Alright guys I'm back with another chapter. I'm glad so far every chapter I've put out has been well received and would like to say thank you. Also I've gotten some messages with people saying 'it would've been better if this happened…" and then tell me. That's why at the end I always say that you're more than welcome to leave your own suggestions. Also, I've been playing a lot of Injustice 2 with Subzero which gave me an idea for this story. Anyway enough of that, time to get on to the story.
Stepping out of the wormhole Sinestro created the trio arrived back at the same spot they had departed from. Everyone was there, whether they stayed there the entire time or not he didn't know, but it didn't matter. It was a good thing they were all here with the exception of Deathstroke, Speedy, and Merlyn.
"So you gonna tell us exactly who you guys went to see?" Asked Deadshot as he cleaned one of his guns. Everyone looked at them also wanting to know who this person was.
"I'm pleased to say that I've recruited General Zod and have made an ally of New Krypton." He says dropping the bomb on them.
"Krypton?" Asks a confused Livewire. "I thought that planet blew up." She finished
"It did" Clarified Naruto "However somehow they survived and managed to rebuild. They reside on a planet which they named 'New Krypton'" he finishes.
"I'm sure the justice league will be absolutely 'shocked' when they see him." Said Livewire with a laugh. Most of the people in the room just shook their heads at the bad pun.
"Anyways what happened while we were gone?" He asks looking at Deadshot since the hitman had been left in command.
"Nothing worth sending any Sternritter out for. Though according to Talia someone is currently looking for you." He says. Naruto turns his attention to Ra's Al Ghul's daughter.
"Some of my men have informed me that a certain Justice League member has been going around asking for information about you. Specifically, how to get in contact with you." She says. Now that caught his attention. Up until this point the Justice League hasn't made any efforts to try and locate him, so why start now?
As he's pondering this question Killer Frost speaks up. "You used to be a member of the Justice League, who do you think would be the most likely to look for you? Batman?" She asks.
"It's not Batman, if it was I'm certain Talia's shadows wouldn't know about it. Besides, if it was Batman I'm sure he wouldn't have too hard a time finding this place. He's a genius." Naruto comments.
"That's true" Began Morrow who had just come up from whatever he was doing down at the base on the computer. "Unless this person doesn't want the league to know they're looking for him." That was something to think about. Unfortunately Sinestro didn't feel like thinking and just asked straight out.
"Enough with the suspense who is it thats looking for Ashura?" He asked.
"That would be Huntress" Talia says revealing their mystery person. Naruto remembers her. They didn't talk much while he was with the league only having spoken here and there on certain occasions. She was one of the few people who would agree with him during the league meetings but would never actively speak out.
Naruto didn't think she was looking for him to turn him in, if she were she wouldn't bother being discreet about trying to find him. Which only left one other reason she'd be looking for him.
"From what I know she wants Mandragora's head. The league knows that and I'm willing to wager that they stop her from finding him without her knowing their involvement." Everyone could connect the dots from there, though it was Killer Frost who spoke.
"So she's coming to you because she knows you'll let her kill the bastard." She says liking how this girl thinks.
"Pretty much, this is good news. One person leaves the league and soon more will follow. For now I'll be down in the training area. Frost, come with me. The rest of you can rest and do as you please for now." he says turning around and walking away. Killer Frost stands and stretches her arms as she follows knowing that she's going to have to train as well.
"So how are we going to train this time?" She asks as they walk down the stairs to the training area. So far all they've been doing is working on hand-to-hand.
"We're going to continue your hand-to-hand combat training, only this time we're going to be implementing your ice powers in it. I've had some ideas that may work well with you since you're flexible." He explains as they reach the training area. She watches as he sets up training dummies in front of them. She wonders what he has planned since they usually just jump right to it.
"Coat your arms in ice." He ordered. She didn't say anything but did as she was told. Her arms quickly covered all the way until they reached the mid point of her bicep. "Will anything you touch freeze?" He followed up.
"Only if I want it to." He nods, this was good. That means she'd have more control.
"You can also shoot ice from any part of your body correct?" Another positive response from her.
"Alright, I want you to propel yourself forward using your ice." She does so but ends up a few feet in the air standing on a giant slab of ice. She looks down at him silently asking what he wants now.
"That's not what I meant. I want you to stay on the ground. Create a thin layer of ice under yourself and using your ice propel yourself a few feet forward at a fast speed." He clarified.
She sets her feet and bends her knees slightly and creates the sheet of ice just beneath both her feet. As soon as she did that she shot a blast of ice backwards from her feet propelling her forward. She nearly lost her balance having never done that before but managed to keep herself upward. She tries it once more and manages to slide a few feet before stopping and looking back at Ashura.
"Well I've never tried that before. Could come in handy though." She comments as she does it again.
"It'll get better believe me, watch. Do it to one of the training dummies over there. Just slide and knock him off his feet and watch what happens." He ordered.
Frost gets near it while standing a few feet away before sliding right under him. She watches as the dummy flips right over her head and lands behind her on its back.
"Good." Comments Naruto as he watches her try it again. Looks like she's a natural at it. "Now, using the same concept propel yourself backwards." Having a bit more experience now she was able to shoot herself back a few feet while maintaining her balance.
"So not that I don't like these moves but what's this gonna do?" She asks.
"You'll find out soon. Now get in front of one of those dummies and follow my instructions. Straight right kick to the body, follow it up with a left hook to the face, then use your ice slide to flip it over. It has to be done quickly though otherwise it won't be as effective." he instructs.
She gets in fighting stance and coats her arms in ice. She narrows her eyes slightly as she focuses and unleashes the quick barrage. She kicked it in the stomach, as it was coming back into its straight up position she shot the left hand and quickly slid under it.
As expected it ended with it on its back. "Well damn" She comments as she notices the dents in the dummy didn't seem to be going away.
"Good. Now, left hook to the face, straight right into the nose, high kick to the face. Slide forward but rather than finishing with the flip use that momentum to knee them in the gut and back away rapidly."
She goes over the moves in her head and focuses back on the dummy. Using her ice coated arms she throws a strong but quick left hook, the straight right to the dummies nose actually broke part of the dummies head apart. The knee to the gut actually dented it pretty bad and finally she propelled back.
"Well fuck. Imagine what would happen if I do this to a person." She says with some glee as she looks from the dummy to her arms. She went through the motions on the dummy once more trying to pick up speed while doing it.
"It seems you've got a good grasp of the moves, you'll work on those later on. Can you create weapons out of ice?" He asked from his spot sitting down.
She looks down at her right hand and begins forming a small dagger. It took about five seconds for her to get it created. She looks at him silently giving her positive response. He looks at the dagger for a second before following up with another question.
"Try making a katana."
It took her a bit longer than the dagger but in the end she had created a nice looking weapon. "You'll have to work on cutting the time it takes to create your weapons. For now I've shown you a few moves you can use that combine your ice powers with hand to hand. Get creative with it and you'll be a truly fierce opponent.
Once you manage to create weapons in an instant we'll continue your training. Try and come up with your own combinations, focus on power and speed. For now though, continue practicing your moves on the dummies to get used to the style. Then you'll be sparring with me." He says.
The Next Day
Shortly after waking up the first thing Naruto had done was call Deathstroke. He waited two rings before the assassin answered the phone.
"Deathstroke, I spoke to speedy yesterday. How do you think he did on his mission?" He asked. He knew Speedy had completed his assignment but he wanted to know what Deathstroke's assessment of the boy.
" It went very well, better than I expected actually. He used every lesson I've taught him during training to make sure the job was done efficiently. I even saw him use one of Merlyns techniques quite effectively too. He had some flaws in his form when fighting the side kicks but those will be worked on. Overall I'd say he did a pretty good job for his first solo mission." He praises his student.
"That's good to hear. I'm glad he's making progress. How about our reluctant guest." He asked referring to Copperhead.
"Right here in my base in Gotham. He's got an arrow in each knee courtesy of the young archer."
"Good, I'll meet you there later. I need some answers from him. Also tell Speedy his payments already been deposited." with that he hung up the phone. Looking over at his bedmate he shakes her gently by the shoulders until she stirs.
"What is it?" She asks groggily not at all a morning person. Her tone of voice didn't bother him in the least.
"I have a mission for you and Talia, the two of you are going to go find Huntress." He informs her. "Find her ask what she wants with me. I'll leave it up to your judgement whether she comes here or not. Consider it a test. Deathstroke left a jet underneath the building that exits through one of the mountains behind our hideout. Take it, Talia should know how to fly." he says.
Sitting up and not bothering to raise the blanket that had previously covered her chest she asks "What if I tell her she's wasting her time and she doesn't take no for an answer?"
"Then you make her understand" He replies
She lets a devious smirk cross her face "Now you're speaking my language." She comments as the thrill of possibly fighting got her blood pumping.
"I'm glad. I have some things to do and so do you. If you don't get dressed I'll never leave here so get ready." He orders and leaves. Frost gets up not too long after his departure and puts on her her public clothes. Knowing they'd have to be seen in public she once again opts for the same outfit she wore when they met Luthor. Which was a black pencil skirt with a light blue button up top with the top two unbuttoned. Once done she headed down the corridors until she came to the door she was looking for.
She knocked twice and didn't wait long before Ra's Al Ghul's daughter opened the door. "Get in contact with your shadows and find Huntress, we're gonna talk to her. Get dressed." Is all she said before leaning against the wall and waited for her to reappear. She did a minute later and they walked side by side till they got to the jet. Sure enough it was exactly where Ashura said it'd be. Talia got in the pilot seat while Frost took the back seat and let her do her thing.
They flew out to Gotham and only took an hour to get there. They activated the jets cloaking feature which hid them from sight and any radars in the area.
"Man Deathstroke must be rich as fuck to have all this stuff." Comments frost as they land the jet at one of his many hideouts a few miles out from the city.
"Indeed he's pretty well off. Even our current headquarters used to belong to him before allowing Ashura to use it. I won't be recognized as I haven't made appearances like you have around here, what will you do?" She asked as they got out of the plane.
Frost just smirked and took out some glasses and put them on her face. She says nothing more. Talia has a skeptical look on her face not knowing what the glasses would do but said nothing.
While walking through the city they blended in just like everyone else. They walked down the streets looking at shops and anything a regular person would be doing. That didn't mean they had let their guard down though. Frost looks over at Talia without turning her head and asks, "So where is she?"
"My men told me she's in this general area." Was the response, the two women looked around and still hadn't seen her. Frost sees something in her peripheral vision and looks up at one of the buildings to her left. Surprise, surprise, Huntress was standing at the edge of one of the taller buildings in the city.
Frost nods her head at the building and Talia follows her gaze before she too sees their target. Without saying another word the two women head inside the building and proceed to take the elevator up to the top floor. I didn't take too long to find the door leading to the roof of the building. Normally she would just use her ice powers to get them up there but at the moment they didn't want to attract any attention.
Once they made it they opened the door as quietly as possible. Luckily for them the door didn't squeak when opened. The two women stepped through the door and stood a few feet behind Huntress not saying anything. They heard her mutter 'where could he be' this was their chance.
"Where could who be?" Frost asks even though she knows. Huntress turns around crossbow pointed at them already. Huntress narrows her eyes and her grip on the weapon tightens.
"Who are you?" She asks. Frost smirks and removes her glasses and hears Huntress gasp. It took all she had to not laugh her at the look of recognition in the heroins eyes. How people could be deceived by simple glasses was beyond her.
"Well allow me to introduce myself. My name is Talia Al Ghul." A look of panic passed through Huntress's eyes before it changed to focus. She put the crossbow down knowing it wouldn't do her good against them in close range and got into a fighting stance, ready to strike the moment they did.
To her surprise the two Sternritter didn't mimic her actions. Instead Killer Frost created two blocks of ice behind herself and Talia so they could sit down. She crosses her legs and inspects her nails as she begins speaking.
"Heard you've been looking for Ashura." She says and briefly stops her nail examination to look up at the woman to gauge her reaction. Rather than relax this put her on even higher alert. It showed because her body tensed up even more.
"How would you know that?" Huntress asks.
"I have a lot of people under my command." Responds Talia. The league of Shadows, of course. thought Huntress.
"Judging from the look on your face I see you got it figured out." Begins Frost "So I'll ask again. What do you want with Ashura?"
"I need to talk to Ashura" Responded Huntress as if that would appease the woman. It didn't.
Frosts eyes narrowed in annoyance and stood up. "Yeah I had that much figured out dumbass. For what reason?" Huntress was starting to piss her off.
"It's not something you need to know." Talia just shook her head in exasperation, this was not gonna end well for her.
Huntress should have known she had said something wrong when a smile appeared on Frost's face. It wasn't a friendly 'I haven't seen you in so long' smile. It was more of a 'I know something you don't' condescending smile.
"Actually, I do need to know. Here's the thing, Ashura knows you're looking for him. He sent me here to to decide whether you'd get your meeting with him. If I believed your reasoning was good enough, then I'd take you to him. If not then you're fucked. So far I'm leaning towards no." Frost explained. Huntress didn't have time to respond as Talia also spoke.
"We can't be sure you're not trying to get inside information for the Justice League."
"I can assure you that's not the case. They don't even know I'm looking for him." Huntress explains. She was singing a different tune now that she knows that these women, well frost, would be the key to her revenge.
Talia just raises an elegant eyebrow and internally smirks knowing she was right. "I see, so it's because of something they wouldn't approve of isn't it?" She asks rhetorically, not expecting an answer. The brief look that passed the heroin's face was all she needed to confirm her suspicions.
"Killing." Talia stated "You want to kill someone and know that the Justice League won't let you do it."
"Is that so?" Frost asked "If you want to kill someone why do you need Ashura? Why not just go kill the bastard yourself and leave?" She asked.
Huntress finally dropped her fighting stance and looked down slightly. "Because if I do, the Justice League will be on me. I can't take the league." She trails off.
"But Ashura can" Talia finishes. "You want protection apart from vengeance. You know that if you join Ashura the justice league won't be able to touch you." She deduced. Before they can continue their conversation, they watch as Huntress puts a hand up to her ear.
" Huntress, Catman is robbing the Gotham Natural Arts Museum and has some workers hostage. Police are at the scene but can't make it in. " J'onn says through the communicator.
"I'll be right on it" She was about to leave but Frost stopped her.
"What's going on?" She demanded. Huntress explained the situation with catman and was about to leave but was once again stopped.
"You wanted protection, that's a benefit only members of the Sternritter get. There's going to be camera crews at the scene getting their stories for the news. Prove to me that you're not a spy for the Justice League" she demands.
"How?" Huntress asks looking in the direction of the robbery.
"Take care of the situation. When you come out of the building with Catman, execute him in front of everyone. Do that and announce to the world how the Sternritter won't stand for this kind of behavior. You do that, and I'll take you straight to Ashura." She tells her.
Huntress went a little cold, no pun intended. She had been given her chance but she'd have to murder someone who she thought didn't really deserve to die. But if she didn't she could kiss her revenge goodbye and Mandragora would continue making people's lives hell like he did to her.
"What if I refuse and just beat the information out of you?" Huntress asked. Frost just got an evil look in her eye and created a small dagger. She cut part of the bottom of her skirt to allow her to move better and coated her hands in ice.
"You can try, but the moment you do, I'll kill you. Remember I'm part of a government sanctioned task force" She wasn't going to tell her the government didn't really have control over them though. "I'll kill you and say you went rogue and were trying to take my life and I had no other choice. So what's it gonna be?"
Huntress looked at her with a hard stare before sucking her teeth and leaping off the building.
"So what now?" Asks Talia as she looked over the edge of the building. She could see Huntress using some sort of wire to move herself faster. "Now we follow and watch as she makes her decidion."
At the Museum.
The two women stood atop another building just close enough to see what was happening. "If she goes through with it we'll create a distraction and take her with us. If not then she's on her own and we disappear." Says frost as they watch her sneak into the building through the second floor.
They heard the sounds of glass breaking as well as possibly vases. Everything ended in about five minutes. The front doors were blasted open and five people were shot out, tied together with a rope. The hostages also flooded out and were met by their families. Finally Huntress emerged from the building with Catman trailing her. Well not exactly trailing as she had him by the collar of his suit.
As the hostages are being tended to, once police officer made his way towards Huntress.
"This is it" Said Talia
"Thank you Huntress, we weren't able to get in and were afraid if we tried they'd kill everyone on the spot. We'll take over from here." The police officer says. Huntress just looks as the officer puts Catman's hands behind his back and cuffs him. He helps him stand up and thinks to herself, " Well, it's now or never. Once I do this there's no turning back ".
"Actually officer, there is one more thing before I go." No one expected what came next, faster than anyone could respond she took out her crossbow, and with one hand shot an arrow straight through Catman's head.
The sound of Catman's dead body seemed to echo in the silence that was caused by her actions. She looked straight into the cameras that were filming live and spoke.
"Let it be known that the Sternritter will not allow events like this to continue." The moment she finished talking half of the police force had their weapons drawn on her. Some didn't know what to do as they weren't told that she was a member. This was brand new to everyone.
Unfortunately for the police they didn't really do much as a giant wave of ice separated them from the now rogue league member. Frost and Talia drop from the ice Frost had created to get them over there.
"Sorry officers, she's with us." Says frost as she widens the ice that propels them. She used it to freeze the water particles in the air and propelled her ice backwards so they could glide.
" Huntress! Do you have any idea what you've done? " The voice of J'onn said to her from her earpiece. It was actually loud enough that Frost was able to hear it. Reaching up to her ear Huntress speaks.
"I did what had to be done." She took it out, dropped it, and crushed it beneath her foot. She turned to look at the two women, "Well I did my part. Now it's time for you to keep your end of the deal." She says
"A deals a deal" Says frost as they made their way back to the jet. She didn't think the heroin would actually do it. Huntress took a look back as the view of the city was disappearing and sighed. She hoped she wouldn't regret this.
God damn I feel like it took me forever to get this out. So Huntress has finally made her decision to join the Sternritter, how will that play out for her. I'm also happy to say that next chapter will be the first confrontation between Naruto and the Justice League. Will they have a peaceful meeting or will they have to fight once more?
Also a lot of you guys message me saying 'why didn't you do this instead…' I always say if you have a suggestion for a mission or recruit you can let me know and I'll take it into account. With that being said if you want a specific member to get more screen time or a specific mission to happen just say so. Anyways I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter and I'll see you next time.