Disclaimer: I dont own Naruto or Marvel
Here it is, another update, I know it was pretty quick but I felt inspired and I had a free day, so this chapter was easy for me to write. ANyway this takes some dialogue from Ultimate X-men 10, but has a very different outcome
The Ultimate Saviours
Chapter 9: The cycle of hatred
The mutants were tired of being prisoners. One mutant in particular was tired of being lied to. Ororo Munroe trusted those in charge of Camp Angel, she cooperated with the hope that working within the system would gradually make things better for her people. But still people like Stacy X encouraged hatred, and with seemingly good reason. The guards of Camp Angel were far from powerless; there were whispers throughout the camp of what went on in the basements. Ororo tried, yet even her patience had a limit. When mutants were declared experiments, that was when she grew tired. Abandoning the garbs of a nurse and cutting her hair, Ororo donned a suit for battle. She unleashed the Storm and triggered the rebellion at Camp Angel. Inspired by the events at Times Square, the mutants fought back, destroying the walls that imprisoned them. They discovered that rumours had been truth and mourned their losses. Ororo herself found her friend Piotr, a former X-man like her. He freed himself and they hugged for the first time in months.
Now they were free and in control of the Camp. The guards were their prisoners and they would claim their reckoning. John Walker knew this day would come, it was why he'd try to be firm, to establish dominance over those with power. He looked to his friend and mentor Colonel Lake. The Colonel was a family man, just a few months away from retirement and this whole mess happened.
'Damn you Cooper,' John thought.
The MRD was supposed to respond to mutant 'uprisings' yet there was no sign of a rescue coming. But John didn't lower his head in defeat. He'd only been following orders, and he wasn't ashamed of that. Colonel Lake was however; he'd always said that they needed to be firm but fair with the mutants. Now they were sat, tied up on a stage with a madwoman calling for their execution.
"This is not murder! This is Justice!" Stacy X declared.
The whole camp had gathered to watch the woman speak.
"In their society, they say if a man kills another, he should be put to death! In their society, they say in war killing is permissible. Well, we've seen the bodies of our murdered brothers and sister that they hid in the lower levels! And we know this is a war! So who can condemn us for this? History will call us revolutionaries!"
"Or butchers."
Everyone turned and watched as Storm walked through the crowd.
"Certainly not heroes, and as the person who began this uprising…"
"That doesn't make you our leader!" Stacy glared at Ororo.
"Never said it does," Ororo said as she stepped onto the stage. But I do think it entitles me to have my voice heard, listen to me, all of you. If you want to talk about freedom, about no longer sitting in their prisons, waiting for them to realise the erro of their ways then I am with you. But this…this is something else."
As Ororo spoke, two men who had been deemed saviours raced to Camp Hammond. Johnny carried Naruto in his Chakra form, drifting around, unable to even go in a straight line.
"God your heavy," Johnny groaned.
"And your costume looks stupid, what's the four about anyway?" Naruto asked.
"You've got your symbol and I've got mine!"
Meanwhile Sasuke remained calm as Lavinia flew him across the desert. She seemed to enjoy digging her talon like legs into Sasuke's shoulders, even ripping his shirt slightly.
"You might have to get a new shirt after this, although it'll be much better if you go shirtless," she sultry winked at the Uchiha.
"Last night, the world told us that we aren't the next step in evolution, that we weren't God's chosen. That were abnormalities, freaks. But I say that's up to us to decide! I say no matter how we were created, we can still inherit the future. But not because of our powers but because of our choices. Because we rejected the fear and violence and hatred of what came before us, if we do that then we'll have a true revolution on our hands. The man who taught me…Charles Xavier…he was a hero to our cause. He believed that we could be something better. Not to rule but to help and some of you look at where we are now and you mock him. You say his dream failed, that he was delusional. But Charles Xavier wasn't killed by them, he was killed by one of us."
The gathered mutants lowered their heads and remembered the day Charles Xavier died. Some say that mutants everywhere felt his death. He had fought for human rights and the dream that mutants could leave peacefully with humans. But someone who had once been a brother to him murdered him. Storm turned to the mutants, her gaze firm and resolve clear.
"So we should decide who we are and if we still want to be the future, then here's where we decide what kind of future we're living."
"You cant just…"
"No I cant Stacy, so I say we put it to a vote!"
Stacy X shook her head and turned to the crowd.
"No names, 'X' means they die," she said.
"One vote, 'O' means they live."
John watched the mutants hand out pieces of paper and decide their fate. Some thought, others didn't even need a moment to decide what they saw as the right thing. He looked to his colleagues, all of them nervous, some even afraid. The mutants put their votes into a bin and a blue skinned girl bought it to the stage. One of the older mutants, a technopath by the name of Madison Jeffries sat as the mediator, counting the votes and putting them into piles.
"I don't believe this," he gasped.
"What is it?" Stacy asked.
"It's a tie," he said.
"Impossible," Ororo said.
"I've counted twice, do we…do we flip a coin?" Madison asked.
Stacy turned to the crowd, intent on seeing blood.
"We vote again!" she said with a wave of her hand. "Someone will have changed their mind…"
"No. I believe I can settle this…"
The mutants whispered amongst themselves as Piotr walked through the crowd. He was clad in his armoured form, the form of Colossus.
"My vote is yet to be counted yes?" Piotr asked.
"He cant…"
"He has as much right as any other," Ororo interrupted Stacy, smiling at her friend.
"Fine. You want to be lambs? Wait here for your slaughter, we're going home, we're going to take back what's ours," Stacy sighed as she began to walk off the stage.
"Thank you Peter," Ororo said, patting Colossus's shoulder.
"No Storm…that is not my choice," he growled as he turned to the prisoners.
"Peter…oh god…"
"Stand," Colossus said firmly.
"Peter, don't do this!"
"I said STAND!" Piotr yelled.
Ororo saw the anger in her friend's eyes and knew that he was intent on revenge.
"Its all right Ororo," Colonel Lake said, nervously standing.
Colossus walked towards him, towering over the shorter man.
"Listen to me son…I know how angry you are…"
"No…you do not!" Colossus growled.
But before the metal giant could even touch the man, two claws of pure energy grabbed them both, prying them away from one another. The mutants looked up in outrage as Johnny and Naruto flew into the camp.
"That's enough," Naruto growled, making his Chakra claws disappear.
Colossus looked at Naruto and glared at the boy in anger.
"How dare you interfere, you don't have the right to…"
"Shut up! You people would leave a person's life to a vote?" Naruto asked.
"Naruto's right, what your doing is wrong, if they have to pay them let them be judged in a court of law, we're supposed to be better than this," Johnny explained.
"YOUR NOT EVEN MUTANTS!" Stacy X yelled at the two arrivals.
"And what is a mutant huh? Someone honesty explain it to me," Naruto said, looking at both Storm and Colossus. "Are you the next step in evolution? Are you science experiments? Or are you just people looking to make a future for yourselves regardless of what people call you? Because from what I'm seeing now, if you people are the ones to decide the next step for humanity then I know without a shred of doubt that the future you'll create will be a world that isn't worth living in," Naruto explained.
Colossus began walking towards Naruto, glaring at the boy.
"You don't have the right to decide that, what makes you believe that anyway?" he asked.
"Because you're carrying on the cycle of hatred," Naruto pointed an accusing finger at the giant, his eyes fixed in a determined expression.
Storm widened her eyes slightly at Naruto's words. Despite his appearance and naïve outlook, he had wisdom. But whether his wisdom was akin to that of Xavier had yet to be seen.
"Cycle of hatred?" Colossus looked at Naruto in confusion.
"One person wrongs another, and that person seeks revenge, but the person they kill might have family and in return they'll hate that person for taking their loved one away, don't you see that it becomes an endless cycle of violence and hatred unless someone stops it!"
Colossus lowered his head for a moment before looking at Naruto. The Shinobi's eyes softened as Colossus lowered his hands. Suddenly, Piotr punched Naruto across the face, sending him flying into the wall.
"NARUTO!" Johnny yelled.
"YOUR PATHETIC! A NAÏVE CHILD GRASPING AT A DREAM! I HAVE BEEN WRONGED WE'VE ALL BEEN WRONGED AND SOME IGNORANT FOOL HAS NO RIGHT TO LECTURE ME!"
Storm looked at Colossus in fear as the man marched towards the prisoners. Never in all the years that she had known Piotr had she seen him this angry. Johnny threw fireball at Colossus, only for the man to backhand him, knocking him out. Ororo looked at hole in the wall and despite its 'Naruto shape' didn't laugh. She knew that someone would die this day, the crowd was roaring for it after all. Colossus raised his hand, intent on crushing Colonel Lake's head.
"IT HAS TO STOP!" he yelled.
Suddenly, Naruto appeared in front of Colossus. He caught Colossus's fist and prepared a Chakra claw. Forming the talons into a fist shape, Naruto punched Colossus clean across the cheek, sending him sliding across the stage. He then leapt behind Colossus, using his Chakra claws to grip Colossus in a full nelson. They stood in place, Colossus struggling to break free.
"Calm down, your not thinking rationally, if you do this you'll only be justifying their actions," Naruto explained.
"I've gotten tired of it all, fighting for a dream that's impossible to achieve!"
"It only becomes impossible if you give up!"
"It wasn't even my dream!"
"That doesn't mean you can't make the dream your own!"
Colossus threw Naruto off of him, grabbing him by his head and slamming him into the ground. He raised his fist and swung it down towards Naruto's chest. Naruto quickly went through a series of simple ninja signs. As soon as Colossus struck his stomach, the table Jeffries had used during the voting replaced Naruto. Madison looked at Naruto in shock as the ninja sighed in relief. He quickly widened his eyes as Colossus's fist slammed into Naruto's cheek, sending him sliding across the ground.
"What do you know? Have you ever been tortured for no reason at all?" Colossus asked as he walked towards Naruto.
"I've suffered, I've known people that have suffered and I've hated just like you, just like all of you!" Naruto said to the crowd. "But I found it in my heart to forgive them, and I changed them by proving them wrong!"
"So you think that makes you better than us? Letting people walk all over you?" Stacy X asked.
Naruto blinked slightly as he noticed Colossus's angered expression fade. The giant shook his head and then glared at Naruto. Despite this however, Naruto remained focused on Stacy X.
"THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT IT MAKES ME!" Naruto yelled.
Stacy X widened her eyes as Naruto created two Kage Bushins. He ran with both at his side, one taking on the Chakra form. Colossus swung his fist at the third clone, which jumped over his shoulder and onto his back.
"For the longest time the villagers looked at me with hatred in their eyes, they ignored me and told their kids to ignore me. I grew up without friends because they all thought of me as a demon," Naruto explained as his other two clones began hitting Colossus in the chest and face.
"They didn't torture you did they?" Colossus asked.
"No, but the potential for it was always there, if not for the old man Hokage they probably would have taken it that far. I was ridiculed for wishing to become Hokage, the leader of our village; I wanted them to acknowledge me, not just as a ninja but as a person too. Then I made friends, I realised that my problems weren't so big anymore, because I had people like Sasuke, Kakashi-sensei, Granny Tsunade and the Pervy sage. When Jiraiya was killed, I grew angry, I wanted revenge and when I thought the girl that loved me died I became consumed by the hatred," Naruto jumped off of Colossus's back, creating another clone to help him with forming a Rasengan.
"What changed?" Storm asked.
"I talked to my enemy, to the guy that destroyed my village. He said that my people had wronged him, that they had killed his precious people. That's when I realised that there was a cycle of hatred that would only end if we all stopped and understood one another," Naruto said.
'Where is he getting this power from,' Stacy X wondered. 'Colossus has beaten people stronger than himself, he should be ripping that boy apart, how can he be so powerful?'
"I swear, I will end it, without compromise," Naruto growled as he completed the Rasengan.
Colossus ran forward, swinging his fist towards Naruto.
"RASENGAN!" Naruto roared as he slammed the attack into Colossus's chest.
Piotr gasped as his armoured form creaked. He was then thrown back, landing off the stage and just inches from Stacy X. Stacy X backed away in horror as Naruto glared at her.
"It's the people that manipulate these conflicts that should be stopped," Naruto said.
"He's right!"
Stacy X gasped, feeling a blade touch her neck.
"Stop this now or I will kill you," Sasuke said.
Storm walked to Colossus's side, checking him for injuries. He shook his head, as if waking up from a sleep.
"It feels like a fogs been lifted," Piotr said.
"Its over Peter, its over," Storm hushed her friend before turning to Stacy X. "You manipulated him, you've been manipulating everyone's anger, that's why people followed you," Storm explained.
Stacy grit her teeth together as Storm walked towards her. Sasuke sheathed his sword and calmly stepped back. The mutants gasped as Ororo punched Stacy across the face, knocking her to the ground.
"I sensed it too, people were conflicted, but their anger calmed whenever you focused on me," Naruto said.
"I was clearing their minds…"
"Shut up, you were manipulating us to achieve your own selfish ends!"
"YOU SHUT UP!" Stacy yelled at Ororo.
Ororo stepped back in shock as tears began to run down Stacy's eyes.
"The wave hit and everyone condemned us to live like this, my friend was killed simply for defending himself and worse, they said his death was necessary. How can I forgive, when my hatred is so strong, how can Xavier's dream of peace ever be achieved when the world is cursed with this cycle…what have you got to say about that huh?" Stacy asked, looking up at Naruto.
Naruto closed his eyes for a moment. He then looked at the people gathered, all looking at him for an answer. Slowly he looked Stacy X in the eyes and squeezed his hands into fists. In his mind he had already formed his answer, an answer given to him long ago.
"Then…I will break the curse. If there's such a thing as peace I will find it! I wont give up!"
Storm, Stacy and every mutant gathered looked at Naruto with a mix of shock and admiration. Colossus got off the floor, limping over to Naruto and looking him in the eyes.
"Who are you anyway?" he asked.
"My name is Naruto Uzumaki!"
"Naruto Uzumaki, thank you for stopping me, I know I would have regretted it in the long run, I was just so angry, so tired of being the victim!"
"Your only a victim if you stop enduring," Naruto said.
"But what about them, are we just going to let them go without punishment?" Stacy X asked.
"Not without punishment," Sasuke said.
Naruto eyed Sasuke suspiciously as he stepped onto the stage. He looked at Colonel Lake and John, huffing as he left them alone. Sasuke instead turned to the other guards.
"You people can walk away, if you do one thing…look directly into my eyes," Sasuke said.
"Sasuke what are you going to do?" Naruto asked.
"I'm going to settle this fairly, people want justice, so do I, but killing these people would accomplish nothing, they aren't the ones in charge. So I'm going to do the next best thing and ensure they don't fight us again," Sasuke explained.
He turned to the guards, frowning at them as they cowered.
"Look at me," he whispered just loud enough for them to hear. "LOOK AT ME!" he yelled.
They looked into his eyes, his Mangekyou Sharingan. Suddenly, they began to scream as they all felt unimaginable pain. They were electrocuted, filled with drugs, shot and beaten, whatever manner of death that the mutants had suffered was now given to the guards. John and Lake widened their eyes as the men's heads slammed against the floor. Each one had a look of complete shock, whilst some even had spit hanging from their mouths.
"What did you do?" Ororo asked him.
"I put them under a Genjutsu and put each of them through all the tortures or suffering their victims had gone through," Sasuke explained.
"It would have been better to kill them," Stacy said.
"No, cause then you'd be playing right into their hands," Sasuke raised his head, smirking slightly.
"Oh no," Storm gasped.
The mutants cried out in fear as sentinels floated through the air. Some were the gigantic models used during the days of the X-men, others were human sized and shaped. John grit his teeth together as he struggled against the ropes.
"That bitch," he growled.
"What is it John?" Colonel Lake asked.
"Cooper, she deliberately held back the support, she wanted us to get killed so she could justify a full scale attack against the mutants," John explained.
"Oh god, Cooper you fool," Lake sighed.
Johnny shook his head as he woke up. He looked up in the sky and sheepishly laughed at the gathered Sentinels. Sasuke surrounded himself with the flames and bones of his first Susanoo state and drew his sword. Storm was about to get the children to leave when a sound echoed across the camp. It was like the hum of a machine, accompanied by a chorus of electrical sparks.
"Perimeter has been formed," one of the Sentinel pilots, said. "We've released the Ultimaton!"
Naruto and Sasuke both stood their ground as electricity began sparking around the camp. They knew that it wasn't from Sasuke or even Ororo. A distortion suddenly appeared on stage and the mutants screamed as an armoured figure appeared on stage. It had pure black armour, with blue lines glowing across it. Whether it was a machine or a man in armour neither Sasuke nor Naruto knew. Alls they knew was that it looked intimidating and powerful. Its bulky shoulders had glowing blue circles on them and pumps of some kind on the arms and chest. The helmet had a singular eye, which released a blue steam of some kind.
"Great, I thought this was too easy," Naruto sighed as he took on his upgraded Chakra form.
The Ultimaton threw its hand forward, releasing a blast that consumed the two ninjas. Kitty watched the scene happen from the Morlock tunnels, gritting her teeth together as the others gasped. She lowered her head, hoping that by some miracle Naruto and Sasuke survived and would come back to them.
S.H.I.E.L.D. now offered him all the materials he needed. Kabuto remarked that Orochimaru would have loved the lab set up, but laugh at how the supposed 'scientists' had squandered the resources they had. Kabuto had been given a guard and supervisor in Jean, which worked out well for him. The red head sat watching him work, seemingly remaining silent. But her telepathy allowed them to communicate in ways the cameras couldn't pick up.
"Fury suspects that you were lying!"
Kabuto smiled as he tilted his glasses and put some of his samples through the latest tests.
'Of course he suspects, he doesn't trust me, but the others believe my story…its actually quite sad how stupid they are,' Kabuto thought.
"Oh misunderstandings and misinformation in common, we wouldn't be super heroes if we hadn't fought one another before the big team up," Jean explained.
'But the amount of times they fought each other and ignored the big threats is ridiculous, just think how many lives they could have saved if they worked together. They could have been this planet's mightiest heroes, but no, actually being a hero is too much for them.'
"What do you mean?"
'You see they dress up, but when it comes to actually doing what a hero would do they'd buckle, they wouldn't even put the effort in. A real hero would work to change the world they live in, the biggest wrong of this planet is the issue with mutants and they haven't done a thing about it. Even the mighty Thor who claims to have come to save the Earth isn't doing a thing, that my dear is why they will fail to stop Naruto!'
"You really look up to Naruto don't you?"
'You'll find out why when you meet him, in fact I'm hoping they'll all find out, Naruto Uzumaki, his will to never give up, that is what makes him the ultimate hero…even with the whole world against him he'll fight to right a wrong!'
"Can you really resurrect Scott?" Jean asked.
"Not just Scott, but anyone else you've ever lost, we're going to need them for what's to come," Kabuto said.
"What is coming Kabuto?"
Kabuto smirked as he turned to Jean, looking her in the eyes.
"Something worse than Apocalypse," he grinned as Jean gasped.
He'd make sure this world was ready, not just for the storm Naruto would unleash but what would follow soon after.
Next Chapter 10: The ultimate mutant
Hope everyone enjoyed the chapter, Ultimaton is a version of the character introduced in New X-men (or was it Weapon X? I never remember) so dont go telling me I spelt Ultimatum wrong, cause Ultimatum isn't his name.