A/N: Triple surprise~! Another weekly update~!
Also, a warning. Emotional chapter, here. And a bloody long one at that!
I really wanted this to feel like an episode of Invincible; hopefully I succeeded.
Motivation's off the charts. I'm absolutely stunned by all the feedback this is getting.
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-hopefully!-then I'll do my best to ensure another early update again.
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~!
You aren't prepared for this chapter. You really aren't.
Let the chaos commence!
"You're going too far, Naruto. There has to be a limit. When does it end?"
...when does this end? Ohhh, that's just rich coming from you. Its just like heroes to take the high ground. I see the look on your face. You think I've gone crazy. That I'm a villain now. I'm not. In fact, I'll humor you. I'll even tell give you a straight answer. This ends. When they. ARE DEAD. Make no mistake. I will KILL them...every last one...every individual responsible for this, every single soul who countenances or otherwise hurt my family. On the battlefield. In their homes. In their hideaways. In their bloody beds, if I must. I won't stop. I can't stop. I refuse to stop, until my family is safe.
Y'see, you're mistaken. You think this is about revenge. It isn't. Not really.
This is about justice. I'll have it. One way or another."
Even if it means walking over your corpse."
~Unleashed.
Gods and Monsters
Light.
She could see it. Feel it. Taste it. Touch it. Smell it. Hear it even, strange as that might sound. It sang to her like the sweetest of songs; poured into her ravaged mind, surged through her senses until it was all she knew, all she craved, all she wanted. It chilled her body and burned through her blood, freezing and scorching her all at once. Yet the Light was also a comfort to her. It was familiar. Was that the right word? She thought it was. The Light wrapped around her close, held her snug and tight, as though she were a caterpillar and this, her chrysalis.
It was in the Light that she was reborn; in the Light that she finally had her first coherent thought in twelve years.
"Who am I?"
The Light provided answers.
"Polly." an impossibly deep voice rumbled from all around her. "Your name is Polly. You've been asleep for a very long time."
It sounded right...but she couldn't remember properly. Her head hurt. Thinking hurt. Something was...wrong. Why couldn't she think? There was a terrible pressure in her skull, an awful ache, but she couldn't lift her hands to touch her head. Couldn't move at all, come to think of it. But thinking...that was getting easier. The pressure in her head had begun to fade; already little more than a distant memory. With its absence came questions, so many questions, one after the other, each more poignant than the last.
Where am I?
What happened?
Why have I been asleep?
How long was I unconscious?
Where is she? Where's my daughter?
Daughter! She remembered now. She had a daughter. A girl. Samantha Eve Uzumaki. She'd been close to term with her, only a few weeks out. There was more...wasn't there?
Something flashed through her mind.
A man with bright blue eyes, tawny blue hair, and whiskered cheeks. Clad in an orange turtle-neck and battered blue jeans, he sat beside a window, watching the rain. He turned to face her suddenly, saw her, and his face lit up in a smile that took her breath away. Rather than stand he knelt and offered a hand to her. There was a box in his palm...and within it...a ring. His lips were moving, and though she couldn't make out the words, she could deny the sudden surge of FEELING that his smiling face conjured-
His name. What his name? Oh god, why couldn't she remember his name?!
The memory seared through her brain, so sharp and painful that it tore a gasp from her in the Light. No, she realized. It wasn't just Light. There was another word for it. Right there, on the tip of her tongue. She wrinkled her nose in the void, and poured every fiber of her being into remembering.
Chakra.
Yes, yes, that was the word.
Someone had wrapped her in a golden chrysalis of chakra.
"Its for your own good." The deep voice came on again. "You were..." a pause followed. "...well, you were clinically dead at one point. You're barely alive right now."
Hearing the voice stirred something in Polly's heart; she felt something click together in her fractured psyche. She remembered that voice belonging to someone. Something quite large...and not human. She felt a brief bleat of raw, nameless terror, accompanied by a deep calm. The Voice would never hurt her. She didn't know why she recalled that, but it was in immutable thought even among her fractious thoughts. She couldn't see outside this cocoon of chakra, but she could feel a presence, old and deep as the sea nearby.
The name came to her in a flash.
"Kurama?" How could she remember him and not the Man? It wasn't fair. Not fair at all.
"Well at least you remember SOMETHING in that scatterbrain of yours."
The wan ghost of a smile touched her pale lips. "Mean as ever...
Hoarse laughter answered her retort. "I say it as I see it."
Her mirth didn't last long at all. "Where am I...?"
"This is your mind. What's left of it."
.
..
...that didn't sound so good.
"It isn't." his reply sent her hopes plummeting into the very pit of her stomach. "My chakra is the only thing holding you together at the moment. Your body has suffered severe brain damage and massive organ failure. That's not something easily fixed, even for Naruto."
Naruto!
The name was a thunderbolt in Polly's mind, a searing flash that burned away the fog shrouding her mind. Memories blitzed her one after the other as the past caught up with her in a maelstrom of emotion. Who he was, what he was, what he'd been to her, what he'd become. Friend. Lover. Husband. Father to her one and only daughter...
"About that...
"Hmm?" Polly blinked, not quite comprehending...until the dread came. "About what? No." horror dawned soon thereafter. "Don't tell me I lost the baby...
"No, no, Samantha's quite alright." Kurama almost sounded sheepish...and rather embarrassed. That worried her. "Its just...well...
"Did Naruto have an affair while I was out?" her brow furrowed. "I told him I was fine with him seeing other women."
"Unfortunately, no." The fox made a nose caught somewhere between a snarl and a sigh. "He's been quite faithful. And to think, I'd almost forgotten how much of an insatiable lech you were...
She grinned to mask her anxiety. "Sorry, not sorry. War Woman has a fantastic ass. I won't apologize for wanting to tap that."
He saw right through her as ever. "You're deflecting. I can feel your heartbeat spiking."
With that, her temper sparked. "Then spit it out already, you overgrown furball!"
...you maaay have a few more children than you remember."
Polly's brain fizzled right out. "Big-fox-say-what-now?
"Peas in a pod the two of you, I swear...
Kuama told her then, in no uncertain terms; what her husband had suffered; what had been done to her, the surprise awaiting her when she awoke, then finally...the sorry state of her brain and just how long she had been "asleep" for lack of a better term. It was a sobering tale, one that would've broken anyone else. But it didn't break Polly. Oh, no.
It did something far worse.
The words lodged in her throat "They did...what to me...?"
She'd always had a temper. Naruto loved it; he often enjoyed winding her up and letting her loose. Said she was cute when she was angry. She never understood why.
The anger she felt now-no, the apoplectic rage?
Not.
Cute.
At ALL.
"Polly, no. Just calm down-
"POLLY YES! Let me out!" She gnashed her teeth, struggling against the warm chakra that held her; she would have thrashed her way awake if he hadn't bound her so securely in the cocoon. "Let me out right now! Let me see my babies! LET ME KILL THE BASTARDS WHO DID THIS TO ME!"
"Stop struggling! If you wake up in your current state, you'll die! Do you want that?!"
She subsided with a scowl. "No...
"Then calm down and let me finish healing you."
A sullen pout crossed her face. "I wanna see my babies...
"And you will if I have anything to say about it." Kurama almost sounded amused by her anger. "Feisty little thing. If I didn't know better, I'd swear you were half Uzumaki...
...what happened to me, exactly?"
"There was an attack. I'm a bit fuzzy on the details myself.
So was she, come to think of it. There had been...nose? She wasn't sure. Everything was so scrambled. There had been someone; no, several someones. She recalled Naruto flinging her behind him. A pillar of light falling down from the heavens. Dust, dirt, then...nothing. Her memories were fuzzy but she remembered the pain, the sting of betrayal. Two figures standing among the smoke and rubble, hazy and indistinct...the voices...
"There. I honored my part of the bargain. Now keep yours."
Erickson's voice had answered, the slimy toad, oozing with patriotic pride. "But of course...
It had been someone they knew. Someone they trusted-someone who turned on them. Of that much she was certain.
"Your body is going to be very weak for quite awhile." Kurama's voice mercifully tugged her out of her fuzzy memories before her own paranoia could consume her. "You've suffered catastrophic damage to your internal organs, and been kept alive on fluids and life support, to say nothing of the injuries to your brain. Whatever they did to you, it took its toll. Malnutrition is one thing, but there's only so much I can heal. I had to regrow most of your internal organs once we peeled you out of that suit, and even then...
He was building up to something else. She knew she wouldn't like it. "How bad is it?"
"I'm not certain." the old fox sounded almost aggrieved. "You might have several decades ahead of you...or a few years. You may never fully recover. Only time will tell."
Her eyes stung.
Ohhh, those bastards.
Those absolute, stinking, freakin' bastards.
Alright. Okay. Deep breaths. So what if her body was failing? Where there's a will, there's a way. She was still alive here and now, for the moment. Nothing else mattered. The future could be dealt with later. If there was future. There had to be a future for her. There mus be; because if there wasn't, she knew a certain blond would break...
"Don't tell Naruto." She had to be the one to broach that subject. "I have to-
"He already knows." Kurama's words tore a gasp from her. "He's hearing every bit of this."
Oh. Just great. That was lovely. His heart must be breaking; she just knew it...
"You may also experience...gaps in your memory."
She already was. She could feel them. There were...holes in her thoughts for lack of a better words. Gaps. Try as she might, Polly couldn't remember everything. Little things, like her favorite color, least favor food, or the salty spray of the sea. The thought brought tears to her eyes. Had she always been this emotional? Or had that memory been taken from her, too? She was sure there were other things she'd forgotten, important things, but right now, none of those mattered.
"I can recall the important bits." she steeled herself, mastering her nerves. "Nothing else matters."
"They also shaved your head."
Not her hair! It took forever to grow it tha tlong! "Bastards!"
Her old friend tried to laugh at that. He failed. "At least that will grow back...I think."
Polly felt her brow furrow in anger. "Wake me up! Now! I've slept long enough."
"You won't be able to stay awake for very long-
"It'll be long enough," she growled. "Lemme see my family."
He relented and the chrysalis of chakra fell away.
And in that instant, her eyes opened.
(.0.0.0.)
Her eyes opened.
It was an abrupt and sudden thing, Naruto found; one moment she was sound asleep on the floor, effectively dead to the world; in the next her eyes snapped open. She saw him, he saw her, and in turn glimpsed the flash of primordial panic pulsing through her gaze. There were no words. She reached up with one hand and cupped his cheek, then squeezed it gently.
"Are you real...?"
"I am." he choked out.
Her eyes glimmered with tears. "This isn't a dream...?"
Naruto shook his head. It was that which broke the dam deep within Polly; his wife sobbed and clutched at him; uncaring of her nakedness, her weakness, or even the now-discarded cybernetics left strewn out on the floor around them. She wrapped both arms around him and held tight; only having eyes for him and nothing else. She was so light. He could lift her with one arm and very nearly did just that, until she started talking again.
"How did you get out? What happened!? Where," she coughed harshly, her throat still dry, "Where the hell is...?"
"You're alright!" He whispered fiercely before she could panic. "Everything's going to be alright now."
Polly didn't answer that; just clung to him all more.
He pulled back to get a better look at her and very nearly wished he hadn't. Her violet eyes were sunken in her head, rimmed with dark shadows, her face made gaunt and lean by the years. Chakra was a mighty fine thing, but could do little for malnutrition or frailty. She would need food and rest. A lot of the latter. It served as a painful reminder. Kurama had done the best he could, but she didn't have a tailed beast of her own to speed her healing along. She was painfully thin too, he could see the bones poking through her skin. Sage above, she looked so small...
Her head kissed his chest. "You haven't aged a day. No fair..."
A peal of bitter laughter burst out of him, sharp and hysteric. "Neither have you."
"Ha!" She rasped out a laugh of her own. "Liar. I feel awful. Probably look even worse...
She did. Was she the same person he remembered? Was he? Were either of them? They'd both been changed by their experiences. But then she looked at him. Really looked at him, as she had twelve years ago. Her eyes met his and he was lost. That was it. He was done, doomed, and decided, just as he'd been on that day so long ago.
No matter how weary she might be, how hurt by time, she was still his wife.
Looking back, he wasn't sure who kissed whom first; one moment he was holding her close, then her lips were on his and there she was, melting into him with the sweetest sigh. Even weak and trembling from her near-death experience she still managed a wan smile from him.
...lets go home." She clung a little tighter to him. "I'd bang your brains out right now if I wan't so drop-dead-tired...
"Polly!"
"What?" She tilted her head. "You've never had a problem with me talkin' like this before."
He made a quick gesture, trying to indicate the kids.
Mercifully, her remark sailed right over the younger children's heads.
Not so Samantha and Joshua. Both understood her words and both made gagging noises. "Ewwww!"
"Waitaminute." Polly stiffened in his arms, then started squirming once she realized they weren't alone. "They're here?! As in right here?! Let me see!"
Samantha Eve Uzumaki shuffled forward, face hopeful. She'd taken that silly mask of hers off and now wrung it between her hands anxiously. "Are you really...?"
Polly blinked quickly. Once. Twice. Thrice. She'd never laid eye on Samantha in her life, yet he saw the moment she saw her, she knew her as her own. A mother always knew. She had carried her for nine months after all, and while she may have missed twelve years of her life, that was no fault of her own. Call it hope, call it magic, or just simple maternal instinct. She reached out an arm for her without zero hesitation; no at all. The smile that split her face in that instant could've outshone the very sun itself.
"Oh, my!" She laughed aloud, "Just look at you! "My little Samantha...how you've grown! C'mere~!"
Complete and utter acceptance. Anything else would've broken little Eve outright. Naruto had no real way of knowing, but in that instant, the last lingering loyalty their daughter felt toward her foster parents truly withered and died. She burst into tears and rushed forward into Polly's arms. Her mother -his wife!- dragged her close, murmuring softly into her ear.
"There, there," she crooned. "You don't have to say anything. Mommy's here...
Nor were her other four siblings left out in the rain. Polly noticed them not a nanosecond later.
Joshua was her next victim. There could be no escape from a mother's searching gaze, and he was no exception.
Naruto almost pitied him. Almost. There was no getting away from Polly once she had eye on you, and their son was firmly in her sights.
"And who do we have here?" she peeked over Eve's shoulder at the stunned boy, still holding their daughter tight. "Don't be shy. You can talk, can't you?"
He bowed his head, face gone red. "I can...
"Awww, you're shy." Still holding Eve close, she looked to him. "I take it he's ours too, then. He has your whiskers."
"He certainly does...and my temper." Naruto coughed into a fist to hide the rueful smile of his past . "That...would be Joshua."
Polly perked up. "You named him after my father?"
Naruto nodded. "Just like you wanted."
"Such a darling boy. Come here." she beckoned quickly at the blond boy. "Let me have a look at you."
Young Joshua flushed under her gaze, but was helpless to resist; the moment he got within arms reach Polly yanked him down. He put up a token resistance as she pressed his head against her collarbone and wrapped a thin arm around him, squeezed for all she was worth. In a matter of moments he was trapped beside a rather embarrassed Eve.
"Oooh, look at you!" Polly giggled, rubbing her forehead against his. "You're the spitting image of your grandfather. I wish he could've met you...
Naruto nudged Polly with his elbow, idly reminding her that she wasn't done. Her tired eyes lit up at the reminder and she craned her bruised neck, looking past him. There had been no escape for the terrible trio before, and their certainly wasn't now. Not that they looked like they wanted to do any such thing, mind you...
"And the other three?"
"Jessica, Luca, and Amanda." he rattled off their names, indicating each in turn.
The older siblings shuffled forward, with little Amanda nestled firmly between the two of them.
Polly practically squealed. "They're so small! Well, don't just stand there! Join in! We're having a group hug!
Amanda, Jessica and Luca couldn't speak, but they jumped her with happy noises all the same and held tight, crowding in with the rest.
"They don't know how to talk." Naruto whispered in a quiet aside. "We're working on that."
"I certainly hope so. Oh, and you've named them all without me!" She tried to give his arm a spirited smack, but didn't have the strength for it. "I've missed so much...
"We both have." he crouched down and joined in on their little embrace. "There's plenty of time to make it up. "
The words reopened a pit in his stomach even as he said them. Neither wanted to mention the elephant in the room; the fact that she might not have all that much time left-no. He refused to dwell on the possibility. He'd heal her every day if he had to. And if that didn't work...there had to be another way of preserving her mind. Or moving her soul to another body. He knew people. Had contacts of his own. There were a lot of people out there who owed him favors and he'd happily cash them all in if it meant saving her.
"We'll make it last." he muttered. "We have to."
She smiled at him oh-so-sadly.
It hurt more than words.
Even now he could sense the struggle in her, the sheer energy she was expending just to breathe and keep her eyes open. He knew she was trying to put on a brave face for the children; inside he could feel her hurt. Twelve years of torture. One hundred and forty four months of pain. Four thousand three hundred and eighty three days of loneliness. And she had barely been alive for most of it. Nevertheless, she did her level best to hug them all at once, all the more difficult by years of being kept in the tank.
Suddenly, she yawned. Her eyes drooping. "M'sleepy...
"Here, lets get you up."
He swept her up in his arms and stood.
"Alright, kids!" He raised his voice, marshaling even and the others. "We're leaving. Someone find Brandyworth and lets go!"
(.0.0.0.)
"Are you out of your mind?!" Cecil bristled into his headset. "What the hell are you doing?! I told you to stay on standby!"
"And let your failure taint us as well?" His earpiece crackled with taut anger, boiling over with wrath. "No."
"Now wait just a second! If he sees you now, I guarantee he'll go berserk!"
His warning fell on deaf ears. The line was already dead.
He flung the headset down with a snarl.
"Damnit!"
(.0.0.0.)
A dark haze swirled over the ruined lab.
Noxious black smoke poured from shattered windows, tumbled out broken doors, billowed into the sky as the searing flames pushed it ever higher. Soon enough the very clouds themselves were tainted by the inferno left behind; once fluffy white nimbuses stained an ominous ugly grey as the horizon darkened for miles in every direction, threatening to blot out the very sun. Kurama had done his work well. No one would be able to use this place as a base for years, if not decades.
All the remained was a single exit point for one man and his family, and that too would be collapsed once they departed.
Naruto didn't care for anything beyond that. If never saw this place again, it would be too soon. If there were any survivors they were summarily trapped in the burning rubble and left to die. As far as he was concerned, every man and woman working in this facility was guilty. They knew what they were doing, what they were working, what they countenanced. Let them burn for all he cared.
Let Them Rot.
Smoke ballooned outwards now as he stormed up the steps and into daylight, still-craddling a sleepy Polly in his arms. The children trailed anxiously behind behind him, with a rather haggard Brandyworth bringing up the rear. The man kept glancing at Polly, wanting to make certain she was alright. Kind of him. He might let him stay on as a godfather of sorts to the children-certainly counted as Polly's.
Unfortunately, it seemed their exit wasn't going to be as clean as their entry.
He expected the police. Was prepared for the police. Even felt some small semblance of pity for the boys in blue.
These were not the police.
His first clue came in the form absolute silence, the lack of fear he sensed even as they ascended.
His second was the steely determination he felt, mired with guilt.
And the third...their anger. So much anger.
Whomever was waiting for him -and there was more than one- they were proper furious, and he couldn't understand why. Erickson's forces must've tripped the alarm, or maybe someone had simply seen the smoke and called it in. He wasn't surprised to find folks waiting for him; Cecil might've decommissioned this facility but heroes were still heroes. He should've known someone would show up, but who was it, and why did they feel vaguely familiar to his senses-oh. Oh, dear.
A mace smashed into his face just as he crested the exit. He was ready for it and turned the other cheek.
Because you see, he knew this mace.
Just as he did the one wielding it.
"Good to see you again, War Woman." he grinned around it, momentarily unable to see. "Mind getting that mace out my face? I just need to kill a few more people, take my family, and be on my way."
"Naruto?!" a startled voice greeted him. "Oh gods, is that really you?!"
"Nooo, of course it isn't me, Holly." his voice all but dripped with sarcasm and he rolled his eyes as he used her real name. "I'm actually an evil clone. This is all some sinister plot to take over the world. Of course its me!"
At his shout, Polly stirred in his arms, sighed, then blinked blearily up at their would-be attacker. "Oh...hey...its the woman with the fantastic ass."
Her words had the desired effect; War Woman jerked backward with a sputter, face burning. "Polly?!
A feverish grin was her reward. "Sorry, not sorry, still reeeaaally want that threesome...
Eve squirmed out of the exit behind them, eyes wide. Naruto waved her back.
He hoped the message was clear enough. "Let me do the talking."
"I see she hasn't changed. Mentally, at least." War Woman looked at her more closely, noting her nakedness and frail appearance. "What happened here...?"
"A lot of things." none of which he felt like repeating. "This is the part where you let us go. I need to get my family settled."
"Family...?"
No point hiding them now. He whistled once.
Eve and Joshua filed out after him, with Jessica and Luca bringing up the rear. Little Amanda grinned gormlessly at the lot of them and even dared a little wave. Last of all came Brandyworth, looking terribly tense an ready to fling himself in front of the children if they came to harm. Which they just might...
War Woman blinked rapidly, eyelids fluttering in surprise. "They look just like the two of you two...
"Of course they do, silly." Polly yawned in his arms. "They're our children."
The remark seemed to wound War Woman. She flinched back, head twisting this way and that as she tried to take all of them in at once, essentially looking like he'd just snapped her neck.
"But how-
"Ahem," someone coughed. "As entertaining as this little interlude is, I'm afraid you have bigger problems."
Naruto looked past her, mildly nonplussed. Of course she wouldn't come alone.
He looked up as six figures floated down from above.
"Well, well, well. If it isn't the Guardians of the Globe." he clicked his tongue softly. "I'm honored...
He remembered most of them from the good 'ol days; there was the Immortal, implacable as ever, while Red Rush flicked him a jaunty wave. Dark Wing's stony countenance reflected nothing, but Aquarus looked like he'd seen a ghost. Martian Man granted him a curt nod...and was that one over there the new Green Ghost? Interesting. Seemed the mantle had been passed on while he was out. He wondered if that slip of a girl could live up to her predecessor legacy.
His heat tilted. "...is this the part where you arrest me?"
The Immortal stepped forward, face carved from stone. "We're not here to fight you."
"Well that's good." his smile wasn't entirely feigned. "I'd hate to kill you if you in front of my kids. Although," He frowned past him, noting the absence of someone. "Where's Samson? Couldn't be bothered to show up?
A look of shame flashed across the older man's face. "He...lost his powers.
"Lost them?" Now it was his turn to flinch. "How in blazes do you lose your powers? That would be like me losing my chakra or-no, no, not focusing on that." he held up a hand to forestall an explanation. "I'm only going to ask this once. Were you involved?
The Immortal winced. "Naruto-
"Were you involved?" He looked upon his old "friends" with deadly calm, daring them to object. "Its a simple question. Did any of you, any one of you, play a part in what happened the night I was attacked?"
Red Rush tried to intervene. "Now hold on-
Naruto rounded on. "You lie, you die."
The speedster shut right up.
Alas, the Immortal didn't. "Have you taken leave of your senses. You can't possibly hope to take us all on at once. Not in your current state."
"You're right." a feral smile flashed forth, practically splitting his face. "I can't. He pointed a finger upward. "But he can."
Kurama crashed down behind him in all his golden glory, towering over them all. "Hello again, ants."
Martian Man backpedaled. Aquarus and Green Ghost nearly fainted dead away.
...that settles it." Darkwing rumbled. "Its definitely him."
War Woman tutted. "As if there were any doubt."
Kurama scoffed and laid down on his haunches, towering over them all, content to watch what followed.
"This is the part where you start talking." Naruto declared. "Or you could try to fight me." He pivoted, nimbly handed the still-sleepy Polly off to a stunned Brandyworth, and stepped forward, arms spread wide. "On second thought, 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. How does that sound?"
War Woman tried to intervene again, bless her heart. "What's happened to you? You've been through a lot, I understand, but-
"How could you possibly understand?!"
Naruto blinked. He hadn't been the one to say those words.
He turned and found Joshua at his side, glaring furiously up at War Woman and the rest.
"Joshua-
"How could any of you?!" the boy shook his hand off and bulled forward, eyes blazing. "We've all been through twelve years of hell! Even her!" he stabbed a finger at Eve, who'd done as he'd asked and held her tongue until this very moment. "Do you have any idea what that was like?! We were nothing! No! Less than nothing to these people! All they wanted was a weapon! Every day we prayed for someone to save us. For a hero." He looked her up and down, damning the Guardians in an instant. "Where were you?"
Every hero present flinched.
Naruto heaved a sigh. "Josh, enough."
His son subsided with a scowl. Only then did he looke back to the Guardians.
"To answer your earlier question, I am me. I have always been me. Nothing more, nothing less." his eyes met Holly's, azure piercing through cyan blue." And I never go back on my word."
"That's exactly what I mean!" War Woman burst out, flinging up her arms. "Do you even hear what you're saying? All this violence! You aren't yourself-
Unfortunately for her, that was the precisely wrong thing to say at the wrong time.
And just like that? His anger came roaring right back.
She realized it too late; he saw it in her face.
"Not myself?" his voice rose in a barely audible hiss. "Not. Myself. Hmm. " A peal of bitter laughter escaped him as he tapped one finger to his chin. "Why is that, I wonder? Its almost like something horrible happened to me! Some terrible, life-changing event that saw me and mine held captive for more than a decade!"
Holly winced. "Naruto-
"No, Holly!" his temper, already strained by Joshua's brief outburst, now tore free from its leash as he stabbed a finger in his old friend's face to silence her. "I AM TALKING! I have had one HELL of a day. I've suffered things you can't even begin to imagine, gone through hell and back to reunite my family and now you show up? Now?" She wilted in the face of his anger and that only made him angrier, leaving him to turn his wrath on the rest of the Guardians. "None of you looked for me! I was your ally, you comrade, your friend and you left me!" he thumped a fist against his chest with every word, eyes blazing into them. "You! Left! Me!"
"We didn't know!
"Enough!" The Immortal shouldered his way between them. "None of this matters right now!"
"LOYALTY ALWAYS MATTERS!"
His elbow cracked out, bloodying the man's nose and driving him backwards besides.
The other Guardians tensed. Some went for their weapons. Others just balked.
Naruto rounded on them all, teethed bared, ready to fight.
They thought they had the high ground, even now. What a joke. If any of them had been taken, he would've moved heaven and earth to find them. He would not have stopped-wouldn't have rested!-until they were found and their kidnappers brought to justice. Then again he had the benefit of being perhaps the strongest sensor on the planet. He could've found them anywhere. The same could not be said for them. Yet even so, they had their resources. They could've done something. They should have done something. Why hadn't anyone done something? Now here they were, barring his path.
It made him angry.
Made him want to lash out even more...but he shouldn't.
Polly was nestled in Brandyworth's arms and their kids were right behind them. But to just stand there...!
...you're right. We failed you." War Woman's response took the wind out of his sails, if only for a moment. "We searched every day for you, for three years, until all our leads dried up."
"You should've looked a little closer to home." He jerked a thumb over his shoulder. "The GDA had me. Cecil claims he didn't know. We'll see. Now start talking." he grabbed her by the wrist before she could even think to step away. "Were you involved in this or weren't you? I meant what I said before." He looked at them each in turn. "If I so much as SMELL a lie, bodies are hitting the floor."
Kurama lifted his head from where he lay, ready to pounce at the slightest provocations.
The Immortal, proud as ever, wiped the blood from his nose and lifted his chin first. "I had nothing to do with this madness, old friend."
War Woman touched a hand to her chest. "I swear I didn't know anything bout this, dear heart."
Red Rush clicked his tongue once. "Who would I have for competition if you croaked?
Green Ghost raised a hand. "I wasn't even part of the Guardians back then, so...
"No." Darkwing shook his head, once and done. No need for more words.
Aquarus floundered under his gaze. "Not me!"
Martian Man replied similarly. "Nor I."
Naruto expected a lie. Falsehoods of some sort. Negative intent at the very least.
And yet he sensed nothing. Not even the tiniest tremor of discontent.
They weren't lying. None of them were. Which meant:
None of them had anything to do with it.
.
..
...HOW?!
Who did that leave? He could understand being overwhelmed if six or seven people jumped him at once in an unguarded moment, but that clearly wasn't the case. The Guardians of the Globe were the premier superhero team on this side of the planet, if not the entire world. Who could possibly take him by surprise and win?
An uglier suspicion slithered through his mind. Could it be...?
No. Not him. Please not him.
It just couldn't be...
"We'll talk on this later." he shoved the suspicion out of his mind, shook his head, and turned to take Polly back from Brandyworth "Right now, we're leaving. Get out the way."
Remarkably, they did just that. War Woman even dared to lay a hand on his shoulder in passing. "Where will you go?"
"Where do you think?" he shook her off. "Home. After that, I've got people to interrogate...and kill."
Holly heaved a heavy sigh. "Naruto, no."
"Naruto, yes!"
He couldn't afford to rest just yet.
For he had miles to go.
And promises to keep.
(.0.0.0.)
Family.
She had a family.
An honest-to-goodness family.
Samantha-Atom Eve-was still reeling from it all. In less than a day her world had been turned topsy-turvy, upside down and inside out. Nothing would be the same. She knew that now. Her life hadn't been ordinary before, sure, but now it was extraordinary. Fantastic, even. And maybe...
.
..
...maybe that wasn't so bad.
She'd always wanted a big family, and now she had one.
She still found herself reeling from it, even as she slipped inside her house. It felt strange, looking at it now, knowing this would be the last time she ever saw it.
All that remained was to collect her things and go.
Did she feel guilty about this?
A little, yeah. But it was obvious her not-parents would never let her go. They wouldn't understand.
Maybe if she was quiet and clever she could sneak in and out without anyone noticing. She'd asked Dad to wait outside. He hadn't been happy about that, but he'd agreed, if only to give her a chance to do things on her terms. Besides, someone needed to look after Mom. Mom...she was alive, yeah, but she didn't look too good. She could tell just by looking at her. Josh -it felt so strange having a brother!- must've realized it too, because he hadn't left her side since. The younger kids would figure it out sooner later, she was sure.
Eve crept through the door, still lost in her head, mind floating in the clouds.
What she saw within brought her crashing back down to earth.
Oh gods.
Her "parents" were waiting for her in the kitchen.
They didn't look happy. It might have something to do with the presents and birthday cake on the table, the multi-colored balloons, or maybe the banner hanging from the wall happily proclaiming "Happy Birthday Sam" in bright pink letters. Just like that she remembered. Today was her birthday, wasn't it?
And she hadn't been here.
Her not-dad bristled at the sight of her. "And where have you been?"
"Adam, wait." Her not-mom laid a hand on his, trying to calm him. Trying, and failing, like always. "Just calm down-
"Dad" scoffed and sprang to his feet. "Don't stick up for her. Just look! She's late for her own birthday!" he took a step her way, glaring her. "You couldn't even call?"
Her gaze strayed back to the cake. It was missing a massive chunk. Three guesses where it went.
She balked at the man she'd once called daddy. "Did...did you eat my cake?"
Adam's face purpled with apoplectic rage. "How dare you!"
Anger sparked in her. How dare she?! How dare he!
This wasn't the way it was supposed to be!
Something ugly curdled inside her. She took one step away from, him then another. "I need to go...
Go?" he shouted at her as she turned her back on him. "Go where?" his voice rose when she broke out into a run. "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. He really had.
Now he burst into the room like a thunderstorm, burning like the sun.
"I was actually willing to give you one last chance." he tutted softly as he walked over the rubble, shaking his head side to side in a grand gesture that just promised violence. "How pathetic is that? I guess some things never change. Well!" he brought both hands together in a sharp clap, startling her not-parents. "CONGRATULATIONS! You blew it! Game over!"
Adam sputtered. "And who the hell are you-
"Her father, you gawping little shit." he dismissed the portly man with a glance. "We're leaving, princess. Pack your things."
Eve scrambled backward and clutched at his sleeve. "I changed my mind. There's nothing I want here."
Her not-mom cried out. "You can't!"
"Don't you get it?" cold blue eyes rooted them where they stood, cold as ice. "You never had a child, not really. You thought she was yours, but she isn't." he took his time, twisting the proverbial knife in their hearts. "This girl here, my daughter, was switched with yours at birth." She's not yours." There it was, that was it, the bandaid ripped clean off. "She's never been yours and she will never BE yours. Never again."
"The hell she isn't!" Adam thundered up to his, face red and puffing. "Get out of here before I call the cops!
Dad flung a sheaf of 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."
Her mom-no, Betsy, not her mom- whimpered once, hands covering her mouth. "No...
"Quiet, 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 was 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 fearsome scowl. "You're a failure of a Father. The world is lesser for having you in it. Be thankful your "daughter" asked me not to kill you, or you'd be a stain on the wall."
His peace said, he whirled away. Eve took his hand, held tight, and let him guide her back through the hole in the wall.
Adam brayed loudly in her wake. "Samantha Eve Wilkins! You step away from him right now!"
She looked back at him, green eyes narrow. "No."
Betsy Wilkins fell to her knees with a wail. Not so Adam. He fumbled for one of the cabinets and came up with something. Eve heard the harsh click of a gun; it was a sound she was terribly familiar with after today. Her eyes closed. No. Surely not. He wouldn't be that stupid, could he?
"You let her go right now!"
Who was she kidding? He absolutely could.
"Or what, you'll shoot me?" Naruto scoffed. "Don't be stupid. Put the gun down-
BANG!
A harsh crack filled the air.
Pain snarled down Eve's right arm.
It was so sudden, so abrupt, so utterly unexpected that she wasn't prepared for it; hadn't even thought to conjure a barrier. She could only cry out and clutch at her bloody shoulder in horror. Tears burned in her eyes. She didn't even realize why she'd been shot; Adam Wilkins hadn't fired a gun in a terribly long time. His shot went wide and struck her instead of Naruto. It was all a tragic accident, really.
But she did't know that.
All she knew, was that she'd been shot.
And then Dad was there, tugging her aside, humming softly.
"Shh," he crooned. "You're alright, princess. I've got you. This won't take a moment...
A golden hand touched her wound, coaxed the round from her arm in no time at all and sealed it shut. In a matter of moments all she felt was a numb tingle as the nerves wound themselves back together. But the shock remained. And with that came horror...then anger. Was that it, then? They'd rather kill her then let her be happy?
Dad must've seen it, too; because his eyes began to glow.
Eve beat him to it and rounded on her not-parents. "You shot me...
"Samantha, no!" Adam lowered the pistol with quavering hands. "I didn't mean to!"
Ignorance is bliss; she had hoped to spare them at least, not out of loyalty to them, but because she was a good person. She'd wanted to part on good terms. Understanding, you know? And then her not-dad shot her. It wasn't enough for her to be happy. Someone always tried to take it from her. Something deep inside her snapped.
It felt like her mind.
"You," she rasped, "You're not my family."
Betsy Wilkins raised a hand. "Sammy, sweetie, just calm down-
Calm?! How could she possibly be calm?! "YOU ARE NOT MY FAMILY!"
Power exploded through her very pore, her body bursting into almighty ethereal light.
"I see it all now." her feet left the floor as she hovered in the air, voice echoing with every word, like an angel descending unto earth. "Every single molecule around us." They tingled her fingerstips, awaiting her command. "I can touch them, taste them, control them." With but a thought she reached out and hauled her not-parents forward, using nothing but sheer willpower to suspend them in the air before her and hold them there. "I could rearrange your cells to make you whole new people from the pathetic parents you are...
Her parents said nothing. Ever didn't let them. She never wanted to hear their voices again.
"You ruined my life." Her lips curled in a sneer as she held out a fist and clenched it before them. She had all the power now. Not them. Lets see how they liked it. "You denied me, demeaned me, tried to make me everything I wasn't, kept me from people I didn't even know I loved."
They seemed so...small to her now. Insignificant. What had Kurama called the Guardians of the Globe before? Ants? That was the word. These people were ants before her and she'd never felt more powerful now than she did in this moment. It felt like she could remake reality, bend all of creation to her whims. She'd broken through her limits. Nothing could stop her she was as a god-
"Eve." Naruto's voice cut through her haze, snapping her out of her mad power trip. "You need to breathe."
She rounded on him in a frenzy, teeth gnashed in a snarl. "And what do you know?!"
Dad looked at her without fear. "Take a look. You can see now, can't you?"
Eve did just that. As she was now, she could see his molecules, too. And the Light. So much Light. He burned in her vision like a second sun, and Kurama burned even brighter in his stomach. He was powerful, stronger than her, possibly the strongest being on the planet. His mind became an open book to her in this moment; she felt his concern for her, and beneath that, the sheer untapped affection a father would feel for his daughter. He loved her. She'd known that before, but now she could see it. He didn't reprimand her, didn't condemn her, didn't do anything at all. He just stared and waited for her to make the right decision.
Clarity began to return to Eve, the brief burst of rage going with it.
In its absence, her newfound power began to fade.
But before it did...!
She looked back to the people she'd once called her parents. What did she feel for them now? Nothing. But she would remember the good times all the same. As to the rest...
"Your daughter is dead." she reached into their very thoughts with the wave of a hand. "No," she amended, realizing that was cruel, "You never had a daughter. You will move on and forget about me." She felt their minds try to resist her words -her will!- and crushed them for it, wiping their brains clean in an instant. "My name is Samantha Eve Uzumaki!" with the last of her strength she screamed at them, pouring out all every once of emotional pain they'd ever inflicted upon her tenfold. "And I defy you to even remember who I am!"
Her power cut out int he next instant, leaving Adam and Betsy to slump at her feet.
She collapsed with them, utterly drained.
Dad caught her.
She snuggled her head into his chest, quivering a little. "Is this what it feels like? Being a god...?"
A low rumble of laughter tickled her ear. "We're not gods, Samantha."
Weren't they? She'd certainly felt like one for a moment there.
...gods don't give a damn." he chided her softly. "We do."
She held him tighter. "Hey...can we go home, now?"
"We will. There's just one thing I have to do first."
"What's that?" she blinked up at him, baffled.
For once, his smile seemed strangely sad.
"I need to hit up a few old friends."
(.0.0.0.)
The Mauler Twins were professionals.
That wasn't arrogance on their part. It was simple truth.
They were very bad people, yes, but very good at what they did.
Each twin knew where the line lay; no mad plans of world domination for them, they were scientists, hungry for knowledge and not afraid to use less...scrupulous methods to acquire said knowledge. But there was a line, one they never crossed. They didn't make a habit of killing indiscriminately if they didn't have to. They weren't squeamish abut it, sure, but there were things you just didn't do. They had standards. Pay them properly and they'd gladly put their talents to use for the highest bidder. Sometimes that meant helping a villain. More than once, it meant freelancing for a certain Hero.
Currently one of them was celebrating said Hero's return to the land of the living.
"What on earth are you cracking open that beer for? It isn't that late."
"Didn't you hear?" he took a long swig. "Fire Shadow's alive."
"Is he?" one of the twins looked up from their work, wrench in hand. "He's a good guy. Thought he was dead."
"Apparently not." The Twin with the beer grinned. "He took down some punks on the freeway today."
"Did he?" he squinted. "I didn't hear about that.
"Well you would have if you hadn't had your head stuck in that machine all damn day."
"Heh. Remember all those times he broke us out of jail? For a good cause he said."
"They were, mostly." Came the shrug. "Remember helping out those orphans?"
"Ha! I remember his wedding. Most of it.
So did he. The parts were they hadn't been blackout drunk. "Good times. Think he'll hit us up again? We could use the cash."
"Please. If he's back from the dead, the first thing he'll do is hunt down that pretty little wife of his. What was her name again? Polyana...?"
"Polly." The Twin with the beer bottle supplied.
"That's the one!"
They'd always liked Polly. She might not be the brightest bulb in the bunch, but she wasn't afraid to give you a piece of her mind. She wasn't half bad, for a powerless human.
That and she made some mean cookies.
"I dunno, stranger things have been known to happen.
One of their old burner phones vibrated wildly, indicating a message.
The first twin arched eyebrow and looked to the second. "...you gonna get that?
His comrade scoffed, but didn't look up from his work. "Why should I? You're the clone. Hop to it."
"Oh, for the love of-give it here already!"
Thumbing it open. He fond a brisk message awaiting them within.
"I have a critical job for you two." he read the words aloud, already imagining Fire Shadow's grinning face staring back at him from within the cellular device. "We'll meet tomorrow. Usual place. You know where. Discuss details then. You'll receive half the payment before, and the other half after, same as always. Don't let me down and no funny business.
I've had my fill of "old friends" coming up short these days.
Best Regards,
Naruto."
"Ha!" he smirked. "Called it!"
"Sure, sure, whatever you say, clone."
The other scoffed. "Nope, you're the clone."
In the end, it really didn't matter who was the clone.
The Kid had been good to them. Time to repay the favor.
(.0.0.0.)
"Here he comes...
Nolan heard the sonic-boom long before he saw him; what he did see was a distant rumble of rolling lightning rippling across the clouds at speed. Thunder raced in its wake, growing louder and louder with each passing second. He'd known this moment was coming. He'd delayed it by choosing not to engage him back at Erickson's lab, but it had only ever been just that. A delay.
That reprieve was over. He'd known Naruto would come for him. After all, he would do exactly the same, were he in his shoes.
In that regard, he chosen his battleground well. A distant island in the south Pacific Ocean, isolated and far from civilization. He wasn't sure how he would react once he found him here. but better safe than sorry. Better indeed, judging by the towering thunderstorm headed his way. He was moving fast. Granted, he could do something similar -had on many a resisting planet, moving so fast that he superheated the air and destroyed an entire civilization- but that much lightning was a concern, even for him.
He followed it with one eye, still listening. "-there you are."
The man's voice caught up to him a heartbeat later.
"NOLAN!"
He whirled, felt the air hit his face, then swung with all his might. Golden knuckles met his red-gloved fist. Neither yielded. The ground did. Hardened earth shattered underfoot, splintering outward for miles in every direction. Pain bloomed up his wrist but he didn't have time to anything more than notice it; because another golden fist was already swinging in at his face. He grabbed it, then the other hand, and in an instant they were grappling, pitting their full strength against one another.
The storm caught up to them a second later, and they were lost in it.
He felt the ground cratered further still. Dust and dirty sprayed outward. And still neither yielded.
Here at last he glimpsed his foe in the rain, all shimmering gold and black. Blazing eyes met his, half-lidded as he glared heatedly at him.
Naruto was a bit weaker than he remembered, but only just, and he had years of captivity to thank for that. It wouldn't last of course. He'd be back to full strength in no time and then some. After all, what didn't kill this man only made him stronger.
Blasted shinobi genetics were almost as bad a Viltrumites-no, they were broken.
Case in point, Naruto reared back with a roar lost in the thunder and delivered a vicious headbutt that left him seeing stars. Blinded by the blow, Nolan nevertheless struck back, smashing a knee up into his gut. Anyone else would've lost most of their internal organs and coughed blood. A pained grunt was his only reward. They released one another in the same instant and slugged each other in the face. Both of them drew back, winded at last as the storm raged past.
His old rival-turned-adversary stood first, shook the water from his hair, and set his nose with an audible pop. "Hullo, Nolan. Long time no see...
"Uzumaki." Nolan wiped a thin line of blood from his mustache. "You look good for a dead man."
"So I've been told." the blond cracked his neck. "Were you involved?"
Nolan felt brow furrow in confusion. "Involved in what?"
His old friend told him all. Everything he'd been through, without hesitation; about Polly, the children, all of it. And then he asked him again.
"I won't say it twice, Nolan. Did you attack me that night?"
It was tempting to say yes, if only to provoke him into a fight and finish what he'd started. He wouldn't deny it, he'd benefited immensely from Naruto's rather prolonged absence. The people of earth had come to rely on him more than ever...as planned. But to do something that cruel, that pervasive...it went against everything he stood for. If he was going to kill him, he would kill him. Straight up. He-and by extension his family-at least, deserved a clean death. They'd earned that much.
"No." he said at last, shaking his he head. "If I remember the date you gave me correctly, I was off-planet at the time."
Reporting to his superior, telling him of the immensely powerful whiskered warrior he'd encountered.
Warning them to prepare if he ever called for backup.
Naruto need not know that.
Nevertheless, his response seemed to startle the blond. He hadn't expected that answer.
"You're...telling the truth." he seemed almost surprised.
"Of course I am. Would I lie to you?"
All the time. Every day. From the very moment they'd met. He'd learned the hard way to be very careful whenever he answered a direct question from him. Stranger still, Naruto seemed to know he was lying about some things. He had hinted as much but let those slide, thankfully. What remained was an uneasy coexistence of sort. He had a mission here. As did this baffling blond, though his didn't appear to involve conquering the world. So long as they didn't interfere with one another, all was well.
...then who the hell attacked me?" the blond uttered to himself.
"We'll find them." Nolan clapped a hand to his shoulder. "You have my word."
In that, he was at least being honest. Anyone who could do that much damage absolutely needed to die. All it took was a moment of inattention, a moment of weakness and even the strongest could fall. The last thing he needed was some silent assassin sneaking about under their noses. Still, the kid was looking better for his promise.
"Feeling better now?"
The blond shrugged him off, but the hint of an old smile bloomed across his foe's whiskered visage. "You still hit like a truck."
He frowned at him. "And you're going to war with the GDA."
The smile faded. "Possibly."
"I'd advise against it. You have no idea what war is like. Least of all with them."
"Aha! But I do!" Naruto 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." a finger rose to jab at the sky. "Reputation is what people think of you. Character is what you are. Don't test my character right now, Nolan. It won't end well...for either of us."
He should let this happen...but he owed him. More than words. He couldn't afford to leave things like this.
And so he broached a subject few on this planet would dare. "Polly's dying, isn't she?"
"...!"
Naruto looked away, hurt flashing across his face. "Her body is, yeah." he ran a hand through his hair, looking harassed. "Its her organs and her brain. Whatever that bastard Erickson did to her, it stuck. I can heal it, even fix the worst of the damage, but it just keeps coming back. I don't think I can stop it. Without me, she wouldn't even last the year."
...there might be something we can do."
We. Not you. Appeal to his decency. Let the kid think him helpful.
Keen blue eyes fixed on him, almost desperate with hope. "What are you suggesting?"
Something he really shouldn't. Nolan told himself this was the smart play; better to keep Fire Shadow on his side, make him amenable to his plans than create an enemy of him. But it was also a betrayal of his people. It went against everything he'd ever been taught as a Viltrumite. Let the weak die and the strong survive.
But if Polly died, Naruto would go mad. If he went mad, he and that damn fox of his might glass the entire planet.
The Viltrum empire absolutely needed Earth intact. No matter the cost.
And so Nolan took the plunge. "If she had a stronger body...
Naruto shook his head. "Polly doesn't want a new body and you know it. She's proud of being human."
"She isn't built like you or me. The things she went through, the damage she endured...its a miracle she's still alive."
"Her soul is still intact," Fire Shadow muttered to himself. "So long as she has that, I can save her, I think. There are still things I can do."
"That may be, but it doesn't chance the facts." Best to be pragmatic about this. "Her body is alive, but can you truly call that living? What happens if her brain degrades even further? Will she even remember you? You're going to live a long time, Naruto. Don't your children deserve a mother who can protect them-
"Stop." Blue eyes snapped into glowing slits. "Finish that sentence and your face will be giving the moon another crater."
"Alright." Nolan raised both hands to ward him off. "I'll give you some time to think on it."
He waited, watching his eyes fade back to blue. "...thanks. I know you mean well..."
"Don't mention it."
Anything was better than fighting it out here and now. If they did fight tonight, he knew it would be to the death. A decade ago he wouldn't have thought Fire Shadow had in him to fight like that; to take someone down and finish them. Soft, he would've called him. Weak. Always eager to talk it out, to convert people to his side, unwilling to take that hard path, the bloody path.
Now?
He looked at him and saw the doom in his eyes; the steely promise of cold, icy death to any who dared cross him and his. In another life, he would've made a spectacular Viltrumite. Thragg himself would've cowered before this man. As things stood, he'd probably have to kill him in a few years. It was a shame, really. Such an asset he would've been. Instead, they'd have to fight one another one day. To the bitter end. Only one of them would walk away from that fateful battle. And the worst part of it all?
Nolan wasn't sure it would be him.
Naruto tilted his head. "You thought about killing me just now, didn't you?"
He scoffed in return. "You were thinking the same, I'm sure."
A frown. "Could you do it, Nolan? Just like that?"
Did he know? No, he couldn't possibly.
"Would you?"
"I've killed to protect my family already." the blond before him lifted his chin. "If dying my hands red with blood keeps them safe, I'll do all that and more. So long as they're safe.
'All that and more, eh?'
The seed of an idea was planted n his mind. It was too soon -much too soon- to act on it now, but it was good to know all the same. If this mad scheme of his worked out, he just might have an ally. Naruto would do anything, anything to protect his family, and he was clearly no friend of the GDA at the moment. Maybe he could use him perhaps even convert-
His watch beeped, ruining the moment. Nolan gave the damn thing a baleful glare and considered crushing it for a moment before he thought better of it.
He heaved a sigh instead. "I've gotta do. Debbie's waiting for me. Its date night."
"Is it?" that drew a rusty chuckle from him. "How's Mark?"
"Energetic as ever." it was easy to warm to the subject of his son. All too easy. "He wrapped himself in tape the other day. Called himself Duct Tape Man. Can you believe it?"
Naruto snorted." Kids will be kids, I guess...
Nolan disagreed, but wasn't about to say so in front of him. "That oldest girl of yours, what was her name again?"
"Samantha." he didn't hesitate.
"Right." Nolan snapped his fingers. "You should bring her by sometime. Maybe introduce her to Mark. Having a friend with powers might help him unlock his early."
A lie. There was a part of him, a large part, that hoped Mark never unlocked his powers. Because once he did, once that moment came...
No. He stamped that thought down, locked it in a box, and buried it in the back of his brain. Buried it deep.
Too late, Fire Shadow nodded, missing his moment of weakness. "I'll see what she thinks.
He feigned a smile he didn't feel. "Sound great. Same time next week?"
Naruto smirked. "Sure."
"One last thing."
He paused. "Yeah?"
"Its...good to have you back."
It really was. That much was truth.
The blond offered a small, wan smile in response. "Good to be back, Nolan."
They shook hands and took off. He flew east, Naruto, to the west.
One day they would face each other for real.
And the earth would tremble.
But not this day.
A/N: Aaaaaaaand scene.
Who in blazes attacked Naruto? Will Polly manage to survive? What's Nolan up to?!
Find out next time, on Apples and Atoms~!
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.
We've got some new ones and some are...intense.
They've been expanded and then some!
Read at your own risk:
WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!
SPOILERS AWAIT YOU!
YE BE WARNED!
(Previews)
"Unbelievable." Cecil flung down a sheaf of papers as Ferguson looked on. "We've got heroes AND villains coming out the woodwork to speak in support of this guy. The media's eating it up."
Of course they were! A family of six kidnapped and experimented on for twelve years. Who cared if that technically wasn't the truth? He'd forgotten just how well-loved Fire Shadow had been by the people. This boded poorly for the GDA. Erickson might be dead -he hoped so, although that slimy worm always seemed to have a backup plan- yet his actions just might see everything run into the ground.
He had to turn things around. But how...?
"I came to this world with a purpose, son. I'm practically the last of my kind. And as my eldest son, there are...certain things you should know."
Joshua listened, rapt with attention. "What things, dad?"
Naruto sighed. "Lemme tell you about chakra...
"Daaaaaad!"
"No buts! Eat your veggies, missy!"
...hi." she smiled. "I'm Samantha. Nice to meet you.
"Mark." he stumbled for a second and managed a dopey grin. "Mark Grayson...
The girl grinned at him and something in Mark's heart lurched. "Wanna play a game?"
"Do you, ah...like football?"
"I love football!
And just like that.
It was love at first sight.
It was time.
He activated the communicator.
"This is Nolan." he sent a curt, coded transmission through. "I require assistance with weakening this planet. Send a female if you can. Fire Shadow may be more pliable if seduced."
'Ha. Seduced, right. You're a liar.'
It was remarkably easy; they took the bait.
This was for the best, he told himself. One life, to help conquer a world.
This wouldn't backfire, surely. This...this would work.
'Keep telling yourself that, Nolan. You're slipping...
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." his fingers flicked out in a shooing motion. "I'm not int he mood." A thought occurred to him and he cocked his head. "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."
"You look lonely. I can fix that."
Naruto pivoted in the air, annoyed to find someone behind him. "And you are?
...Anissa." the woman's grin only grew. "You're certainly strong for one of your kind. Exceptionally strong."
"One of my kind?"
Her fist slammed in at his face.
He caught it, wrenched her arm down and behind her back. From there, he glared at her shoulder over her. "Had enough?"
She had not; much to his surprise her grin only grew and she leaned into him, pressing her full figure against his chest. "Enough?" she tilted her head back to grin up at him, eyes bright, a wide smile wreathing her face. It almost made her look human. "Why would this be ever be enough?" He could feel her muscles straining against his, taut and excited. "You're impressive! Most impressive! I can see why you beat-
He whirled and tossed her upward with a vicious twist, sending her flying into the clouds. "You talk too much. Cool off in the atmosphere."
The moment he turned away, her feet barreled headlong into his back. "Then I'll speak another language!"
An elbow barreled down into her neck and plunged her into the ocean below. "Right back at ya!"
The water erupted and then Anissa was on him again, grinning like a madwoman.
"Yes, that's the way! HIT ME HARDER!"
EDIT: Ahh, Anissa. Wild as ever.
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~!
May you have a great day and lots of luck!
Warm regards,
~Nz.
R&R~!