I don't own DC or Naruto
Isla, Santa Prisca; July 18th, 12:43AM.
Bane and his men had been surrounded; the red blurs of enhanced humans flying across the cat-walks above intimidated the thugs enough but, the fact that the intruders also sported high-caliber military grade weaponry caused every thug and washed-up assassin to drop their own inferior weapons, placing their hands behind their heads. Bane, however, was calm and content not to say he wasn't still surrendering but, he definitely wasn't shaken by this hostile takeover.
The main figure stepped forwards with a black mask covering his eyes and cheekbones and a red hood covering most of his head, his red cloak draped down passed his knees with long sleeved black undergarments covering his torso and arms. He spoke up in Spanish directly to Bane himself, "My sublime Master proclaims he will depart from this facility if you defeat his champion in single combat."
Bane raised a brow for a moment looking around at the guns pointed directly at him and his men, it was clear he didn't really have any choice. Bane shoved his men aside and stepped forwards placing his hands on the metal bars leading to some-sort of fighting 'arena' or a makeshift one at best, "Just make it interesting," he spat as a loud buzzing noise signified the gates opening allowing him to enter the fighting space.
The man smiled as the gates closed behind Bane locking him inside; the room was small but, still roomy enough for a fight. The cat walks above were filled with the same men dressed in the same costumes aiming the same weapons down at Bane as he stepped further into the room. On the opposite end of the arena, a scrawny, skinny, sorry excuse for a man with orange hair and glitter splashed across his face was preparing himself for battle with another woman of nearly the same appearance aside from her metallic arm.
Besides Bane a gauntlet was dropped filled with vials of red juice along with clear plastic tubes, "You would give me back my greatest weapon? What's the catch?" he picked it up and looked back at the man behind the gate narrowing his eyes in suspicion.
"No catch, it would hardly test his champion's prowess if you weren't at your full strength," the man explained with a grin folding his arms as Bane looked back and forth from his device and the man.
"You want my best?" Bane attached the device to his wrist with a high-pitched whine, connecting the tubes along his back and into his neck; as soon as the device was connected the red juice flowed from it into his neck causing Bane's eyes to dilate, his muscles expanded greatly until his biceps were the size of fully cooked chickens and nearly every other muscle in his body reacted the same way causing him to grow nearly a foot and a half in height and several hundred pounds in weight, "You got it," he mumbled turning back around to face his would-be challenger.
Bane cracked his neck as the skinny man stepped forwards with the woman, she pulled out a device and placed it on the man's shoulder injecting him with some sort of orange serum nearly similar to Bane's but, with completely different results. The scrawny boy twitched as his arm suddenly grew insanely, much larger than Bane's causing the villain to go wide eyed as the rest of his body followed the arms example; he grew several feet reaching 9-feet even and splitting his skin to reveal red muscles, his hair turned dark brown and his teeth grew fangs in place of his canines. He was now much larger and far more intimidating than Bane ever had been, the beast cracked his knuckles and smiled.
The woman closed the gate locking the two in the arena together alone; the beast mindlessly ran forwards swinging his arms down and slamming them on Bane's forearms pushing him back through the dirt. Bane used his slight speed advantage to land a full-strength uppercut followed by a right straight into the beast's esophagus but, to no avail as the punch did literally nothing but tickle his opponent. Smiling now, the beast grabbed Bane's neck and drove his fist into his gut resulting in spat up blood flying across the floor, the beast landed two super-fast left-right combos before grabbing Bane's collapsing form by the wrist. He pulled him up and swung him across the arena and into the metal piping across the walls head first, he tried pulling himself up but, once he was close to standing the beast tackled him into the piping causing bursts of steam to pour out filling the arena.
From the steam, Bane flew hitting the ground back-first and watching as the beast jumped into the air and used the extra momentum to bash his fist into his face even shattering the concrete beneath his skull. His men went wide eyed as the beast removed his fist leaving an unconscious Bane to moan in agony.
The creepy man on Bane's side of the gates smiled brightly at the fights result, "Hail Cobra!" he shouted in English to all of his men as they chanted with him.
"Hail Cobra! Hail Cobra! Hail Cobra! Hail Cobra!"
…
Mount Justice, Happy Harbor; July 20th, 6:35PM.
Sasuke's eyes snapped open suddenly with a loud gasp immediately following it as he sat up and analyzed the room in seconds. He was soon relieved to find himself not facing down a deadly ancient ninja but, rather, facing the TV screen above him as some stupid 80s' sitcom played in the background. He was in a medical bed in some sort of infirmary now dressed in a hospital gown rather than his civilian clothes; it wasn't long before Sasuke yanked out the wires attached to his chest and wrists causing the heart-monitor to flat-line with a long high pitched beep filling the room and the hall around it, the shinobi pushed himself to his feet and nearly fell over before gripping the bed railing. He clutched his chest as he felt the strain each breath took, he should be rapidly healing but, he wasn't.
The door behind him swung open with Batman, Barbara, and Dick filing in the room shutting the door behind them, dropping their worries of a dead Sasuke as soon as the caught sight of him, "Sasuke!" She shouted running and nearly tackling him, as he allowed her arms to wrap around his torso.
"How long was I out?" Sasuke asked not bothering to return Barbara's hug and simply shrugging her off and focusing on the Bat.
"Over 48 Hours," he slapped the mission report files tucked in a vanilla folder down onto the table next to them, "I got reports of an Uchiha mind controlling workers, knocking out your team mates with a glance, and let's not forget tossing you aside like a used rag-doll," Bruce folded his arms and narrowed his eyes in discontent, "Want to tell me exactly what the hell that's supposed to mean?"
"I'm…" Sasuke wiped his face with his hands blinking rapidly as he tried to gather his thoughts, "It's hard to explain?"
Bruce growled with anger, "Try me."
Sasuke groaned, "It's about time anyways," he moved passed them and towards the door, swinging it open and heading for the common room, "You all need to know the truth."
Naruto intercepted Sasuke as walked through the hall, "Hey, so I couldn't help but over-hear-"
"Don't try and talk me out of it, dobi," He pushed Naruto by the chest against the cave walls as Batman, Barbara, and Dick followed him into the common room where Kaldur, Wally, Superboy, and M'gaan sat in wait.
"You all need to know the truth," he announced as they turned their heads towards him with Naruto pleading behind him.
"C'mon let's not be too hasty with the details!"
Sasuke closed his eyes, "They have a right to know, it's their world we're fighting for this time."
Aqualad cleared his throat, "Um, excuse me?"
Batman stepped forwards with his infamous glare, "Start talking."
"The man you encountered," Sasuke took a quick glance at Naruto whom frowned and shook his head, "His name is Madara Uchiha and he's the one that forced me to come to this world."
Barbara gasped for a moment, "He acted as though he knew you and… his last name," she paused waiting for him to fill in the blanks.
"He's my ancestor brought back to the living world with a complicated combination of Jutsu," Sasuke lowered his head, even though he wanted to explain the destruction of his world, he didn't want nor need their sympathy so he instead kept it to himself, "He's stronger than me, faster than me, smarter, more skilled…" as Sasuke trailed off, Wally stepped up with a cocky grin.
"But you beat him, right? So, you can still do it again, maybe if you fight with the League?" Naruto and Sasuke glared at him as now was no time for jokes, "Maybe?" he spat nervously.
"Madara Uchiha would tear Superman limb from limb in a fair fight," Sasuke noted.
"Without transforming either," Naruto added, "He's the only reason I came to this world looking for Sasuke; if I can teach him my techniques, he can defeat Madara once and for all."
Kaldur stepped forwards with a concerned expression, "With no disrespect intended, did you both not get beaten just days ago by this man?"
Sasuke shrugged, "Like said, I can't stop him until I've trained with Naruto, as aggravating as it is to say that out loud."
"Hey!"
Barbara pushed him back with anger, "You don't get to joke either! Asshole!"
"You don't think I know that already?"
Batman put hand between them, "This is getting us nowhere, I expect a full debrief on this 'Madara' character, after, the mission I have assigned for you all."
Dick smiled proudly, "A real mission?"
"Yes."
Superboy narrowed his eyes, "We are discussing this later."
Naruto raised his hands in defense to break the sudden tension, "No offence but, I stopped going on missions when I graduated from Genin."
"Verdicts still out on that one," Sasuke mumbled stoically turning towards Batman.
"Hey, I was Hokage for 70 sweet amazingly cool hours," Naruto jabbed his thumb into his chest with pride, "I don't do missions; you can take your squad and do it on your own."
"Whatever," Sasuke scoffed not turning to face the boy as he confidently stomped out of the room; The Bat nearly broke a blood vessel just listening to their arguing.
"Anyways," Batman activated a large holoscreen behind him displaying a long-range infrared detection map scanning a small island in dead center of the Caribbean Sea, "Isla, Santa Prisca, this Island nation has been the primary source for a dangerous and illegal neo-steroid."
Batman brought up more statistics and logistics of the island on screen, "A strength enhancing drug sold under the street name 'Venom'; Infrared heat signatures indicate their factory is still functioning at full capacity but, all shipments have inexplicably been cut off."
Wally pulled out a bag of chips and popped them open catching the teams attention with insipid crunching, "It's my metabolism! Continue."
Batman sighed in exasperation, "This is a covert, recon mission, observe and report; if the Justice League needs to step in, it will, this plan requires two drop-zones."
Dick quickly cut straight to the chase, "So? Who's in charge?"
Batman quickly looked to the side, facing back towards the map of Santa Prisca, "Work that out amongst yourselves."
Dick grinned smugly nodding his head assuming he was the most qualified off the bat to be leader without counting the liked of Naruto who had lead an army or some such amazing feat, he was a prodigy after all.
"Everyone, suit up and regroup in the hanger for takeoff," Batman announced turning his back on them.
Sasuke grabbed the hem of his hospital-gown, "Finally I can get out of this stupid dress," this is when Superboy managed to take notice of both Sasuke's eyes, they were regular onyx black pupils like any other.
"I was meaning to ask through this whole ordeal," He pointed up to his face and narrowed his eyes, "Your Rinne-thing is gone, your eyes are normal since you fought Madara."
Sasuke looked around quickly, noticing the change himself, "I barely noticed," he mumbled to himself looking his own hand up and down, "It must have been triggered by the lack of Chakra in my system; I think I might have just accidentally discovered a new ability."
…
Caribbean Sea; Isla, Santa Prisca; Outer Coastline; 9:53PM.
M'gaan was fully outfitted in her Martian costume at the helm of her Martian Bio-Ship moving over the water in camouflage mode at mach two. Silently gliding above the ocean, she announced their arrival, "Approaching drop-zone A."
Aqualad stepped up in his Atlantean armor, tapping the symbol on his belt causing the nano-technology on his suit to shift the crimson color of his armor to a grey and black variant. He prepared for his departure as he stiffened his body; "Ready," he confirmed as a hole opened up in the biological ship below releasing him feet first into the water.
He swam through the tolerable Caribbean waters as he approached a main-land net separating the waters from the shore; he diced through it with ease using his water-bearers in the form of a machete. He maneuvered through a mine field on the ocean floor as the beach became closer with every moment, he flew out from the water landing on the sand and looking out for any movement around him, he smiled when he found nothing.
The ground to air detection system was not far, awaiting any movement above the Island to dispatch it to nearby guards; Aqualad placed a red and black device on the hull of the machine, as it opened he pressed his finger to his ear.
"Heat and motion sensors patched, data is now on a continuous loop, move in," As he spoke he witnessed the distorted figure of the biologically camouflaged aircraft flying past him from above.
They approached the center of the island and Miss Martian announced their arrival once again; "Drop zone B," she willed her ship to a halt and commanded several harness-like wires to descend from the ceiling.
Sasuke looked away, knowing he didn't need it, as Robin, Barbara, and Kid attached the lines to their belts, "How cool is this?" the speedster hummed towards the Martian teen as he activated the stealth tech in his armor, changing his color-scheme to blend in to the darkness.
"Very impressive," she noted as her form shifted to a darker version of her outfit with a red and black trim.
"That… works too," He nodded in agreement and looked over at Superboy, "Hey Supey, not too late to try out the new stealth tech!"
"No capes, no tights, no offense," he noted as he folded his arms across his chest.
Sasuke slid his helmet over his face allowing only one of his eyes to see out, "Agreed," he muttered with the voice modifier in effect.
"The cape is for dramatic effect," Barbara noted, "Some people find it cool."
"Some people…" Pain scoffed under his mask as he approached the center of the ship.
Miss Martian opened a hatch in the floor as her, Kid, Robin, and Barbara all dropped to the ground gracefully and quietly; Pain leapt from branch to branch in the jungle like area before making it to the ground silently as well. They nearly shouted as they jumped out of the way watching Superboy slam into the ground from nearly a hundred feet up causing a massive crater and shock-wave to follow.
"Knew I didn't need a line," He noted as he dusted himself off with a casual smirk.
Pain sighed, "And yet, creating a seismic event may not have helped with the 'covert' part of the mission."
Miss Martian floated up and radioed Kaldur, "Aqualad, Drop B is a go, we're moving in."
Aqualad dug his fingers into the mountain-side as he climbed through the rain that engulfed his side of the island, "Move for the factory, I'll track your GPS and rendezvous with you asap."
"Roger that," Batgirl nodded and took off as they all began sprinting through the jungle at different paces.
…
As they traversed through the jungle-like terrain, Pain activated his Sharingan spinning in his eye and looking through the trees and surrounding area.
"Do you guys hear that?" Superboy asked turning around.
"No, but I see it," He noted turning back and focusing on the route they came from, "A small squad of men following from behind but, It doesn't seem like they've noticed us."
"Okay, Robin, now what?" Kid Flash turned around to find the boy wonder gone with an annoying giggle echoing through the dark, "God, I hate that!"
"Kid," Pain noted, "Switch to infrared and check if someone's coming from upfront," Sasuke had long since noticed the incoming group but, teamwork was of the essence.
Wally slipped his custom goggles over his eyes and peered through the jungle, "Another group of armed bozos inbound, but they'll meet each other before they find us."
Gun shots rang through-out the forest, "No need for super hearing now," Barbara noted as Pain turned away without a thought.
"Swing wide, steer clear," Sasuke advised nonchalantly as he turned to walk away from the gun-shots; exercising caution towards the covert aspect of the mission, however, some teammates didn't plan on keeping true to that suggestion.
"Yea, yea, just as soon as I find Rob!" Kid sped out into the fray dodging bullets and energy rifles at speeds faster than sound.
"Kid!" Pain shouted in frustration.
Wally sped downhill through the forest gaining momentum as he approached the gun fire; suddenly, his foot slipped through the mud and caused him to collapse tumbling through the mud and coming to an embarrassing halt between the two opposing parties. They ceased fire simply to raise their brows at one another and the speedster whom chuckled nervously, "So much for the stealthy…"
Just as the guns exploded rapid firing bullets at Kid Flash, Pain rushed in blocking the automatic gun-fire with his back, "You've really done it this time!" he shouted as the speedster somersaulted out of the way and super-sped towards the trees only to be blocked by cult-members with rifles firing off energy-bullets of some kind. A man in a black and white wrestling mask aimed his rifle sideways firing with one hand at the two heroes, one of which he recognized, but before he could land a single shot Superboy rushed in with a wild uppercut that sent the man off his feet. He attempted to back away but the man pulled him by his shirt and used his momentum through the air to pull the boy of steel along for the ride.
Just as Kid was cornered, dodging bullets as best he could, Robin and Batgirl leaped in from the treetops coming down on the men with a smoke bomb, moving through the fog with expert stealth; Robin hit two soldiers in the leg with shuriken before using the first man's chest as spring board, kneeing him in the face in the process, and coming down with a jab to the second man's head.
"What is wrong with you guys? Remember covert?" Robin shouted as he snapped another cultist's wrist and relieved him of his rifle, whipping him in the side of the head with it, "Why didn't you follow my lead and vanish into the jungle?"
Batgirl turned on her heel and round-housed the last cult-member in their vicinity, "I feel as though I knew that…"
"We can't read your mind, dude!" Just as Kid shouted this, two gang members attempted to jump him from behind only to be punted into the ground telekinetically by Miss Martian, "Or at least, I'm not."
"Hey, Naruto told me I could only read the bad-guys' minds!"
A single cultist made a mad break for it, dropping his weapon and dashing into the jungle but, tripping and tumbling to a stop in front of Aqualad, "Hi," he placed his palm flat against the man's chest casually electrocuting him with his mystic prowess.
After several minutes of tying up cultists and gang members alike, the group gathered together to compare notes, "I recognize the outfits, they belong to the Cult of the Kobra," Batgirl stated boldly.
"I'm sure the Bat would have mentioned it if he knew a dangerous extremist was running Santa Prisca's Venom operation," Pain stated folding his arms.
"Agreed," Robin announced, "And since there's clearly no love lost between the cultists and those goons I'm betting Kobra came in and tossed them out!" he rubbed his chin dutifully staring out at the tied-up enemies.
"Great, this Kobra guy wants super-cultists, perfect, radio Bat's and we can-" Kid was cut off quickly by Robin once again.
"These cultists aren't on Venom! Kobra's hording the stuff! We don't leave until I find out why," He stared off into the distance as the group glared at him intensely.
Kid broke the silence with a sarcastic remark, "Until you know why?"
"This team needs a leader!" Robin stated as-a-matter-a-factly.
"And it's you?" Kid remarked back, "You're a thirteen-year-old kid who ducked out on us without a word!"
"And you're a mature sixteen? You blew our cover first chance you got!"
M'gaan and Superboy stared out at the argument not attempting to step into the fray; she looked up at him for a moment, "Don't you wanna lead?" she asked.
"Pff," He scoffed as he folded his arms and shook his head, "You?"
She sighed, "After the Mr. Twister fiasco?"
Superboy rubbed the back of his neck with a short smile, "I may have over reacted, you did fine," he looked away causing her to smile a bit. She hadn't made any real strong friends and it was nice to know someone was warming up to her.
Superboy noticed something suddenly, listening into the distance as a voice spoke up in a Spanish whisper, "Look at them argue!"
One of the gang members was talking to their leader but, Superboy wasn't going to tip them off and shut them up, "Free yourself and take them while they're distracted!" he shouted in a muffled whisper underneath Wally and Dick's arguing.
"Quiet!" the man in the mask replied, "For now I play along; they'll give me what I need."
Pain would have rubbed the bridge of his nose if he could but, his mask prevented him; the arguing was getting unbearable as Batgirl stepped forwards not taking her eyes off of it, "This is getting sad."
"Tell me about it."
Robin and Kid walked through the group of tied up goons arguing still, "You don't even have super-powers!"
"Neither does Batman!"
"Duh, you're not Batman!"
Just then, the man in the mask chuckled like a child, listening to the bickering was obviously amusing him, "Such clever, ninos," he started, "But, you only know half the story."
"Let me show you the rest; let you into my factory via my secret entrance," He smiled sinisterly as M'gaan approached from the front with glowing green eyes, kneeling down in front of him.
"There… is a secret entrance but," she looked deeper into his mind, "But, he's also hiding something."
"Ah ah ahh, Chica, Bane is not that easy."
Her mental connection was severed with a snarl as she stood up, "Ugh, he's mentally reciting football scores in Espanola!"
"Here," Pain stated as he approached Bane relieving Miss Martian of her position, "Let me," peering into the eyes of the Spanish villain as knelt he allowed his intense Mangekyou Sharingan to spin accordingly, "Tsukuyomi!"
Bane went wide eyed as his entire body froze, sweat formed on his temple as he suddenly closed his eyes screaming in agony, "Woah," Robin muttered, "What're you-"
Pain stood back up casually, "Genjutsu, it's like mind reading only more… thorough; he was planning on getting rid of us and attract the attention of the League to free his island and drug ring of the cultists, I know where the secret entrance is but, its lined with C4 charges," to no one's surprise he wasn't finished, "There's a dead-man's switch in his right pocket."
Aqualad reached into his pocket and discovered the detonator, becoming slightly peeved he crushed the device in his hands, shattering it with sparks of electricity flying from its circuits.
The group shared a glance amongst one another before looking back at Pain whom had turned to face the forest staring out into the trees, "You got all that from staring into his eyes?" M'gaan asked looking back at the mentally traumatized villain whom still screamed for mercy in Spanish.
"More or less," he looked back to them once again, "I know where the factory is and the secret entrance too."
Barbara spoke up after clearing her throat, "He'll be ok, right?"
Pain shrugged, "His hysteria will die down in around 30 minutes give or take."
A few minutes of silence passed and after do-consideration, Aqualad spoke up for the rest of the team, "Lead the way then?"
…
Pain lead them up the side of a mountain and, after a fifteen-minute walk of silence, they arrived at the head of a clifftop; the shinobi pointed off the side of the cliff staring at the path from which they came rather than the factory itself as if he already knew it was there.
Robin pulled a pair of binoculars from his belt whilst Kid Flash pulled his goggles over his eyes both analyzing the structure carefully, "I count over two dozen hostiles…"
"Twenty-seven actually but, there are more inside the compound," Pain folded his arms nonchalantly approaching the cliffside and crouching down.
"Look at all that product," Kid noted as the cultists used fork-lifts to move large crates across the compound, "There is a buy going down!"
Pain spoke up once again, "But if they aren't selling to the usual suspects then, we need to identify that buyer…"
"Just what I was thinking," Wally said with a serious tone obviously not having been thinking that.
"Yea! You're the thinker!" Robin announced.
"Sarcasm? Dude, a real leader would worry more about getting answers."
They were interrupted by Pain clapping his hands, catching the team's attention, "Focus," he stated as he pumped chakra into his arms and ripped a massive boulder off of the ground tossing it aside revealing a large tunnel behind it, "Answers, are this way."
"So, now tall, dark, and creepy is our leader?" Kid asked sarcastically as Robin elbowed him in the ribcage proceeding into the tunnel.
…
They approached the end of the tunnel where two massive metal doors parted to reveal a closed off panel; Robin slid it open slowly peering into the factory and shouting in a whisper, "All clear!" He dashed off, leaping into some dark corner of the factory off instinct, while the others casually strolled between some large mixing canisters covering their entrance.
"I hate that," Pain muttered, "I hate that so much."
Kid Flash smiled, "Don't worry, I'll get our intel and be back before the boy wonder!"
Batgirl scoffed as they watched him dart off at super-speeds, "And yet somehow, I still worry."
Pain, Superboy, Miss Martian, Aqualad, and Batgirl ducked behind a large crate of boxes viewing the cultists mindlessly sorting and moving boxes with loud beeping covering their voices.
"It's a massive shipment," Aqualad stated the obvious.
…
Kid Flash sped into the control room where he discovered two unconscious cultists and Robin sitting in a seat at the main console.
"What'cha got?" He asked nonchalantly.
Robin, obviously extremely focused on the screen, responded shortly, "Chemical formulas, I'd say it involves Venom but.."
Kid motioned to the screen as the two formulas appeared, "This one's venom and… this one is," they paused for a moment, "The blockbuster formula from Cadmus!?"
Wally continued being the chemical genius he actually was, "Mixed correctly and this new formula is four times as strong as venom… and permanent; But how did Kobra get access to Project: Blockbuster?"
Robin paused before a light-bulb metaphorically appeared above his head, "Unless our mystery buyer is also Kobra's supplier; Using the cult to make a Blockbuster super formula!"
Robin turned to the side and pressed his fingers to his ear, "Robin to Pain; We-" He stopped when all he heard was static.
"Damn, they're jamming communication signals."
…
They walked until they came across a bunch of workers moving crates with fork-lifts and stacking boxes; they ducked behind a stack of crates in the far corner and watched the workers do their menial jobs.
"It's a massive shipment; bigger than even we anticipated," Aqualad pointed out as there were hundreds of more crates that they couldn't see from the cliff.
"Yea, but they're only taking new product off the line; they aren't touching this Venom," Superboy mentioned patting the crates of Venom they were currently hiding behind and observing from.
"Maybe freshness counts?" Miss Martian proposed only to be shot down by Pain.
"Doubtful, I have a hunch they've altered the formula somehow and that's why they would only need the new product because the old product isn't what the buyer ordered," He watched as none of the guards left any boxes unattended; even as fast as he was there was no possible way to get a sample without tipping off their presence.
"Helicopter inbound," Superboy stated using his super-hearing to notice before anyone else.
"Are you sure?" Batgirl asked until they all suddenly heard the chopper incoming with its loud blades cutting the wind, "Never mind."
As the helicopter landed, Miss Martian floated into the sky on her own observing the landing pad as it settled and shut off its engine. Superboy and Aqualad stayed behind to watch from afar as the helicopter opened up its side-hatch and a man with blonde hair wearing bulky body armor and a hockey mask stepped out. As he approached the cult-leader along with his two ugly guards, one being the giant behemoth that took Bane down when the cult took over, and the other being a tall women with ginger-orange hair and cybernetic enhancements on her arms, right leg, and left eye. The buyer suddenly darted his head in Miss Martian's direction and squinted at her camouflaged form but carried on being unable to see anything unusual.
"Lord Kobra," the man said as he greeted his supplier; he stuck a hand out and shook with Kobra as the buy officially began.
"Sportsmaster," he identified the man as the famous mercenary and enforcer of the Light, "The shipment is ready," the cult leader said wearing a red cloak that hid most of his features other than his paper white skin and a creepy sinister-smile.
The red-headed cyborg walked up holding a small briefcase in hand, inside was eight viles of a blue liquid; "The new Kobra Venom?" Sportsmaster asked picking one out and examining it in the moon-light.
"A complete success," the cult leader said waving to his twelve-foot tall massive subordinate known only as Mammoth; "Our mutual friends will not be disappointed."
"This is a game changer; finally we can go mono y mono with the Justice League!" Sportsmaster laughed childishly with the vile in hand, knowing just how even the playing field would be with ten, no, a hundred Kobra Venom soldiers as strong as the Mammoth before him.
'Aqualad, sending you a telepathic image of the buyer now,' Miss Martian spoke through the mental link and memorized Sportsmasters masked face before sending the image through to Aqualad's frontal-cortex.
Kaldur focused on his thoughts as an image suddenly appeared in his head, "Sportsmaster!" Aqualad exclaimed suddenly having all the information needed to consider the mission a success, "He is the buyer? Aqualad to Red Tornado, do you read?" static erupted from the com-line clearly displaying the facility had communication-jamming signals.
"I can't reach the league, Robin, or Kid; we need a plan!" Aqualad said looking over to Pain who shrugged in response beginning to come up with a strategy.
"I'll try and contact Batman," Barbara suggested as she tried her own communication device with no success.
Before Pain could think of their next move, Superboy smiled and cracked his knuckles, "I have a suggestion!" he said suddenly before jumping over the crates they hid behind and ramming two nearby cultists; two more attempted to subdue him but, he back handed them directly into the wall and knocked the unconscious but, not before they let some gun fire out and notified the cult leader.
Sportsmaster narrowed his eyes and looked back at Kobra, "Problem?"
"Never," He turned to his two subordinates, "Make sure we are alone!"
They nodded and turned to jog towards the facility as more gunshots rang out into the factory attracting more guards by the minute; "What is he-" Aqualad began before a massive beast busted through the factory wall and grabbed Pain's skull by the helmet with his momentum and ran off with him.
The cyborg walked in with her arm transformed into some-sort of energy rifle as she caught sight of Aqualad behind the crates along with Pain holding back Mammoth in the background. "Destroy them!" She shouted as Mammoth grabbed Pain's leg and tossed him through a canister and into the wall causing a massive flood of Venom to spill onto the floor.
Batgirl and Aqualad sprang into action to assist their comrades; Pain ran straight for Mammoth, grabbing him by the waist and forcing him into the wall. The behemoth gained his balance and came in for a full-strength punch to Pain's face; the fist was swiftly caught in the shinobi's palm, he dashed beneath his defenses and forced his fist into the beast's abdomen sending him flying backwards digging his heels into the ground to stop himself. He growled loudly and sprinted forwards raising his fist and preparing for a full-strength right straight possibly capable of toppling the entire factory around them if Sasuke hadn't vanished into thin air in a burst of super-speed appearing above Mammoth and forming a normal chakra sphere in his right arm, "Rasengan!" he shouted quickly as he slammed the Jutsu into the monster's back, warping his skin and bashing him into the ground splitting the concrete ground beneath them. Before he could recover, Sasuke's other hand cackled with blue electrcity, "Chidori stream."
Pain electrocuted Mammoth for nearly a minute before stopping, the beast as he groaned slowly recovering, "If I were you; I'd stay down," he muttered before vanishing.
Cultists began shooting with automatic rifles at Aqualad who created a shield with his water bearers, he formed a machete and charged at them knocking them out one by one; bullets bounced off of his shield as he swung his aqua-blade through the air transforming his blade into a thick pulse of water knocking all three attackers onto their backs where the water that had struck them quickly froze over, pinning them to the ground.
Sportsmaster, whom had entered the compound after hearing the commotion, analyzed the entire fight, until he noticed something floating above the battle. It was distorted as if camouflaged but, when he witnessed men being telepathically flung across the battle field; he figured out exactly the opponent he was dealing with. Without flinching, Sportsmaster pulled a small baton from his belt which extended into a long silver javelin effortlessly launching it towards the distorted figure. Miss Martian noticed just in time to avoid the javelin itself but, that wasn't all it would do as seconds later it detonated only feet from her sending her flying across the factory.
Superboy shook his head and gained his composure as multiple cultists surrounded him with highly advanced energy weapons; firing them off the bullets pushed him back as the energy burned his skin slightly. Having become fed up, he reached out and clapped his hands with super-strength sending out a shockwave that knocked each attacker on their backs and unconscious.
Mammoth stood once again, the formula he used obviously included a massive healing factor as the damage from Pain's Rasengan was all but healed at this point. The beast turned around just as Pain finished a rapid hand-sign, "Fire Style: Fire Ball Jutsu!" from the bottom of his mask came a massive explosion of fire engulfing the monster and sending him back on his feet. Once the flames had dispersed, smoke engulfed the beast as he looked around for his opponent, through the smoke came Sasuke with a swift round-house kick aimed for the behemoths jaw, however; the beast was catching on to his opponent's tactics. He caught Pain's leg by the ankle and used his overwhelming strength to swing his entire body into the ground, slamming his heel into Pain's chest pushing him through the concrete.
Kid Flash and Robin bolted from the control room after witnessing the commotion; they sped through the cat-walks when Robin noticed something interesting and took off after it.
Kid, however; noticed Aqualad being overwhelmed by nearly a dozen cultists at once and his aqua-shield wasn't going to hold forever. Speeding through the multitude of latter's he spotted the cultists and drop kicked three enemies at once sending them into other cultists. They both took cover as even more cultists open fired on them both.
Superboy ran forwards with super-speed tackling Mammoth into the wall and sending rapid fire jabs into his face and chest; Pain stood shaking his head for a moment as he realized they couldn't communicate under these circumstances.
Pain shouted out to Miss Martian as she lifted herself up from the large canister she landed on, "Coms are down! Miss Martian link us up!"
"Everyone on-line?" She asked connecting their minds to the lowest degree allowing them all to communicate telepathically.
Superboy who had been countered and uppercutted landed on his back before back-springing to his feet and huffing, "Yeah," he sighed still not feeling fully comfortable with anyone being in his mind.
Kid Flash and Aqualad who were still desperately taking cover responded as well, "You know it, beautiful!" and "Communication successful."
Batgirl came to their rescue launching shuriken from above knocking out the cultists cornering Wally and Kaldur; "Not sure I'll ever get used to this but, yea, link established."
The two heroes bolted from their cover towards the battle once again.
Pain analyzed the fight with his Mangekyou and realized they were outnumbered and out matched at the moment; he couldn't go all out in a place like this under these circumstances, "Good, we need to regroup!"
"Little busy now," Robin responded as he back sprung away from an attack from King Kobra himself.
"Batman must be desperate if he sends his whelp to fight me alone," Kobra responded as his lackey Shimmer whom sported an orange mohawk and a mechanically modified body stepped forwards, "This is beneath me; Shimmer, take him."
Shimmer dashed forwards as Robin backflipped out of the way of her stampede; her metallic arm opened up revealing a beam like weapon but, just as she prepared to fire…
"Robin, now!" Pain shouted telepathically causing Robin to grunt and launch a smoke bomb beneath him covering his retreat.
Aqualad used his water-bearers as whips knocking cultists off of catwalks but, their numbers were overwhelming, "We need to retreat!"
Pain looked around strategically analyzing the fights with his visual prowess, "Good thinking, Kid clear a path back to the secret entrance!"
Kid Flash complied, super-speed knocking cultists aside allowing himself, Miss Martian, Batgirl, Robin, and Aqualad to escape into the tunnel.
Superboy was still in battle with Mammoth as the creature locked hands with him and pushed him back on his heels; Superboy was about to lose this bout until Pain came in and delivered a powerful roundhouse to Mammoths neck sending him flying through massive canisters containing Kobra Venom and landing flat on his back, dazed and nearly unconscious but, recovering quickly.
"Move!" Pain shouted aloud as Superboy and himself retreated through the secret entrance and the metal doors shut and locked behind them.
They didn't make it far down the tunnel before Mammoth crushed the door with his bare-hands and followed them through the shaft.
Pain shouted to his left where Superboy sprinted next to him, "The support beams!" he nodded his head towards the wooden beams keeping the secret tunnel in-tact.
Superboy quickly caught on as he used his running momentum to ram through the support beams as Pain used the same tactic himself collapsing the tunnel behind them with so much rubble even Mammoth wouldn't be capable of digging his way through.
They all huffed deeply, taking breaths after nearly being killed; everything was silent for several seconds. Aqualad broke a glow-stick and raised it above his head noticing accounting for everyone.
Robin sighed, "How could my first mission as leader go so wrong?"
"You do have the most experience," Pain noted, "But, you've spent years operating with Batgirl and Batman; with that being said it's not surprising that you aren't used to having to direct a team in any direction. Fighting on that team, your roles are defined but, this is a new team with new people;" Pain removed his mask and allowed his eyes to return to normal, running his hands through his hair, "This leader needs to be clear and explicit; he can't vanish and expect them to play parts in an unspoken plan."
"Oh?! So, I'm supposed to hold everyone's hands?" he shouted suddenly as Sasuke didn't even flinch at the outburst.
"Yup."
They were all silent, Robin placed a hand against the collapsed rubble realizing where he'd gone wrong and why; He'd only known Sasuke for so long but, he could already tell he'd been a leader more than once.
"Ugh," Robin finally declared, "Who am I kidding? You should lead us Sasuke; you're the only one who can."
Wally stepped up and raised his hands in protest, "Please! I can run circles-"
"Wally, c'mon, you know he's the one; we all do," Batgirl said with a smile, placing her hands on her hips.
"Hello Megan! It's so obvious!"
"Could'a told ya," Superboy remarked nonchalantly.
Wally looked around obviously out-numbered and out voted, he smiled, "Fine, yea, alright."
"From what I understand, your entire world was based off of war and strategic battling; if anyone is the proper choice, it is you," Aqualad smiled and placed his hand on Sasuke's shoulder.
Sasuke gazed around at the smiling faces awaiting his response, "Ugh, fine, whatever; I accept."
A brief wave of grins spread over the team as they all awaited their new leaders' guidance, "First priority, we don't let that shipment leave this island. If communications are down? We're gonna have to throw 'covert' out the window."
Robin smirked, "Funny, exactly what I was thinking."
…
SportsMaster exited the same helicopter he'd arrived in, the aircraft was making an odd noise crackling and not taking off at all, "Sabotage… Robin?"
King Kobra sighed, "Undoubtedly," he turned to Shimmer standing by his side, "Fine the problem and fix it."
She bowed and moved towards the copter.
One cultist with Mammoth following close behind approached Kobra and bowed before speaking, "Lord, should we send search parties after the intruders?"
The King was amused but, only slightly, "Don't be absurd; they'll come to us."
…
"SportsMaster's the supplier/buyer but, it still doesn't add up; he doesn't have the juice to acquire the Blockbuster formula or to get Kobra to do his dirty work," Robin analyzed his holoscreen as they ran through the tunnel back towards the entrance to the not so secret tunnel.
Kid spoke up as he had to run averagely to keep up with everyone, "Neither of them have the chops to add the Blockbuster formula with Venom, that took some major nerdage."
They approached the entrance where Batgirl and Robin noticed blinking C4 charges surrounding it, "Guess he was right after all?"
Aqualad smiled, "We clearly chose the right leader," they sprinted out of the cave and into the jungle.
…
"The helicopter is now operational, exhalated one," a random cultist bowed as Shimmer and Mammoth stood beside him.
SportsMaster grunted as he grabbed the small case and approached the copter casually; Suddenly, a blur of speed rushed through the area knocking out cultists left-and-right with ease.
"Take the shipment!" Kobra shouted as SportsMaster immediately made a b-line for the chopper, slapping cultists out of his way in the process.
Several cultists raised their weapons and trained them on Kid but, before they could fire, Superboy landed behind them with enough force to knock them on their asses; he walked through the field crushing their rifles under his boot.
Mammoth huffed as he saw Superboy, "Go again?" the boy of steel taunted. The beast stepped forwards cracking its knuckles until a massive stream of water blasted him through several trees and into the ground, "Sorry, not the plan."
Aqualad used his water-bearers to drain a nearby river and pin down the behemoth with his hydrokinetic prowess; Superboy scanned the area, looking around for his planned opponent before being shot in the back with an explosive that actually hurt.
SportsMaster wielded a crimson energy weapon expertly firing multiple attacks into the Kryptonian's back as he was forced to his knees.
Meanwhile, M'gaan, in her camouflage mode, floated down behind the helicopter and through the open hatch, sitting on the shipment. She knew her orders but, she was literally watching Superboy get pummeled by weapons that caused him to scream in pain. She couldn't let her first friend be hurt like that, not anymore.
She came from behind and attempted to attack the man but, SportsMaster back flipped out of the way and quickly put her in a headlock; continuing to fire at Superboy whose shirt and pants were being torn by the severe gun-fire.
Multiple cultists attempted to shot Kid Flash but, missed entirely as he simply knocked them out one by one; the last one he knocked out he managed to grab his cult-mask with a smile, "Souvenir!" he sped off again as King Kobra narrowed his eyes in anger.
Shimmer prepared to act but, a grappling device wrapped completely around her body disabling her; Kobra turned nonchalantly to find Batgirl and Robin waiting with a smile.
"I know you hate getting your hands dirty," Robin remarked as he pulled out a shuriken.
"But, maybe you'll make an exception for us?" Batgirl quipped doing the same.
"Sometimes," Kobra removed his cloak to reveal an impressively built body, taller than most men, with a crimson armor covering everything from the waist-down, "Even a God must stoop to conquer."
They sprinted towards him, throwing jabs and kicks but, he nearly effortlessly countered each of their attacks; knocking them around almost casually. Batgirl and Robin came in with two round-house kicks aimed for either side of his head but, they were blocked with either of his palms as he used his left foot to kick Robin through the dirt only barely managing to land on his feet. He used his defending palm to grab Batgirl's ankle and fling her backwards into a wooden crate.
"What's wrong, children? You seem disconcerted."
Batgirl smiled whipping the small trickle of blood from her lip, "Not sure what you mean?" She pressed a small button on her belt as two blinking devices on Kobra's neck detonated causing a large plume of smoke from the explosion.
Aqualad kept Mammoth at bay, using his pulse of water to keep him from arms-length, however; he was pushing his way through slowly. Suddenly, Pain appeared in a flash of speed, engulfing his left hand in turquois electricity, "Chidori," he simply placed his hand in the pulse of water and the conducting liquid electrocuted Mammoth severely to the point where his skin had begun to smolder. Once Aqualad ceased his water-attack, the beast collapsed into a painful unconscious state.
Superboy was still being pinned by the energy-weapon's attacks, unable to move in to save Miss Martian, "Thanks for the work-out but, I gotta fly!" The hatch closed behind him with the Martian girl still in hand.
Pain appeared inside the chopper just as the hatch closed and locked completely, "Let her go."
SportsMaster narrowed his eyes behind his mask before turning the gun on M'gaan's head, "Take a single step and I'll splatter her brains all across the dashboard."
"I won't ask nicely a second time," Pain reiterated.
"You could fry me with a look or put me through years of torture in seconds but; you wouldn't want my last move to be one you regret, would you?" He emphasized the barrel of the gun pointed directly at the Martian's temple; she struggled but, it was no good she closed her eyes waiting for the end.
Pain froze, how did SportsMaster know about the Mangekyou Sharingan? How did he know about any of his powers? He couldn't possibly know about any of that through the minor crime stopping Pain had done in Gotham. This shocked Sasuke to his core, could SportsMaster and his associates somehow be in league with Madara?
During his shock, Pain had become unfocused allowing SportsMaster to turn the gun on him firing an energy bullet into Sasuke's shoulder knocking him back on his feet. It stung but, once he turned with a kunai prepared to cut the man in half the right-door to the copter had been left wide open and the assassin was gone.
M'gaan choked for breath on her knees, holding her chest in her hands, "You alright?"
"I'm so stupid," She mumbled through her heavy breathing.
Pain narrowed his eye in the direction of the escaped SportsMaster, "Join the club…"
…
Meanwhile, Kobra had successfully thrashed both Batgirl and Robin at once with the boy wonder under his heel, foot pressed against his chest, and the girl in his hand, fingers wrapped firmly around her neck.
"I am plagued by mosquitos!"
Robin grunted as he tried to force the man's foot off of him, "Good!" he shouted, "Cause this mosquito is mighty concerted about your pain!"
He flung a shuriken upwards causing Kobra to dip his chin up avoiding it but, while he did that, Aqualad came in right hooking him in the jaw sending him skidding through the dirt and dropping Batgirl in the process.
The two stood up as Superboy, Aqualad, Kid Flash, Miss Martian, and Pain all grouped together behind him; supporting him completely.
"Another time then, perhaps?" Kobra backed away into the darkness of the trees as Pain immediately leaped above them all landing exactly where he'd vanished and analyzing the area with his Mangekyou.
"Gone," He announced, "He's good I'll give him that much."
Pain turned towards the factory, "Can't let Bane get access to this facility ever again; it's time I end the Venom production line permanently."
Aqualad stepped forwards, "What're you going to-"
Pain weaved through hand-signs faster than sound, "Fire Style: Majestic Destroyer Flame!" from the end of his mask came an insane wave of fire.
The flame was so large it completely engulfed the factory itself, causing multiple explosions that rocked the entire Island around them. As the team stared at the burning building, Robin spoke up stepping towards Pain, "We picked the right guy to lead; automatically making you the right guy to explain this mess to Batman!" The boy wonder finished his sentence with a hearty laugh as Pain sighed.
…
Mount Justice, Happy Harbor; July 23rd, 1:01PM.
Batman stepped into Sasuke's face, getting up close and personal as he nearly shouted, "A simple recon mission; observe and report!"
Kaldur, M'gaan, Superboy, Wally, Dick, Barbara, and Sasuke were all lined up in the center of the common room in their own Mount Justice; Red Tornado sat idly by as Batman walked back and forth tearing the teens a new one, "You will each receive a detailed evaluation of your many mistakes," he turned after that to face the entire team whom looked at him wondering why he had paused, "Until then, good job."
They were all shocked aside for Sasuke whom didn't seem to care too much, "No battle plan survives first contact with the enemy;" he turned and walked away but, continued to speak, "How you adjust to the unforeseen is what determines success."
As he approached the exit, he finished his speech, "And how you determine who leads, shows character," Robin shot Sasuke a glance but, he didn't look back.
Batman left the room as everyone let out a long sigh of relief, they didn't exactly do well but, they hadn't done bad either; Just as the team slowly dispersed with minor mingling amongst them, Naruto walked through the hall yawning as though he'd been asleep for days wearing an assortment of pajamas.
"Did you even wake up the last four days?" Sasuke asked as Naruto approached him.
"I cat-napped," he took a long look at Sasuke before smiling, "So I guess you're ready then?"
"Ready for what?"
"Training! You learned to master the Rinnegan," he pointed out Sasuke's left eye currently being onyx black rather than any other shade.
"Madara must've done something to me, I don't think it counts," He responded lowly as if he wasn't sure he was ready.
"Madara knocked the chakra out of you but, it's been nearly a week; your chakra is back but, the Rinnegan isn't," Naruto folded his arms and smiled, "Go ahead and activate the Rinnegan and try and deactivate it again."
Sasuke focused his chakra, his energy flowed through his chakra-system and reached his pupil as his Rinnegan flashed in and out of his eye.
Sasuke was surprised but, not dumbfounded, "I guess I have then," he stated unsurely.
"Now, you're ready to learn my greatest technique," He smiled and pumped his fist, "The Wind Style: Rasenshuriken!"
…
SportsMaster stood in the center of a ring of monitors each one displaying a distorted image of a bright character unknown to even him, "All I recovered was a single vile of Kobra Venom."
A French accent spoke up, "Easily, it could be… reverse engineered; and what of our young heroes? And this new ninja character who continuously foils our plans?"
"First Cadmus, Mister Twister, and now Santa Prisca as well?"
Another screen spoke up, "Once is happen-stance, twice is coincidence but, three times is enemy action."
"And enemies of the Light must not stand."
…
That's the chapter folks.
Its decently long and very well detailed so I'd appreciate if readers could just accept that Sasuke went through a traumatic change in his entire life losing everything and everyone he knew twice which would cause a shift in personality for ANYONE.
Stop complaining that he's too out of character; that was purposeful. Canon Sasuke on the YJ team would be horrible, the mood of the show is too bright and uplifting. You'd hate that even more.
To those who actually support the story, thank you and apologies for the long updates! I juggle a lot so it's difficult to detail a story this much.
Thanks a lot everyone and don't forget to review!