Sorry for the late update guys!
A magic circle appeared near Batman and Flash as Kurama stepped out, A hint of fear in his eyes.
"Where is my brother?" he asked.
The duo didn't answer but turned towards the med bay.
Kurama silently walked towards the med bay doors, As the doors opened he saw Naruto kneeling near the dead body of Atlanna, seeing the stab wound near the abdomen, His expression changed from fear to that of anger, Kurama asked "Who?".
"The matter has been dealt with, and the murderer has been caught and will be brought to Justice" Batman replied.
"I asked who did this?" Kurama asked again, a bit more force in his words.
"We are personally handling-" Flash replied but was stopped mid-sentence as Kurama teleported near him, grasped his neck, and lifted him off the ground.
"I asked who killed her!" Kurama yelled his anger in full display.
"Enough" Naruto called out as he kissed Atlanna on her forehead and turned around, "There will be no more deaths today, I won't have her memory tarnished".
"But-" Kurama argued but before he could finish his sentence, Naruto dashed towards him and punched him in the face, a magic circle appeared near Kurama's head to protect him but it broke like glass as soon as Naruto's bare fist made contact with it.
Flash fell to the ground as Kurama was blasted into the nearby wall.
Following up with his attack, Naruto dashed toward Kurama again.
"I!"
Boom!
"Said!"
Boom!
"Enough!"
Boom!
Naruto punched with each word he spoke, the entire HQ rumbled with each of his strikes.
No one spoke as the dust from the concrete settled, Kurama managed to open one of his bloodied eyes as he felt a tear fall on his face.
Looking at Naruto's broken expression, he understood what his brother was going through.
"Understood" Kurama muttered weakly as he was hoisted up by Naruto.
"We won't speak on this matter ever again and you won't do anything about it either" Naruto continued, his back facing Batman and Flash, hiding his pained expressions from them.
Kurama nodded weakly as he created a magic circle beneath them and teleported away, he did not want anyone to witness Naruto like this.
Following the aftermath of Atlanna's death, Orm's betrayal was brought to light and Arthur ascended the Throne of Atlantis and became its King, Orm was imprisoned and sent to the dark trenches for the death of the Queen and his treason against Atlantis.
Xxx 3 Months Later xxX
"So, How long do you plan on staying here?" Naruto asked as he sat on a chair and ate his breakfast.
"I don't know" Kurama replied, lying on the dining table with a toast in his mouth, "This place is growing on me, I now certainly understand your attachment to this planet".
Naruto sighed as he finished up his breakfast, Kurama had been staying with him in his mansion for the past 3 months, and after the incident with Atlanna, he found it imperative to provide Naruto with his support, Naruto didn't mind at first, He knew Kurama was just looking out for him but after 3 months of closed proximity with him, Naruto was reaching the limit of his patience.
Suddenly, Naruto's Justice League alert went off.
"What's going on?" Kurama replied as got up and sat cross-legged.
"There's been a break-in at the Flash museum" Naruto replied.
"You going?" Kurama inquired.
"No, the league can handle it" Naruto replied as he got up and started cleaning the mess Kurama had spread across the dining table, there were toasts lying everywhere, butter messily spread across the table with pieces of eggs littered everywhere, It was an understatement to say that Kurama was a messy person, his room was littered with worn clothes, bits and pieces of food and other items spread haphazardly across the floor.
Naruto sighed as he tried to figure out a way to let Kurama know that he was fine now, It was more of Kurama's antics that were getting on his nerves now.
"I don't understand why you keep going around cleaning up the mess" Kurama replied as he jumped off the table and did a few stretches, "There is a reason we have servants, Let them do their jobs".
"I didn't hire them to clean up after you, I hired them to look after the mansion"
"Then hire someone to look after me as well" Kurama replied cheekily.
Naruto sighed again as he put the dishes in the sink and put the trash in the bin.
"So, What's today's plan?" Kurama inquired as he sat on a nearby chair.
"I have a few board meetings that I need to attend" Naruto replied, "And, you are not invited", Naruto finished with a pointed look.
"Why? What the hell did I do to get uninvited?" Kurama asked innocently.
"There have been more than 300 sexual harassment reports that were submitted to me in the past 3 months and only 10 have been of my employees".
"I'll have to pump those numbers up, Those are rookie numbers" Kurama replied, "I plan for at least 200 this month".
Naruto sighed, again, and went to his room to get changed.
As he was putting on his suit, the ground beneath his feet suddenly rumbled.
"Kurama!" He yelled, "I told you, No magic in my house!".
"It wasn't me" Naruto heard Kurama yell back.
There was another rumble, this time stronger.
"Kurama!".
"I'm not doing anything!" Kurama exclaimed as he entered Naruto's room, dressed in black shorts, a white polo T-shirt, and white Flipflops, "It was probably an earthquake, You do have insurance right?".
Naruto muttered something under his breath and checked his phone to see if it was indeed an earthquake.
"You coming dressed like that?" Naruto inquired as he checked the news.
"It's my brother's company" Kurama boasted, "I can come naked if I want to, who's there to stop me?"
"Please don't" Naruto stated as he focused on his phone again.
"Weird, there is no record of an earthquake anywhere" Naruto replied.
Suddenly, there was a blinding white light that engulfed everything.
"The fuck happened?" Kurama cursed as he rubbed his eyes.
"We were teleported to our 'ship'" Naruto replied as he walked to a nearby console.
"That's not good" Kurama stated, "That's never good".
"Is it time for it then?" Kurama inquired, "I'm not yet ready, I still have so much to do".
"I don't think we were teleported in here for that" Naruto replied as he showed the monitor to Kurama, "One of the ship's fail-safe was triggered, someone messed up big time".
"Ooh, this is not good" Kurama replied as he studied the monitor, "This is definitely not good".
Walking out of the door, The duo found nothing but destroyed buildings, there was no civilian in sight.
"Our ship was parked near London right?" Kurama inquired to which Naruto pointed towards the broken Big Ben in the distance.
"Can we move?" Kurama inquired.
"Barely, this teleportation took a huge chunk of power" Naruto replied, "The ship's power was already depleted when it had originally landed, I was able to replenish some of it but the materials are not easy to come by herer".
"That's true" Kurama replied, "I had scoured galaxies for the materials but wasn't able to find what we needed for the repairs".
"We should put the ship in lockdown and try to find out what happened here, Let's get ready" Naruto replied as he entered the broken building that their ship was camouflaged as.
"Agreed" Kurama replied.
After their preparation, the duo moved out and teleported to Metropolis. There, they found out that there was a war going on between the Amazons and the Atlanteans.
Atlantis had sunk the entirety of West Europe in the Ocean and Amazons had taken control of the United Kingdom and had renamed it New Themyscira. Millions of people had lost their lives as collateral in the war.
They had also learned that in this world there was no Justice League, no Super Man or Flash, But they discovered that a Batman and Cyborg were still present.
So, their next plan of action was to visit Batman.
Teleporting to the desolate Wayne Manor, the duo made their way to the Bat cave.
There they found Batman laying a beat down on a blonde-haired man, Barry Allen, The Flash.
"Who are you?" Batman Questioned as he punched Barry, "How did you find this place?".
Barry quickly raised his arms in surrender, "Wait! It's me Bruce, Barry! Barry Allen!, You have to remember!".
"Bruce is dead. I watched him die" Batman replied as grabbed Barry by the collar.
"My god!" Barry exclaimed as a revelation hit him, "He's the one who died that night in the alley. Bruce died and you lived, You're his father. You're Thomas Wayne!"
Suddenly he yelled in pain as Batman broke one of his fingers.
"You have nine more fingers" Batman stated, "I suggest you tell me how you found out about all of this".
"That won't be required" Naruto called out as he and Kurama exited the shadows.
"His name is the Flash, he is a speedster from my world and looks like he fucked up big time with his time travel shenanigans".
"Naruto? Kurama?" Barry asked in relief and surprise, "You're here? You remember me? But I went to your mansion, There was no one there, There was no Abstergo Industries either, in fact, there was no one in this world who matched your descriptions".
"We don't exist here" Naruto replied as he walked forward, "We are paradoxes in this world".
"Wait, how can you exist if you are a paradox?" Barry questioned.
"That's not important" Naruto replied as he picked up a scalpel that was lying on the nearby bed, "What's important is that we get out of here", Without any warning Naruto threw the scalpel at Barry's head.
Barry didn't even register the scalpel being thrown until Kurama stopped it a few inches from his right eye. Batma quickly reached for his gun but was stopped by Kurama.
"uh! uh! uh!" Kurama exclaimed as rested a katana on the Dark Knight's throat.
"So, You have lost your connection to the speed force" Naruto stated, "Well, that's unfortunate".
"Speed Force?" Batman questioned as he tried to think of a way to get out of the situation.
"It's a Multi-Dimensional energy that's based around velocity and movement. It represents reality in motion, the very cosmic force that pushes space and time forward and brings movement into being. It's what powers Barry's abilities" Naruto explained.
Seeing the baffled expression on Barry's face, Naruto exclaimed, "What's with that dumb expression, I have 20 PhDs you know".
Seeing as there was no immediate threat from the three, Batman decided to listen to them.
"I'll humor you" Batman replied as he raised his hands in surrender, "For now".
"My ring!" Barry exclaimed as he fished into his jacket to find his ring, "Let me show you that I'm telling the truth, this ring holds my uniform" he continued as he showed Batman his ring and pressed a button on it and out popped a yellow costume.
"See? I told…." Barry stopped as he took a good look at the uniform, it was yellow instead of his usual red.
"Not what you were expecting?" Batman questioned.
"Doesn't The Reverse Flash where this thing" Kurama questioned.
"Reverse-Flash?" Batman questioned again.
"Thawne" Barry replied, "This uniform belongs to my opposite, the Reverse-Flash, Eobard Thawne".
"What kind of name is Eobard?" Batman asked.
"The 25th-century kind" Flash replied, "He replicated the accident that allowed me to tap into the Speed Force and became a criminal. The speed force allows both of us to bend the laws of physics using super speed" Barry explained, "He can travel through time".
"You're suggesting that he changed something in the past," Batman questioned.
"So, You're not the one who made the change?" Naruto questioned.
"No" Barry replied, "At least, I don't think I am".
"Hmm", Naruto hummed, "That does explain a lot, Because of the change he made, You are Batman instead of Bruce, and Diana and Arthur are about to start World War 3".
"My mom is also alive" Barry chimed in but he was ignored.
"Assuming that this is all true, then, to fix the timeline, we will need to find what Eobard changed and reverse it so that this timeline never exists, correct?" Batman inquired.
"Like Back To The Future!" Barry exclaimed.
"Not quite" Naruto replied, "There are multiple types of time travel and all of them work differently and have different effects on the past, the present and the future. The first thing to understand is that time is not linear, It's more like a big ball of wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey... stuff".
"Nicely explained" Kurama deadpanned.
"Forget I said that," Naruto said, a little embarrassed, "To explain it in simpler terms, when time travel is done through the use of speed force, it creates a perpendicular timeline that has its own past and future, and the point of change acts as the intersection of these timelines as opposed to the branched timeline which is shown to happen in "Back to the Future""
"I still don't get it" Flash replied.
"What he means is" Batman started, "Even if we stop what Eobard did, it won't stop this timeline from vanishing, We would just be removing the point of intersection, making the timelines run parallel or worse, create an entirely new timeline".
"Correct" Naruto replied, "We could just let this timeline be as it is and return to our original timeline without having to stop The Reverse Flash, but with Barry's connection to speed force broken, there is no way to do that".
"Wait, if what you are saying is true then shouldn't the timeline shift just apply to The Reverse Flash?" Flash questioned, "Why am I in this timeline, Why are the two of you in this timeline?"
"Hmmm," Naruto hummed in deep thought, "Either he purposefully pulled you into this timeline or you were the one who changed the past" Naruto answered, "Regardless of what the answer to that question is, We need to get back to our original timeline" Naruto continued, skillfully dodging the other question.
"We need to get Barry his powers back" Kurama commented, "That would be the fastest way to get back, every other plan would require at least a few months of preparation and seeing the situation of this planet, I would guess it has mere weeks before either the Atlanteans or the Amazons blow it up".
"We can recreate the accident which gave me my super speed" Barry suggested, "We can use the chemicals you have here, all we need is a bolt of thunder".
"Well, we are in Gotam" Kurama replied, "It's known for its unbelievably bad weather, If not, then I can always summon one".
"You can summon Thunder!?" Barry questioned to which Kurama just smirked.
"Well, Let's get to it then" Naruto replied as he headed for the exit while collecting the necessary chemicals.
Strapped to a chair, Barry sat surrounded by chemicals and metal rods.
"This is crazy" Batman muttered, "You all ought to be in Arkham".
"We are doing what needs to be done" Kurama replied, "As much as I like to see planets blowing up, I like to witness it from a safe distance".
"We are set" Naruto replied after making adjustments to the machine he had created, "A bolt of lightning and you should have your powers back".
"How are you so confident?" Flash questioned as he tightened his straps.
"20 PhDs remember" Naruto replied, "Plus, I have already recreated it once".
"What?" Barry asked in concern, "On whom?"
Naruto just smirked and turned on the device he had made to attract the lightning.
"Now we wait" Naruto stated.
Soon a bolt of thunder struck the machine and traveled over to Barry who screamed in pain, It was done as soon as it happened.
"Welcome back Flash" Naruto muttered.
"Good to be back" Barry replied, a confident grin on his face, Suddenly, he raised his hand and caught a shard of glass thrown by Kurama.
"Just checking".
"Somehow, I am remembering things from this timeline" Bary replied as he got up from the chair, "How Aquaman destroyed most of Europe, But I can remember my world as well, the world where Aquaman would never harm an innocent person".
"It's the paradox fixing itself" Naruto replied, "I call it a memory remnant, Haven't you wondered why there aren't two Barry Allen, in this world?" Naruto questioned, "When the timeline shifted, the Barry Allen of this world must have forcibly merged with you" Naruto explained, "Since you can't be in two timelines at once without something stopping the paradox, one of you had to go, This is what is causing your memories to align to this world's history. If you stay here long enough, you may even forget your own timeline and everyone in it".
"Now, What the hell are you waiting for!" Kurama exclaimed, "Run, Flash, Run as you have never before!".
"Sorry, couldn't resist" Kurama replied to the poker faces of all three.
"Now, all you need to do is break the time barrier, enter the speed force and navigate to your own timeline" Naruto stated.
"What of this Earth?" Barry questioned.
"It is not our place to intervene in the affairs of this world" Kurama answered with a serious expression, "We will have to leave it to its own fate".
"I can't do that" Flash firmly replied.
"I can make you do it" Kurama replied threateningly as magic circles manifested in his palms.
"Stop" Naruto intervened, "Why do you want to save this world so bad?" Naruto questioned.
"Because this is the world where my mom lives. I'm not going to lose her again." Flash replied.
Sighing, Naruto replied, "You do realise that there are multiple worlds where your mother is still alive and some of those worlds end too, are you going to go to all those timelines as well and save those worlds too? Furthermore, by saving this world you could be pointing it towards an even worse fate. Let's say, Darksied of this timeline were to visit Earth and decide to terraform it, with no one capable of stopping him, What would happen to this planet, What would happen to your mother?" Naruto tried to reason with him, "And if not Darkseid, something entirely different could happen. The point is, looking at the bigger picture, it wouldn't really matter even if you did save the planet".
"If it doesn't matter anyway, then I choose to stay and fight" Flash replied as he got ready to fight the two, "I am not letting my mother die if I can do something about it"
For a tense moment, it seemed like a fight would break out but then Naruto raised his hands in surrender.
"Fine, you win" Naruto stated with a sigh, "Who are we to stop a son from protecting his mother".
"At least try to see if you can enter the time stream, we could at least know what Thawne had changed" Naruto suggested.
After a brief moment of contemplation, Flash agreed, "Ok" he replied and ran off in the distance.
Naruto made a tiny gesture towards Kurama who understood what it meant, The small interaction was noticed by Batman but he decided not to voice out any of his concerns.
Flash came back a few seconds later.
"Couldn't do it?" Naruto inquired.
"I am slower than I was before, It's like something is keeping me from accessing enough energy to the time stream" Barry replied.
"Thawne is probably co-opting the speed force" Naruto replied, "He is deliberately preventing you from going back".
After a brief moment of contemplation, Naruto started "Well, We have two options here, We either remove the other speedster from the equation or provide you with enough energy to break the time barrier, The latter would require lots of time".
"Well, I guess it's hunting time" Flash stated with a grin as he ran back inside.
The remaining three stood awkwardly until Batman stated, "You were going to force him to take you back to your world".
"It was worth a try" Kurama stated as he and Naruto started to walk back inside, "Let's get in and plan our next steps, it doesn't seem like we would be able to leave anytime soon".
"If Flash were to fail to incapacitate this Reverse-Flash, Can either of you two take care of him?" Batman questioned.
"Within a heartbeat" Kurama replied.
"What of Wonder Woman and Aquaman?" Batman continued.
"The answer remains the same" Naruto replied.
"Would you?" Batman questioned again, to which he just received a smile from the two.
Xxx Top of a random building in Metropolis xxX
With their plan of action set the three decided to move to Metropolis to meet with one of Batman's contact.
"Wheew!" Kurama whistled as he observed the giant crater in the centre of the city "That's quite a big hole you have there, must have been quite an interesting event".
"In my new memories of this timeline, I witnessed this happen with my own eyes" Flash stated, "A meteor hit this city".
"This happened thirty years ago" Batman added.
"Didn't our man in blue come to earth during the same period" Kurama questioned.
Flash nodded, "Yes, Superman's ship crash-landed on Earth around the same time".
"So, this happened in your world as well" Batman question.
"Yes it did, but the ship crashed in Smallville" Naruto replied, "Not in Metropolis".
"So, where is Superman?" Flash asked.
"Who is this Superman?" Batman questioned.
"He is a symbol of hope in our world" Flash replied, "One of the strongest being on our planet".
"It must be a paradise" Batman commented.
"So, Who's your contact?, he should have been here by now",- Kurama interjected as he saw Flash about to reply to Batman, "We didn't come all the way here to have a chat about Superman".
"He is one of the government's agents" Batman replied, "and don't worry, He's always on time".
On cue, a large metallic humanoid body landed near them.
"I have to admit, I didn't expect your call" the metal-clad humanoid stated.
"Cyborg?!" Flash exclaimed as he observed the metal man, "You look different".
"Have we met?" Cyborg questioned.
"No, he's new" Batman replied, "Super-Speed, Goes by The Flash. And these are my colleagues," he said pointing towards Naruto and Kurama.
"My name is Naruto, He is Kurama" Naruto introduced.
The light on Cyborg's head glowed red for a moment.
"There is no one in my database with your name and face" Cyborg stated.
"And we like it that way" Kurama replied.
"You still need a strategist for your little army?" Batman interjected before Cyborg could ask any more questions.
"I… Yes" It looked like Cyborg had more questions but Batman's offer put a stop to them.
"I'll do it" Batman replied, "But my way, and I pick the team, Starting with these three".
"What's the catch?" Cyborg asked, "Don't get me wrong, I am happy with your decision to help us but what changed?".
"We have some hope now" That's all Batman answered.
"We can also try to find Superman" Flash suggested.
"He is probably locked up in one of the government facilities seeing as Batman here has never heard of someone with power like his" Naruto stated, "Or dead and dissected but knowing how tough he is, I doubt this is the case".
"Superman?" Cyborg questioned.
"He was the alien who crash-landed here in Metropolis" Flash explained pointing at the giant crater.
"Alien?" Cyborg questioned, "What are you talking about?"
"The meteor" Kurama started, 'It's not what your pals at the Pentagon had you believe, You can try to look it up in your database".
Cyborg looked hesitant to look it up and after a few seconds of thinking he looked towards the sky as his eye started to glow red.
"There's something there" Cyborg replied, "But it's above even my clearance".
"Let me take a look" Naruto replied as he retrieved his cell phone, "I used to hack government agencies when I got bored".
"I doubt you would be able to hack into-" Cyborg started but was interrupted by Naruto.
"Done" Naruto replied as he showed the location of the base.
"Just who are you!?" Cyborg exclaimed.
Ignoring Cyborg, Naruto ordered Kurama "Go get him" to which Kurama just nodded and disappeared.
"Who are you two and how have I never heard about-" Cyborg started but was interrupted by Kurama this time.
"Got him" Kurama spoke as he appeared with a skinny man dressed in a blue costume.
"Is that Clark?" Flash asked in horror at the condition of the 'Superman' in front of them, He was extremely malnourished, sickly pale, and just lacked the air of power that the Superman in his world oozed with.
"This is the most powerful being on this planet?" Batman asked incredulously.
"Circumstances can be a bitch, eh" Naruto stated as he scanned the skinny Superman, "He should be good once he absorbs enough of the sun's radiation but for now we should keep him out of unnecessary conflicts, I doubt he would do well in a warzone".
"Agreed" Batman replied "The psychological trauma of war and bloodshed would be too much for him, considering his current condition".
"We will leave him in your hideout for now" Naruto stated as he observed Superman hide behind Kurama, "You can help him integrate into the society once we are done, For now, let's get the team together".
With their plan of action set, the group moved out.
Xxx In the Plane, moving towards London xxX
"So, What's our plan of action," Cyborg asked as he pressed buttons on the plane's computer.
"We go to London and put an end to this war" Batman replied.
"I was expecting a bit more" Cyborg replied.
"I am still hesitant" Naruto stated, "Taking kids to a warzone" he motioned towards the Shazam kids.
"They have already witnessed the worst this world has to offer" Batman replied.
"We can take care of ourselves" Billy Batson aka Shazam stated, "And who the hell are you and why is he dressed like we are going to a beach" he finished as he pointed at Kurama who was still wearing his shorts, Black Polo T-shirt, and flip-flops, he had also found some black sunglasses which he wore with a smirk on his face.
"I like to keep up with the recent trends" Kurama answered while Naruto just resigned himself to Kurama's antics.
"We have an update" Cyborg stated as he got up from the plane's console.
"I intercepted a message coming out of Europe" Cyborg continued, "Lois Lane, an embedded reported turned resistance fighter uploaded this video".
Cyborg proceeded to show the video and stopped on a frame that showed a yellow blur moving past some soldiers.
"Looks like we have our man" Kurama commented.
"Who is he?" Cyborg questioned, "He seems as fast as the Flash", having witnessed Flash's speed first-hand.
"You don't need to worry about him" Batman interjected.
Suddenly there was a loud boom as the entire plane shook.
"Incoming!" Batman exclaimed as he ran towards the plane's control but was stopped by Naruto.
"Are you ready?" Naruto asked Kurama.
He got a nod in response.
"All right! Huddle up everyone" Naruto exclaimed as he gathered everyone in a circle.
"Do it!" Naruto ordered as a blast separated one of the plane's wings.
Kurama quickly created a magic circle big enough for the entire group and clasped his hands.
Xxx On a random building in London xxX
The group observed from the top of a destroyed building as their plane was blasted out of the sky.
"If we had the option, why didn't we just teleport here from the beginning?" Billy exclaimed to which Kurama just shrugged his shoulders, not giving a reply.
"Looks like the battle has already begun" Batman stated as he peered out of a nearby broken window to see the Amazons and the Atlanteans battle it out.
"Fight your way to the leaders. Once we have Aquaman and Wonder Woman, this war is over".
"We will look for The Reverse Flash" Naruto replied, "Flash, stay here and help them, with your limited access to the speed force, I doubt you could catch up to him".
Flash wanted to argue but knew that they were right, as he was right now, he could not handle The Reverse Flash. Instead, he just nodded and joined the Shazam kids and Cyborg in the battle.
Now, with only the three of them present, Batman stated, "You will not be joining the fight".
This time it was Kurama who answered, "This is not our battle to fight, If we had wanted to, we could have single-handedly brought an end to this war in a couple of hours but that wouldn't have accomplished anything, What will happen when we go back to our own timeline and something like this happens again, will you still look for someone else to fight for you" Kurama stated, "You should not expect others to protect things that are dear to you, you need to do that with your own two hands or at least die trying".
Batman was silent as he remembered the night when he lost his son, Bruce.
"You are right" Batman replied with a newfound resolve and jumped down from the window to join the fight.
"That was very mature of you" Naruto commented, "I'm surprised, Usually I am the one with the heartfelt speeches".
"You know what this means right?" Kurama questioned, his expression turning serious.
"We are stabilizing" Naruto replied, his expression mirroring Kurama's, "This is not good, we need to take care of this when we return", he stated ominously.
Let me know your thoughts in the comment section!