"So…a thief managed to bypass the security system, all the night watchmen, and turn off all the cameras to steal a sword?" Asks a man in a suit writing in a small notepad.
He was in a museum room that had a broken display case with glass scattered on the floor with various other types of ancient artifacts scattered around the place. In front of the man was another, this one a little older and balding wearing glasses in his suit had a badge identifying him as a museum employee.
"Not just a sword, Detective Daniels, it was Beowulf's sword, it's priceless." Declares the man energetically, which earns him an expressionless look from the detective. "Legend has it that it brings great powers to the pure in heart, there is even an ancient enchantment that supposedly invokes power."
With that, the museum employee intones some words that the detective doesn't understand. Still expressionless, Detective Daniels turned back to his notepad before crossing out the word powers.
"Very well... The police will do what they can to help, but by then the thief must be far away." Declares the detective.
"Don't be so hasty." Comments another voice, making everyone turn to a corner of the ceiling where a young adult was hiding.
He had long brown hair with some scars passing over his left eye, he was wearing only a long gray overcoat with sweatpants and a pair of boots, his hands were covered in black gloves, but what caught the most attention about him was the sword in his hands.
The boy quickly jumped from his seat, landing softly on the ground as he stood up and faced the police with a malicious smile on his face. "That's the kind of mediocrity Harm sees everywhere."
At that moment several policemen appeared in the room, all with weapons in hand, who as soon as they saw Harm took aim at him giving orders to drop the weapon and lie down on the floor.
"Still, Harm is grateful, Harm needed the words." Thanks the boy holding the hilt of the sword with his smile becoming wider. "Apana, afolk, Beowulf."
With that, the scabbard of the weapon suddenly opens revealing to be in the shape of a hand while yellow rays come out of the blade, in that Harm took a swing with his weapon shooting a ray at the police, which made them fall.
"…That was really unsatisfying." Comments Harm looking at the police before his eyes focus on the museum employee. "Harm and the sword will need better enemies."
"No... B-but the legend... only the pure in heart could use the power of the sword..." Murmurs the man walking backwards before stumbling and falling to the ground.
"The legend says that the heart must be pure, but it never said that it necessarily needed to be good and there is no one purer than me." Corrects Harm before rushing forward causing the employee to scream.
(In another place.)
"You know, I never imagined that bingo would be so much fun." Comments Jinx excited marking several cards in front of her while Armin was busy cursing his cards with few numbers marked.
"I'm glad you like it, now… your bad luck absorbs the luck of those around you while you become extremely lucky?" Asks Armin making the girl freeze and stare at him in surprise, however she soon gives him a seductive smile before leaning towards his ear.
"It will be our little secret..." With that she blows on his ear, making the boy's eyes widen as she walked away winking at him. "But I might consider talking to you..."
"Really? And what would I have to do?" Asks Armin leaning towards her which makes the girl smile at him in a way that reminded him of a feline.
"What do you think of play tag?" Hearing that, a smile appeared on Armin's face before the two got up and left the place. Getting a look from an elderly couple.
"Finally, that kid got someone." Grumbles the old man returning to bingo.
(Scene break.)
Inside the team's base, Wally raised his head, which contained a wig and fake beard before howling in an exaggerated manner, after which he turned to the mutated wolf sleeping on the ground.
"Really? You're not gonna join in at all?" Asks Wally looking at the sleeping animal with a frown. "What kind of wolf are you?"
"Wally, stop torturing him with your antics." Superboy scolds the speedster while Megan wraps several bandages around him before facing the Superman's clone.
"Hold still please, I'm almost done." With that, the girl soon walks away to face the boy covered in bandages from head to toe.
He stared at her for a few seconds before looking down at himself as Wally approached the two and smirked.
"Megan, stop torturing him." Jokes the boy making the two roll their eyes with his joke. "Awkward for him anyway, being a third wheel on our date."
Upon hearing this, Megan's expression becomes less friendly and she faces the speedster with a more serious look. "Wally, I invited the entire team to the dance… And Artemis invited Zatanna too."
Wally nods with a smile "Good, keep us low profile."
Megan glared at him with a raised eyebrow as Conner rolled his eyes at the scene in front of him. He really didn't care that much about this party, he was only going because Megan had invited him and apparently called Naruto.
The Superman clone didn't realize it until recently, but he noted that it had been a while since he'd seen his brother around outside of missions as they went out to destroy things in a junkyard or fight over the television remote. He remembered fighting with Naruto during the betrayal of the red tornado, but he could have sworn they had made up afterwards...but then why didn't he remember?
He had asked Megan if she could scan his brain to make sure nothing was wrong, which she did hesitantly but assured him that everything was fine. However, ever since he and his brother fought Desaad, Conner had started to notice inconsistencies in his thoughts, in his memories and it was worrying him.
"Recognized Artemis B-0-7. Recognized Zatanna Zatara A-0-3."
At that moment, the two girls leave the zeta tubes, however the boy soon has his attention diverted to Megan who took his arm before starting to wrap more bandages around him.
"I think you need more bandages." Declares the girl making Conner smile at her accepting her help.
Unbeknownst to them, Artemis glared at them with a small frown as Zatanna approached her.
"So how long have Conner and Megan been a couple?"
Hearing this Artemis glared at the girl who was very friendly to Naruto before turning to Megan with Conner, she didn't know why, but something was bothering her about all of this, ever since they rescued Red Tornado. Besides, the archer wasn't blind, the blonde realized that something must have gone down between Naruto and Megan considering how they were avoiding each other and how the Martian always blushed when he was mentioned.
"Yes, a couple." Comments the blonde-haired woman before walking away again, making Wally stare at her.
"Hey Artemis, where are you going?" Asks the boy waving at her.
"I have something to do, I just remembered that now." Declares the girl before Zatanna goes after her.
Conner, who remained oblivious to this, looked at Megan softly before looking around.
"Hey Megan, do you know where Naruto is? Shouldn't he have arrived already?"
(At the same time.)
Naruto had a confused and curious look as he looked at the fluffy texture in his hands, he didn't know what this thing really was but it looked completely foreign to him. The redhead slowly sniffed the object in his hands before finally putting it in his mouth and starting to eat it.
The boy stayed like that for a few moments until he swallowed, with that he blinked again before hearing a laugh from his side. Immediately he turned his head towards Rachel who was giggling beside him before smiling back at him.
"So? What did you think of your first Marshmallow?" Asks the girl making Naruto look at her before taking another candy from the bag between them, which made the girl laugh a little more.
"It is certainly strange, as well as the taste… but I didn't hate it, thanks for introducing me to something more of humanity." Thanks Naruto making the girl smile at him.
"You're welcome and thanks for bringing me here."
With that, she looked around where they were. The redhead brought the girl to the top of one of New York's buildings overlooking the entire city and central park.
The two were wearing hoodies with several bags of candy and two coffees next to them as they looked out over the city. Naruto smiled even more when his eyes dropped to his friend's outfit, surprisingly Rachel had a sweatshirt that seemed to be a copy of Ikarus's costume, and the most impressive thing is that the girl herself made the coat herself.
"No problem, I like spending time with you, one of the few humans that doesn't annoy me like the others." Comments the redhead with a tired sigh taking a second Marshmallow. "Why couldn't the rest of them be more like you?"
"I don't know, but not all of them are so bad… although I find myself arguing about this same subject sometimes." Reflects Rachel before the two start laughing a little, with that the girl puts her head on his shoulder as they look at the city.
They were silent for a few moments just enjoying the cool night wind and silence before Rachel pulls away and looks directly at the redhead, which causes him to turn to her raising an eyebrow.
"What is that?" Asks Naruto confused.
"Something happened, didn't it? You've been gone for a week practically." Comments Rachel looking at Naruto with a worried face.
The redhead cringed at that, after all he really was gone as he worked on his spell tirelessly during that time and it still wasn't even close to being finished. However, something that Naruto hadn't fully taken into account was that even though the team and the league didn't really care about him, his friends did, Rachel, Zatanna, Armin, Konan and Roy, they were all worried about his disappearance.
This whole situation for him was so strange, humans and their emotions confused him, he was tougher than they, stronger, faster were, made to kill anyone in the justice league, the most powerful in the land and probably beyond and still, they were worried about him. It was something foreign to him, but it wasn't unpleasant, for some reason the redhead found himself liking it more and more in his human friends.
"I've been doing a spell from scratch, that kind of thing really takes time." Explains Naruto with a neutral expression before making a face and taking off his camouflage ring revealing his real image, something that made Rachel raise her eyebrow in confusion. "But I don't think it was just that, a week ago the team had a training simulation where we were inserted into an artificial reality where the whole league died and we had to deal with the situation... everything was going well as possible until something happens and… Megan kissed me..."
As he said that Naruto's memories flashed back to the long lecture Konan gave him about love, romance and his actions. He couldn't quite understand the situation, Megan was his friend, but she betrayed him and practically abandoned him, now she liked him? The redhead couldn't help but wonder if the Martians weren't a different evolution of humanity considering how confusing the two species were to him.
Unfortunately, the redhead was so immersed in his thoughts that he completely missed the gasp of shock coming from his companion, as well as her wide eyes. The girl immediately lowered her head as her thoughts raced in her head thinking about it... Megan was Miss Martian and classmate of the two, Naruto revealed everything to her about the team and the league, Rachel was no longer really a fan them and their opinion of their protectors dimmed a little more.
No one, absolutely no one could be deified as people did with the league, Rachel despite admiring them when she saw their high control not to exaggerate against their opponents could not help but see the flaws they caused, havoc in the city, the collateral damage. Actually, in a fight between a hero and villain they ended up much worse than when they were just police and that's because there wasn't a fight between two beings that could destroy buildings with just one punch.
A frown appeared on her face as the girl looked at her socially and emotionally stunted best friend, she soon had an idea that made her cheeks flush, with that she looked away, getting closer to her friend.
"... It's strange, Konan told me that kisses should only be shared between two people who like each other very much and Megan, she... she was my friend, she abandoned me, the kiss she gave me felt wrong now, like if it was dirty." Declares the redhead unaware of his friend's internal debate.
"Naru..." Calls the girl making the boy turn to her and raise an eyebrow when he hears her heart racing. "You… What are the people you like?"
Upon hearing the question, Naruto blinked in confusion before a thoughtful expression appeared on his face. "Well… not so many, but I would say that my mom, my dad, Armin, Roy, Zatanna, you, maybe Jinx and this Jade girl…"
Suddenly he found himself stopping, even freezing, when he felt a pair of lips pecking his cheek, which made the boy widen his eyes looking at Rachel who was now walking away from him with a blush on her face and her heart racing, something that was copied completely for the redhead, even if he didn't know it.
"Now you got a real kiss." Declares the girl smiling softly at him, which makes the redhead stare at her stunned.
Soon the eyes of the two met making the two remain silent, the rhythm of the two hearts seemed to match, looking like a song for the redhead, it was beautiful, she was ... Suddenly an explosion happened making the two turn to a street not far from them there was now a large amount of smoke rising in the air. Rachel was wide eyed as Naruto stood up to look worriedly at the room, with that he closed his eyes and focused completely on his hearing, he stayed like that for a while before widening his eyes.
"Zatanna?" Murmurs the worried redhead before turning to Rachel. "I..."
"It's okay, go save her, I'll find a way to get down..." The girl begins before the redhead blurs towards her and the next, Rachel finds herself standing in front of a subway station with Ikarus holding and staring her with concern. "...from here."
"I'm sorry about that, but you have to get back home, here." Declares Ikarus taking what looked like a flip phone and gave it to her. "This is a cellphone with locator; keep it with you all the time someone will come to take you back while I go there to help Zatanna."
With that said, the redhead was about to walk away when Rachel suddenly grabbed his hand making the boy turn to her confused when he saw her uncertain expression.
"I…" Starts the girl before swallowing hard and releasing him. "Be careful." The redhead smiled at her before flying away, with Rachel watching him leave, with that, she opened her cell phone and called the only number she had on it and to her surprise, it was answered immediately.
"Naru? Is your date already over or is it a new problem?" Asks an male voice, which makes Rachel swallow hard, she really wasn't good at meeting new people.
"Eh... It's not Naruto; I'm his friend Rachel Roth..."
(Scene break.)
Zatanna and Artemis watched cautiously as the man with a sword in his hands smirked at the two, with a sadistic gleam in his eyes, the archer with her bow ready and an arrow in it aiming at her current opponent while they heard him talking.
"…Harm will analyze the two of them to learn methods of killing their mentors." Declares Harm while pointing his sword at them, which makes Zatanna widen her eyes before an irritated frown appears on her face.
"I can't believe you just threatened my father." Zatanna growls furiously before extending her hand to him. "Etativel Drows ot em!"
At that moment, the sword in Harm's hands started to shake, but it didn't seem like it was going to get out of his grasp, which made the girl's eyes widen in shock. In response, Harm seemed to give a small snort before smirking like a bloodthirsty beast at Zatanna, sending a shiver down her spine.
"If 'this one' wants Harm's sword so badly, here she goes!" Exclaims the man before throwing the sword at the girl.
Zatanna's eyes widened seeing the weapon approaching quickly, at the same time Artemis shot two arrows at the sword, however the two did not hit the target, with the sword seeming to start spinning in the air deflecting. That is when the mage understood, it was a magic sword, that is, only a high-level magic barrier or a magic material could block it and Zatanna didn't know any spells of that level.
Just as the weapon was about to strike, a golden chain with an Ank on the end slammed into the weapon, sending it flying back towards Harm who was forced to jump out of the way as the blade pierced the street. In that, all three follow the path of the chain and see Ikarus flying in the sky holding it, before it disappears and the hero flies towards the two girls, catching them by the waist and flying to the roofs of the buildings.
Once there Ikarus landed softly letting the two-step onto the roof safely while they caught their breath.
"Thank you for saving Naru." Thanks Zatanna making the redhead nod before giving a quick look to Artemis and then turning to the place where the smoke came from.
"Then who would that be?" Asks Ikarus narrowing his eyes.
"Secret." Answers a new voice making the three turn to a blonde girl younger than them wearing a completely white outfit with a hood covering her face.
As soon as he saw her Ikarus felt something strange almost immediately, she had no pulse, she had no smell, it was as if she wasn't even there, but for some reason he could still feel that she was there, it seemed that the redhead was interacting with the Swamp Thing.
"Not trying to be annoying, but who are you? Do you know this Harm? Does he have any weaknesses?" Asks Artemis making the girl in white face her.
"Secret." With that, the girl points behind them.
The three of them turned back there and saw Harm landing on top of the edge of the building and looking at the three of them, an excited glint in his eyes.
"You… make the hunt so much more interesting." Reveals Harm approaching with the weapon in hand.
"Go." Commands Ikarus before blurring towards the swordsman, making Zatanna want to run after him, but Artemis stops her making the two exchange a look before running away.
They break into a run when they see Secret staring at them from a few buildings away and waves at them, the two girls glare at each other before quickening their pace towards the mystery girl.
(Scene break.)
The redhead dodged a blow from Harm and tried to hit him with a punch that is also deflected by him, with that Ikarus goes up in the air and uses his omega rays on him, however Harm just raises his weapon causing the rays to be reflected by the blade. However, upon noticing this, Darkseid's clone dodges his reflected beams and stops using them.
Immediately the boy returns to the ground and frowns at Harm who quickly advances towards him, with that Ikarus raises his hand to hold the blade, when suddenly his eyes widen and he tries to lower his hand, but it was too late. The blade impacts on his skin and ends up severing his thumb, but fails to cut his armor, noticing this Ikarus kicks Harm in the chest sending him flying.
The swordsman grunts into the air as a golden circle glows on his chest and he spins around before landing softly on the ground, but his opponent has disappeared from his sight.
(With Naruto.)
"Damn...that hurt..." Naruto thinks pulling away from Harm as he looks at his hand now missing one of the fingers. "Whatever that weapon is made of or the enchantment on it is strong enough to hurt me, but not enough to destroy my armor..."
At that moment the redhead sits against a water tank breathing heavily, unaware of how a red glow and a green glow have begun to emanate from his wound. "If the green hadn't told me to back off, it would probably end worse than it does now... No, don't think about it now, first I must regroup with Zatanna and Artemis and then see how to proceed."
With that in mind, the redhead stands up and closes his eyes focusing on his hearing, never noticing the fox on top of the water tank staring at him with eyes glowing red before evaporating into a red mist.
(With Zatanna and Artemis.)
A pair of yellow bolts hit a door that the two were approaching through the roof, with that the two turned, with Artemis bringing her bow and arrow, but a dagger cut the rope and the girl's left cheek before lodging in the wall behind them. The archer snarled, looking down at her bow before looking at the approaching Harm, sword in hand.
"Hold him while I sort this out." Asks Artemis looking at her bow, with that Zatanna advances a little preparing for a spell before being kicked to the wall.
After that Harm advances on the girl who dodges a blow from him before counterattacking with his bow, but Harm now breaks it with his sword when he ducks dodging a kick from her. With that, he extended the sword that stops leaning against her face while the archer now held a small crossbow with a dart pointed at his face.
"Do you want to play without the toys?" Teases the archer, which makes Harm smile at her.
"This one tries to hook Harm, make Harm weak." Comments Harm sheathing his sword before sticking the weapon in the ground causing cracks in it. "But Harm has no weaknesses."
With that, the man removes his overcoat revealing his muscles before getting into a fighting stance. Seeing this, Artemis throws her crossbow away and gets into a boxing stance before lunging at her opponent throwing several punches and kicks that are deflected or blocked by Harm with almost no effort.
However, she was soon out of breath when Harm kneed her in the stomach, and prepared to punch her before a pair of boots that threw him backwards blocked his vision. With that, Artemis lets out a small cough before lifting her head and seeing the Red X in front of her.
"Hello, so… I don't think this is how you play without toys." Jokes the thief turning to the Harm that was committed and now faced him. "Especially if you are older and remove your coat, that seems kind of wrong, you know?"
"More people for Harm's hunt." Comment Harm excited before someone grabs him and throws him to the back roof, revealing that Ikarus was there.
Immediately Ikarus and the red X exchange a nod before turning to Zatanna and Jinx who were trying to pull the sword out of the ground before the two are shocked by yellow lightning, which makes the two run towards them.
"ZATANNA!"
"JINX!"
It was at that moment that Artemis got up and ran to them kneeling in front of Naruto who looked worriedly at a stunned Zatanna. The blonde-haired woman faced her friend and was calmer seeing her without any injuries, but her feeling changes to concern when she sees Ikarus's hand.
"Naruto, you're bleeding." Declares the girl in disbelief, which makes Ikarus blink confused and stare at her.
"Just bleeding? But didn't I lose a finger too?" Ikarus thinks confused before looking at said hand and widening his eyes in surprise to see that he still had all five fingers, but still covered in blood. "H-how!?"
"Naru? Are you okay?" Asks X when he notices his friend's surprised look, who gives him a quick look before nodding weakly, however he soon looks away to something behind him, making the thief also look.
A few rooftops away, Secret was waving at them, the X stared at her for a few moments and then turned to Ikarus.
"...New friend?"
"Yeah, something like that, let's go." With that Ikarus lifts Zatanna in his arms and runs after the secret, which makes Artemis, X and Jinx follow him, the pink one still a little stunned, but good enough to follow them.
"I have to say." Jinx declares running with Artemis and X. "You certainly have the most bizarre dates of my life."
"Thanks! Wait until you see what I have planned for the next one!" Nods X making Artemis look between the two incredulously.
"I'm looking forward to it, but if it's an alien invasion..."
"How about the lovebirds think about the honeymoon after we deal with the psycho after us!? And Zatanna stop pretending, I know you can still walk." Asks Artemis making Zatanna lift her head and face her from Ikarus's arms.
"Sorry, but he's faster that way, I'm not the most athletic you know?"
At that moment they all jumped to the last building and advanced to the edge where they stopped seeing the street and a small convenience store on the other side. Seeing this Ikarus puts the mage on the ground and turns back, being able to hear his pursuer before turning to his companions.
"Jinx, Zatanna, are you two okay? Can you still fight?" Asks Ikarus making Jinx frown at him.
"Yes, I can still fight, that was more of an insignificant punishment than a real shock." Declares the pink one with Zatanna nodding.
With that, the redhead turns to Artemis who has now picked up his crossbow and loaded a few darts in it before nodding at Ikarus with a raised thumb. At that, the redhead exchanged a look with his best friend who nodded, after that Harm landed on the roof where they were with his sword drawn and a furious frown on his face.
Immediately, Ikarus and X got into a fighting stance while Zatanna and Jinx readied their powers to target him, along with Artemis who extended her crossbow.
"This can't be a coincidence!" Exclaims Harm advancing towards them with small rays covering the blade of the sword. "They stop on the exact roof of Harm! How do they know!? Tell Harm now!"
"...Is that your house? Damn no wonder you're so grumpy, I would be too if I lived in a place falling apart." Comments X, which only made Harm growl before sticking his sword in the ground causing a beam of energy to come out of the ground towards them.
Seeing this X and Ikarus jumped out of the way, unfortunately the girls behind them were hit being covered by electricity, which made both of them widen their eyes before advancing on Harm, who ceases the attack causing them to fall. With that, the swordsman tied Ikarus, but he raises his arm letting it hit the armor and block the attack making the man widen his eyes before receiving a punch in the ribs, courtesy of X.
With that, the thief advances with several kicks that Harm dodges before X advances with a cross, but at the last moment he ducks, letting Ikarus' fist pass through him and hit the swordsman, throwing him forward, in which the two advance at him. When, suddenly, Harm's chest glows and he shoots several bolts at the two who scream in pain before falling to the ground unconscious.
(Some time later.)
Artemis grunted upon waking up lifting her groggy head around in confusion seeing what appeared to be various toys, figurines and prizes around her, however her expression soon changed to shock and horror upon seeing that she was tied to a chair with only her clothes underneath and no hero uniform.
"What the hell?" Asks the horrified and terrified blonde-haired woman before hearing something behind her and turns to see what appeared to be a boy with black hair and blue eyes in the same situation as her tied up and the two with the backs of their chairs leaning against each other.
"Hello… Artemis right?" Asks the boy with a light and friendly tone making her face him in disbelief. "Oh yeah, you don't know who I am, well... I'm the Red X, Naruto's best friend, nice to meet you; it looks like this guy at least knows how to imprison enemies..."
It was at that moment that X fell silent for a few moments before sighing.
"Look, don't worry, it's something you get used to after being captured by some professional and dangerous villains, just leave everything to me and I promise you that this Harm won't lay a single finger on you." Ensures the X softly making Artemis face him for a few moments uncertainly. When suddenly a television that was between them turned on showing Zatanna and Jinx tied up with the crossbow of Artemis aimed at the first and a weapon for the second, in addition it also showed Ikarus tied to a bed with some kind of mask with some gas placed on it.
"So you guys woke up…" Harm's voice comments from somewhere in the room. "You will tell Harm all your secrets, or your friends will suffer the consequences."
It was at that moment that Harm approached the two and leaned towards them.
"How did you find out about Harm's house?"
"Can you change the channel?" Asks X making the other two look at him and they saw him looking at a clock on the wall. "It's about ten o'clock, there was going to be a rerun of old Barbie movies and I've wanted to see them."
In this Harm faces him while Artemis flinched seeing this, it was at that moment that the X turned to him staring at him.
"I even saw that stuffed unicorn, I liked him, do you mind if I call him Mr. Pudding? I don't know, he looks like Pudding." Suddenly the boy received a punch from Harm before he grabbed his cheeks and raised him to face the swordsman.
"Shut up or Harm will cut your tongue out." Growls the swordsman taking his hand to his dagger.
(At the same time.)
Jinx and Zatanna, who were in the same state as their friends, looked at the weapons pointed at them before the second one turned to the doped up Ikarus, which made her frown. The pink one on the other hand appeared to be quite calm with the situation looking around curiously before looking back at the camera recording, when a loud thud was heard.
With that the girl smiled before leaning a little forward and throwing herself backwards causing the chair to break, which caught Zatanna's attention who turned around to see the free pink girl on the floor moaning a little in pain.
"That… isn't very nice." Comments the pink one getting up before taking a step back scared when the Secret went by her going to Zatanna and removing the tape that covered her mouth.
The mage blinked in surprise for a few moments before looking at Secret who remained impassive before looking at the ropes that bound her.
"Sepor, emoc esool." The girl chants making the ropes undo her and fly away, with wisdom the girl runs to Ikarus who was still wearing his armor before removing the mask that was placed on him, with that she took his face and started to rock him gently. "Come on Naru, you have to wake up, I thought you were immune to that kind of thing."
"I'm... immune to the ones I've been exposed to..." Comments a groggy Naruto, getting up shakily, shaking his head to the delight of Zatanna and Jinx. "But with the new ones? It takes a little time to create resistance."
With that, Jinx looks at what appears to be furniture from a girl's room, she quickly moves towards them before blinking in surprise seeing what appears to be a photo of Secret with Harm, both smiling and happy. The pink one looked at the photo before looking around, everything was dusty and the bed looked like it hadn't been used in years.
The girl in pink soon gave Secret a look and frowned at her seeing that the girl was staring at her.
"Where are our..." Starts Jinx however a glow appeared around her and Zatanna before diminishing revealing the two with their uniforms, with that she turned to Naruto who had his hand extended to them and immediately groaned grabbing your head.
Secret gave him a look before looking at the two of them and pointing at the camera, causing the three to stare at each other before Zatanna smirked.
(With others)
"Man... You are a terrible host..." Comments the X with blood falling from his face with the left side swollen, before receiving another blow to the face making him spit blood while panting.
Behind him Artemis was frozen with wide eyes listening to everything that was happening behind her, she already realized what the X was doing, attracting her captor's attention all to him while leaving the archer out. It was frustrating that she was in this situation, Artemis felt weak, she wanted to say something, draw Harm's attention away from the X, but she couldn't find the courage to do it.
"Damn… I can't believe I missed the best part of the show." X's voice echoes making Artemis look at the television and widen her eyes seeing that the others have completely disappeared, it was at that moment that Harm ran past them leaving the room.
She heard his footsteps retreating before trying to look at the boy behind her.
"Hey are you okay? I... I'm sorry, I wanted to say something, but... I couldn't." Declares Artemis frustrated letting out a sigh. "Yeah…it's these damn secrets, I'm so pissed off about it all the time, first my family lying and keeping secrets from me, now the team doing it, my friends, the league… I just… Fuck, I can't take this shit anymore."
Suddenly X reappeared in front of her in full uniform and helmet in one hand while in the other he held what looked like her entire uniform.
"Not to interrupt you, but we have a psychopath here, so how about you just get up and put on your uniform so we can face him?" X advises by extending the clothes to her, which makes the girl finally realize how loose the strings were.
With that she quickly blushed before taking X's uniform and starting to put it on before the boy put the helmet on his head.
It was at that moment that the others entered the room where they saw Artemis putting on her uniform, she suddenly brightened and saw herself wearing the uniform, with that she looked at Naruto and waved at him.
'Thanks."
"You're welcome, now let's go."
Immediately the five left the room as they ran into the hallway reaching the stairs where they saw Secret there beckoning them to follow, which makes Artemis pull out her crossbow and point at her, but Jinx lowers her gun.
"What are you doing!? She lured us here, she's on his side." Claims the archer making Jinx stare.
"I'm not so sure about that and… Oh shit." The pinkette starts before widening her eyes seeing Harm at the top of the stairs.
At that moment, lightning comes out of the sword forcing the five to jump as they fall to the ground making a hole. Harm growled seeing this taking a few steps forward before widening his eyes seeing Secret at the end of the corridor staring at him before walking off, the swordsman stood still for a few moments until he jumped into the hole where he saw his prey fleeing for a door.
He suddenly raised his hand catching a small dart thrown at him, which made Artemis smile before closing the door and locking it. The swordsman raised an eyebrow before noticing the stove on and open with the gas leaking in droves; it was at that moment that the arrowhead caught fire making his eyes widen.
"Ah, that damn girl..."
(At the same time.)
"And here is the way out." Declares the X when everything seemed to shake and the five faced each other.
At that, the thief opened the doors revealing that they had now entered the backyard of the property, immediately they noticed many trees and flowers, but what most caught their attention was a tomb in the middle of the place. Cautiously they approached it, which made Zatanna approach to read the inscription on the tomb.
"Greta Hayers, beloved sister."
It was at that moment that a shining figure emerged from the earthen mound and quickly transformed into Secret, X screamed, pointed to the girl, and jumped on top of Ikarus, who immediately took him into his arms. At the same time, Jinx leaped to the side of the Darkseid clone and used him as a shield, and Zatanna and Artemis retreated a short distance. However, the redhead did nothing except stare at the ghostly girl in front of them in silence and with vacant eyes.
"G-G-ghost!" Armin exclaims scared when Ikarus put him on the ground calmly and walked towards Secret, or Greta now.
"It was him, wasn't it?" Asks Naruto making everyone stare at him.
Greta glared at him before nodding and raising her hands so that the image of a dagger appeared Harm's dagger. Everyone watched as Ikarus seemed to slowly grow, going into his battle mode before turning around with red mist pouring out of his eyes, immediately everyone turned to see the Harm standing there glaring at them with a frown.
"Unforgivable, you are desecrating the holy shrine of Harm!" Exclaims Harm furiously making Ikarus take a step forward, silent as he stared at him; however he seemed to stop for a few moments and then disappeared from view.
Suddenly Ikarus was in his normal form and grabbed Harm with his arms that made Harm scream in pain trying to free himself.
"How!? Harm knows this one wasn't this fast in our last fight!" Exclaims Harm trying to free himself, but Ikarus didn't move at all.
It was at that moment that the Secret appeared in front of Harm with a frown, which made the swordsman snarl and glare at Zatanna.
"Your illusion spells won't fool Harm!" Exclaims the man, which makes the girl smile maliciously.
"But I didn't say anything and Harm knows that 'this one' can only do a spell if I talks." Declares the girl before the secret sticks her hand in Harm's chest making the same scream until she removed what looked like a sphere of golden light before it disappeared from sight.
"Secret." With that, the girl evaporated in the wind while Harm fell to the ground.
His own sword seemed to float in the air before slipping into its scabbard and dropping harmlessly to the ground. Harm snarled into the ground before picking up the sword and trying to pry it open, but he was shocked before being sent into the wall and onto the floor again.
"…Humans, sometimes you disgust me." Ikarus murmurs softly to himself before X slaps him on the shoulder.
"I agree with you friend, I agree with you." X nods.
At that moment, Zatanna turns to the tomb with an uncertain look before turning back to Artemis.
"Is this what you deal with every day?" Asks the magician making Artemis blink before becoming thoughtful.
"Well... It's not very common, usually there are more bank robberies and some gangsters, things like that, you know?" Declares the archer.
However, thanks to the conversation between them none noticed Harm getting up as he grabbed his dagger and threw it towards the archer. As the weapon floated in the air X turned around grabbing the sword Harm was wielding and unsheathed it, to the swordsman's shock, blocking the dagger at the same time Ikarus turned and used his omega beams on the villain's chest making a cauterized hole.
Harm choked on blood before he dropped to his knees and soon his body followed him to the ground. Everyone stood in shocked silence staring at the body while X...
"Wow, I liked this sword, it's well balanced and the blade is pretty, I think I'll keep it and..." It was at that moment that X noticed that everyone was staring at him, which made him look at everyone confused. "What?"
(Scene break.)
Inside the batcave, Batman was calmly typing on the computer analyzing some clues and data about Two-Face when suddenly the sound of an engine echoed behind him, making him turn around. Coming from the cave tunnel was a motorbike that braked sharply before stopping next to the batmobile, with that the person on top of the vehicle removed his helmet revealing herself the Black Canary.
"Bruce, we need to talk." Declares the woman before getting off her motorcycle leaving her helmet on top.
"I'm busy right now, what's so important that you had to come here yourself?" asks Batman with a frown, which makes the woman frown at him before crossing her arms.
"Your plan is horrible and one of the two most horrible things you've ever done." declares the woman suddenly causing the masked vigilante to raise an eyebrow. "Your plan to 'control' Ikarus."
Hearing this Batman's posture stiffened before he got up and approached the woman who didn't back down even with his glare.
"Ikarus is a danger to the entire Justice League and even worse, to all of humanity." Declares the hero sternly staring at her. "We need to control him, show him who is in control and make him submit to our authority and if not, we must use our best chance to overthrow him."
"And this is how you intend to do this? Isolating him from the rest of the team, brainwashing his brother, using a girl who just wanted to blend in to do the heavy lifting? I never thought you played that dirty." The woman growls, not letting herself back down. "He's just a boy who just discovered the world, he's not evil."
"He could be, it's in his DNA." The man growls making her stare at him in shock. "You weren't there, you didn't see him, no matter what we threw at him or who faced him, and we couldn't even defeat him. Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lanterns, Aquaman, Icon, Captain Marvel, Black Adam, Bizarro, Artemis, among many other heavyweight heroes and villains had to join the fight and we almost lost, we only managed to hurt him by taking a few drops of blood and we almost died."
Upon hearing this, the heroine was silent, being able to see the frustration of the hero in front of her, she could not blame him for that, she even remembered the fear she felt during the invasion, how she almost died fighting the parademons.
"We only defeated him thanks to a stroke of luck, a barrier spell, made exclusively for him and his followers, and we still need several high-level mages, among them Dr. Fate to get him off Earth..." Batman clenches his fists immersed in memories while the woman was silently watching him. "This spell won't last forever, sooner or later it will wear off and it will come back and now we find out that Poison Ivy was also more than we expected and he has her DNA. Now tell me, what would happen if this boy decided to follow their example? Darkseid is something worse than a monster and now all of Poison Ivy's abilities are questionable, we wouldn't survive a second attack."
"But this plan of yours uses fear... It might push him right at Darkseid, have you even considered that!?" Exclaims the incredulous Canary.
"He will not go." Guarantees Batman by making the woman grunt at him.
"And how are you so sure?"
"Because I understand fear better than anyone."
With that, the two were silent, staring at each other before Batman returned to his computer and sat down in his chair.
"We are done here."
"...The rest of the league and I trusted you when you said you'd keep an eye on the kids." Comments to Black Canary making Batman turn to see her stern look. "But I cannot and will not accept this plan of yours."
With that, the heroine turned around heading towards her motorcycle before leaving the cave.
(In another place.)
A man in the darkness of a room watched the screen on his computer that showed Black Canary riding his motorbike out of the cave. He was silent for a few seconds before leaning forward revealing himself the Deathstroke.
"That will complicate things."