artemis.
"I don't know how to," said Jade through gritted teeth.
Just as they were pulling into an intersection, Flash was pinned, by the neck, to the hood of the car by a female black zombie version of himself. Cyborg held his right arm out and fired an energy cannon right at the Black Flash, knocking her off Flash. Everyone jumped out of the car and Artemis helped Barry up.
"Naruto, you need to stop!" shouted Flash as Black Flash got to her feet.
"That's Rio?!" exclaimed Raven.
Black Flash roared before looking over her shoulder and running off.
"Uh, where did she go?" asked Cyborg.
Constantine walked upstairs to the bedroom he sent Max to rest in then opened the door.
"Hey!" shouted Constantine as Black Flash stood over Max.
He fired a beam of magic at the speedster, who easily dodged the attack, then grabbed Max. Both vanished in the same instant that red lightning struck Constantine, knocking him off his feet. Constantine grunted as he got to his feet and gritted his teeth.
I'm going to give this one more try. I just said in this chapter when Naruto/Rio will be male again. So, please, stop with the comments about the gender.
PLEASE REVIEW (Flamers will be ignored, blocked, and deleted. Constructive criticism is allowed.)