Azure King: Merry Christmas all~ sorry this month was lacking in updates, still recovering from my massive update last month lol. But this is something i wanted to do and thanks two friends of mine, well three, and now its ready. Hope you all like it~!
CHAPTER START!
Night was shrouding the whole city where a single person was standing on a ledge corner to see people at night walking without care for reason. "Hmph…" The person scoffed as he adjusted his jacket and a red hood covered the person's face while also adding a skull mask on for extra insurance. "Time to go to work…" He mumbled using his mouth to whisper something as he jumped from one rooftop to the other, not caring that some distances were almost impossible to reach.
The only thing he cared about was watching around the streets, "Tch, the one night I actually went through with this…" He mumbled angrily as the person looked around and saw someone pushing a girl into an alley. "Not what I was hoping for, but its still a crime." He smirked darkly as he leaped into the crack between the buildings to see the man over the woman who was trying to cover her top that was ripped apart.
"Filth…" The masked person said as he dropped kick the man from above as the assaulter laid down lifeless lay to the floor. The masked individual looked at the person before checking his wallet and chuckled. "Horace Laplace," He said before looking at the woman who seemed to be scared of him. He lifted his arms slowly, "No need to be afraid, I was after this asshole." He promised before taking the wallet and pulled out a few twenties. "Call a cab and call the cops, so they can pick up this piece of trash to the gutters."
"W-Who… are you?" The girl stuttered, looking at his chest. The young man wore black leather reinforced pants with secured straps that held what she believed were makeshift weapons. His black jacket seems to also be reinforced, the skull mask slightly alarmed her but his calm and even voice seem to make her trust him. But again…his chest had a big red X on it. "Red… X?"
The man shrugged, "Call me whatever, I'm just keeping the streets clean. Try not to stay out late." He said, before jumping back up to the rooftops.
"T-Thank you!" She sincerely said as Red X smiled, watching the sky as he saw something flying by.
"…Was that…'' He started slightly moving back before shaking his head, "No, I just need to stay clear of him." The masked man said as he went in the opposite direction of where that person was heading. "Where to find my enemy?" He moved with ease looking for more crime, "The one day Gotham isn't full of criminals."
It served to be a bit annoying that there wasn't much crime going on in the streets of Gotham.
However he didn't have to search as he saw someone heading straight towards him…with fire following him. "HA! I finally found you Bat- wait who the hell are you?" The man said as the young man barely got away in time. He looked at the Red X person in front of him, "Definitely not Bats…"
The skull masked figure took a moment to look at the man hovering around him, "Firefly…" He muttered looking at the bug theme villain, wearing a black metal suit with yellow glowing jetpack and yellow helmet with red bug-like eyes.
"Well, well, what do we have here?" Firefly taunted, "Tell me, you a would-be Robin or having fun like me?" he said, swooping down to hold his arm towards the young man. "Cause I can see us- whoa!" The bug theme villain shouted when dodging a punch from the skull vigilante. "O… K, so hero!"
"You wanna do this the easy way or the hard way?" Red X asked, as he backed off and got into a stance. "Either way, I'm kicking your ass."
"Oh so I have a choice?" Firefly grinned under his mask before shooting straight up and laughed. "Haha, did you forget I can fly? Better run kid!" He advised before shooting laser beams from the metal suit's arm as Red X dodged, "Nice reflexes… now die! Bam, bam!" He childishly said making the jacket wearing youth quickly evaded them. "Haha, you're fun!"
"Wish I can say for you, Ekoms!" the young man shouted when lifting his hands, smoke burst out from his sleeves covering the area.
"Oh no…" Firefly muttered out as he was soon also blinded by the smokescreen. "Alright, what's with heroes and hiding in Gotham?" He asked coughing out the- "Wait, I'm wearing a mask, how the hell am I- GAK!" Firefly gawked when something hit his back and forced his body to hit the ground. "Son of a-!"
"You're grounded, now time for you to-" Red started until Firefly blasted him in the chest with a laser. He tried to breath but couldn't, watching the villain walking towards him… but looked at a tube that was connected from his jetpack to his arm severed and leaking liquid.
"Damn, not bad for a rookie. Word of advice, unless you have an arsenal like the Bat, you should keep your head down brat." He said before flying up again and shrugging, "Or don't, I can use a hostage to find that Batman. Later~" He waved mockingly as the villian flew away.
"Che…" Red X scoffed in annoyance. He couldn't believe the bastard of a bug man in a suit got away. Talk about a bad beginning to his career, "Need to get home and get some of the salve to cover this bruise." He said walking up and moving away from the rooftop… not knowing someone was watching him from above.
XXXXX
THE FOLLOWING MORNING
XXXXX
"Ugh… not the best way to wake up…" A young blonde teen groaned as he slowly sat up on his bed, slowly stretching his neck from side-to-side, hearing the cracks from his neck bone. "Damn…" He sighed, rubbing his nape, the young man then looked down to see a sun burst bruise on his chest. "Great it only covered most of it, but the main spot is still there."
He quickly dressed himself in a school uniform as the young blonde looked around his room. It wasn't the best place to live in, but it couldn't be any worse than it is now. "Better go get something to eat," He muttered walking out of his room to see multiple stairs around him, hopping on one he easily walked down to enter another room. Where a red haired woman was cooking some pancakes with lots of other foods, "Hey ma," The teen greeted as the woman turned to see her son walking down. She placed the pancakes on a plate on her lap, showing the blonde who watched with a slightly sad smile as she was in a wheelchair, rolling her way to place them on the table.
"Ah, I was wondering if you were alive or not." She joked while missing the blonde's pale face.
"Ma, you know I'm gonna come back alive." Naruto sighed clearly tired from the other night. "Please don't joke about that anymore."
The woman looked back with a confused look but nodded, "Uh alright? Anyway, I got some good news and-" She stepped when another male entered the kitchen, the mother of the teen smiled to see who it was. "Hey old man." She was greeted as a tall, Caucasian male with blue eyes and grayed hair. He appeared to be well-kept for a man of his age, although he moved with the aid of a walking stick. He wore a black suit and tie over a white, collared shirt.
"Hey sweetie." The man said, hugging the woman kindly as he spoke like a father. "How's my sweet baby girl and my awesome grandson this morning."
"Yo." The blonde waved casually, "Didn't think you came here today Grandpa Kent."
"Haha, well I had to since your mother told me to." The older man said as he took a seat next to Naruto. "So what's the big news?"
"Oh right, I was just about to tell him." Kushina said, before she rolled at the table with them. "Naruto, I just send your little drawings to a comic contest and they approve of it! You can actually start a comic series from those little sketches you have done!" She said, earning the shock of her son.
"You what?" He said worried, "Those were private, those were not supposed to be seen!" He said red face in both anger and embarrassment.
"Oh don't be ridiculous, they're-"
"No, you don't understand! Those pictures are not… family-friendly!" He said but a gentle hand on his head made him pout, "It's not cool to raid my room."
Kushina blew a raspberry at her son, "Look if it's about the Dark-Skin Doujin you have under your- mmmh~!" The woman's muffled screams were caused by Naruto who stuffed her face with pancakes before she said more smiling awkwardly to his grandfather.
"Ehehe, she's deluded, you know, late night reading…" He weakly said while Kent chuckled at the comedy skit of his two younger family members.
"Of course." Kent chuckled. "What else is new?"
Naruto shrugged, "Nothing much, been visiting Gotham when I can. You know, for my manga club I have." he partly lied as he went there for another reason, "But I promised Z that I would attend school today…" Before he looked at his mother who whistled while rolling away from them. "I wonder why?" He sarcastically said as Kent chuckled but when his mother was gone the older man gave the younger one a sad look.
"You… are hurt." He said as Naruto hung his head.
"That obvious?" The blonde declared as Kent nodded as his hand glowed softly as he placed a hand on the boy's shoulder. Soon the young man could breathe better, "Thanks."
Kent didn't say anything but shook his head, "I don't like what you're doing, but I won't say anything to your mother." He scolded softly before standing up. "Do you really want her to worry sick about you?" Kent asked as Naruto looked down at the truth, "If you want to do this, then it's fine, but for a few years. I'll get a friend of mine to teach you, no need to rush into this."
"Yeah, I got it…" Naruto said as Kent left him to return to where he was doing…only for Naruto to lift a hand with two cross fingers. "...Sorry grandpa…" He muttered out a quick word as he gained a bookbag. "Ma! Going to school, text me the location of the comic thing after school. I'll stay over at a friend's house in Gotham tonight."
"Ok~, remember to wear protection… WAIT I MEAN… I… You know what I mean~!" The red haired woman comically shouted at the boy who chuckled at her rash words.
The young man laughed as he left the room grabbing a skateboard as he grinds on one of the railings that the staircases had. "New York." He said watching as a door came out nowhere, leading the teen to jump from his board to reach towards it. With surprising agility and power he reached it as a platform appeared from underneath his feet. Walking out to see a normal street with a few people walking in front of him, stepping out he turned around to see the door he had suddenly glowed.
The young boy looked up to see where he 'came' out from, "Dudley's Donuts, ugh I hate this place." He complained of all the places he had to walk out from. "Mom should really look into how to get a better idea on how to get me out of that tower." After complaining about his arrival the young man quickly left the front of the store as he looked around. "I think I'm at least twenty mins away from school." He said looking at his watch that he still had an hour left, something he had to remember when leaving from his home. The worst luck would be at least 55 mins from school, today was an ok start at least.
"Better call Z if she wants to get something sweet on the way to school." He said getting his phone and dialing up the number of the person he was talking about, thankfully he didn't wait long as the first ring was picked up.
["Hello?"]
"Hey Z, it's me. I'm at Dudley's Donuts. Want me to grab something for ya?"
A soft giggle came from the phone, ["Do you want me to die? That place isn't technically food. Hold on, Ecalp em ni yeldud stunod!"]
The young man turned his back to see a girl suddenly appear in front of the store holding a phone. "Hey N~!" She said, walking forward to catch up to Naruto. "Sorry, I had to escape from dad. He was telling me off for using magic outside of training."
"Like now?" Naruto chuckled as the girl spun around mouthing out a word that caused her to wear a similar school uniform like Naruto's. A white button up shirt that had a grey jacket with the school symbol on the right side of her chest. And a plaid skirt that extended to the girl's knees. "God I hate wearing this…" she muttered as she pulled on her collar to slightly loosen it before adding a tie around it.
"Cause you like wearing more exhibitionism clothing?" Naruto joked as 'Z' playfully slapped his shoulder.
"Oh ha-ha, very funny." Z rolled her eyes, though she wasn't hiding the smirk etched onto her face. "Anyways, we are grabbing something sweet or what?"
"Still about 50 mins till school starts so let's find something. I'm buying so you choose." Naruto chuckled as the girl walked ahead of them.
"Alright, then~" Z scanned the plethora of sweets to choose from. "Two Boston Cremes and a slice of coffee cake."
"I swear your sweet tooth is almost sickening. Better have some real coffee with that." He muttered as they entered a high class coffee shop, "And thank god that I have dad to pay for this." Naruto ordered what the girl wanted and himself. "Z, usual…?" He said as the girl nodded and spoke playfully.
"Ye~p! I'll have a double grande coffee, with ten chocolate pumps, three french vanilla, one white chocolate, two dizzels of caramel, chocolate and white chocolate. Triple whip cream, two shots of espresso dark chocolate, if you don't have that switch it for FOUR shots of regular chocolate espresso. Add chocolate chips, and…one of those wafer straws." She said as Naruto chuckled while the employee looked horrified at the order. "Oh and a large cup of water. Tha~nk you~!"
*DING~*
Naruto nearly had to hold back his laugh when her smile literally shone at the perfect moment when an oven timer went off, "...Here." Naruto said passing the man a notepad, "I have it right here."
"Thanks…" The employee said, taking the notepad to set to work on this… suicide drink of a coffee. "Jesus Christ…"
After giving the teens their food and drinks (which took another ten mins due to the complicated order of the girl's drink.) Naruto and Z walked to their table, "Alright time for an intervention. That is not coffee, that is a heart attack in a cup." The cup of 'coffee' that Z ordered exuded a dark purple miasma that slowly steamed out from the top.
Well at least to Naruto as he was pretty sure if he drank that he might die…well he was confident he died at least seven ways at the least. "Seriously, how do you not crash the instant you finish that drink of Zatanna?" He asked as the girl cutely sip her beverage without answering him.
"Heh, that's something you'll have to figure out by myself;" Z smirked. "Then again, maybe it's more fun for you to never figure out." She winked at him.
"I swear you Italians and coffee are genetically made for you guys." He said as the girl giggled as she saw a newspaper, "What's that?" The girl whispered, "It's from Gotham." pulled into her sights she saw the title 'The Red X? Newest Robin?', "A new hero in Gotham?"
'Damn, leave it to the Gotham Times to already spread the word out…' Naruto thought to himself with a sigh.
"Red X, the skull mask isn't exactly heroic." She said looking at the barely visible photo of the masked vigilante. "Red X…" Zatanna whispered, "I don't think he works with Batman or Robin, what do you think about Naruto?"
The blonde looked at the sight of the photo, "Beats me, he might be afraid of Batman."
"Him? Being afraid of Batman?"
"I mean, who isn't afraid of the guy?" Naruto shrugged his shoulders as he sipped his coffee. "Batman's been on the up and up with the fighting crime thing for a while."
…
"Do you still have nightmares of him?" Zatanna whispered softly, placing a hand over her friends. "You can tell me, it's nothing to be ashamed of."
"Z, I… don't think this is a good time." Naruto trailed off hesitantly.
The girl didn't back down, "Why do you have to evade that, you were there for me when my mother left me and dad. Can't I be there for you?" She asked, ignoring the other people in the restaurant looking at them. "Please there's nothing to be afraid of-"
"I'm not afraid!" He shouted as the whole place was looking at him, "Tch!" he clicked his tongue as he left the place. "I'm not afraid of Batman… not him… but the one who Laughs…"
"The one who… Laughs…" Zatanna muttered, before shivering at what she meant. "That…makes sense."
XXXXX
LATER THAT DAY
XXXXX
Naruto was walking out from his school looking around for Zatanna and sighed, "I shouldn't have blown up like that." He complained as he waved some of his friends goodbye, "I need to get to the appointment." Looking at his mothers text he smiled as he was going to be where he was already heading. "Alright, I need a door…" He turned to see the closest one and rushed for it, "I wonder if Superman ever does this and-" When opening the door he saw- "OH GROSS!" He said looking at two teens making out heavily while stripping, "And in the janitors closet?! Pay up a room!" He said, slamming the door and shivering in disgust. "Had to be two guys…"
He places a hand over his face and roughly drags it down, "Forgot to say the words, Fate decrees me to be in Gotham."
"Naruto?"
He turned to see Zatanna looking at him, "Z…" He said before looking at the door, "I…Uh gotta go for an appointment. We'll talk tomorrow. I promise." The blonde vows before entering the door where he was going to do his appointment with Zatanna rushing to the door as it closes.
"Naru- Ah seriously!?" Zatanna blushed watching two dudes kiss… well maybe she doesn't have to close the- "CLOSE THE DOOR!" They yelled as the girl slowly did before wiping her nose that had a small trail of blood. But she looked at the door worried, "We know you're still there!"
"EEP!"
XXXXXXXXXXX
GOTHAM, COMICS HQ
XXXXXXXXXXX
"Whoa, didn't think I got an accurate door this time around." Naruto said entering the building when he left Zatanna. He walked carefully as he walked to the receptionist. "Hi, I'm here to see your boss." He said as the woman looked at him, "Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze." The young man told his name as the woman seemed excited.
"Oh the one who made that!?" She pointed behind Naruto who flinched at the sight of his sketch fully colored and perfectly done. "We're all waiting for your arrival, need sparkling water or flat?"
"Uhh no thanks…" He said looking at the sight of the picture, "Great… he's in color." He mumbled as he felt a hand on his shoulder. "Ah!" He turns to see a teen around his age who lifted his hands to prevent Naruto from flipping out.
"Sorry, my uncle wanted to see you now." The teen started pointing to the direction they needed to go, "Follow me," With that the two walked towards the location. "It's been a while, Naruto. How have you been?"
"Nothing much senpai," Naruto said in Japanese, "Didn't know your uncle was the one who made most of the comics here in Gotham and most of the country."
"Yeah, I was surprised too at first. But hey, it works out. Plus I'm working part-time here too while I'm still at school. So a bit of cash on the side is good."
The two of them soon found themselves at the door of the CEO of Gotham Comics and the brown haired teen knocked on the door. "Uncle, he's here."
"Send him in." A voice from the other side of the door said.
"Good luck, kouhai." He said, patting Naruto's shoulder before walking away.
"Thanks… without saying anything to prepare myself or help me." Naruto comically complained as he entered the room to see a tall asian man sitting impressively. "Uh hello Mister Nanasaki?" He started in english as the man looked at the young man with a smile.
"Naruto, so good of you to come! Please take a seat!"
The blonde was at least happy that the height didn't make the man scary, "Sorry for the late-" He started, looking at a pocket watch he had, "Oh I'm early… right Gotham is an hour before where I lived…" He whispered softly, forgetting about time zones. "Soo… my mother sent you my sketches of Batman?" He said looking at the desk to see a copy of his work.
"Yes! She even sent me the idea on how it happens!"
'Dammit, mom! Why?! Why did you have to be so nosy?!' Naruto thought to himself.
"I see… and, you actually like it?" Naruto said knowing the answer as the man nodded enthusiastically.
The man showed the young boy stats on how people like the recent comics they showed just from one picture at the end of the book. "But of course, it looks incredible! All the fans are asking for advance copies for this series."
"To be fair, sir, that was just a personal project of mine. I never really intended to publish it or anything of the sort." He said but in all honesty, it was never to be shown at all to anyone. It was only due to his mother having a nasty habit of breaking through his locks was the reason this was brought to light.
"Nonsense! This is the best thing that's ever come across my table! It would be a hit with the people!"
Naruto sighed as this was the problem, "Wouldn't The Batman have a problem with us using his likeness?" The blonde question as he hoped that a legal reason would aid his predicament.
The man nodded, "Well it has been an odd slope at times, but we have done many writers and artists who often feel that way. But as long as it's just fiction, and not something that viciously attacks the hero they usually don't mind."
"This… doesn't strike you as offensive to the Bat?" Naruto said pointing to the photo. "This is almost a slap to the face!"
The man chuckled, "Well it's more of a scary notion of Batman than insulting. If anything it shows what could happen if we don't put stricter punishment on villians."
"That's not the point…" Naruto sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. This was another problem. When this man is dead set on something, he won't stop until he sees it through to the end.
"Look if you're really not sure, just let us publish one issue of the series. If the fans aren't impressed then you don't have to do more. To make the deal sweeter if the series does become a hit, we'll let you have total freedom and a bigger cut on the other deals we made for artists." He said as Naruto's eyebrow twitched, it was both enticing and scary on how this man wanted his ideas.
"Do I even want to know how much you're gonna pay me?"
"Well I cannot tell you as even our most popular stories like 'Demons Days', 'Loveless Fools', and even our best one 'Eternal Wars' are sometimes up and down. But we will promise that you will at least be given a fair return of the profits. My company wants to show the world the beauty of one's work, no idea is bad. And you prove it as some others had similar ideas but never this detail!"
Naruto gave a defeated look, "Fine, fine! I give up, I'll continue to work on this… but due to my own schooling and side job I won't be able to make many issues-" He started as the man waved it off.
"No need, we got a couple side artists who have a good understanding of your art style. All we need is some of the storyboard your mother gave us, and some good works for at times. Whether it be front issue artwork or just a few scenes." He promised, "That way you're not overworked."
"…" Naruto felt a blood vessel pop and a migraine coming in. He was definitely going to have a stern talk with his mother…
XXXXXXXXXX
NIGHT TIME
XXXXXXXXXX
"Do~dododo~" Naruto, donning his mask, smirks at the amount of gasoline he just used… and the fact he just stole them from the mob just made it better. "I might understand Firefly's reasons for setting stuff on fire… it's a fun thing to plan. Alley-oop~!" He tosses a lit match as the teen jumps to a higher building to see a crude flaming symbol of Firefly's mask. "He should see it in one… two…"
"Dude! Nice!" Naruto turned his head upwards to see Firefly above him with a chuckle, "So you realized what you should do-" He stopped when Naruto lifted a hand and showed the flames suddenly expanding to show another symbol below it…it was a hand giving him the middle finger. "...I'd be really pissed if that wasn't so impressive." He didn't say anything else only to opt for using his hand balster to kill the teen in front of him. "You just had to come back for seconds!"
Firefly watched as Red X continued to dodge them, soon jumping off the rooftop to make the villain follow him, as he was about to reach the ledge but saw a hand coming from it! "Aw shit!" The flying man shouted when he felt a thick rope around his neck, "GAK!"
Blasting in the air higher, the armored villain looked down briefly, while barely loosening the noose around his neck to breathe right, to see Naruto hanging off from the other end. "Seriously?! You could have killed me!" Firefly flying down fast he looked back again with a snarl, "How long will you be able to hold on?"
"Is that supposed to be rhetorical?" Red X asked aloud, as he carefully held down the rope as he threw a red knife at the fuel line. "Going down!"
"Ohhhh, I hate kids-" Was the last thing Firefly said as the jetpack died down and fell down hard, but the young vigliante was able to grab the man's body while they freefall. Punching him hard, he quickly pulled on the robe as he tied it over the man's body and pulled out the hoop from his neck.
"Gotta time it right!" He shouted as in the last moment he placed the noose on a flagpole while he shouted. "Esrevni yitvarg!" He was barely able to say as he slowed down as he gently reached the ground, smiling at the sight of Firefly hanging from a pole.
"Dammit… now I'm the kid who's been given the ultimate underwear wedgie on a flagpole…" Firefly groaned from the indignity.
"Hmph," Red scoffed, "Be glad I didn't do serious damage to you…"
"Uhh kid?" Firefly started, "Don't mind to ruin the whole hero one liner or speech but-"
Red looked at the man oddly before noticing a shadow over his body, looking at the ground it was the shape of a bat. His eyes widened behind his skull mask to see someone above him, "Who are you?" The man above Red X darkly questioned…
But what Red saw caused him to take a step back, "It can't be…" He said as the man dropped down the ground as Red X started to breathe rapidly. Walking into the light he saw a man with a metal spike visor with a disturbing pale, red lip grin on his face. His body seemed to stretch taller as a black skin tight suit clung to his body, "HAHAHAHA~ It's been a while Naruto!" He laughed darkly as Red X started to run.
"NO! GET AWAY!" He said as the person who was staring at the retreating teen with wide eyes at his alarming reaction at his arrival…more as it was the usual one.
"Jeez… what did you do, the kid bats?" Firefly said as the caped man looked at the villain who shrugged, watching the hero chase after the young man the armored man yelled out. "Yeah, yeah, hang here til you come… make it snappy! I'm starting to chaff here!"
XXXXX
"Why is he here?" Naruto asked, tossing his Red X mask to the side. "He's not-"
"Not what?"
Naruto's eyes widened considerably when he looked back. This was a blue glowing machine walking towards him, with menacing glowing red eyes. "Not a Murder Machine?"
"STAY AWAY FROM ME!" Naruto shouted as he threw several smoke pellets to cover his escape.
He felt his chest burning out from his heart beating rapidly, looking back to see the silver machine hunting him down. "Gninthgil!" Throwing his index finger at the being, "I'll burn out your circuits you robot!" With a single stream of erratic dancing lightning he stopped running as he saw a giant dust cloud.
"Now's my chance to-"
"Where do you think you're going?" Jumping from the cloud of dust was one giant monster, his upper body was covered in dark rock-like spikes, "You're never going to run away from us! We're going to Devastate your life!" Soon the body started to shift back into a smaller body, a green and black suit with emerald glowing eyes.
"Not in your dreams…" He lunged and grabbed the boy's collar and lifted him up, "Or in real life!"
Naruto swung his fist to hit the man's face, only for him to take it without flinching, "I'm not afraid!"
"Calm down!" The man shouted as Naruto's eyes widened as he wasn't one of the creatures that was hunting him. A dark cowl looking at him with white eyes… it was Batman, the real one.
"W-Wha…" Naruto managed to utter out.
The man roughly threw Naruto to the ground, "Settle down yet?" He asked as the teen tried to register what just happened, "Well?"
"I wanna talk to my grandfather, you know him… Bruce." Naruto said as the dark knight glared at him, before nodding, dragging Naruto up to his feet and as if by some invisible force a car came by.
"Get in." But Naruto shook his head before pointing at a door to a condemned building. "Fate decrees me to be… The Tower of Fate." Naruto said as the door glowed but a burning symbol in the shape of ankh appeared. "I think you know who this place belongs to?" He said with a smirk as the dark knight only stayed in silence as Naruto moved on to enter the door.
*CREAK~!*
The blonde sighed as they entered the kitchen and saw the one person he needed, "Uh gramps?" He said looking to see the elderly man holding a sandwich in his mouth and a can of cola in one hand, who comically dropped the food as he saw who was behind his grandson. "I kinda need legal aid…"
The man walked to the two heroes of the night, before pointing his cane at Naruto, "We're going to talk…" He promised before turning to the dark knight. "As for you-"
"Kent Nelson, I thought you retired from being a hero." The man interrupted, "Why did I find that child in my city?"
Kent didn't appreciate the hard questions, "Now see here Bruce." He started with a tone you would hear from a stern family member. "I understand what my grandson did was wrong, but you will not talk to me like that! We are both men of honor and maturity so let's talk like adults."
"Hmm…" The dark Knight didn't say anything but gave a slow and calm nod, "Why does he know my identity?"
Kent looked to see Naruto who was sitting in an upside down staircase within his viewing range, "It's not something easy to explain, not even Nabu could answer." He said as Batman raised an eyebrow. Nabu, The helmet of Doctor Fate and was once the being used used Kent's body to be that hero, who was also (allegedly) immortal since the time of ancients. "What I could deduce is something dark but I pray I am wrong." Kent trailed off ominously as Batman continued.
"Even so, for him to already know my identity is-"
Kent waved his hands to brush off the hero's statement, "Bah! It's not as if he's going to expose you right here and now. Look at him…" he said as the two adults watched as the young man walked back and forth waiting for them. "He's a good kid, hot headed, prone to action, and often thinks justice is more important than his normal life… sounds familiar?" The elderly man smirked at the Cape crusader who glared at him.
"Good kids, don't try to send lightning bolts at others." That caught Kent off guard as he looked at the young child.
"Naruto came here." He requested as the grandson dutifully walked to the two men, "Batman told me you tried to kill him?"
The blonde only answer was him looking away with a sheepish look, "I thought it was…him. You know…" he weakly answered as Batman crossed his arms, before he could say anything Kent placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder and whispered to him. "Yeah, I'll get it."
Kent looked back at the brooding man, "Look you know why I gave up my role as Doctor Fate." He started looking at a family photo of him, Naruto, Kushina and another man that almost looked exactly like Naruto. "My daughter was gravely hurt and with my willpower I tore off the helmet, never to put it on again."
"I know Kent." Batman declared as a soft tone was heard in his dark voice. He never had the honor of working beside the woman but knew the tragedy of that day, that if she didn't take the damage that day Doctor Fate would have been killed and the helmet would have been on the enemy's hands.
The fact that Kent removed the helmet to get her out before anything else was done showed how much he cared for his adoptive child. It was a great loss of power on the hero's side of magic, but it was understandable for him to not return back.
"He's looking for the man who did that to his mother… the reason she is stuck in that wheelchair." He said with a serious grim look, "His heart is consumed with the promise of avenging his mother. I tried to curb his vengeance with magic and training his body. But it just fueled his desire to a burning passion, as you saw he took time to learn the magic I used to transport from place to place. Even without help that spell takes years to master, and he did it for his goals in barely a few months."
"It doesn't give him an excuse to do this." he said as Kent gave a silent look at Batman as if the very words he said were enough to leave it there.
Thankfully it was stopped by Naruto who returned, handing his grandfather a sketch pad which he gave to the hero. "The reason he attacked you…" As those words left Batman eyes almost widened at the sight of what he saw… it was him or at least that's what the same said at the bottom of the sketch. Except he had a mad smile on his face with a spike visor on his face, wearing a leather body suit that added to the horror all too well. He switched to another where he could tell this was inspired by the Green Lantern Corps… if they were completely evil. More and more of the sketches were just filled with pictures of what Batman would look like in… possible powers or fusions of villains.
"What… is this?" Batman found his voice almost stunned.
"The Batman Who Laughs," Kent said, taking the sketches from the man before offering him a cup of coffee. "That's why my grandson is so afraid of you, even before he heard of your exploits he has always had nightmares of this Batman. Saying this is you if the Joker killed your closest friend and used the most dangerous version of his Joker Gas to make him… Well-"
The Batman glances at the nightmare-ish smile of the sketch, "Joker… with what I assume with my knowledge. The Best traits of Joker working with the best traits of Batman." He said in a low tone at the horrified idea of that version, he would admit that it slightly caused him some pain. He wanted to protect Gotham so having a child be this afraid of the dark knight hurt his heart at the idea.
"Exactly…" Kent frowned. "I'm not sure how these nightmares are manifesting."
"Magical?" Batman started as Kent made his hand move in a 'so-so' gesture.
"If it is, it must be a rare ability like Seer's or actually Prophets. But unless we have Fate or someone else as knowledgeable that's all I can advise." He said looking at Naruto before he looked at Bruce. "That's also how he knew your name, it seems that this ability lets him see that version of Batman in his past. He knows about things like your family, Robin, even the location of the Batcave if he really needed to find it. Trust me, it's the same place when we all came to help you prepare for that fight with Joker."
"I see…"
"Which brings me to what I'm about to say next."
Batman narrowed his eyes, "No, he's not going to train with me." The dark knight adamantly not budging on this. "He's-"
"Is trained by me, learned magic by me, he's also has a drive that will take him far." Kent chuckled as he turned to see Naruto who was still sitting on the staircase. "I'm too old to teach him how to really knock some heads or keep up with him. Do you really want him to continue by himself? Did you not have a choice to either kill Joe Chill or spare him, what if he doesn't make that same choice not having training or a rule that you have gained from years of experience." Kent said as the Batman looked at the young man. The idea of him becoming a killer with the skills of what he has today only to reach dangerous levels that will either be forced to keep this child in a place that will never let him see the light of day or worse if some of less heroic fighters find him.
Kent almost lost one child, he couldn't let his grandchild lose his life if he has the ability to do so.
"He listens to me, no lone wolf stuff. If he does that then… then he will train with Robin." Batman asked, his arms crossed while narrowing his eyes.
Kent nodded while walking to his grandson as the world's greatest detective didn't need to read their lips to understand their actions. He saw Kent talking to the blond, before the young man looked hopeful and then looked shocked as he pointed to the caped crusader. Kent must have told Naruto the rules he gave, seeing the child take a moment to consider before nodding with resolve in his eyes. The two moved back as Naruto bowed his respectfully, "T-Thank you for allowing me to-" He stopped as Batman spoke over his words.
"At this moment you will not go against my words, during the day time you will go to school in Gotham." He said looking at Kent at comically serious look that Batman was looking out for his grandson's education. "During that time you will not cause trouble, or I will send you back with Kent. During Nighttime you will train and join me and Robin to protect Gotham. If you are able to show me that you can be trusted, then I can allow you to go at it alone." He told Naruto what would happen if he did what he said.
"R-Right Sir…" he said, slightly worried for both his job and orders from Batman. "Uhh, are we leaving now?"
"Got somewhere to be?" Batman… joked(?) as Naruto wasn't sure considering the man wasn't that version of the one he was scared of.
"N-No, but I-" He said looking at his room as the man nodded.
"Kent let Naruto be dropped off where you will send me back to Gotham. I need to get the Batmobile." The dark knight orders Kent chuckled but snaps his fingers to allow a glowing door to the man to leave.
When Gotham's knight left the former Doctor Fate looked at his grandson with worry, "What's wrong?"
Naruto shook his head as the two walked to a staircase that would lead to Naruto's room. "It's nothing, it's something I said to Z and hoped to talk to her but if I'm going to Gotham…" He trailed off as the young woman's sad eyes this morning still made him feel horrible on how he reacted.
Kent sighed as this was the problem with his daughter and grandson, they were too stubborn to ever let people see their weakness. They have a kind heart to always be there and forgive others, but they didn't want people to see their own problems and hide their pain rather than feel better. "Knowing Bruce, you can tell him the situation and you can see her-"
The young man shook his head, "No… if I do, I bet we'll have another fight. I doubt she'll forgive me yet," He said remembering that Zatanna wanted to talk and he felt like he was going to be yelled at, which he fully deserves, but will no doubt cause another problem."
"Alright…" Kent said knowing that anything he would say would be nil to Naruto, he was once young too. The fact Naruto is at least thinking about it would mean he would eventually talk to his childhood friend even if it seems like it might be awhile. Just because he can make Naruto talk to Zatanna it won't help in the future.
Naruto needed to know how to deal with his mistakes and hopefully it won't be too long for when he talks to her…if it does, hopefully he or Bruce would have an ice cold steak ready for one hell of a slap or black eye. Considering Kushina sees herself in Zatanna… yeah he is pretty sure a black eye is coming for Naruto's future. Kent shook his head to see his young grandson having a book filled with… most of everything in his room. Must be one of the bags that were bigger inside of it, no doubt it will be a long training for the next few months. It would be better if he took his belongings than a few things.
"You got everything you need?" The magician asked as his grandson nodded, "Visit once in a while and…" He pointed to his neck with Naruto nodding.
The young blonde fished into his shirt collar to show a silver key around a silver necklace, "…" The young man watched as Kent held the item with both hands, looking at his grandson with soft eyes.
"Under no circumstances will you use this. This relic is something that causes problems, only when you finish your training with Batman is where you can try to wield it." He begged softly as the young man solemnly nodded to his elders' words. "Thank you, go on. I will tell your mother… Hopefully she won't kill me."
Naruto paled at the idea before nodding, "Uhh, I got a taser in the closet in case you need it.
"I… don't think that will be necessary. But thanks anyway." Kent said with an awkward chuckle.
Kushina smiled as she rolled into the room after a while Naruto left, "So you let my son go to train with his boogeyman?" She said with a smirk, "Seriously you need to talk to me before this.
"Kushina!" Kent cried out comically. "Uh… this is uh… this isn't what it looks like!"
The woman scoff at that before moving towards Naruto's bed, "I was so worried for years if that would made him like me before I met you old man." She said with a sad frown before patting the bed. "But it's ok, I trust him to do what's right. And you better hope that Batman doesn't hurt my kid or he better hope that Batcave isn't wheelchair accessible…" She chuckled darkly as Kent sweatdropped as he could almost see black glittering around her head as if her darkness was manifesting in a flamboyant way.
"Ahaha… yes…" He said hoping his son-in-law would be back soon, and that his daughter is a scary woman when she gets bored. Well maybe a quick trip to a new state would be a good getaway.
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Naruto walked out from a magical door as he saw a dark slick and very advanced car pull up, taking a deep breath he walked to the car as the side door opened on its own to show Batman looking at him. "Ready." He said as the man nodded allowing Naruto to get in and drive off.
…
It was already awkward with the silence and car driving, Naruto was about to lean forward to at least get some- "Don't touch that." Batman said as Naruto sighed and pulled into his bag to sketch another version of Batman, and some basic stuff for his comic later on. Batman's eyes saw the young man almost finishing on a basic idea for a person, it was a lot smaller compared to the adult or monstrous version of himself. "…Who is that?" He asked as Naruto stopped his hands movement.
"Excuse me?" The teen asked as the dark knight lifted his right hand to point at the paper.
"Who is that you're drawing?" He inquired the young man.
"…The Robin King." Naruto said as he started to roughly draw on the clothing, "A version of you who-" He comically snapped his head upwards before turning to Bruce, "Uhh…you might not want to hear it."
The man didn't speak until he sighed, "I'm an adult, I saw lots of things. Tell me."
Naruto sighed as he started to work on the face, "He's a version of you… who wanted to kill his parents." The words that left his mouth made Batman's eyes comically snapped open at the first words, "He was a sociopath… wait or was it Psychopath? Wasn't Sociopath the lighter version of it? Right, so yeah Psychopath, as he wished he killed his parents. When Joe Chill killed his parents, he got the gun and shot the man in cold blood."
Naruto looked out the window, almost seeing the young version of Bruce Wayne in an alley, laughing crazily as he started to cry. "God, I remember how he enjoyed each bullet that pierced that man's body. To cry at the fact he couldn't be the one to gun down your… uh his parents. Then about a few months he-"
"This… might have been a mistake." Batman whispered, shaking his head at the young man, continuing to ramble more information on his evil counterpart.
"So it took Alfred with loads of guns with tranquilizers to get Bruce, Robin King, to be put to sleep when he tried to kill Alfred with a kitchen knife. I mean the whole scene I saw was like something from Predator." Naruto continued as Batman wished… wished he had a tranquilizer at this moment.
XXXXXXXXXX
"Oh Bruce is here." A young boy wearing sunglasses in a dark cave filled with items from villains that the Batman has kept, a giant computer and also state of the art gadgets for crime fighting and armor.
"I dare say," A butler walked up to see what the young boy said, taking a pocket watch from his uniform to see that it was at least two hours longer than his usual patrol. "I wonder who would have caused him to be so late?"
The kid chuckled as he raised a dollar bill, "Wanna bet it was Catwoman again?" He chuckled as the butler raised a hand and shook his head.
"Forgive me Master Dick, I don't take sucker bets." He chuckled as they heard the engine of a familiar vehicle coming up. "Ah, Master Bruce has arrived."
The two saw the car pull up to see Batman leaving… with another teen in tow. Robin raised an eyebrow as he whispered, "Hope I'm not fired…"
"Master Bruce," Alfred greeted him before looking at the blonde. "And who is this?"
"Naruto Uzumaki, he's the grandson of Kent Nelson." Bruce said, taking off his cowl to show he was still serious and stoic. "He's also Red X, the one who caused me to grab Firefly and drop him off."
Robin smiled widely as walked up to the blonde, "Dude that was you? Awesome!" He high fives him until Batman gives the infamous 'Bat-Glare' at his young ward.
"So you're Dick Greyson." Naruto recognized the boy. "Nice to meetcha. I guess."
"…" Robin's mouth dropped open at the identity being revealed as Alfred even looked impressed.
However Bruce walked forward, "He has… an ability to know certain heroes' identities. He knows mine, and will be training with you Robin." He said as Dick lost his smile and gave a serious nod to his mentor's words.
"I shall prepare his room," Alfred said before looking at the young man's bag. "Is that all you have, young man?"
Naruto gave a small smirk as he passed it kindly to the butler, "Its a lot heavier than it looks sir." He joked at the small hint he gave to the man who nodded.
Before Alfred leaves Bruce walked up to the older man as he gave him a hug, "Thanks Alfred." He said as both Naruto and Dick looked oddly at the scene.
While the elderly man took the hug he couldn't help but inquire about this sudden gesture, "Just glad you never used a tranquilizer on me."
…
"I am so lost." Naruto said as he walked with Robin who welcomed the new teen into the home of the millionaire/hero Bruce Wayne. He was happy with this, Naruto will admit he was worried if this new living arrangement would be bad. But Alfred and Dick welcome him and with Batman training him things will be looking for.
"Hey is that… me?" Robin started with a smile only to lose it when he took a bite tear look of the Robin King. "What the hell is that supposed to be?"
Naruto smiled innocently as he lifted to the teen, "This is the Robin King, a version of Batman who is a psychopath so he had a epic battle with Alfred who-"
XXXXXXXXXX
"I dare say, this is one deep bag." Alfred muttered as he took out a bunch of clothing… before entering his hand once more to take out a whole writing/drawing desk. "Huh…how did he do that?" He said before placing it into the corner of the room where enough natural light would be perfect for the artwork the new member of the mansion would appreciate.
"My goodness, just what is in here? And how much did Master Naruto pack?" Alfred couldn't help but wonder.
*Knock knock*
"Ah yes, come in, I almost finished your room… Master Dick?" He said looking at the young teen looking a bit shaky as he walked into what will be Naruto's room. "Is something amiss?"
"No… no… just uhh you don't mind if I leave the lights on in my closet tonight?" He asked as the butler raised an eyebrow but shook his head to that request.
"Not at all, due to sleeping well." He wondered why Bruce's young ward was suddenly so odd. However, he saw Naruto enter the room and nod to his presence. "I have mostly done placing your items away, if something needs to be placed elsewhere please let me know in the morning."
Naruto raised his hands, "No, it's perfect, especially with my drawing table in that corner with a perfect amount of natural light when I open the blinds to let it in." He said, missing the butler's smirk of victory. "Thanks Mister Alfred." He said as the man gently patted his shoulder like an uncle would.
"Please just Alfred, anything special for tomorrow's breakfast? I usually make something for new arrivals staying the night, but seeing like Master Dick you're staying is going to be lengthy, I will make it extra special." He promised as Naruto smiled at the kindness.
Naruto took a moment to think about it as he told the butler his request, being left alone in his room. He was smiling wide. This will be a good time… only for his smile to slightly wane a bit, "I gotta talk to Z one day…" he said with a nod.
One day…
XXXXXXXXXXXX
NEXT DAY, NEW YORK
XXXXXXXXXXXX
The dark haired Italian girl looked around as dozens of kids were walking past her, looking at her phone and frown Naruto hasn't called her still. "Where are you?" She said only for the students to pass by her and slowly getting smaller and smaller, "I shouldn't have pushed him."
But it wasn't fair for him to always help her and never let her try to help him. Naruto and his family were always there for her and her father for years, she grew up with him. Often slept over each other's homes, played together, even slept in the same bed when they had nightmares, even using spells to get to each other's room if they really needed each other. She received word from her father that Naruto will be out of reach for a while, but she can only pray that she can catch him at school…
…
Time went by and soon the few students who overslept or are usually the last ones to arrive, soon the first bell rang warning her about the few remaining minutes that will start the first class. She hung her head before walking to her school, she wanted to apologize for what she did. Zatanna took a deep breath and lightly smacked her cheeks with her hands, "No bad thoughts, I will tell him one day. I just hope I will find him soon." She promised a weak smile on her face as she dashed to school hoping her father will tell her where Naruto is at the very least after school.
"Time to take my real studies seriously after today!" She promised to find her friend soon! Smiling at the eventual time that will no doubt happen.
CHAPTER END
Azure King: I hope you all like it, as you can see Naruto is going to be train by the Bat. Now to clear up some things, he isn't going to replace Jason Todd nor his super hero name is going to Red X unless I keep it. But this is a magic powered Naruto with some fun powers down the line, if you review the next chapter will come soon~!
Enjoy your Christmas and lets enjoy the upcoming new year.