Disclaimer: I don't own DC or Naruto. I think I've said both enough that the point came across.

Senkō

2: The Roman

Naruto happily dug into the meal that Joan had cooked. It was a reward for beating the Trickster without causing too much harm. Jay was pretty nonviolent back in his day, and to see him exhibit the same restraint warmed her heart. Across from him, equally digging in with a vigor that would make one wonder if his stomach was a void, was Wally West. Wally was still dressed in his costume, only his topless cowl that let his ginger locks fly freely was pulled off. The freckled speedster happily dug into Joan's special cheeseburger pasta, a homemade meal consisting of beef, some powdered cheese and noodles.

Naruto thought it was delicious, though still not as good as Ramen – he found it odd that the noodle dish was one of the few things he still remembered.

"Eating it all up, huh boys?" Jay asked, taking a seat at the head of the table. He rushed around them and scooped a large plate up, sitting back down with a small smile on his face. Joan lightly smacked him behind the head as she walked past him. "Ow! What'd I do?"

"Manners, Jason. Manners." Joan said with a coy smile. Jay just rubbed his head and smiled back at her. Joan, satisfied with that, sat at the table, looking at Naruto. "Nathan, about this superhero business...Are you certain you want to be a part of it?"

"Joan, the boy clearly wants to. He wouldn't have wasted his allowance on a ski mask and sunglasses if he didn't." Jay said in Naruto's stead. The whiskered blond nodded in agreement with his adoptive grandfather. "See?"

"Well, all right, but you'll have to find something other than jeans and a T-shirt to run around in. It might have worked for Jay, but people are more attentive to heroes now." Joan said. She liked the boy and she didn't want him to have problems down the road because someone figured out his identity.

Naruto swallowed his current mouthful and pointed his fork at Wally. "That's why the living banana peel is here. He's going to help me design it."

After giving Naruto a glare for his insult, Wally nodded to Joan, swallowing when there was a knock at the door. "I'll get it!"

He rushed out of his seat to the front door, opening it and beaming as soon as he did. "Uncle Barry! Aunt Iris!"

"Hey Wally, Iris told me about your stunt today." Barry said, out of his red uniform and dressed like he just came from the Central City Police Department. Wally winced and prepared for a scolding, flinching a bit when Barry put his hand on Wally's shoulder. He blinked in surprise when Barry smiled at him. "Good job taking care of Trickster."

Wally beamed at him, only for it to be broken as Iris bopped him on the head. "Ow!"

"That was for not waiting for your uncle. You and Naruto could've been seriously hurt." Iris said, frowning before she pulled her nephew into a hug. "I'm glad you're safe, Wally."

"Thanks Aunt Iris." Wally said, smiling as he hugged her back.

"Iris! Barry! Come in, come in." Joan said, smiling as she led the three back into the dining room. Jay stopped eating, standing and shaking his successor's hand, and then greeting Iris with a small hug. Wally gave his seat up and moved over to sit next to Naruto, who greeted the two with a bright smile. Barry gave Naruto the same approval he gave Wally before taking his seat.

"We're going to need a bigger table soon." Jay said, giving Barry a smirk.

"Not too soon." Iris said, correcting the man her husband saw as a father. Barry rested his hand on hers and they shared a smile before Iris continued. "Barry wants a few more free years after all, just until Wally and Naruto finish college."

"Do I have to?" Naruto asked under his breath, getting an elbow from Wally. "What? I don't like high school! Why would I like college? Can't I just be a full time hero?"

"Nathaniel Jason Garrick, you will be going to college and that's the last we'll hear of it." Joan said sternly.

"Yes, Grandma Joan." Naruto said, slouching in his seat from his adoptive grandmother's scolding.

"High school isn't that bad is it?" Barry asked, amused.

"No, but I suck at science and math." Naruto said, frowning.

"I could always tutor you." Wally said.

"Thanks." Naruto said with a smile.

"So, off the topic of school, it looks like that you've got your costume ready." Barry said humorously.

"Funny, Uncle Barry." Wally said as he shook his head. He rushed out of the room and came back with a pen and some paper. The redheaded speedster made a speed doodle of a costume that looked like his own, only more flame oriented. "Ta-da! The orange flaming Kid Flash!"

"I do like orange." Naruto said, grinning as he scratched his chin. Jay snorted and crossed his arms.

"You're carrying the Garrick name, kid." Jay said. "You should follow the tradition."

"Not this helmet nonsense again..." Joan said, putting a hand on her face.

"Yes this helmet nonsense again! My father's life was saved by that helmet in World War One and it saved my hide countless times on the job." Jay said.

"Maybe we could modify the helmet, Jay." Iris said, taking the pen and paper from her nephew. "And perhaps keep the costume similar to yours."

"You're a genius, sweetheart." Barry said, giving his wife a grin as she finished the more appropriate design.

"Skin tight? Won't that be uncomfortable?" Naruto asked as he looked over the picture.

"Meh, you get used to it." Wally said, shrugging.

"Besides, the girls will love it, Nathan." Iris said, giving Barry a sly look that had him grinning widely in agreement.

"...Why?" Naruto asked. Wally shook his head in disbelief.

"Add dense to his list of traits, Uncle B."

"I'm not dense!" Naruto said in protest.

"I think it's charming." Joan said with a smile.

"Now what he needs is a name." Jay said, tapping his chin. "Impulse, maybe?"

"KF mark II!" Wally said, smirking.

"The Blur?" Barry said.

"Don't I get a choice in this?" Naruto asked.

"Let the professionals handle this, Nathan." Jay said. "Speed?"

"Tempest?" Iris asked.

"Aqualad has a buddy with that name I think." Wally said. "XL!"

"Velocity?" Joan said.

"Sounds more like the name for a super heroine." Jay said. He snapped his fingers. "Max was the one that felt him first, let's call him Mercury in Max's honor!"

"Do you think Max will mind?" Barry asked.

"I'll call him up and ask. In the meantime, get to work on that uniform." Jay said as he got out of his seat.

"I hate being ignored." Naruto said, crossing his arms over his chest and pouting slightly. Still, the costume Iris designed looked pretty cool. If only it had a bit more orange.

A week went by and Naruto was in the city to get some groceries for Joan. He pushed the cart along while humming along to a song that was playing on the radio. The whiskered blond grabbed a tin can with a smiling chef on it, reading the ingredients before grabbing twenty more cans. The soft music coming through the speakers in the ceiling cut off and Naruto sighed as a news report warning citizens about Captain Boomerang going after Keystone City Bank cut in.

"Wasn't he just arrested?" Naruto asked himself. "No wait, that was The Top. Ugh, they all blur together...Like math." The blond prepared to go apprehend the criminal, stopping and looking at his current groceries. "But I did promise Grandma Joan..."

Naruto pondered this for a moment before a light bulb went off and he grinned. Grabbing his cart, Naruto ran to the front of the store – zipping through the aisles on the way and getting the rest of the stuff he needed on the way – and preceded to check himself out. He did all this and left the correct amount on the counter in front of the cashier, who looked like she just came out of a tornado. Naruto quickly ran the food back to the Garrick house, weaving between several neighboring houses so as not to raise suspicion, and then ran back to Keystone City.

On the road, Naruto reached into his back pocket and pulled out the sunglasses he had bought a week ago, putting them on his face and pressing the hidden button on the side. Around his head, a silver helmet similar to a racer's formed and the lenses for his glasses darkened to orange, making Naruto grin. A pair of golden wings popped out on either side and Naruto lifted his shirt a bit, pressing down on the lightning bolt buckle of his silver belt. From the buckle, out popped a red and blue costume that Naruto quickly changed into, his belt separating down the middle and wrapping around his forearms to act as armguards. The lightning bolt running across his chest and down his right leg seemed to glow as Naruto added more speed. A red and blue blur weaved between the cars on the highway, people inside smiling at the sight of one of the Twin Cities' heroes.

He skidded to a stop in front of Keystone City Bank, beyond the police barricade. The young hero turned and gave the cops a thumbs up, only his smiling mouth visible on his face. "I'll take it from here, guys."

Before they could ask who he is, the newly named Mercury rushed into the bank, ducking under two silver boomerangs that were thrown at him. He got hit in the head by one returning and turned just in time to avoid the second one. Mercury looked down at the boomerang on the ground and picked it up.

"He really does use metal boomerangs. Note to self, thank Grandpa Jay for the helmet idea." Mercury said to himself. The boomerang started to beep and Mercury yelped before throwing it up where it exploded overhead, the second one doing the same in the back of the teller booths.

"Aw, and here I thought I finally had you...Who the bloody hell are you?" Captain Boomerang, who looked and sounded like he just got out of a plane on loan from the Australian Air Force, asked. "I'd have at least thought Flash would've sent the Kid first instead of some nobody."

Mercury dusted his hands off. "Name's Mercury."

"Mercury? The hell has that got to do with Flash?" Capt. Boomerang asked.

"Not one of the smarter guys, huh?" Mercury asked. "So...what are the chances of you surrendering if I ask nicely?"

Capt. Boomerang, apparently over his stupor, cracked a grin. "Cheeky? I like that. Let's see just how much of a poser you are, shall we?"

"Yeah, should've known better." Mercury said, dodging to the side of a thrown boomerang and catching it as it came back. Narrowing his eyes behind his visor, Mercury tossed the boomerang at the Captain, the Aussie native stepping out of the way and letting the boomerang fly back. Mercury palmed himself in the face. "Duh."

"Not the brightest of the bunch, are ya mate? I certainly don't mind that." Capt. Boomerang said with a grin. He reached into his sleeves and pulled two more boomerangs out, throwing them and repeating the action. "Let's see how good you are at catching some timed bombs, then!"

Mercury dodged the returning boomerang, letting it explode on the steps, before catching the timed bombs out of the air. He rushed outside the bank doors and tossed them into the sky as fast and hard as he could. They exploded and the crowd cheered, but Mercury didn't stop to enjoy it. He sped back inside just in time to see Captain Boomerang leave through the stair door.

"This guy thinks he can outrun me?" Mercury asked himself, arching a brow. He smirked and ran to the door, throwing it open. "I've got this in...the...bag?"

"Surprise, chum!" Boomerang said, grinning as he hit a button on a small remote control that sent a rather large boomerang rocketing off at Mercury. The new speedster doubled over the machine as it burst through the doorway and hit him, the aerodynamically shaped rocket sliding a metal belt around his waist and two clamps over Mercury's hands and wrists. The rocket shot through the bank's entrance, taking to the skies.

Mercury struggled to get his arms free, noticing a TV screen popping up in front of him. Static crossed it before Capt. Boomerang was seen, the background was moving, so Mercury assumed he was running, and then he spoke. "G'day, mate. I see you're having a grand ol' time looking down at our beautiful city."

"What is this thing?" Mercury asked, straining as he tried to get free. "Some kind of rocket-rang?"

"Yeah, that pretty much sums it up." Capt. Boomerang said with a laugh. "You see, I've trapped our boy Flash on these a number of times, and all they do is delay him a bit. Which normally is all I need to get my real plan ready. You, though, you'll probably be done after my 'rocket-rang' flattens you good against that mountain in the distance. It was a pleasure, but next time leave the heroics to the Flash."

"I'm so throwing up on you when I get out of this!" Mercury said with a glare at the greedy man as the boomerang began to barrel roll.

"That's if you get out of it, mate. Cheers, have a nice flight." Capt. Boomerang said with a cocky wave before the TV cut out.

"I'll show you a nice flight." Mercury said, scowling. He vibrated his arms at a fast enough speed to free them before grabbing the belt and vibrating that until it exploded. Mercury climbed atop the boomerang and carefully made his way to one rocket, speeding his fist up before punching it through and pulling wires out. As the rocket-rang started to go down, Mercury clung to it. "I really didn't think this through!"

The rocket-rang crashed, bouncing down the road until it came to a spot. Mercury dropped from it, groaning and holding his stomach before he burst into a run back to the Bank. He'll clean up the rocket-rang later, first he had to catch Boomerang. Mercury ran to the top of the bank, ducking back to the stairway as a boomerang flew past and impaled the side of a nearby building.

"I don't know how you managed to get free, boy, but rest assured, you'll wish you had just rode the damn thing after I get through with you!" Capt. Boomerang said, dropping his sacks of money to grab more boomerangs off his sleeves.

"Well, I did say I was going to throw up on you! Wanna see what I had for lunch today?" Mercury asked.

"I'll pass!" Capt. Boomerang said, throwing explosive boomerangs at the boy. "How about you come out and introduce yourself to my boomerang collection?"

"Thanks but no thanks!" Mercury said. He didn't give Boomerang the chance to throw any more of his trademark projectiles and rushed the good captain, throwing his arm out as he ran past. Mercury's clothesline knocked Captain Boomerang into the air, flipping him onto his stomach. Mercury stomped down on Boomerang's back when the good captain tried to get back up. "Move and I will puke on you."

"Crud...I just got my scarf dry cleaned." Capt. Boomerang said. He groaned and collapsed on his stomach. "I guess you win this round, Mercury."

"...Huh, not once did you say 'shrimp on the barbie'." Mercury said, hoisting Capt. Boomerang to his feet and rushing him to the police line. "What's up with that?"

"Who told you I said that?" Capt. Boomerang asked.

"Kid Flash. He said you say it at least three times in a fight." Mercury said. "That's not the case?"

"Little brat...You've been made a fool, mate." Capt. Boomerang said with a scowl as the cops apprehended him. "When I get out of the joint, I'll be paying that brat his own due." He was pushed into the back of an armored car with his hands cuffed. Capt. Boomerang turned and gave Mercury a grin. "Nice to meet you, kid! Hope we meet again!"

"Maybe under better circumstances." Mercury said, grinning back and giving the villain a farewell wave. "We'll do brunch!" He turned to the awed crowd and gave them a 'what can you do?' shrug. "He's an okay guy, just down on his luck and doesn't know what else he can do."

"Where's the money? We need to do an evidence count." A policeman asked.

"Uh...back in a sec." Mercury said with an apologetic chuckle. He sped off back to the roof, grabbing the sacks Capt. Boomerang left behind. A golden trinket fell out of one and Mercury arched a brow. "Huh, what's this?"

Mercury lifted the golden trinket, and doing so found it to be more than just a trinket. It was a small statue, Egyptian from what he's seen in the textbooks.

"No way Boomerang got this here..." Mercury said. He rushed the cash back to the cops, keeping the trinket out of view and prepared to run off when none other than Iris West Allen cut him off.

"Iris West Allen, Central City News. Moments ago, Captain Boomerang, a member of Flash's Rogues attempted to rob Keystone City Bank. Like last week with the Trickster, we have a new hero to thank. Only this time, he's dressed for the occasion." Iris said with a smile. She thrust the microphone into Mercury's face. "Tell us, do you have a name now?"

Despite himself, he grinned at the antics of Flash's wife. "I'm the messenger of justice, Mercury."

"Cute name." Iris said.

Mercury grinned. "My grandpa thought of it. Listen, Mrs. West-Allen, I'd love to stay and chat, but I've got things to do, messages to deliver, you know how it is. Considering you're a messenger, too. Later!"

Iris smiled and turned back to the camera. "There you have it. The Twin Cities have a new hero, and from the sound of it, Keystone loves Mercury!"

"So then I brought it here." Naruto said. He had decided to go to Wally with this sort of thing, since he could count on the protégé of Flash to be home on a school night. He was sitting on Wally's bed with his helmet on the desk. The room was filled with Flash propaganda or science posters. Books of advanced sciences filled the walls and a chemistry set sat off in the corner.

"I see..." Wally said, looking the small statue over. He went to his desk and turned the computer on, opening the Internet and going to a site called Skype. Wally logged in and double clicked on a profile. "Rob, hey Rob! Pick up man, I know you're on."

The screen flickered before the logo of a stylish R came on the screen and an obviously disguised voice asked. "Is the room secure?"

Wally's green eyes rolled. "No. Joker is holding me hostage at gunpoint and Harley Quinn is in my kitchen baking muffins."

"Oh, okay." The screen flickered before a kid with a domino mask and raven hair appeared. He gave Wally a grin and frowned when he spotted Naruto peering over his shoulder. "Whose the blond guy?"

"Second cousin. Jay's grandnephew." Wally said. "Robin, meet Mercury, Mercury, meet Robin the Boy Wonder."

"Oh, you mean the kid in the traffic light suit?" Naruto asked. "How do you get around all ninja-like in that?"

Wally burst into snickers and Robin scowled, refocusing on his friend. "Listen, I've got more important things to do than getting insulted by a new guy, Wally. So what's up?"

"Sorry, sorry. Man, that was a good one." Wally said under his breath. He held the trinket up to the screen. "What's this, Rob?"

Robin furrowed his brows and hit a few keys on his side of the console before a blue light shot out of Wally's computer camera, scanning the statue in his hand.

"Cool." Naruto said.

"It seems to be something of...Thangarian origin. Yeah, it was donated by Carter Hall after he unearthed it in Egypt to Keystone City and was being kept in a secure vault." Robin said.

"Not very secure if Captain Shrimp on the Barbie had it." Naruto said dryly, giving Wally a flat glare. "We'll be talking about that later."

Wally chuckled sheepishly. "Sorry about that. Must've mixed up my Aussies."

"Enough jokes, the statue was supposed to be delivered to the Keystone-Central Museum of Natural History. Dr. Evelyn Krause was supposed to be able to study it." Robin said. "That thing was to be delivered later today."

"Well, I shouldn't keep her waiting." Naruto said, grabbing his helmet and pulling it on. He took the statue and gave Robin a two-fingered salute. "Nice meeting you, Robin. Later Wally."

"No, wait, not the window! Not the window!" Wally said, only to get a loud shatter. Wally groaned and palmed his head while Robin laughed in the background.

"Wallace Rudolph West!"

"Bus-ted!" Robin said with a snicker.

"Dude!" Wally put his head into his hands.

Mercury was walking through the KC Museum, the small statue cradled in his arm. Dr. Krause was in the middle of a meeting so he had some time to kill. The sound of flapping wings made him stop where he was in the Egyptian exhibit and look for the source.

"Nice outfit." An alluring voice said from above. Mercury looked up and gaped at the angel that hovered above him. Her skin was a nice shade of mocha, and it contrasted well with her tight blue costume that was parted into two pieces, allowing her midriff to be seen. He was distracted momentarily by her revealed piercing, shaking his head to keep from pulling a Wally. Her wings were snow white and like him, a helmet hid her eyes and the upper part of her face, only hers looked like a blue bird. A sultry smile curled across her face. "Hermes, right?"

"Mercury." He said once he remembered how his mouth worked.

"Same thing." The bird girl said, lowering herself until she was on her feet, nearly matching him in height. She held out a delicate and yet strong hand. "Hawkgirl."

"Nice to meet you." Mercury said, taking her hand in his own and grinning. "So what brings you to Keystone-Central?"

"My parents heard about Capt. Boomerang's attempted theft of the Thangarian totem and sent me to watch over it since they're busy with League business." Hawkgirl said, gesturing to the small statue in his arms after she took her hand back. She gave him a coy smile and looked him up and down, making Mercury fidget nervously. "They didn't say anything about meeting a cutie, though."

"W-Well, you know how it is in this line of work, what with surprises on the job and all that." Mercury said, chuckling nervously.

"Aren't you modest? Not a bad trait for a hero to have." Hawkgirl said, smirking at him. She stood straight and held her hand out. "Mind if I take a look at it?"

Not seeing the harm in it, since it was from her culture and everything, Mercury held the totem out to her. Hawkgirl leaned forward and scrutinized it for a moment before she gasped. Alarmed, the speedster asked. "What? Is something wrong?"

"Its as we feared. The totem is cursed." She said. Mercury nearly dropped the totem in shock.

"You can tell all that from a glance?" he asked.

"Yes. My parents taught me a lot about Thangarian culture." Hawkgirl said. "I should probably get it to them as soon as possible. We can't risk a human getting affected by it."

"What about me?" Mercury asked, worried.

"Hm? Oh, don't worry cutie, you should be fine." She said with a reassuring smile. Her hands closed around the totem and she started to take it. "I'll just take it back to them first."

"Are you sure?" he asked. He didn't want to mess this up.

"Yes." Hawkgirl said with a strong and confidant nod.

"Then I guess you should take it." Mercury said. "It's best if we keep people safe after all."

"Thank you." She said. Before he knew what was happening, Hawkgirl leaned forward and pecked him on his exposed cheek. Mercury felt all his blood rush to his face and gibberish came out of his mouth. Hawkgirl smiled as she spread her wings. "Aw, you really are a cutie. I'll contact you again if anything changes."

"...Okay..." Mercury said, a hand on his cheek while he watched Hawkgirl fly out the open skylight she came in. Wow...Wally was sure going to be jealous. The communicator in his helm beeped and Mercury pressed a button underneath the left wing. "Mercury here."

"You okay? You sound dazed." Flash's concerned voice came through the machine.

"Yeah...I'm good." Mercury knew he was grinning. "What's up, Flash?"

"KF told me about the artifact you got off Boomer." The older speedster said.

"Oh that? I gave it to Hawkgirl, no worries." Mercury said.

"Hawkgirl?" Flash asked.

"Yeah, she said it was cursed."

"...Shayera, what do you know about a Hawkgirl?"

"What did Kendra do now?" a woman with a strong voice asked, though it sounded distant.

Kendra? Nice name. Mercury noted before retelling everything that happened between him and Hawkgirl, leaving out the 'cutie' remarks and the kiss on the cheek. That was to gloat about later to Wally. When he finished, he heard some foreign words that had to be Thangarian cursing.

"Uh, did I do something wrong?" Mercury asked nervously.

"Not entirely." Flash said quickly. "You just might've fallen victim to one of our many weaknesses."

"What's that?" Mercury asked, alarmed.

"A pretty smile." Flash said, chuckling as another spew of Thangarian curses left 'Shayera's mouth.

Mercury groaned. "Man...It was a nice one."

"I'm sure it was. Don't sweat it, happened all the time before I got Iris." Flash said consolingly.

"I'll get it back." Mercury said determinedly. "I promise."

"Hey, don't worry about it. We can do this together when I'm done in India." Flash said.

"No, this is my mess and I need to clean it up." Mercury said. He ended the conversation before Flash could refute him and sped out of the museum. He had a bird to cage.

Review!