A/N: Double surprise~!
EDIT: Made some tweaks to improve things.
WARNING! Intense chapter ahead! There's your disclaimer.
I'm just feeling really MOTIVATED to update with all this feedback.
Third chapter was a hit and folks were howling for a fourth, so...here we are.
Spoilers for the Atom Eve Special once more, but really, that's been said many times now.
If this chapter gets a ton of feedback-it likely will-then I'll do my best to ensure another early update.
In other news depression's starting to hit real hard these days. Sometimes I wonder why I do anything at all. I can't claim to understand what's going wrong with my head. I don't even know why! One moment I'm fine, then my mood craters for a few hours, then I'm back again for a bit, and the cycle repeats. Its rather annoying; as though I've become a prisoner in my own mind sometimes. Sure, what's one more mental problem on the pile. Not like I don't have enough, what with already being this old. Feels like every day is a battle sometimes. My doctor is of no help at all.
*siiiigh* Don't mind the rambling of this geezer...
With my fifteen year anniversary on this site finally here, I find myself reflecting on the little things in life. What was once a lazy pastime meant for me and a few friends really grew and evolved over time. There are days when I look back on the last fifteen years here and I wonder if anyone will remember me; if I made an impact, despite never making a single cent on any of these stories. Some days were happier than others, and some stories I enjoyed writing WAY too much; to the point where I'd stay up all night working on them.
And of course, there are times when I look to the future and wonder what will become of things when I'm gone.
Of course, I try not to dwell on the latter overmuch; I'm still alive and still writing. In an ideal world, I'd like to keep doing so for as long as I can. But old age is catching up to me and these days, the world is filled with so much madness and death. Feels like everyone's lost their minds sometimes. Even before that, so many friends and fellow writers I once knew are gone, now. Will I still be here in twenty years? Ten? Five? Its a chilling thought. But for now, I'm still here, still writing.
So here we go. The fate of this story depends on you, the reader. Your feedback determines the fate of this tale, and many others.
As ever, I own no references, quotes, themes or memes. They're tributes to legends far greater than I.
I'm just a humble author trying to make his way in this wild world, one word at a time.
Time and feedback will determine if this remains a story. Simple as that.
In other words...its up to YOU, the reader. Do let me know~!
We all know the chapter reference. I think it fits perfectly.
That's right, its coming, that line from Death Battle.
Oh, and references to Gentlemen (2019)
Ironically, they also fit well here.
Here we go~!
"I keep my promises.
Its what I do, ya know?
Now then, do you Remember...
~a reference.
What I Promised You
"Priority call for you, sir."
Cecil Stedman looked up from his desk with a world-weary sigh. Well, it wasn't so much the desk he was sighing at as the paperwork atop it; that was the bane of every human, super or otherwise. No one could escape it. Not even him. Filling out these forms wouldn't save him from what was coming, but they had helped to center his mind, steel himself for coming storm. He'd known this moment would arrive. Hell, he'd known for awhile now. Ever since he saw the news. There was no point in running, no use in ignoring it.
Time to face the reaper.
He accepted the phone. "Thank you, Ferguson."
His second saluted, eyes damp behind his glasses. "Its been an honor, sir."
"None of that!" he snorted at him. "This will all work itself out. One way or another. Seal the room on your way out."
"Sir!"
Ferguson did as he asked. Good man. He'd run the GDA well if worse came to worst.
No point putting this off any longer. They'd get impatient otherwise.
He set the phone to his ear. "Stedman here, talk to me.
"Hello, Cecil." His blood ran cold with those words, no; his blood was ice in his veins and he was frozen where he sat, spellbound, helpless to listen to the eerily calm, almost jovial voice on the other end of the line. "How have you been, old friend? Its been only twelve years but it feels like we just spoke yesterday. Funny how time flies, ain't it?"
He knew that voice.
Once upon a time, it had belonged to a dear friend. A good man. An honorable man. Someone he could trust to watch his back. A Beacon of sunshine. A Haven of hope. Atlas itself, a titan bearing the weight of the world on his shoulders. He had offered Shade for those dying of despair and help for the helpless, all without asking for anything in return. A man who had vanished twelve years ago taking his pregnant wife with him, all without so much as a word. Three guesses what he was now after that stunt on the highway. First two didn't count.
"You're dead."
"I nearly was. I got better."
"How did you even get this number?"
"Lets answer your question with another question." his friend's voice rang with sardonic amusement. "Steven Erickson. Ring any bells?"
Yeah. The name did. More than a few. "I know the name."
"Then you should know that I'm going to kill him.
He blew out a sigh. "Naruto, no."
"No? You don't seem to understand your situation here." he heard the barest hint of a growl in the whiskered warrior's voice. "I'm not asking for permission. This is not a negotiation. This is not a warning. This is not a lie. This is truth. This is a courtesy call, so you know what's about to happen."
His brow furrowed. "And why are you being so gracious about this?"
"Because I want to know if you're involved in what he did."
Something clicked in the back of his head.
'Damnit, Steven. What did you do...?'
So that was it, then. Erickson's little off the books project, the scheme he hadn't cared to hear of, the "work" that kept draining money with little to show for it. He'd written it off as another hare-brained scheme, one he'd have to put a word in eventually, but the man had been funding most of it with his own money, so he'd not flagged it as a concern or checked it. He should have known. The man was ambitious but he meant well...most of the time.
"Erickson loves his country," he began slowly, hedging his bets. "I assure you, anything he did, whatever he did, he did for the good of this country-
"Are you defending him?" The deadly calm of his voice sent a sudden shiver shooting through him, as though he stood here in the room with him. "Tell me you're not defending him. Because those sound like the words of a dead man. Are you a dead man, Cecil?"
Shit on a stick. He recognized that nuke for what it was and backed off, wisely choosing not to pursue that avenue of thought. It went somewhere he wasn't willing to go.
He heaved a sigh. "What are you going to do, and how much time do I have to cover it up?"
"I'm going to find your friend and feed him his heart. After that? I haven't decided. What comes next depends entirely on the condition of someone most dear to me. Someone who may be imprisoned and tortured by the black ops of the good 'ol GDA, just as I was for the last TWELVE YEARS."
Shit. Polly. She'd "vanished" too, hadn't she? Double shit. Cecil flinched visibly.
"What's wrong? Cat got your tongue? You've grown paranoid in your old age, Cecil."
He could see him. He shouldn't be able to. The room was sealed and there were no windows. Blasted freaky abilities of his.
"What are you going to do? Send the Guardians of the Globe after me? Please. We both know how that'll end. Who does that leave? Omni-Man?"
"..."
Laughter swallowed his silence, harsh and bitter. "By all means! Send him in! I'd just LOVE to see Nolan again. He still owes me for introducing him to Debbie. She's probably had her son by now. Little Mark must be, what, twelve years old now? Maybe I oughta introduce him to Samantha. They'd get along great."
"Look," Cecil heaved a sigh, knowing this train had already left the proverbial station, "Whatever happened to you kid, I'm sorry. I'm sorry for all of it. If I had known, I would've done something-
"Oh, Cecil." his old friend almost sounded sad to say the words on the other end of the line."Is that what you think this is about? I'm not emotional about what happened to me. Pain's an old friend. I could've forgiven that. In fact, I do. I forgive you and yours for every wound inflicted upon me."
Hope kindled in Cecil's chest, cradling the tiniest spark therein.
Then the other boot dropped.
And it dropped hard.
"Unfortunately for you," Naruto's voice prattled on, cool as a cucumber dunked in ice, "While I'm not necessarily emotional about MY pain, there's a rather hefty price indebted to me for the last twelve years your so-called friends took from me. And that price is...lets say a cool Nine Million. Every month.
Cecil choked. "Are you extorting me, now?"
"I have a family to look after now, Cecil. I need that money."
Wait? A family? Kids? Oh, no. God, no. Please, no. Erickson couldn't be that stupid...!
"After you've tended to that matter," Naruto's voice dropped an octave, thrumming with subtle menace. "We can then deal with the next consequences of your coworker's shortsightedness. As I said, I am not emotional about what happened to me. I could care less about my body. I'll heal. But I am emotional about the fact that someone laid their hands on my wife."
Cecil sensed the coming eruption, hung his head, and held the phone away from his face. Oh, dear. Here it comes...
"MY WIFE!" even then Naruto's response rattled the receiver, briefly deafening him in one ear. "And not just her, oh no. My unborn daughter! But your boys didn't stop there! They used me to create four more children and tortured them besides! Didn't know about that either, did you? By your silence, I'm going to assume you leveled my house as well, just to rub salt in the wound. Did you kill my dog, too, or did you have the decency to let him die a natural death?"
He had to give him something. Calm him down. "Your house is still standing."
A poignant pause answered him. And then: "Is it, now?"
"It is." he was babbling he knew, speaking quickly, but it was all he could do to fend him off. "I made certain of it." he had if only to honor the memory of a man he thought long since dead. "Its under heavy guard," had to be, considering the sheer arsenal he kept there, "And a maid comes by to clean the place twice a week. We had your pooch buried behind the house. He died of old age three years ago. Your costume's right where you left it, I swear to you, headband and all."
"That was kind of you." his voice had returned to that same eerie, icy calm. "We'll have a place to lay our heads after this, at least. But no amount of money or prayers, or power or favors, or even divine intervention can pay for what's happened to my family Cecil, no, for that," he heard a knife being drawn over the line and his heart plummeted into his stomach. "I want a pound of flesh."
Say something. Had to say something. "Now hold on, I'm not involved in this mess-
"You are. Either you were deliberately a part of it, or you failed to notice it. One makes you guilty, the other by association.
Sweat beaded across his brow. "Kid, I didn't know. I swear on my mother's grave, I didn't have anything to do with this."
"Hmm." a noncommittal hum answered him. "We'll see if you sing the same tune when we meet face to face."
His throat closed. "Ha?"
"Once I'm done working my way up the chain of command, you and I are going to sit down and have a talk." his voice dropped to a whisper, as though he were in the room itself. "But before that, a pound of flesh Cecil. Be it a hand, a foot, an eye, or even your tongue. I don't care where you take it from. If you haven't the stomach for it by the time I find you, then I swear, the horrors I'm about to inflict upon 'ol Erickson will seem a tender mercy by the time I'm finished with you."
The line went dead.
Cecil slumped with a shudder.
He lifted the phone again and dialed a number of his own.
...Ferguson." he rasped into the receiver." Get me Erickson's coordinates. Now. And put the Guardians of the Globe on standby."
Another awful, terrifying thought occurred to him.
"And where the hell is Omni-Man?!"
(.0.0.0.)
"How was your call?"
Naruto stepped out of the phone booth, wearing a smile as plastic as the phone he'd just discarded.
"It went great, sweetie." he patted Eve's head, grinning a little when she scowled and jerked back. "Just needed to talk to an old friend...
Thank the sage he'd learned those silencing seals years ago. Wouldn't do for the little ones to have heard what he'd said now, would it? They were scarred enough; the last thing they needed was overhearing their Father promising swift, bloody vengeance against those who had wronged them.
Let the kids enjoy a little junk food before they blitzed the lab. They'd earned it.
"You're angry, aren't you?" Samantha wasn't so easy to placate; she'd always been a clever girl and she fell into step with him now, eyes never leaving his. "Because of mom."
"Not just mom." he planted a hand on her shoulder. "Because of what happened to you. All of you."
She hung her head a little at that. "I'm sorry I wasn't able to help you during the fight...
He tutted softly. "You're family. You shouldn't have to fight each other."
Eve didn't respond.
Ahhh. So many emotions.
Naruto briefly found himself trapped amidst them all.
Currently he pined somewhere between joy and hate, love and fear. Joy, because he'd finally saved his children and reunited most of the family. Hatred for what had been done to them. Love, that they were beginning to get along, even if only just. And fear...fear that all his efforts, this might all be in vain. A wise man once said "Having something to lose is what makes live worth living."
True words were never spoken.
Right now he stood to lose a great deal if he couldn't protect his family. Joshua and his siblings kept stealing glances at Samantha, still wary of her...all expect little Amanda. As the youngest she'd latched onto Eve wholeheartedly and hadn't let her out of her sight since. Still, with the worst of the danger past and most misunderstandings settled, their attitude toward Samantha had begun to thaw. Slowly but surely. Time was said to heal all wounds and he suspected it would take a great deal of it before things were settled, but they were making progress.
Brandyworth helped, of course. The man rather liked being an uncle, it seemed.
Make he could help the other three learn to talk faster...?
Hmm. Thoughts for later.
Speaking of thoughts, he couldn't help but ponder something else; now that he'd healed the kids, would they gain powers of their own? Luca's unique violet eyes suggested he just might -if they were what he thought they were, he'd need to keep a close eye on him-and he'd seen Josh stretch an arm earlier to smack an annoying a fly but he wasn't sure about the girls. Jessica and Amanda seemed normal, but then again, they were younger than the others. Superpowers or not, they all had some form of his chakra and were clearly more durable than your average child.
Heh. Things were going to be noisy around here for awhile yet.
Kurama snorted. "You always wanted a big family.
The thought brought him some small comfort.
"Alright, alright." he raised his voice. "Everyone done with their burgers?"
He received a quick affirmative from Joshua, followed by a wave of silent nods from Jessica, Amanda, and Luca. Messy eaters, those three. He wasn't surprised. They'd never been taught better. He paused to wipe a bit of ketchup from each their faces and received dazzling grins in return. They might not know how to speak yet, but their faces said it all. They'd accepted him. Completely and utterly. The trust of a child was a precious thing indeed, and he swore not to waste it.
"Guess its time, then."
The lab wasn't hard to find.
With Joshua leading the way, they tracked it down only an hour outside the city. It didn't look like much on the outside. Little more than a rickety old building as a front, it looked abandoned from the outside. He supposed that was the point. No one but the lowest of the low would even consider coming out here, and who would believe them if they said they saw anything? no one would even think to enter it, were it not for the heavy metal door. Despite the dents that someone had hammered into it, the frame stood sturdy and strong.
He swung it open...revealing a dead end.
And then a keypad irised out from the center of the wall.
"Allow me." Brandyworth stepped up. "If I know Erickson, he's too arrogant to have changed the code...
Naruto waved him on. "By all means."
Nudging a curious Joshua and Eve aside, he began to punch in a long series of numbers; then another, placing his finger lower then higher, lower again. A low chime greeted him, the keypad flashed green, then peeled away, revealing a corridor and a long series of stairs leading downward, descending into darkness.
Joshua heaved a sigh. "They know we're coming.
Good. It would be boring if they didn't put up a fight.
Eve quirked a brow. "You're sue this is the place? Feels...weird."
"I am." Brandyworth laid a trembling hand on the walls, head bowed. "I could never forget it. Your mother went into labor within these very walls."
Josh grit his teeth. "This is the place where they made us, sister. They tortured us here, all for their own gain. Don't lose your nerve now."
"I'm not!" she rounded on him with a sputter. "I just want to see Mom. She has to be here right...?"
The other children made eager noises. All save Josh, who looked away with an annoyed grimace.
Naruto patted his shoulder. "Its alright. They can't hurt you anymore. No one will ever do that to you again.
That at least, seemed to soothe the boy. "...thank you. What are you going to do once you're inside?
He conjured a rasengan to his right hand.
"Watch and see."
(.0.0.0.)
Erickson was happy to see him.
"Cecil." he granted him a wry smile and open arms as he teleported in from headquarters. "So nice of you to finally come down and visit. Come to see our moment of glory?"
He struck him.
It was a good punch; one he was proud of; it caught Steven right in the mouth and the nose besides, bloodied the latter, and sent a tooth whistling to the floor. The man reeled back, clutching at his face with a look of absolute disbelief in his eyes. Completely worth bruising a knuckle or two.
Erickson was a soldier through and through. He didn't punch back. He simply lifted his chin. "I can explain-
"EXPLAIN?! You idiot!" he thrust a finger up under his nose, cutting him off. "What were you thinking? Do you have any idea what you've done?!"
The situation is under control." Erickson dabbed at his bloody nose with a handkerchief, refusing to even rub his cheek. "We've dispatched four of our best subjects to retrieve Him and his Daughter. They will soon be within our grasp."
"Our grasp?" Cecil slashed a hand through the air. "Don't deflect blame. I had no part in this."
His old friend sneered a thim. "Didn't you? You turned a blind eye to my work. You ignored me, time and again.
"Because it wasn't going anywhere!" he flung up his arms. "I though you were experimenting with dead tissue or something! Had I known you were holding a living nuke in your basement I would have said something!" Erickson made to speak and he snarled him into silence. "Now I'm stuck playing damage control. You've unleashed something-someone-I could never truly control. I could only ever aim him. Guess where he's aimed at now?!"
"We can handle him."
"Handle him?" He started laughing. "You idiot."
Erickson bridled. "What's so funny?!"
"What's so funny, you ask?" Cecil took a step back to master himself, failed, then rounded on him again. "You are. Because you refuse to comprehend the situation before you. Do you really think you'll succeed where hundreds have failed, hmm? We all know this story. Its been told hundreds of times, passed down throughout history. The names and faces may change, but the roles remain the same. You'll see what happens when you take everything from Him. He'll keep coming back."
"We've prepared countermeasures-
Another punch sent him sprawling to the floor.
"Screw your countermeasures!" Cecil hammered a shoe into his ribs while he was down, drawing a pained gasp from him. He isn't Immortal. He doesn't have to be. He just refuses to die. We have a word for that where I come from. I doubt you'd understand it."
"I don't need to understand!" Erickson snarled back. "The samples we have, the DNA we've collected, it could jumpstart humanity a hundred years into the future!"
"At what coast?" Cecil crouched down before him, glaring bloody red daggers at the man he'd once called friend. "I'll let you in on a little secret, old friend. In the end, its not about whose the strongest, fastest, or even the smartest. Its about not giving up. And he won't. Ever. Not while you have what is his. And you...you're the one he REALLY wants. The man behind the curtain! The one who concocted this "brilliant" scheme. You took his wife, you idiot! Her and his unborn child, and then because your sheer stupidity knows no bounds, you used them to make more! How did you think he would react?! No mater what you do to him now, you'll only make him stronger!
So you see, what's so funny, is that you, him," he stood and pointed past a stray scientist, "That guy over there, everyone in that facility of yours...
...ALL OF YOU...are, as they say, already dead. You simply haven't realized it yet.
A tremor rattled the building from above.
"May god have mercy on your sorry souls." Cecil looked to the ceiling and wished, not for the first time, that he'd taken up smoking. "Because HE will not. And on that facility is decommissioned effective immediately." a fresh tremor rattled the building, causing Erickson to look up. "And all of you? You no longer work for the GDA."
A tremor rattled the building.
Steven sputtered. "You can do this to me, Cecil!
Idiot. Even now he railed against the inevitable. "Can. Am. Have. You're fired, Erickson."
"CECIL!"
He teleported away just as he heard the shouting start.
"KNOCK KNOCK!" a familiar voice boomed. "I've come for my wife!"
Maybe the slaughter would the Kid occupied long enough for him to find a solution to all this.
Or barring that...a countermeasure.
God help them all.
(.0.0.0.)
Cecil had been here.
He'd sensed him for a split second before used the teleporter to bolt back.
No matter. He'd deal with him latter. For now, he only had one thought, one target, one objective.
Naruto crashed down through the ceiling at speed, struck a soldier and stomped down, riding him to the ground as one might a surfboard, leaving a red ruin in his wake. He kicked off the corpse and launched himself at a second soldier, body blazing gold. He mowed the man down, followed by a third, a fourth, a fifth now, fighting his way through guard after guard, soldier after soldier, sparing none. Behind him, through vision glazed red by rage, he he was vaguely aware of Samantha and Joshua alighting after him, carrying their younger siblings and Brandyworth between them.
He lingered long enough to make certain they were safe, then bulled onward.
"Dad!" he heard Eve shout. "Wait!"
He didn't. How could he?
Polly.
Where was she?
She had to be here. She must.
If she wasn't...no. Don't think about that. On and on he fought, tearing through everything in his path. There was no subtlety to it. No need. Let them know he was coming. Let them feel the fear and experience the dread he'd felt all those years ago. He'd pay it all back and tear it out of their HIDES.
Quite suddenly a door parted ahead of him.
He barreled through it without a second thought.
The room beyond was green and grey, all cold metal and steel. He could see the consoles and tanks mounted within, but didn't care for anything else.
"And so the Subject comes home."
Because there, standing in the center of the room, flanked by guards...
A dark-skinned man with closed-cropped hair awaited him, clad in a crisp blue suit. Looked like he'd seen better days.
He frowned, confusion briefly breaking through the rage. "...have we met?"
"You don't remember me." the stranger scowled and wiped a line of blood from his nose. "I offered you a chance at greatness. You refused, and so forced my hand."
Realization dawned.
This was Steven Erickson.
The rage came on again, stronger than ever.
He started forward. "I'm going to feed you your own heart...
"I wouldn't do that, were I you." the man held up something in his hand; a squat rectangular device he didn't recognize. His thumb hovered just over a large red button set within. "Everything I've done, I did for the good of this country. I won't let you take that away!"
He took another step. "...is that little red button suppose to scare me?"
The man balked. "Pardon?"
"You're like Cecil. You just don't understand. I don't give this," he snapped his fingers, "About your precious government, or your country, or any of it. You touched my family...
He blurred into the soldiers and slaughtered them in an instant, kicking and crushing their skulls. Blood spattered everywhere.
...you die screaming."
"Go on." Erickson sneered at him, unfazed despite it all. "Do something else you'll regret. After all, now that I have you, your...partner isn't needed anymore." He looked to the scientist beside him. "Do it."
Do what?
The man keyed a quick command in on the console.
With a wail and an alarm, another tube rose from the floor.
There was something inside it. No, that wasn't quite right. Someone...
.
..
...his knees hit the floor.
It was her.
Polly.
They'd shaved her head bald, put screws in her skull, hooked her up to some ghastly metal contraption and filled her with wires and tubes to keep her breathing, but he knew her face, gaunt and emaciated though it was. Her eyes stared listlessly ahead, seeing nothing, nearly rolled back into her head. One twitched as he looked on, unable to see him.
He couldn't bear to look at her.
Where was she?
Where was the woman he'd fallen in love with?
Where was the witty girl would could light a room with a laugh?
Where was the proud mother-to-be who practically glowed during her pregnancy?
This...this wasn't her. This wasn't his wife. This was a hollow shell of a human, a living corpse.
Samantha stumbled in behind him at last, saw the woman in the tube, and froze. "Who...is that?
"Ah, and there she is, the hero of the hour. " At the sight of his prize, Erickson's smile became an ugly grimace. "Where do you think all your brothers and sisters came from? Not just daddy dearest, oh no. That, my dear," he gestured with the remote, "Is your mother. And if you do not to EXACTLY as I say, she will die."
Eve whimpered; it was a sound that tore his heart to pieces. "Oh god, she's still alive...?"
"Technically alive." the government agent held up a hand. "We didn't get her back up and running in time to save her from massive brain damage. But," he scoffed and rolled his broad shoulders in a shrug, "Well, we both know she only had one use anyway...
Naruto lurched to his feet. "You did this to her. You...you...
His world went red.
He couldn't think.
Couldn't move.
Breathe.
"You're old, Naruto." Erickson's lip curled, mistaking his silence for weakness. "Out of touch. You've forgotten the laws of the jungle. The strong will always rule over the weak."
Kurama uttered not a word. None were necessary.
Calm descended upon him, cold and eerie.
"Well said."
He stepped in, blurred, and slammed a hand through Erickson's stomach. It burst out his back in a shower of scarlet.
Erickson dropped the remote as he crumpled with a shriek, frantically trying to keep his stomach in.
Naruto ripped his limb free, kicked the remote away, and rounded on him.
"Hurts, doesn't it?!" Another blow tore Erickson's arm clean off at the shoulder, momentum hurtling him across the room. "Where do you think you're going?!" he snarled when the bastard tried to crawl away." Because you're not going out the way you came in, you sonuvabitch! Talking to me about the laws of the jungle! Really!" he stomped down and grabbed him by the head then smashed his face into the floor, stunning him." What was it you called me? Old?! Out of touch?!" He cocked his head, listening to the man's pained cries, the please for mercy, and shouted over them. "There's only one rule in this jungle! When the fox is hungry...
A shadow fell over Erickson.
The man whimpered.
...he EATS."
Kurama's burst into existence around him; his jaws lunged down, caught Erickson by the leg, and swung him into a wall, biting it off at the knee as he flew. The man went down with a gurgle. Naruto came crashing down on that bloody leg, drawing a pained shriek from him. It didn't stop there. He reached up, grabbed the man by the mouth, heedless of his begging, and squeezed. His jaw shattered with an awful crunch and was left hanging there. Tears ran from his eyes. Not good enough. He had a promise to keep.
Taut fingers stabbed deep into Erickson's chest, found purchase, and ripped his heart free. Another hole in his body. The man might've survived the first. He wouldn't the second. He held the ruined organ before him now, leaving it still beating faintly as the horrified man looked on. An angry rasped filled the air as he glared down at him.
"Remember what I promised you?"
Erickson gurgled weakly.
"NOW SWALLOW."
He stuffed the heart into his ruined mouth and made him do just.
Then he crushed his head in his hands.
Catharsis was short-lived.
"M-Mom?"
He whirled, finding Eve crouched before the tank, holding Polly in her arms. Someone must've broken the glass when he wasn't looking. Maybe she had. Or maybe it had been punctured in the chaos somehow. He wasn't sure. He could feel her life fading, flickering, a dying candle in the wind. No. He was moving before he realized what was happening, dropping to his knees as the others poured into the room. No, no. He barely heard the lot of them. No, no, no. Not like this. It couldn't end like this. He wouldn't let it.
Trembling fingers cupped her cheek.
"Polly...
A raspy groan answered him behind the mask.
He swore softly. "Oh, sweetheart...what did they do to you...?"
"Dad, you can fix this, right?!" Ever turned desperate, pleading eyes on him. "Fix her! You're a healer! You said so!"
He closed his eyes and pushed all of his chakra to the fore. "I'm gonna try...
Kurama towered over him and burst through the ceiling above.
Naruto never saw him. He was far too focused.
The world went gold.
(.0.0.0.)
Nolan sighed in the skies.
"Oh, great. He's back. Thought that bastard died...
He most certainly hadn't, or if he had, he looked pretty good for a dead man.
Because a giant golden fox had just burst from the building below him and laid waste to everything around it.
...nope, he decided. No need to get involved in this disaster. He'd just pretend he didn't see anything...or hear anything...
A/N: Aaaaaaaand scene.
Is Polly alive? Is she dead? You'll soon see~!
We're getting closer and closer to the scene everyone's waiting for...
Well? What say you? Do you want this to be a story? Yes? No? Maybe so? Make yourselves heard! Really need to hear from you, here.
Again, to clarify, "Eve" had FOUR siblings in the special. Two little brothers. Two little sisters. What those poor children became...it made this old man's blood boil.
Once more, we're sticking with the "Embers" rule for this particular story, and others. If folks don't like this, it won't be continued. Meaning that if the story itself isn't popular? Well...I'll not continue it. I'm working two jobs -might need a third soon!- so I barely have time to write; as such, I cannot afford to write something folks don't enjoy.
So by all means, speak up! Your voice matters! Make yourself heard! As ever, reviews are the fuel that sustain me. Without them I cannot write a single word. Simple as that. Working nearly all hours of the day keep me absurdly busy, and I can't bring myself to write something folks don't like.
Aaaand there we go. As ever, reviews keep me alive. Without them, I cannot write. So...in the Immortal Words of Atlas...
...Review...Would You Kindly? Hope you enjoy the previews.
They're mostly the same, wouldn't do to spoil things.
(Previews)
She snapped.
I see it all now. Every single molecule around us. I can touch them, taste them, control them...I could rearrange your cells to make you whole new people from the monsters you are. You ruined my life. Took everything from me. Hurt people I didn't even know.
"My name is Samantha Eve Uzumaki! And I defy you to even remember who I am!"
Eve walked through the door, lost in her head.
What she saw within brought her crashing back down to earth.
Oh gods.
Her "parents" were waiting for her.
And where have you been.
Adam wait.
"Dad" scoffed. "Don't stick up for her. She's late for her own birthday!" he glared her. You couldn't even call?
Did...you eat my cake?
How dare you!
THis wasn't the way it was supposed to be.
I need to go.
Go? Go where? Hey! Like it or not, we're the only family you've got.
The wall behind her shattered.
WRONG.
She'd asked Dad to wait. And he had.
Now he burst into the room like a thunderstorm, burning like the sun.
I was actually willing to give you a chance." he tutted softly, shaking his head. "How pathetic is that? I guess some things never change. Well, CONGRATULATIONS,, you blew it!
And who the hell are you -
Her father, you gawping little shit. We're leaving, princess. Pack your things.
"You can't!
Don't you get it? You never had a child. You thought she was yours, but she isn't." he took his time, twisting the proverbial knife in their hearts.
"What kind of parents are you?! Shame on you!"
She's not yours. There it was, that was it, the bandaid ripped clean off.
The hell she isn't! Get out of here before I call the cops!
He flung a paper in his face. I've got a DNA test right here, courtesy of one Doctor Elias Brandyworth. You're welcome to take one of your own, or as many as you like. But the results won't change."
She heard the click of a gun.
You let her go right now!
Or what, you'll shoot me! Don't be stupid.
You. Doormat. He loomed large over the woman she'd once called her mother...then sighed. "At least you tried, though you should've done better. I'm willing to give you a chance at least. And then he turned to face her not-father. "As for you...what can I possibly say about you? " he leaned closer, face writ in a scowl. "You're a failure of a Father. The world is lesser for having you in it.
She took his hand.
Samantha Eve Wilkins! You step away from him right now!
She snapped.
YOU ARE NOT MY FAMILY!
Is the future of the Earth not worth a single life?
You'll never stop at one.
I'll take you all on!
"You know what? Go right ahead. Come. Die. I'll slaughter you. And when you run, when you beg, when you plead, when you look up to me and cry MERCY...I'll say no."
A mace smashed into his face.
"Good to see you, War Woman." the blond grinned around it. "Mind moving? I just need to kill a few people, take my family, and be on my way.."
She heaved a sigh. "Naruto, no."
"Naruto, yes!"
"Hullo, Nolan. Long time no see.
You have no idea what war is like.
Aha! But I do!" he rounded on him, eyes wild. "The object of any war is victory. At any cost. Or barring that, to make victory so painful, so utterly unobtainable, so repulsive, that they do not want it. Reputation is what people think of you. Character is what you are. Don't test my character, Nolan. It won't end well...for either of us.
I don't care how fast you are. I don't care how strong you are, and I don't give a s**t how smart you are. I know your future. You don't live to see tomorrow.
Blood flew through the air.
Is this still fun?! Are you enjoying yourself?! Having fun?! Well?! Answer me!
...what are you?
"Just a family man." he took a long sip from his mug. "Thula, was it? Run along now. I'm not int he mood. Unless you want to fight. It won't end well. That blade in your hair won't help you."
...I am not here to fight. I am here to talk."
"Go on, then." he took a long drink. "Talk. You have one minute."
And you are?
...Anissa. You're certainly strong for one of your kind.
One of my kind?
Her fist slammed in at his face. He caught it, wrenched her arm down and glared at eher.
Her grin only grew. See? That's exactly what I mean. Impressive! Most impressive! I can see why you beat-
Clenched knuckles barreled up into her chin and sent her flying into the clouds. "You talk too much."
The moment he turned away, she barreled into his back. "Then I'll talk with my fists!"
An elbow barreled down into her neck and plunged her into the ocean.
"Right back at ya!"
EDIT: Hope this story brightened your day and made things better, even if only a little.
Looking forward to chatting with you all when I get back from work~!
Running to the Edge and Claws of a Lion are next.
Warm regards,
~Nz.
R&R~!