Originally, I was going to update something else but the next chapter pretty much came to me while in class and I got to writing. Before I jump into the chapter let me just say thank you for almost getting this story to 1K followers, that's insane. When I first wrote it I didn't think it would be this well received. Anyways, thanks again for sticking with it and constantly giving suggestions on how you would like to see the story play out. Even if I can't get back to everyone just know that I do take everything into consideration. Anyways, that's enough of that let's get on with the chapter.
-The next day-
Batman along with the rest of the justice league listened as Green Lantern retold his encounter with Ashura and Sinestro. Originally, this was supposed to be a report on the recapturing of Sinestro after the explosion at the hall of justice, though that changed when Ashura showed up.
"So Ashura took Sinestro with him." Batman mumbled to himself as he rubbed his chin with his hand. Something wasn't right here. Why would Ashura take Sinestro with him?
"It would be safe to assume that Ashura was the one who attacked the hall of Justice the first time as well." Said Green Arrow. "Batman said that someone had gotten into the hall and stopped at Sinestro's cell, then Ashura appears after the Hall's destruction and takes the man with him. That can't be a coincidence."
Flash then spoke out in the defense of his friend. Sure, he killed clayface, but it's not like he couldn't see where he was coming from. "But why would Ashura take Sinestro with him? It doesn't make any sense."
Black Canary decides to make herself known by standing alongside Green Arrow. "That's the million-dollar question. It can't be because they're buddies. From what Lantern told us, Ashura grabbed him by the face and took him by force. Doesn't exactly sound like they're on good terms." She says.
"Regardless if they're friends or not this will need looking into. Those two together on the loose doesn't sit well with me." Batman said. "Aside from that, Green Arrow," He addressed the archer. "Any word from Speedy?"
Green Arrow sighs sadly and shakes his head negative. "No, he's even deactivated his communicator." Batman nods and heads out. " Just what are you planning Ashura? " He thinks to himself before he teleports himself back to Gotham. Time to do some investigating.
-Arctic-
Mr. Freeze couldn't believe it. He ran test after test and they all showed the same result, she was healthy. Just hours ago, his beloved Nora had woken up from her induced slumber. She had some trouble talking, no doubt from the lack of her voice being used all that time. As Ashura had instructed, the moment she awoke he began the tests and nearly cried in joy when he saw that whatever she had was gone.
Ashura had kept his end of the bargain. She was cured, no illness, no minor discomfort, absolutely nothing.
"How?" She mutters hoarsely, still trying to get used to speaking once more. She was sat on a table, with plenty of wires strapped to her body as her husband continued running tests. She had tried to tell him she was fine but he was having none of it. She took a drink of water to try and relieve the rough feeling she had in the back of her throat.
"I don't know the specifics of it, but you were cured by…" He stops and thinks for a second. Ashura's words coming back to him " What do you say? I heal your wife and you join me, what do you have to lose? "
"You were healed by my new boss." He finishes.
"New boss? Who?" She asks curiously.
Mr. Freeze didn't have to reply as another voice answered the question for him. "That would be me." They turn their attention to behind Freeze and see Ashura walking towards them. This time he was by himself though.
"Nora Fries, a pleasure to meet you." He says shaking her hand. Looking over at Freeze he comments. "looks like everything turned out well than huh?"
Freeze knew it was a rhetorical question but nodded none the less and looked over at his wife. Naruto noticed the loving look Freeze was giving his wife and thought " I bet he hasn't been this happy in years "
Freeze broke his gaze and looked over at Naruto. "Ashura, you kept your end of our bargain, now it is time for me to keep mine. I will join your group. You gave me the love of my life back and I know that there's nothing in the world I could do to repay you for it, but if all you wish is for me to help you, then I will do so to the best of my ability."
Naruto smiled, he knew that Freeze would hold up his end as well but hearing the man speak rose his respect for him a bit.
Freeze continued to speak "You mentioned something about trying to cure a disease."
"Yes, as you may know, cancer has taken the lives of millions of people. However, I believe that my blood may be the key to finding the cure. You know better than anyone the feeling of hopelessness knowing that someone you care about has a disease that will eventually kill them and you can do nothing about it.
I want you to work with one of my other members to run tests on my blood and see exactly what it is that kills cancer cells. If we find the cure millions upon millions of people will feel the same relief that you felt hours ago, when your wife woke up."
"When?" Asks Freeze. Naruto reaches into his pocket and takes out a folded piece of paper and hands it to the man. Opening it Freeze sees it's a set of coordinates.
"Be there tomorrow, you can bring your wife as well, she'll be safe there. I need to be going I'll see you tomorrow." Freeze continued to look at the coordinates for a second trying to figure out exactly where they led. Putting the paper away he went back to his wife to continue his analysis. He'd find out later where he needed to be.
Naruto arrived back to the base and as he walked to the main HQ he saw Morrow with his attention on a microscope with his blood sample on it. The man was muttering things down as he turned some dials and would occasionally write something down on a notepad before adding some solution to it.
"Morrow, how's the work coming along?" Naruto asks as he looks over the man's shoulder.
"It's incredible, within just minutes your blood somehow kills 90% of the cancer cells it comes in contact with. The remaining ten percent goes shortly after. I've never seen anything like it." He says excitedly, normally medicine isn't his ideal field but anyone would be excited when dealing with this, especially knowing no one has ever been remotely close to finding a cure.
"Still need to try some more experiments on it to see exactly how it gets the job done."
"Good, I'll leave you to it. Freeze will be helping you starting tomorrow. I'm sure with the two of you working together the possibility of making a breakthrough will raise dramatically. Keep up the good work, everyone's still out so for the rest of the day I'll be in my room relaxing. These next few days will be taxing."
He headed up to his room and laid down on his bed. " Things are looking good so far. All we need is for the others to return from their recruiting missions and for the cure to be found and we'll be set. " He thought before drifting off.
-The following day-
The Sternritter had not disappointed him, currently down in the base the majority of the team had gathered along with some new faces. The new faces being Livewire, Black Spider, Speedy, and Merlyn. Deadshot had arrived first bringing Black Spider in tow. The two seemed to be fine so he assumed there had been no major altercation.
Deathstroke had followed soon after bringing both Speedy and Merlyn along with him. Finally, Killer Frost arrived bringing Livewire in tow.
"First, let me thank you all for coming. I'd like to ask; do you have any questions? Or did my team answer everything when they spoke to you?" Naruto asked.
The first one to speak was Black Spider. "Yeah, I was told that I'd be able to avenge my family but I wasn't told that I'd be working with a bunch of criminals." He says looking over at Deadshot.
"I told you that the team was comprised of unique people, I only gave you one name, when I mentioned Ashura you assumed that it would be heroes, that's not my fault. Besides you're just as bad as anyone here." Deadshot countered. Before Black Spider could continue Naruto got everyone back on track.
"I'll get to that in a bit spider. It seems that one of the two remaining new members has just arrived." True to his word footsteps were heard coming down the stairs to the base. Everyone had their head turned to the stairs as the steps grew closer. Finally, Mr. Freeze was seen.
"And there he is." Naruto comments. "Glad you could make it, I assume you left your wife in one of the rooms." Freeze nodded and took a seat, he took a look around the room as he did so taking in all the faces of his new team. There was one thing that he noticed that he would ask later.
"Now then, as you may or may not know I have created this group with the sole purpose of ridding the world of evil." He was cut off by Merlyn who scoffs as he heard this.
"So basically another Justice League?" He says not impressed at all.
"No, while we may have a similar objective in protecting the planet, our methods will garner better results. We'll be taking care of our targets permanently." That made the man's eyebrows raise. From his encounters with the league none had the backbone to ever finish a job.
Speedy who had been sitting alongside Deathstroke had a determined look on his face. He may not be fond of killing but he agreed that there were just some people who didn't deserve to live. The league said that they don't decide who lives but in doing that they allow even more people to die. Something had to be done.
He was broken from his thoughts as Ashura continued.
"That means, people like the joker, Black mask, Eclipso, Darkseid, they won't be given a second chance if we get them. If the opportunity presents itself with anyone beyond redemption, take them out."
"So how do we decide who's beyond redemption?" Asked Livewire. So far, this gig was looking pretty good to her. Like Frost she had thought that Ashura was a little goody two shoes, though listening to him speak made her rethink that.
"I'll be giving you your targets. Though if you want a little more information it'll be those who have committed atrocious acts time and time again and show no signs of stopping."
Freeze who had stayed quiet through the whole meeting spoke up. "Ashura, if I may ask a question."
"Go ahead."
"You've created an organization to rid the world of evil, yet this group seems to be comprised of mostly all villains and assassins, apart from speedy. Why is that?"
"The reason is because everyone in this room has a very small moral compass. No one here would hesitate to kill someone should I give the order. Take black mask for example, the league will argue that we can't kill him because we don't have the right to decide who lives and dies and all that jazz.
Meanwhile, he pays his way out of prison and it's back to square one. He continues his drug trafficking and kidnappings and people suffer. If I tell Deadshot to put a bullet between his eyes I know he won't hesitate to do so.
That's not to say that the Sternritter will be made up of only former villains. In fact, I have a few heroes that I plan on joining us in the near future." The image of flash popped into his head.
"And how would you be able to convince a member of the league to join us what with their beliefs and all." Sinestro asked not believing that anyone of the league would join them.
Deathstroke found this to be the perfect opportunity to speak up. "With the creation of the team." He said confidently. "Not everyone shares their black and white view of the world, those who don't can't speak up because there would be nowhere to go if they left.
If they spoke out against what the league believes in that person would be seen as a possible threat and would be monitored by the Justice League. With the Sternritter they would have somewhere to turn to where people shared similar beliefs and would gain protection from the league."
"Sounds like a cult when you say it like that" Mumbled Killer Frost to Livewire who chuckled.
Ignoring Frost he continued. "In fact, there's proof that not everyone thinks the same." He looked over at the youngest member in the room. "Isn't that right speedy?" he asked rhetorically.
"He's right." Naruto confirmed everything Deathstroke had said. "Who the heroes will be is for another time. Right now, I need those of you who came today to give me your answer, will you join us?"
"I was told we'd be getting paid." Said livewire.
"That's right." Naruto confirmed.
"Then count me in." She agreed. He nodded and looked over at Merlyn and Black Spider.
"Hm, beating the league at what they do and showing Green Arrow I'm a better Archer and Teacher than him, I'm in as well." Merlyn said. He liked the idea of passing his teachings to a young archer, and who better than the former partner of Green Arrow.
Finally, everyone turned to Black Spider. "As long as we fight evil and don't lose sight of our goal then I'm in as well." He confirmed.
Naruto smiled and pulled grabbed four medallions. He threw one to each of the new members except for speedy. "Keep these with you at all times, the others will tell you their uses. Take this time to make yourselves at home, you don't have to stay here but rooms are available for all of you.
In the meantime, while we wait for the cure feel free to make yourselves at home, the training grounds are available to all of you, you're all dismissed except Speedy and Killer Frost. Deathstroke, Merlyn, speedy will join you in a few minutes."
The two men nodded and headed out along with everyone else. Morrow went back to his research now with Freeze joining him. Turning to the young archer and the ice woman he spoke.
"Speedy" The boy's head snapped up looking Ashura right in the eyes. He hadn't worked with the former leaguer before and now he'd be working with him and was being allowed entry into his own team. He'd need to show that his faith in him wasn't misplaced.
"During your time with the other sidekicks you've been held back. I know about how your methods were looked down upon by the others, because of this you're not strong enough to go out on missions by yourself." The young man frowned, this was sounding like what everyone else was saying back with the others.
Sensing that he was about to speak Naruto raised a hand effectively stopping the tirade that would occur.
"You'll be training with Deathstroke in hand to hand combat and strategy while Merlyn will help you take your skill with a bow and arrow to another level. Make no mistake, you're not a junior member or anything like that, I just don't want you getting killed out there because you lost your bow."
As much as speedy hated to admit it, Ashura was right. Deathstroke had taken him down because he lost his main weapon and couldn't fight back. If he was serious, he would have been killed in seconds.
"yeah I got it." He replied still not happy with the situation, but he could understand. "But how is this different from what the Justice League wanted me and the others to do?" He asked referring to the team that they wanted to form. If the man knew about his methods despite not being a league member anymore, then he figured he'd know about the team too.
Naruto threw the medallion at Speedy who caught it with his left hand and turned it to face him. He looked back with a raised eyebrow indicating he didn't understand.
"You're not going to be a part of a junior team. That medallion is given to all full members of the Sternritter. You're just not as powerful or experienced as the rest, though that will be fixed with time. Also, you'll be joining Deathstroke and Merlyn on any missions they take unless I need them to go alone, you won't be given menial tasks, and no one here will treat you like a child. Sound good to you?" He explained.
Honestly, that sounded pretty good compared to what the league wanted to do. He'd have two very good teachers who wouldn't hold back, he'd be going on actual missions, and he'd be treated as an equal.
"Sounds good. Anything else?" He asked respectfully.
"Nah go get your training started. I'll be testing you in the near future, don't let me down." He said.
As the young man was heading out Killer Frost decided to add in her two cents. "If you're going to be a member of this group at least lose the hat. It looks stupid." She said. Speedy shot her a glare and headed up the stairs, though he did take the hat off when he thought she wasn't looking anymore.
Turning her attention to the blond she spoke. "So, what did you want?" She asked. "Follow me." He says as he heads over to one of the empty sections of the base. Once there he spoke, "While Speedy is training with Deathstroke and Merlyn, you're going to be training with me.
Eventually, the Sternritter will grow in size. Along with Deathstroke and Deadshot, I want you to be one of the Commanders of the Sternritter." He says, shocking her. She thought he just wanted her to be a part of the team, but to be one of the leaders threw her for a loop.
She couldn't say anything as he continued. "However, in order for you to do that you'll need to be strong enough to take care of yourself against the stronger members of the league as well as any members who won't like to take orders from you." He states.
She frowns at the explanation. "I'm not weak, I can handle myself just fine."
"I know you're not, but the batman has proven to be superior time and time again, and he's just a man in a suit where you have actual powers. You'll be a commander when you're strong enough to handle multiple league members at once, with people like this in our group, power is what people listen to. Now let's start, come at me, and just know I won't hold back." He says as he gets into fighting position.
She runs at him and throws a kick which he lazily ducks under. She follows up with a barrage of punches which he just weaves through. When she threw a straight right he stepped aside then forward and thrust his palm at her mid-section.
She was shot back a few feet due to the force of the blow. Seeing as going up close was a bad idea she shot a blast of ice out of her hands in his direction. He jumped out of the way and was impressed when he saw that she had turned the ground into ice as well.
Taking the opportunity to attack as he was looking at the ice covered floor she materialized a ball of ice and shot it at him. He easily broke the attack by punching it and was greeted to the sight of a fist coming his way.
" Got you " She thought as she neared. If he was any lesser person it would've worked but he wasn't. He smacked her hand down and hit her with an elbow to the face before sweeping her legs from under her.
As she hit the floor she felt a weight on top of her chest and found it to be his foot. "This is what I'm talking about Frost. I beat you with only hand to hand. Deathstroke can hold his own, as can Deadshot. Even Black Canary of the league can hold her own against me." He says as he removes his foot.
She clicks her teeth as she gets up. "Now, now, no need to be upset, this is why we're here, to rectify this. Now get ready we're going to go again. No powers just hand to hand." He said as he got ready once again. She said nothing and began her assault once more.
-Two weeks Later-
The past two weeks had been calm. Speedy, Deathstroke, and Merlyn were out training in one of Deathstroke's hideouts. In that time, Talia and Ivy had returned with Circe. She was probably the easiest to convince to join, but he wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth.
His training with Frost was also coming along nicely. Whereas at the beginning she was abysmal at hand to hand she was getting better. Her hits were harder, faster, and stronger. She could dodge some of his counters and was getting better at coming up with different strategies on the fly when he would change his style up.
The most notable thing though was happening at this moment, when Morrow and Freeze called out to him.
"Good news Morrow?" Naruto asked as he stopped his sparring session with Frost.
"That's right, we've done it. It took a few sleepless nights but we have a cure. We ran test after test and were finally able to see exactly what it was about your blood that killed cancer cells. The power that radiates through the blood changes the composition of the phagocyte cells and supercharges them. The phagocytes are then able to attack every cancer cell it comes into contact with and destroy them.
We broke down the DNA of the cells and found a way to recreate them artificially. We then tried it with the artificial cells and got the same results. Combine that with a few known immunizations and you get this." He says motioning to the light blue liquid in a vial.
Naruto takes hold of the vial and hold it up to the light. It was finally time to get the show on the road. "Morrow, know that you and Freeze will be rewarded handsomely for this. Now that we have it, it's time to go cut our deal." He says as he pocketed the vial. He turned his attention to the blue haired woman.
"Frost, get cleaned up and meet me out by the pool, we've got an important meeting to go to. Morrow feel free to do whatever you want, you and Freeze have earned a few days off." The man nods and heads out. Pulling out his phone he dials a few numbers and puts the phone to his ear.
" Yeah? " came the voice of Deathstroke.
"Deathstroke, I'm going to have you cut your training with Speedy short today. Leave it to Merlyn, it's time for the Sternritter to go public. I'll pick you up in ten minutes."
" You've got the cure then? "
"Yeah, we're going to pay a visit to the most powerful man in the united states." He says hanging up the phone. He headed up the stairs to the living room where most of the occupants of the house seemed to spend a lot of time. He scanned the room and found who he was looking for.
"Deadshot" He called out stopping the man from taking another swig of his beer. Seeing as he had the assassins attention he continued. "You're coming with Killer Frost, Deathstroke, and I to a meeting. Get ready and meet me outside by the pool."
"Who are we meeting with?" He asked as he stood up.
"The president of the united states." With that he turned around and headed outside.
Ten minutes later the trio was finally assembled. "Alright, we're going to go get Deathstroke and head to DC. We're going to cut a little deal with the government and make ourselves official."
"You know they're most likely going to shoot at us on sight right?" Deadshot asked.
"Yeah, but we'll be fine trust me." He created two clones who then carried his teammates and the three took off. Flying at supersonic speeds wasn't the most pleasant experience for Frost and Deadshot but they both took it like champs and kept themselves together once they met up with Deathstroke.
Naruto activated his camo technique and made the four of them invisible. They floated over the gate and easily enough entered the White house. " If I could get in here this easily I'm honestly surprised someone with similar abilities hasn't killed the president. " Naruto thought to himself as they quietly made their way to the Oval Office.
It seemed the President was having a meeting as people were entering the office. Looks like luck was shining down on them today. They carefully entered the office making sure not to bump into anyone and attract attention before it was time.
Within ten minutes the office doors were closed and two secret service men were guarding the door ready to defend the president from anything.
The man didn't get a chance to speak as Naruto dropped the technique and let everyone know he was there. "Good afternoon." He said as he materialized a small barrier out of his truth seeking ball to stop the incoming bullets that the secret service had shot.
"Now, now, none of that." He turned over to the president and spoke. "Sorry about the entrance but seeing as how we're wanted in every state I didn't think we'd be allowed an audience with you any other way."
"Stand down" The president said as he looked over the four intruders in the room. He recognized all of them. Two assassins, an ice woman, and a former member of the Justice League. "If they wanted to harm me they would have by now. Though I have to say, from what I know of you, I never expected that Deathstroke and Deadshot would ever team up." He commented.
Deadshot shrugged "I've never been much of a team player but this is an exception." He said.
"Mr. President" Naruto began. "What if I told you that in my pocket I held the cure for cancer, what would you do?" he asked. Everyone in the room began murmuring to each other about what he had just said.
"I'm going to assume that you're not just asking for no reason." The president replied.
"Correct." Naruto reached into his pocket, at the same time the secret service tensed up expecting some sort of weapon. Naruto pulled out the vial containing the cure.
"What I want are three simple things." He reached over to the desk, grabbed a piece of paper and pen, and began writing. "Number one, since I know that should you agree to my requests you'll be selling the cure at a ridiculously high price, not to mention what you'll charge other countries for also knowing how to make it, I want 50% of all of the profits made off it.
Number two, I'd like the U.S government to sanction a new group I've started up. We're similar to the Justice League though instead of just locking up those beyond redemption we take care of them permanently. You won't have a say in how we operate, we just don't want to be bothered when out in public by the police." He then slid the piece of paper over to the man.
"Finally, I want full pardons for every person on that piece of paper." The paper had the names of all the current members of the Sternritter.
The president looked over the list and was conflicted. If they seriously had the cure for a disease thought to be incurable this was a small price to pay, but if he did that, he'd be negotiating with terrorists.
Congress would definitely be against this and would try and find some way to get the cure by force.
"If I may make a suggestion Mr. President" Said Deathstroke speaking for the first time since their arrival. "I'd say make an executive decision rather than consult with congress, the senate and the house. You know how much this will help the economy once the cure is out."
"Not to mention it would definitely secure your next term if you said that your team of scientists discovered the cure." Said Killer Frost.
The president had his answer, but he still wanted to know one thing. "What if I refuse?"
"Then we'd release to the public how the government turned down the cure for cancer because of its pride and wanted to charge people for treatment rather than actually curing. Eventually, people would lose all respect for the government that doesn't care about them and would most likely begin protesting. Then you could kiss your time in the office goodbye."
"So, what's it going to be Mr. President?" Asked Deadshot. Taking a deep breath, the president said, "Fine, let's head down to the lab and test this drug of yours. If it's legit then I'll agree to your terms."
"One more thing" Said Deathstroke "We want you to make a public announcement to the united states. Let the people know how your scientists discovered the cure and then mention a new government task force whose sole purpose is to cut down on crime. That's when you'll introduce us."
Despite not liking being told what to do he couldn't argue. The pro's far outweighed the cons in this situation so he let it slide.
-Hours Later-
Ashura had not been lying. His scientists had tried all sorts of tests yet the results came back the same every time. They had actually found the cure. Looks like it was time to hold up his end of the deal.
He called together a press conference held there in the white house. In no time at all were every seat in the room taken up by reporters all anxiously waiting to hear why their president had called the meeting.
Naruto had also sent clones to his base to pick everyone up and bring them here. Everyone needed to be in attendance for this.
When the camera's started rolling, every TV in America had their TV broadcasting the speech. That included the Watchtower where the justice League were no doubt watching.
"My fellow Americans, I call this meeting today to make two important announcements. The first is that with the help of some of the greatest minds in America, we have finally discovered a cure for Cancer." Dozens of hands went up trying to press the president for information. With a quick motion of his hands he settled everyone down, though only a bit.
"The second is to introduce a new task force that the U.S Government has sanctioned in an attempt to clean the streets of crime and make the world a better place. Ladies and Gentlemen, I'd like to introduce you to the Sternritter."
Naruto and the entirety of the team walked out from behind the blue curtains that hung in the room. Once more the reporters were going wild trying to find out more about this revelation. Up in the watchtower the Flash summed up what was on everyone's mind.
"Oh shit"
That's chapter 8. I hope you guys enjoyed it and I know some will be please to know that now the real fun can begin. No more recruiting chapters. Next, you'll see some of Speedy's training with Deathstroke and Merlyn, The League's reaction to Naruto and his group, and the first missions the Sternritter will take.
As opposed to last time if you have any heroes you'd like to see join in the future let them be known. Also, someone mentioned having an OC Amazon to join and as much as I dislike OC's the idea doesn't sound too bad.
Members of the Sternritter:
Naruto/Ashura: Grandmaster
Deathstroke: eventual commander
Deadshot: eventual commander
Killer Frost: eventual commander
Talia al ghul
Poison Ivy
Circe
Livewire
Merlyn
Sinestro
Mr. Freeze
Speedy: In training
T.
Black Spider
As always if you have any suggestions or comments leave them in a review or PM me. Later.