Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Young Justice
Failsafe
No scientist or astronomer saw it coming. It had hidden itself cleverly behind Earth's revolving moon for the duration of its approach to the planet. Now, however, the massive, grotesque spacecraft made itself known as it rose over the moon and slowly descended towards the earth.
"Deploying camera sensor units," Batman announced as he piloted his Bat Jet through the stratosphere; two orb-like devices spawned from the hull and begun streaming a live feed to the most important outlets on the planet such as, The White House, the United Nations, The Watchtower, and even Mount Justice where the team watched with aching suspense.
The spheres floated slowly around the scene where a massive ship the size of Texas cruised nonchalantly closer to Earth passing the Moon in minutes. Batman observed as two Green Lanterns floated towards the ship with their rings pointed up in warning, one formed a mega-phone construct with his ring allowing him to speak at higher-volumes even through space, "Attention: you have entered the boundaries of Earth space, disengage all weapons and engines, this is your only warning!"
Hal Jordan's voice boomed through the darkness but, he received no response. Nothing vocal anyways as the massive vessel only responded by discharging a wave of yellow-energy from a spot on the hull that completely enveloped the intergalactic police-force. Even with their will power constructed bubbles, they were still vaporized by the blast in seconds.
Batman's eyes widened under his cowl at the sight of his team-mates being turned to ash, he immediately began typing commands into the console of his jet, "Code red: full offensive deploy!"
The loading bay in the Bat-Jet opened and released Superman, Martian Manhunter, Captain Marvel, and Captain Atom each wearing an oxygen mask aside from Manhunter who didn't need one. They accelerated toward the enemy ship splitting into two groups to avoid another wave of energy firing towards them. Superman turned and used his enhanced vision to follow the beams path as it split in two to follow them. Superman turned after realizing they couldn't out-run a blast of energy of this magnitude and instead decided to rely on his invulnerability to stop the blast. He was vaporized even quicker than the Lanterns, Captain Atom attempted to absorb the blast hoping to survive it, however; this was unsuccessful as well. Martian Manhunter realized the same as the two before him and decided to opt-out for density shifting, allowing himself to phase through the attack and regroup with Batman later, he too was vaporized in an instant. Captain Marvel dodged between the blasts charging mystical lightning between his fingers, his plan was to destroy the weapon firing at them and it would have been successful if three different beams hadn't struck him at once before he could, bypassing his invulnerability.
Batman's jaw hung loose for several seconds in pure shock from watching his closest and strongest allies perish before him but, he had no time to mourn, he needed to move. As he turned around and fled back to Earth, he was followed by a small craft that had emerged from the massive ship.
The craft used an antenna-like weapon to vaporize the jet but, not before Batman jettisoned a small pod that would fall to Earth and, if he was lucky, land in an ocean until he can send an S.O.S and be rescued. The ship quickly realized the escape-pod had been released and immediately destroyed the pod along with Batman himself.
The world's greatest leaders were in immense shock, some watching in awe and some heading for their nuclear-bunkers, one team stood passively, barely being concerned with the death of their leaders and predecessors. They were all gathered around a holo-screen in the center of Mount Justice that portrayed the scene as apocalyptic whilst many thousands of ships poured from the massive vessel and headed towards Earth. Some were intercepted by the world's defenses such as the Air Force, several dozen teams of pilots were gone in less than minutes.
There was a beeping coming from the main holo-computer and Zatara appeared on one of the holoscreens, "Tornado," he said in shock, "Did…did you-?"
"Yes, Zatara, we saw," said Tornado, his fingers flying over the holographic keyboard, "Cosmic defenses have failed. Initiate all planetary measures."
Zatara shook himself out of his stupor, "Affirmative."
His message feed was cut off and Red Tornado turned back to the team, "I am needed in the field; the League will defend the planet at all costs, but should we fail," his mechanical eyes scanned the team, "The responsibility falls to you."
Sasuke stood at the front of the group with Artemis, Superboy, M'gaan, Wally, Kaldur, and Dick standing in uniform behind him, "We'll be ready."
When they hit civilian population, the remaining Justice League stepped in; Heroes from across the globe banded together as they defended the populace and destroyed ships one by one. The battle was fierce with the likes of Wonder Woman, Hawkman, Flash, Zatara, Black Canary, and many others leading the charge on the alien invaders. It was only a matter of two hours when a transmission reached Mount Justice, Sasuke Uchiha answered the call surrounded by his team of former sidekicks, he pulled up a holo-screen answering the signal with a single gesture.
Red Tornado's stoic voice came through as he blasted away at the passing ships with his crimson pulses of wind, "Red Tornado to Cave, I fear I am all that is left of the League. Should I fail-" there was a rush of static and the line went dead.
Sasuke gave a sigh and looked down with little care, "They're gone."
Conner cracked his knuckles and stepped forwards, "Then what are we waiting for, a theme song?"
Naruto quickly intervened, "A strategy, it's been made tragically clear that going head to head with them is not an option," he closed his book which he'd been reading this entire time and tossed it aside casually.
"You're going to join in?" M'gaan asked almost with glee.
"Can't save a world from Madara Uchiha if the world doesn't exist," he reasoned well as he stepped up and stood next to Sasuke at the head of the group.
Sasuke placed a hand on his chin and closed his eyes thinking of the best way to begin their assault, "Than I guess we make a strategy; where are the aliens, now?"
Robin pulled up a large holo-map from his gauntlet connecting to the main holographic generator that displayed the extra-terrestrial's location as small red dots on a large holographic globe, "Here."
Artemis lifted an eyebrow and squinted, "This one get lost?" She asked pointing at the red-dot that was isolated just south of the thirtieth parallel near Greenland.
Robin's eyes widened under his domino mask, quickly confirming his suspicions by zooming in, "It's Superman's Fortress of Solitude!"
Conner immediately sputtered, "Superman's fortress of what?"
"Superman's Fortress of Solitude! Its power-source must've drawn a scouting ship to investigate," Robin continued as he typed coordinates into his gauntlet.
Conner turned with a jealous grunt, "Must be some fortress," M'gaan frowned and put a hand on his shoulder, knowing full-well what it felt like to be one of the last of their kind, having little knowledge on their own history or lively-hood.
The Martian red-head sighed, "Conner…"
"No, its fine, I guess there's a lot Superman can't tell me, ya know… now," he folded his arms and redirected his attention back to the massive holographic map.
Everyone felt slight discomfort at the thought of their mentors and friends being killed in the invasion, but they shrugged it off in a single moment; Sasuke never had any connection to the League but, was slightly subdued by loosing Bruce and watching him die, the only man who truly trusted him from this Earth, the one that gave him food and home when he had neither. He too shrugged of this feeling and simply refocused his attention on their newest and arguably most important mission.
"We have to uphold their legacy by taking up their roles in defending the Earth, from this day forward, we are the Justice League," Naruto looked at the muted news report with images of missing or dead heroes including heroes like Superman all the way down to vigilantes like Plastic Man, "The Justice League chose to put their life on the line to save the Earth and its time we make that same choice, So I say we go after that scout ship, break it down, integrate it into the bio-ship and hit those good-for-nothing trespassers with a taste of their own medicine. Who's with me?"
The entire team wiped the grim looks off their faces and smiled aside from Sasuke who simply moaned in response, "Impressive speech," he noted with his monotone, "Let's get moving then."
Artemis slung her arm around Sasuke's shoulder before pouting, "Don't be such a spoiled-sport," she teased not receiving much emotion from her boyfriend at all as Wally zoomed in and leaned on Naruto's shoulder.
"Not bad; very inspirational, not too teary, and straight to the point. I say that speech deserves a ten outta ten, who's with me?" Wally was quickly elbowed in the stomach by the jinchuriki who turned to the rest of the team and didn't hesitate to answer.
Conner smirked, "I guess I'm in."
Kaldur folded his arms with a smile of his own, "My King would never deny such an offer, so neither will I."
Artemis shrugged and leaned off Sasuke walking towards the center of the group, "It's the apocalypse! I can't exactly go home and watch Netflix, now can I?"
Sasuke huffed, "Alright then," turning towards the map with the single dot still zoomed in on, "Greenland, huh?"
…
The Bioship hovered behind the scout ship in camouflage mode as the scout slowly circled a massive, steel door built into a mountain with the 'S' shield emblazoned on it.
Robin looked over the strange ship critically, "There," he said, pointing to a small orb on the ship's arm, "That's their communications."
Sasuke took a deep breath through his helmet, "Okay," he said, "We'll drop down and take cover. When we're all in position, Ms. Martian will disable their communications and engines. Artemis, blind them. Aqualad, come up from beneath and keep their gun pointed down. Superboy, you and Wolf rip up the gun. Robin will show you where it connects with the ship so you can take it off without breaking it. Once the gun's removed, Ms. Martian will integrate it into the Bioship, giving us access to their technology."
"What about us?" asked Wally, pointing back and forth between Naruto and himself.
"You run a perimeter," said Sasuke, "It wouldn't surprise me if the ship has an automatic distress beacon separate from the communications array. The last thing we need is more ships finding us. Once the gun is removed, I'll break open the ship and take the aliens hostage. Everyone get it?"
He received dutiful nods from his entire team as he glanced at M'gaan giving her a knowing look, she responded by closing her eyes and establishing a mental link between the team. The Bioship drifted close to the ground and the team jumped out of the back, quickly diving behind snow banks and ice formations to stay hidden from the scout ship. "Everyone in position?" he asked. Once every team member had confirmed they were ready, Sasuke gave the signal. As he watched, the communications array suddenly exploded from the inside out, ripped apart by M'gann's telekinesis.
"Communications, check," she said. There was another explosion in the ship and it fell with a hard thud onto the ice, "Engines, check."
Artemis rolled out from behind a pile of snow and loosed an arrow at the ship. As it hit the tinted visor, it exploded into high-density foam that covered the entire hull. "That should do it! Aqualad, you're up!" The gun began to swivel and shoot wildly. Naruto in his Sage Mode ducked to the side as a beam of red light shot past him, leaving a carved-out crater in the snow behind him. If not for his Sharingan, he wouldn't have dodged in time.
The ice beneath the ship suddenly erupted as Kaldur pulled the hull under water. The gun swiveled towards him and Naruto's heart skipped a beat.
Wolf and Conner grabbed the gun and shoved it out of the way just in time for the blast to hit the ice next to Kaldur. Conner got under the gun with a grunt and began to pull hard. Wally spun Robin into the air and the boy wonder landed on the ship next to Conner as Wally shot off into the distance. Robin opened his wrist computer and analyzed the gun's connection to the ship. "Stress points here, here, and here," he pointed out on the gun. M'gann blasted the areas with her powers and Conner began to double his efforts.
Suddenly, a blinking light erupted from the tangled wires hanging down from the exposed beam-connection, nobody noticed as they all stayed on guard with their surroundings but, it released a high-pitch frequency that only an enhanced canine could hear. Wolf leapt in front of Superboy, tackling him out of the way taking a full blast of energy point-blank, vaporizing him.
They were all stunned as Conner landed in the snow, looking around in disbelief; Robin quickly looked over his scans, "There was no sign of discharge, I'm sorry."
Superboy quickly shook it off, hopping back onto the hull, "No worries, we can't do anything for him now, let's just keep moving."
Wally rushed in with a trail of icy winds and snow flaring about, "Guys!" he pointed upwards but, he was too late, "We've got incoming company, a lot of it!"
They all turned to the sky where over two dozen ships identical to the one they had pinned flew overhead searching the area a quarter-mile away, "Move!" Sasuke shouted as he looked toward Naruto.
"Naruto and I will handle this, everyone else pile in the Bio-Ship and take cover," Sasuke hopped into the snow next to Naruto who immediately evolved his Sharingan into the Mangekyou.
They dashed forwards through the snow, side by side, they approached the incoming fleet with super-speed as Naruto held his cupped hands out, Sasuke nodded and leaped in front of him using his hands as a spring board. Naruto's enhanced strength launched Sasuke a hundred feet into the air with a Chidori already prepared, he cleaved through the first ship whilst summoning his short-sword and launching it into the next ship over. Using his Rinnegan to short-range teleport to it, he channeled his lightning style through the metallic blade frying the entire ship as its engines exploded.
Sasuke was caught off guard another nearby craft vaporized the crashing ship he was on sending him into the snow, crushing the thick ice beneath with his back. Naruto formed two Rasengan's in either palm and quickly changed their chakra nature as they formed spinning blades of wind, "Wind Style: Rasenshuriken!" both jutsu cleaved through and destroyed a ship of their own until beams begun raining down on top of him.
Naruto used his Sage Mode awareness and his Mangekyou visual-prowess to dance through the beams, once gaining his footing, he slammed his palms into the ground summoning a thick wall of ice from below to give him cover. He quickly smiled as the yellow flames erupted below his skin, giving a cloak of chakra and black markings running down his chest, "Give it everything you have, Kurama!"
He turned to face the wall, forming an orb of black chakra which quickly begun absorbing red and blue energy from the air around him, "Bijuu Art: Tailed Beast Bomb!"
…
Artemis huffed and hopped out from the Bio-Ship which was still busy integrating the beam-weapon from their personal captured enemy ship; she dug her heels into the snow and gripped her bow, "I'm helping them, I have to."
Wally reached out and grabbed her arm, "No, you can't, there are too many…"
"I can't just sit here and let them risk everything," She was interrupted after pulling her arm away by a massive explosion going off in the sky, easily the force of a hydrogen-bomb, sending a shockwave of snow and wind into their faces as several ships rubble crumbled down towards the ground.
"I think they'll be just fine," Wally announced as Artemis grit her teeth, "I'm at least getting a better look."
…
Sasuke pulled himself from the rubble of his crash-landing and held his head, he observed the sky with his Mangkeyou and realized that Naruto had entered his full powered state; he quickly approached the scene flipping through a sequence of hand signs, "Fire Style: Majestic Destroyer Flame!" his breath exploded from his lips into a massive wave of fire that incinerated several ships but, still more rained beams down on them from above.
Sasuke formed his Mangekyou rib-cage and ran across the snow towards the pinned Naruto; he formed a shield of ice and rock but, couldn't make any move as they had bottle-necked their assault on his position. A beam clipped his energy-ribcage but, he made it behind Naruto's defense just in time, "What's the plan!?"
"What plan?!" Naruto shouted back as another explosion erupted behind them, "I was following your lead!"
Sasuke was going to shout back but, their cover exploded and they were left vulnerable; in a split microsecond, Naruto acted on instinct getting in front of Sasuke and using his full strength to take the beam head on. When Sasuke's senses caught up, he noticed Naruto in front of him with the massive ethereal head of the Kyuubi taking the beams from multiple ships; Naruto held his hands out, projecting the shield.
"We have to get out of here!" Sasuke shouted as he looked around but, Naruto gave a long sigh.
"I can't move, if I do we'll both be vaporized!"
Sasuke looked for another solution but, couldn't find one, he nervously thought of any jutsu or technique he could until Naruto smiled, "This doesn't look good," he shouted back.
"Don't talk like that, idiot!" Sasuke activated his Rinnegan as it spun in his eye, "I can get us out of this, just let me-"
"Do me a favor," he asked turning his head over his shoulder to show his oldest friend his smile, "Don't ever forget your ninja way…"
Sasuke widened his eyes and reached out but, it was too late the beams broke through Naruto's defense and caused an intense discharge that exploded sending Sasuke onto his back, shattering his helmet, Artemis ducked behind a bank of snow to avoid the shockwave.
"NARUTO!" M'gaan shouted as Artemis turned to see that the others had followed her to watch the battle or help out but, it didn't matter now.
The ships hovered back for a moment, the explosion they caused must have disoriented them for as brief a moment as it could; Sasuke gasped and sat up, he rushed over quickly to where Naruto had been gripping the snow. Everything was different now, somehow, it all felt so real, the deaths, the invasion, all of it felt so heavy now as if everything finally dawned on them all.
"Naruto…"
Artemis peeked her head over her cover and gave a low gasp, "Oh no…" She knew this wasn't going to end well.
Sasuke fell to his knees in the pit that Naruto made to save his own life, to ensure that there would be another day for him; he was gone now, and there wasn't anything he could do. Well, there is one thing.
The ships were silent until one fired off a blast at Sasuke intending to destroy him but; He took the beam in his hand and deflected it towards the ground at his feet using the Shinra Tensei to bend even light itself. After another short pause, a chuckling erupted from the smoldering crater; everyone watched as the laughing grew louder, even the aliens must have been confused as they floated in wait, over a dozen just starting at Sasuke.
"You'll all be dead soon…" He muttered through his maniacal chuckling, covering half of his face with his hand, looking through his fingers with his Mangrkyou Sharingan. Suddenly, the assault continued and dozens of energy beams poured down on Sasuke who covered himself with his purple-ribcage which formed the hooded Armored Susanoo around him, taking every blast with little damage. Each beam only barely cracked the ethereal energy that made up the Susanoo, it took only seconds to repair itself and draw its weapon.
One by one an Amaterasu arrow pierced the ships causing them to explode, sending body parts and rubble across the snow; Sasuke reached up and grabbed a ship with his Banshō Ten'in, forcing it down into the ice and completely dismantling it as his Susanoo ran on auto-pilot continuing to attack the above aliens.
Sasuke stepped out of his Susanoo but, left it in tact much like a sentry-gun, firing up at the sky automatically, strolling toward the downed ship using his Universal Pull to rip open the hull as two passengers were torn out, floating in front of Sasuke completely disabled.
"Sasuke!" Artemis shouted from behind, she was trying to act as solid as she could but, she was most definitely terrified, "Don't kill them, we can interrogate them, remember?"
He didn't turn around to face her, his eyes stayed attached to the enemies, "Please, you don't need to be that person, we can-"
Artemis was baffled when, mid-sentence, Sasuke used his Chidori to decapitate one of the soldiers sending crimson blood splattering across the snow-white landscape; bright red liquid spurted up from its exposed torso as it collapsed to the ground.
As she was still in shock, Sasuke casually stepped across the snow and copped the second captive in two sending an even larger splatter of blood across the snow and some landing directly in her face.
Her eyes were wide and her mouth ajar, she was completely speechless as the last of the ships were destroyed by his Susanoo and it dissipated, "Let's go," he announced passing her without a addressing anything she said.
They all watched as he approached with blood still splayed across his face, "They're dead…" he stated calmly, almost scary calm, "Every last one of them, if it's the last thing I do."
M'gaan formed tears in her eyes as they all quickly and careful piled onto the Bio-Ship, Artemis was approached by Conner who shook her from her stupor, "It's not safe, let's go," he suggested, guiding her by the shoulders toward the ship.
…
In camouflage mode, the Bio-Ship flew high above the ground, hidden in a bank of clouds where not even the extra-terrestrials could see them; M'gaan sat at the helm still crying explosively as Sasuke wiped his face and cloak with a rag from the blood. He approached passenger seats and tossed the rag onto the console in front of Artemis before stepping towards the viewing window where he could look down on the world.
"Mourn later," Sasuke deadpanned without facing them, "Now we focus on the mission, defending Earth and making sure Naruto didn't die for no reason."
"Back to the Cave?" M'gaan sniffled.
Aqualad stood, "The Hall of Justice," he announced, "It was a landmark of hope, the people should know there are still heroes defending them."
Sasuke glanced back at M'gaan and gave her an approving nod.
…
A line of tanks, soldiers, and anti-air craft missile launchers were positioned outside the Hall of Justice on Capitol Hill. A single leader in all camouflage barked orders throughout the battle field, observing the enemy with his binoculars.
"Fire!"
The soldiers threw everything they had at the swarm of alien ships but only managed to take down a few out of the many dozens. Suddenly, a single ship appeared out of thin air and begun unleashing similar beams, each one vaporizing another enemy ship.
"What the devil?" The man shouted out as his enemy's numbers dwindled at an exponential rate; a hatch in the rouge ship opened releasing Sasuke and Superboy, the ladder slamming his heels into a single ship with the force of a jet-liner and the former releasing black flames that melted apart four other ships around them all whilst their main ship still vaporized the remaining enemy.
One soldier lit up like a Christmas tree, "See? I told you Superman wouldn't abandon us!"
Superboy landed on the ground cracking the concrete with his boots, he groaned at the soldier's comment, "I'm not Superman…" Sasuke appeared next to him as the sip quietly landed behind them.
A hefty man with an AK-47 in one hand and a pair of binoculars in the other approached with a smile, "I don't care who you are… you wear the 'S' and you get the job done!"
The team approached from their ship as Sasuke stepped to the front, "General Wade Eiling: United States Air Force!" The man introduced himself while saluting to Sasuke which seemed like a nice surprise.
"Pain: Justice League," Sasuke walked passed him and towards the entrance with an almost rude attitude as Aqualad shook the general's hand.
Sasuke observed the Hall with his three-tomoe Sharingan, "We've already stolen their main weapon and it's proved useful so far, even on large numbers. I say we draw a line in the sand right here, with the Leagues armory and tech, it may just give us an edge," he spoke without turning towards them.
"Understood!" Eiling saluted once more before turning to his troops, "I want sentries posted at every outpost, if even one alien gets within ten miles of here without me knowing about it, I'll make sure to use you as cannon fodder, do I make myself perfectly clear?"
"Yes Sir!"
"Now let's get a move on and save the world!"
The soldiers cheered as some went to set up the sentries and others retreated into the Hall, following behind the heroes who entered first. They were greeted by the massive towering statues of the founding Justice League, in shambles and Superman, Wonder Woman, and Martian Manhunter had collapsed.
Superboy gave a long sigh as Artemis, Robin, M'gaan, Aqualad and Kid Flash all followed through the hall staring up at the titanic monuments with long faces; Sasuke simply stared out the cascading windows, keeping his ocular might on the skies.
"They're really gone, aren't they?"
M'gaan floated forwards with tears in her eyes, putting her hands on Manhunter's bust; she fell to her knees and closed her eyes until she felt something strange entering her mindscape suddenly, as if it had just appeared there now.
She looked up and levitated back, using her telekinesis to rip the massive statue up, tossing it aside where sat J'ohn J'onez himself holding his head in discomfort, "Uncle J'ohn!" She shouted as he just barely stood.
Before she could float even a few feet, something cold and metal pressed up against his throat; a blade was held out leisurely as Sasuke had appeared from thin air, the blade tucked itself closer to Manhunter's neck, "Take a single step and I open up your throat."
Artemis took a step back as they all did the same, "M-M'gaan, check his mind, make sure he is who he appears to be," Aqualad spoke up finally.
She nodded and closed her eyes for only a few seconds, checking the very forefront of his psyche before smiling and floating forwards; Sasuke reluctantly removed his blade and stepped back as M'gaan came in for an embrace, "It's him, and he's alive!"
Superboy scoffed in disbelief, "But, we saw you get disintegrated, you and Superman!" If he was a bit more foolish, he would have succumbed to his urge to look around, to make sure Manhunter was the only surviving hero.
"Yes…" Manhunter spoke holding his head as M'gaan supported him, "I remember but, I cannot remember how I survived or ended up here."
M'gaan came up with a quick and easy solution, "Maybe you were… density shifting! The beam passed right through you!"
Robin lifted his hands trying to make sense of things, "Scrambling your brains in the process!"
"My mind is clouded, I feel I had something important to tell you…" He looked off trying to remember but, couldn't grasp the thought properly.
"Hello Wally," Kid Flash said sarcastically motioning towards the Bio-Ship where the alien canon was integrated, "Come on!"
As they all circled around the ship, Sasuke dug his sword into the ground outside the Hall of Justice before returning to the front to keep an eye on the skies.
"I knew it!" Wally shouted as he analyzed the canon with Robin's wrist gauntlet, "It's giving off zeta-beams, the same stuff that powers our zeta-tubes! This thing doesn't vaporize, it teleports!"
"Maybe…" Robin checked his math as Wally shook his shoulders excitedly.
"No maybes, they're all alive!"
M'gaan looked up to her Uncle with a smile, "That must have been what you wanted to tell us, right?"
"Perhaps…"
Artemis approached Sasuke from behind, putting a hand on his shoulder, "Why did you kill those men?" She stated bluntly, "I thought you changed, I thought I knew you…"
"They killed my friend so I killed them; maybe you never knew me at all," Suddenly, Sasuke used his Shinra Tensei to knock Wally and Dick to the ground narrowly missing a beam of energy carving into the ground at their feet. He said nothing as he formed a massive Susanoo skeletal arm around his already formed ribcage, blocking out energy beams from hitting himself or Artemis as the former two ducked behind a military assault truck.
"M'gaan, camouflage the Bio-Ship!"
Before she could do so, a beam struck it dead-on causing it to disappear, the psychic backlash knocked Martian Manhunter and Miss Martian onto their sides as a tear streamed down her left eye, "That didn't feel like…" more explosions distracted her from her train of thought as the military open fired on the skies.
'We're falling back!" Robin shouted as Sasuke, Artemis, himself, and Wally all followed a dozen soldiers into the hall meeting Aqualad, Superboy, M'gaan, and Manhunter inside, facing the door leading to the inner-sanctum.
"We're trapped," Sasuke said as the door slid open leading them to a dead-end.
"Maybe not," Aqualad noted as they all filed in, with the soldiers methodically standing post with their guns trained on the doors; "We can zeta out of here if you can get us access to the tubes," he looked towards J'ohn who nodded.
"I can only give access to one at a time," He noted approaching the console and typing in multiple command codes.
"The soldiers go first then-"
"Delay that!" General Eiling shouted, "The world needs you lot far more than it needs us, right now."
Sasuke furrowed his brow and used his short-ranged teleportation to switch places with his sword still carved into the concrete at the front of the hall, "Sasuke!" Artemis shouted, "I'm going after him!"
Sasuke summoned his fully formed Susanoo around him, with its broad shoulders, a head which has a helmet that featured a long tengu nose, two spikes over each eye, a slit stretching across its mouth, and demonic glowing yellow eyes, it fired off rounds of Amaterasu arrows. Sasuke had stopped caring long ago about the state of his chakra reserves, his Mangekyou Sharingan bled profusely dripping down his chin, "You want some more!? Try it! I'm itching to kill you all!" He laughed heartfully as the ships exploded in the distance.
Artemis watched in horror, without Naruto around something had snapped inside of him; he was a completely different person now, she didn't even recognize him.
"Sasuke!" She shouted up towards the massive avatar as she ducked behind a truck, "We have to go, we're leaving!"
He stayed silent before grabbing Artemis in his massive grip, making his way back toward the Hall of Justice; dispersing his Susanoo, he lowered them both down at the entrance and managed to make their way to the inner-sanctum.
Once inside, he noticed the soldiers were all firing up at a hole in the ceiling where the aliens had mounted an assault from above, each solider was being vaporized one by one as the general took a position at the forefront using his AK-47 to fire rounds above. Aqualad, Superboy, and Manhunter were the only ones left as Conner lifted a bolder up freeing a pinned solider.
"He goes next!" He shouted as the scanner recognized the man as a private.
"Thank you, Superman!" he shouted before being teleported away.
"I'm not…" He groaned and turned around as the scanner automatically lit up slowly analyzing him as Superboy.
He jumped through teleporting away as a blast of energy hit the ground where he had been moments ago; Sasuke approached as the automatic systems scanned Artemis' body, "I'm not leaving yet!" She shouted as, without glancing back at her or saying a word, Sasuke shoved her into the teleporter sending her thousands of miles away at the speed of light.
Sasuke nodded towards Aqualad as he too stepped into the teleporter, vanishing in seconds; The Atlantean shouldered Manhunter until they made it to the scanning bay, "You should go now, Kaldur."
"They need you more than me, now go!" Aqualad forced J'ohn into the teleporter beam sending him away as he was struck in the back by a beam only half a second later, the other soldiers were picked off effortlessly and the Hall of Justice fell.
…
Mount Justice; October 26th
"Our next mission is clear," Robin announced as Artemis, Superboy, Sasuke, Kid Flash, and M'gaan were all standing in the center of the holo-ring; the other soldiers that had teleported through were either cleaning their weapons or showering, "If we believe that the aliens are taking prisoners-"
"We do!" Wally interrupted.
"Than the only logical detainment facility would be here," He summoned a large holo-screen with images of a massive mother-ship identical to the one that killed Superman and the others in space, "Their mother-sip, atop what used to be Smallville, Kansas."
"Ring any bells?" Wally looked back toward J'ohn who was holding his head in the background.
"Superboy and I will cause a distraction," Sasuke spoke up as Artemis stomped her foot.
"No way! You're offering yourselves as a sacrifice!"
"So?" Sasuke muttered as stepped toward a nearby wooden table, grabbing a spare helmet, "As long as you achieve the mission and free the prisoners, I don't care."
"You should care! You should care that you're killing people, you should care that your friends are dying! You should CARE!" Artemis had tears welling in her eyes as M'gaan put a hand on her shoulder as Sasuke passed by her, slipping on his helmet.
"But, I don't; this is war, get used to people not caring."
Robin cleared his throat, "Sasuke and Superboy are most likely to be perceived as threats, drawing the alien's attention towards them leaving us able to complete the objective."
Wally stepped into the middle of the conversation with his unheard-of optimism, "At worst they'll be teleported inside where we free them with the others…"
"We deploy in five," Pain announced, donning a brand-new cloak.
…
Smallville Kansas; October 26th
Robin and M'gaan sat atop a hill overlooking the massive ship with binoculars in hand, "Stay close to J'ohn, he's still a little iffy."
She nodded in response as Sasuke stepped between them and analyzed the giant mother-ship, "First team: deploy," he announced with M'gaan and J'ohn floating up and cloaking themselves, the mounted weaponry couldn't even detect their approach as Manhunter helped his niece phase through the wall with an awkward grunt, "Ready, in position."
"Second team; we're up…" Sasuke leaped into the air as Artemis watched him, this could be the last time she ever sees him and she couldn't even say that she'd miss him after seeing everything he'd done. It's not that she lost her feelings, it was that this man wasn't who she fell in love with, even if he survived things would never be the same again.
Sasuke poured all of his chakra into his eyes as the purple Susanoo energy manifested around his body, however; it didn't form into anything familiar. It grew and grew until it was almost as massive as the ship itself; it generated into a massive towering man clad in glowing samurai armor, a massive forty-foot katana strapped to his belt, expansive bird-like wings tucked behind his back, and Sasuke in the center of the forehead behind a glass case of sorts.
"Say hello, to my Perfect Susanoo!" His enormous ethereal avatar gripped the hilt of his blade and pulled it from its sheath as the entire facility lit up with drones facing the massive enemy, "You have no idea, the power I wield!"
Superboy gulped as he looked up at it, everyone had the same reaction as Robin stuttered and pointed at the ship, "Go now, team three, get ready…" Superboy nodded and sprinted off of the cliff, spanning over two hundred feet before landing on the hull of the ship. He quickly ran towards one of the mounted weapons before ripping it from its coupling, "Careful, don't disconnect the power-source." He followed Robin's instruction and held the massive gun above his head.
"Alright, you glorified trespassers, how about I show you how a real alien fights!" he fired off several beams that destroyed other sentries causing several drones to be deployed in his immediate vicinity, "Now or never!"
Robin hopped on Wally's shoulders as he super-sped from a half-mile away using the momentum to leap across the canyon and tumble to a halt on the other side; Artemis simply shot an arrow through the air hitting the hull allowing her to zip-line the same distance. Wally scoffed and looked over at Robin, "Why didn't we just do that?"
Robin, Wally, and Artemis ducked behind a large canister as several drones flew overhead, deploying to the distraction outside, "Way is clear, go!"
Sasuke slipped into a meditative position as to completely merge his psyche with his Susanoo avatar; his body would become fluid with it, his mind would have full control of it as if it were simply his own body. It pulled its arms back before swinging the blade forwards in a side-ways chopping formation, hitting it with all of his might. The resulting shockwave was so intense that the nearby mountainous range around the was completely obliterated; hundreds of miles of mountain had been stripped of its landscape and sent into oblivion.
The base shook with incredible force, knocking Superboy off balance and sending him tumbling to halt; he narrowly dodged a beam of energy before ducking behind a lone sentry, "Watch where you swing that thing!"
The blade made a large dent in the ship but, didn't carve through it, "That's impossible!" He shouted within his avatar as he reeled back and slammed his fist into the hull, attempting to tear it open with brute strength, dispersing his blade in the process.
Superboy leaped up and gripped a drone by its sides, crushing it between his hands and tossing it back down into a sentry gun aiming for him.
Suddenly, a massive hatch opened in the center of the ship facing Sasuke's Perfect Susanoo; it revealed a gigantic lens which lit up with yellow energy, the same energy used by the drones only on a much larger scale. Sasuke widened his eyes and pulled his arms forward forcing his Susanoo to do the same also folding his wings in front of his arms for even further protection. The ship unleashed a massive beam of untold energy which hit Sasuke's defense, pushing him back on his heels, carving massive trenches in the ground with his ethereal boots. Blood dripped from his Rinnegan while the smoke cleared around them, he huffed and stepped forwards until another discharged loosed from the ship, this time Sasuke dipped to the side dodging it completely as it vaporized a mountain in the background. The Perfect Susanoo flew in at near light speeds gripping the entire ship by its rotund sides, attempting to lift it up and off of the town it currently crushed.
Superboy nearly tipped over, "What is he doing!?"
…
Wally, Artemis, and Robin snuck through the mother-ship quietly; keeping their balance as best they could from the commotion going on just outside. They dipped behind a pillar and avoided being seen by an insectoid-like drone, however; another drone lowered down from an upper level aiming directly at them. They had no time to prepare so, it seemed they were done for until a metallic trunk of some-kind flew into the drone's blaster disabling it.
M'gaan and J'ohn floated down still camouflaged, giving them a nod which they could barely see; they ran down a long corridor heading for the main hall of the ship.
Superboy ducked out from the path of a beam which exploded at his feet sending him tumbling back; he stood and scanned the area but, never saw the drone floating behind him, min his blind-spot, which shot him in the back and vaporized him.
M'gaan felt the disconnection from the psychic link and fell into her Uncle's arms, feeling extremely fatigued she sighed, "He's gone, Superboy is gone…"
Wally approached her and put a comforting arm around her shoulder, "Don't worry, we'll find him with Naruto, I just know it!"
J'ohn stood up straight, looking around he blinked, "No, my mind is much clearer now, there is no detention facility, no prisoners to save; the disintegration rays are exactly that," he sighed as Wally faced him, "Our mission holds no purpose."
"No! You're wrong!" he grabbed Manhunter by his cloak, "They have to be alive, the Zeta-Radiation proves-"
"Stop it, KF!" He grabbed Wally by the shoulders and shook him, "I've been scanning for infrared life signatures since we got inside, they're not here!" he let go and looked around, "The only things in here with us are cold, reptile-like, alien monsters."
"Our mission still holds purpose though, to blow this mother-ship to hell where it came from."
J'ohn helped his niece up as she nodded and wiped her tears, "Let's send these assholes off our planet."
They all ran down the hall, aside from the Martians who flew, as they took several turns before finally arriving in a large room illuminated only by a bright yellow spherical power source. Robin stepped forwards and scanned it with his holo-gauntlet, "This is the power-core, blow this and the entire mother-ship goes with it." He ran forwards but, was surprised when he felt a gravitational force tugging on him and pulling him off his feet towards the power source.
Wally grabbed Robin's hand but, found he too was being pulled off of his feet; they flew towards the power source before Robin shot a grappling hook that caught itself on another platform, M'gaan lowered them down slowly with her telekinesis.
Artemis kept an arrow on her bow and her head on a swivel, making sure to spot any extra-terrestrials should they discover them; Robin unhooked two artillery-belts stuffed with C-4 strapped to his chest and laid them flat on the power-source.
"You knew…" Wally said aloud, "That there were no prisoners…"
"Let's just get this done and get out of here," He activated their timer as a drone spotted them and aimed its weapon toward their defenseless selves. Manhunter came in with a right hook, as M'gaan finished it off by shattering it with a heel-kick to the center-plate.
Artemis fired two arrows up at a drone which incased it in quick-dry cement that dropped it twenty feet to the ground; "We have to move!" She shouted keeping her bow pointed up at the sky.
Robin and Wally jumped off of the power-core with M'gaan and J'ohn covering their decent; the earth's gravity pulling them down was enough to overcome the core's force.
…
Sasuke tried with all of his strength to rip the entire base off the ground but, even with his incredible might he wasn't capable of doing so in time. The ship opened up another hatch right below the Perfect Susanoo's chest-plate, Sasuke didn't notice quick enough as a yellow energy collected within the lens firing in seconds right through the avatars body. The beam dissipated leaving the Susanoo with a hole in its chest, it backed away gripping its abdomen.
Sasuke spat blood from his mouth as the entire Susanoo faded away, dropping him from hundreds of feet up. He fell through the air, watching the black sky above him slowly get further away; after a few minutes of falling he hit the ground cracking the rocks with his back, shattering his ribcage in the process.
…
Artemis fired off an arrow down the corridor hitting a drone in the center of its beam-canon, exploding and sending smoke through the hall covering the exit.
M'gaan tore open a hatch leading to the exit that they had arrived at in the first place, however; it was now sealed tight with no openings. Artemis shouted, "Incomi-" a drone vaporized her on spot as Wally grabbed Dick and pushed him against the wall behind the canister they hid behind earlier.
M'gaan and J'ohn turned invisible as the drones continued without noticing them, "Come on, we can all phase out of here!"
"No, we'll hold them off, you two get out of here before this place goes up in smoke!" Wally shouted telepathically.
"I'm coming back for you!" M'gaan shouted as J'ohn helped her phase through the ground, escaping the ship with seconds to spare.
Wally sighed and slid down the canister, with his butt hitting the ground in a heap, ignoring the explosions currently approaching them, "This is it then, huh?"
Robin pulled two shuriken out in each hand, "It's been an honor, Wally, really."
Wally chuckled in response, "You too, boy-wonder…"
…
M'gaan and J'ohn floated up from the ground a quarter mile away from the mother-ship as only seconds later; a massive explosion engulfed the area as a shockwave knocked them back a few feet.
"Don't tell me we won, we lost too much… the price was too high," an expansive mushroom cloud formed in the sky, drawing their attention up towards the stars where a massive identical mother-ship floated down taking the destroyed ones place atop the now nonexistent Smallville.
Manhunter held his head, things were so much clearer now, he knew what had to be done, "We have to move, we have to hide somewhere…" M'gaan grabbed her arm and moved for the opposite direction.
"No," J'ohn stated calmly, "I know what must be done…"
"Uncle?" He looked down on her innocent face and shifted the density of his fist, making it harder than steel.
"I'm so sorry, M'gaan," he grabbed her by the shoulder and plunged his fist into chest, tearing through muscle and bone, to where his fist flew out on the otherside covered in green-blood, dripping down his knuckles.
…
M'gaan gasped as her eyes snapped open, she wasn't dead or in the middle of a destroyed corn field outside of Smallville; she was in Mount Justice lying on a cot in the center of the holo-ring. She sat up slowly and watched as Artemis, Aqualad, Conner, Wally, Dick, Naruto, and Sasuke slowly sat up groaning and holding their heads as they did. Captain Marvel caught J'ohn as he stood to his feet but, fell faint half way through; it seemed he had been lying on the floor but, was too weak to stand on his own.
"You're all alive!?" M'gaan shouted as Batman put a hand on J'ohn's shoulder, Sasuke's eyes looked dull and out of touch, even after he caught sight of Naruto rubbing his head.
"What happened in there?" Batman asked drawing the attention of the entire group but, mostly speaking to J'ohn.
"The exercise, it all went wrong…" he moaned as he held his head in discomfort.
"Exercise?" Wally asked in serious confusion.
"Try to remember; what you experienced was a mental training exercise designed by me and established via a mental link which Manhunter set you in. You all knew this going in; you also knew none of it was real, including the deaths of the entire league."
Sasuke looked up and muttered, "Which is exactly why none of us mourned or even cared about their deaths, because we all knew it wasn't real."
"Yes, exactly, but everything changed when Naruto was killed," J'ohn looked down in shame as he felt most responsible for this part in particular, "When Naruto died, M'gaan's subconscious failed to make the distinction between simulation and reality; her psyche latched onto the situation and forgot what was real. I was not expecting such an intense burst of emotion so suddenly, I was unprepared to fight M'gaan for control causing me to lose my grip over the simulation, and allowing her to spread her fear and loss through the mental connection I had established curropting all of your minds as well, making you forget too."
They looked to Batman as he motioned towards the entire team, "This situation was a train-for-failure, and no matter what the team accomplished the situation was designed to grow worse."
Sasuke sighed and looked down at his shaking hands, "And that's why nothing I did affected the Mothership."
"The situation was designed with a single fix; no amount of physical strength could have destroyed that ship, only the designed weakness could affect its status, in this case, blowing the ship from the power-core," Batman looked down as Marvel helped J'ohn towards the main-hall where Batman could speak to them privately.
J'ohn spoke up turning back to them, "I attempted to enter the mindscape and force the control away from M'gaan but, as I entered I was bombarded by your collected emotions and thoughts. There was too much noise to think clearly. It wasn't until Conner, Artemis, Robin, and Wally had been silenced that I could think clearly enough to remember my objective, but it was far too late to fight M'gaan for control and the only other option was to shock her out of the simulation."
"So you murdered her yourself, to make her wake up?"
J'ohn looked down, "As ashamed as I am, yes."
Batman turned and escorted J'ohn towards the back-hall where they could speak silently; Sasuke looked up at Artemis who glared at him. He stepped forwards, "Artemis… I-"
She turned away with a tear in her eye, "We should take some time, to figure out who exactly we think we are."
Sasuke frowned, looking back down at his hands, he turned and grabbed his hoodie from the nearby medical table used to preserve them during their comatose state; Naruto grabbed his arm, "Sasuke, wait-"
"Don't follow me, dobe," He pulled his arm away and made his way toward the Zeta-Tubes.
"Recognized; Pain A01."
…
Downtown Gotham City; October 27th; 12:34AM
Sasuke walked down the sidewalk with his hands stuffed in his pockets, he couldn't believe everything he'd just experienced was all a simulation, the death of Naruto, the destruction of the Justice League, the world as he knew it ending… again. How could he revert back into his old habits? How could he let himself snap like that? In front of her of all people! He felt so stupid, if he just knew that it was a simulation he wouldn't have been so cold.
He felt a cold drop from above, rain sprinkled down from the black sky; no stars were visible due to the overcast but, Sasuke couldn't help but stare up at the darkness with the rain beginning to pick up, running down his face.
"I'm so stupid."
The rain drenched him, but he didn't care; suddenly though, he looked back at the street and someone was on the sidewalk across from him. Wearing a dark hood over some-kind of mask and cloak he simply stared at Sasuke from afar not moving or speaking, "If you're trying to mug me, you should know I'm not in a good mood."
The man pulled his hood back revealing Sasuke's own Pain helmet, and as he focused his sight a bit more, the man was also wearing an Akatsuki cloak identical to his own back at the cave; Sasuke slipped into a fighting stance, "Who are you?"
"Don't you recognize me?" The man spoke quietly but, his voice was muffled by the mask, he didn't have a voice modifier like the one he used on missions.
"I recognize that outfit, just what do you want?"
The man stepped forward and flashed two crimson lights behind his mask; with Sasuke's own ocular prowess, he could instantly see the Sharingan behind the mask, "Trust me, I don't want to do this but, when do I ever get what I want?"
Sasuke took a step back when the man suddenly closed the distance between them in seconds, faster than anything he'd seen on this Earth thus far; a single palm strike to the chest sent the shocked Sasuke through the air, hitting a lamp-post with his back.
He was already disorientated from the simulation that just ended less than an hour ago, putting him off his game but, now he was just plain dizzy. The man sped forward with intense accuracy side-kicking him in the gut and through the metal post sliding on the asphalt road with his back. The area was abandoned, no one was out and the street was empty so, there was no one around to witness Sasuke spitting blood into the rain-water puddling around him.
He looked up but, wasn't prepared for the next assault which came with a round-house kick across the chin sending him through the air again hitting the side of a building, shattering the brick wall with his body. He groaned and sat up, rolling out of the way of a fist that slammed through the wall onto the other-side sending brick dust into the air, he quickly forced fist out collapsing the rest of the wall.
Sasuke stumbled back as the assailant dashed forwards, Sasuke blocked his assault this time, using his forearm to block the man's foot, deflecting it back and sending a right hook but, was maneuvered around and countered with a kunai to the arm, slicing shoulder blade giving him a large gash.
Sasuke evolved his Sharingan into the Mangekyou allowing him to better perceive the movements of his attacker but, it didn't help enough as the man clearly had speed comparable to his own. He held his shoulder and backed away, dodging several shuriken thrown at high-speeds; he formed the Mangekyou ribcage which surged with violet energy and protected him from the average attack.
What Sasuke hadn't been expecting was for his attacker to summon his own Susanoo even quicker than he could, slamming his own purple ribcage into the ground with a massive orange-crimson skeletal fist. He recovered for a moment but, didn't have time to react to the fist coming down again sending cracks through the rib-cage. He was too weak and the force was too great, the Susanoo fist came down even harder shattering his own defense and hitting Sasuke with force.
The smoke cleared and the crimson Susanoo fist held Sasuke, nearly unconscious tightly in its palm, he looked down from the captured hold of his ethereal grip and spat blood into the ground, "Who are you?" he sputtered with the crimson-liquid covering his teeth and running down his chin.
The man reached up using his real hands to unlatch the helmet and pull it off his head, revealing a mess of rave-black shoulder-length hair, creases from stress alone running down his face from the bridge of his nose down to his upper-lip, and the whites of his eyes completely blacked-out signifying his return from the dead.
"Sorry it had to be this way, little one."
"I-Itachi!?" Sasuke spat more blood as his older brother walked away with him in tow, his vision blurred and his Sharingan faded away, he quickly fell unconscious, completely at the mercy of his once beloved older brother.
…
Threw some twists and turns in there for those of you who are still reading this lmao.
Any questions? Just review them; I'll answer them during these author notes.
Anyways, that's all for now.