Hey folks here is a new fic again. This one is technically a Teen Titans Naruto crossover but will have a larger expanding cast spreading into the DC universe. Anyway I hope you enjoy and please feel free to review.
For those interested I want to invite you to AizenTheGoat's discord server where myself and several other writers and readers of fanfiction collect to talk about concepts for stories, help each other with writing, or otherwise simply hang out. Here is a link → /pdGZjn9h or just DM me for an invite via that method.
Anyways on to the fic.
The harsh hisses and snarls that formed most of the Gordanian language was the first thing that Naruto could perceive as he began to awake. Suddenly he found himself back in the Berian Spice Fields. He and his squadron carving their way through an entire legion of Gordanian warriors. The battle cries of his troops and animalistic roars of the reptilian aliens drowned out all other sound. He couldn't even hear the blasts from his attack clearly over the din of the battle surrounding him.
It took a moment to fully realize he wasn't back there. The Berian Bloodbath, as it had been nicknamed was what cemented Naruto's meteoric rise in rank in the war with the Gordanians. It was also the first time that they had taken special interest in his person. Something that never boded well for an individual.
Trying to take in his surroundings, Naruto quickly realized that while he could hear Gordanians around him, he couldn't in fact see anything. Struggling just slightly, he found that he was also bound and gagged as well as blind folded.
'Trussed up like a holiday roast.' He thought bitterly. It confirmed his worst fear, he was a prisoner of the Gordanians. He couldn't exactly recall how, but the ache screaming across his body at least told him he didn't go down without a fight. The thought was less comforting than he hoped it would be.
Bound and blindfolded as he was, Naruto could only sit and listen to the area around him and hope to figure something out. It was easily clear that he was on a ship, a prisoner transport, and from what little of the Gordanian tongue he had picked up during his people's war with them he knew he wasn't the only prisoner. He wasn't even the most valuable one evidently.
He managed to also glean their destination. Rarely did Naruto feel true dread. He felt fear, even terror, often on the battlefield but it was easily pushed through to do what must be done. But to hear that he was to be made a pet and gladiator for some Citadelian while being unable to budge from his restraints caused dreadful despair to truly soak into him for the first time in his life.
It was impossible to know exactly how long he stayed like that. Sitting and listening. Waiting. He had plotted around all manner of escape attempts. The only decent one would be when they finally stopped and they made to transfer him. The problem with that was, they were likely only going to transport him when they had made it to their destination, the core of the Citadel itself. There would be no escape once he was there.
A Hakainian officer didn't simply throw in the towel though. They forged on and smashed through any barrier that stood in their way. Or at least that was what they told the warrior and citizen castes back home to keep morale up. Truth was, Naruto had seen plenty of his fellow Superior caste soldiers die throughout his lifetime. Even his first mates had crossed that river. He'd prefer to receive a glorious end like them to becoming the enemy's toy. Nothing but pain and humiliation lie in wait for him when this ship landed.
Naruto had never been a particularly religious person, but in the hours at the very least, spent listening to his surroundings and blindfolded, he couldn't help but fall back onto the prayers to his people's deities. The Nine spirits, even the Master Sage and Queen Goddess herself were called upon. Not that he truly expected an answer. When the ship suddenly jolted and the Goradanian's quieted before falling into a panic, Naruto suddenly began rethinking his flippant attitude toward the gods.
Whether it was actually an answered prayer or just chance, the Gordanian ship fell into chaos in moments. Screams, roars, snarls, and hisses of panic, orders, and pain washed over him. Among them all he could make out the sounds of his fellow prisoner. A woman, and from the shouts he could just make out, a tamaranean.
It wasn't long before the sound of Gordanians grew quieter and quieter as fewer and fewer remained. He could still hear the blasts echoing down the corridor just outside whatever room he was kept in. Soon though all was quiet beyond the light humming of the ship's machinery around him.
Naruto could sense the woman before he heard her. A slight sensation of energy just before him before he could hear her breathing and the light tap on the floor as she settled down on the floor in front of him. Despite knowing she was there and likely reaching out. Naruto couldn't fully hold back the tensing of his muscles as he felt her fingers brush past his face to release the gag and blindfold on his head.
After a brief pause upon noticing him tensing at her touch the woman unfastened the two restraints letting Naruto see his surroundings for the first time in who knew how long. Blinking to adjust his eyes to the dim room and working his jaw wordlessly to ease the stiffness that had set in, Naruto was pleasantly surprised by the woman before him.
He had expected the tamaranean to be attractive. Like his own people theirs was a civilization built upon a warrior and survivor mindset. So like the Hakainians, the tamaraneans all typically looked to be the peak of physical fitness. The better to combat the ever expanding Citadel forces and the healthier the next generation would be so they too could continue the fight.
Despite his expectations he hadn't really been prepared to find himself scanning her up and down like he would when searching out a mate back home. It took him a moment to shake his head clear of such thoughts, it most definitely wasn't the time, but the gladiatorial attire they had forced the woman in would have made moving past her looks a difficult task for any hot blooded Hakainian male. Let alone one still in the later phases of puberty.
The woman spoke to him but sadly he knew even less of her people's language than he did of the Gordanians'. Only the words 'ship' and 'crashing' stuck out to him. They stuck out very clearly in the jumble of foreign words and put his mind on task.
"Help me out of these restraints and we can find a way to land rather than crash." Naruto said, hoping she understood more of his language than he did of hers.
Sadly she simply stared back at him, blinking big green eyes in confusion.
"Uh, oh okay uhm…" Naruto stammered trying to come up with the proper tamaranean terms. Settling on the closest words he had to provide for the situation he tried to point at the restraints with his chin.
"Aid, please." Naruto asked.
Again the woman blinked at him for a moment before letting out a string of unintelligible words. She seemed to stand waiting for him to respond but Naruto could only sigh in frustration at the situation. Really did they need to be doing this right now as the ship was evidently on course for crashing.
"I can't underst-" Naruto began to try and explain, even though he knew she wouldn't understand him, only to be cut off as suddenly she bent forward and captured his lips with her own shocking him.
Once more Naruto had to force down his natural impulses to take the woman as his mate. Forcing himself to remember that Tamaraneans could learn the languages of another species via lip contact he waited for her to back away once again.
"I will free you from your restraints, but we must hurry, Hakainian. The ship will soon crash and we must be in the safety pod before it reaches the planet's atmosphere." She explained.
Naruto nodded as he watched her release the restraint binding him. Even now his vision was far clearer than when the blindfold had been first removed. He had thought his fellow prisoner had been attractive before but now clearly saw her for the first time.
Long, wild, red hair and deep orange skin with bright green glowing eyes. Her features were typical of her people but exotic throughout the rest of the universe. What surprised him though was that she nearly matched his own imposing height of six and half foot in height. That and her physique was beyond what most women even among his own people could achieve. It didn't help matters that she had an airy voice that seemed to solely entice him further.
'By the Nine Spirits, it really has been too long since I had a mate if I'm this enthralled with everything else going on.' Naruto lightly reprimanded himself mentally.
Once free of the restrains, and now doing his best to avoid eyeballing the evocatively clad Tamaranean, Naruto scanned the room better hoping to find the rest of his equipment. He was sure he had been taken from the battlefield so surely his weapons and armor remained on board somewhere.
"You are looking for others?" The Tamaranean asked.
"No, I'm looking for my armor and weapons." Naruto replied as he continued to search around before stopping and turning to her fully. "My name is Naruto Uzumaki, Captain of the Berian Vanguard. Who are you and how'd you escape?"
The woman paused a moment before giving a small sad smile to her fellow former prisoner. "I have actually been a prisoner of the Gordanians for some time. Fighting in gladiator matches at their different bases and outposts, acting as their servant, or simply serving as their pet. I was...sold to them in exchange for a temporary truce for Tamaran."
"Sold? Your own people surrendered you to the dragon men? How vile, still you must have been an important commander. Especially if the Gordanians wished to humiliate you by making you a servant." Naruto was a bit shocked at how long she had been a prisoner. It would make sense that after six years she wouldn't be kept under as much security as himself. They probably considered her spirit broken. It also checked out with the impromptu peace the Gordanians and Tamaranians had for roughly four years. Sadly it seemed this woman's sacrifice had bought only a handful of years of peace rather than any kind of lasting agreement.
"Yes, I am important to my people I guess." Naruto could tell she was suddenly uncomfortable with the discussion. "I am Koriand'r Princess of Tamaran."
Naruto stopped short at that bomb of information. The missing second princess of Tamaran. So that's who had been traded for their peace while the new Queen, Komand'r raced to rally her forces to stabilize the lines of defense for the Tamaranean homeworld. To sell one's own sister. He was quite glad he was never in the place of the rulers of his own world. Both sets, the Kage council who ruled with true power in the Superior Caste or the members in the Royal Caste who had become nothing but frail puppets thanks largely to the never ending wars Hakainia was faced with.
"I wasn't expecting that." Naruto finally answered the princess as she lifted slightly off the ground and glided past him into the corridor.
"Come, this way I watched as they loaded you aboard. Your armor looked damaged but if you wish to retrieve it, it's just past here." She called back as he followed after her.
Naruto followed after her and they came to a small storage room, thankfully not far from the safety pod that she was intent on them commandeering.
"Everything is here. Even my blades." He said letting out a large sigh in relief. "Thank you Koriand'r."
Naruto quickly began dressing. Koriand'r didn't seem to care for his state of undress. Then again, she was practically in little more than a skin tight revealing set of strips over her intimate regions. Neither was too bothered by their own or each other's lack of decency however with both societies not having much time to worry over such taboos as getting dressed in front of someone of the opposite gender.
In fact, Koriand'r had far less hesitance than Naruto did at looking over her impromptu comrade's body. He was at least two inches taller than her and she could tell he was a warrior by his body as he dressed. It was less the well defined musculature and more the map of scars crossing his arm and torso. Some, she could even recognize the types of weapon to make them. The telltale burn pattern from a Gordanian Photon Blaster and the tree starred gouge from a Branx Trident Dart. Along with his impressive warrior's physique though were features that her people would find most exotic, much like how her elder sister was back home.
Naruto's eyes were a bright blue with a slitted pupil and his hair was a bright yellow. Brighter even than gold. It reminded her of some flowers that grew back home in the palace gardens. On his face he had three tattooed slashed on each cheek and she couldn't help her curiosity being piecked. Lastly was an odd tattoo on his chest. A spiral with several small details surrounding and intertwining with it. It was complex and had many symbols in total but now was not the time to standby and ogle her new companion.
Once dressed in his armor, excluding the cracked helmet he held at his side, Naruto looked even more intimidating than she had realized. He truly lived up to the title he claimed. Captain of the Vanguard indeed. She'd heard of the Berian Bloodbath, everyone in the Vega Sector had after all. The enemies of the Citadel marked him as a hero for his actions there. The Citadel simply marked him on their list of persons to capture for their own designs. The fact he had made enough of a name for himself that she had heard of him even as a slave of the Gordanians was far beyond impressive.
"Lets get out of here." Naruto said as he stepped across the hall. Koriand'r followed after him.
The Escape-Pod was very utilitarian, and the term pod fit it perfectly in description. No steering, no controls except for a big launch button. The seats were simple, and most definitely not designed for the likes of anyone besides the dragon-like Gordanians. They were much too large. Thankfully the harnesses tightened down enough that it wasn't too much of an issue, but even Naruto and Koriand'r's large frames slid around in the seat at the tightest setting.
"This will be unpleasant." The princess said as the ship neared the outer atmosphere of Earth at high speeds.
"You can say that again." Naruto grumbled.
"This will be quite unpleasant!" Koriand'r said much louder as if Naruto was having difficulty hearing her.
"Thanks…" He chuckled. It was brief but a little snippet of innocent humor helped calm his nerves. With a steadying breath he slammed his fist onto the launch button slamming the escape-pod's door shut and launching them away from the ship.
The ride was much worse than he had expected. The planet they approached had a far thicker atmosphere than either of their homeworld's the same for the Gordanian world of Karna as well. Violently shaken and slammed back and forth in their seats. The free space in the oversized seats threw them back and forth against the harnesses roughly eventually dislodging Naruto's helmet from his gear and sending it flying across the pod.
Koriand'r barely managed to lean to the side and avoid the thick armored piece as it bounced of the wall leaving a small dent and chipped paint in its wake. Naruto wasn't as lucky as she was though as the helmet rebounded straight back into his own head.
The captain was out like a light from the blow to his temple.
Flashback
Naruto's breath came out in ragged gasps as he ripped his blade from yet another Gordanian's throat. The reptilian collapsed while clutching at the wound and gurgling in unintelligible cries for help. All around him the bodies of Gordanians and his own troops lay scattered in the violet and indigo fields of Berian Spice. Hundreds of Hakainians dead, thousands of their enemies. And yet the fighting continued.
It wasn't supposed to be like this. All his scouts and intelligence reported that the Citadel forces in the region were few in number and beginning to withdraw to prepare for an offensive on the Ber's southern continent.
As it stood however Naruto and his men were facing down entire legions of Gordanian troops supported by armor and aircraft. His initial strategy agreed upon by his second in command Shikamaru and commander of the Forward Recon Unit, Sasuke, was for Sasuke to launch a small surprise attack near the Citadel Forces staging area and withdraw, luring them into an ambush for his forces.
Naruto lost contact with Sasuke and the rest of his Recon troops almost immediately, and instead of the enemy force he expected, and entire army rolled into position for the ambush. His brief hope that they would move along was dashed as they began setting up a new base camp and he was left with no choice. Either launch the ambush against a massive enemy force and use the surprise to their advantage, or wait to be found and picked off.
The ambush went off perfectly as planned despite the change in numbers of enemies. Had the enemy forces been closer to what was suspected Naruto's attack would have seen practically no casualties for his own forces. Now though there was hardly any of his own troops left.
Three hundred of the finest Hakainian Superiors and more than double that of the Warriors had launched a surprise attack on the Citadel troops from hidden tunnels made with the Superior's powers. After five hours of gritty brutal fighting less than fifty Superiors remained and Naruto could count the number of his Warriors left on fingers and toes with some left over.
The Citadel troops still had fresh forces held back waiting to rush in and finish them off. He couldn't understand his opponents mentality. They didn't care for their troops at all. Every casualty his force suffered tore at his heart, but he could physically see the commander of his enemy. The blob like Citadelian grinning as his own troops fell like ripe crops in harvest.
"Captain...Naruto, there's no chance. We tried." Shikamaru said with grief as he approached his old friend in the brief moment of peace before the Gordanians launched their next wave.
Naruto's small force held a narrow ridgeline in the valley where the battle had begun. Terraced fields of Berian Spice lay trampled and scorched by the battle.
"Shika-" Naruto began only to pause as the Citadelian stood off his throne like chair and motioned for a handful of servants and guards to bring something forward.
Both commanding officers grimaced and glared hatefully at the sight before them. Two huling Branx warriors drug the corpses of the Recon unit before them. Dead to a man, their team leader among them. Naruto turned as he heard a quiet sob from his Medical officer. He frowned as he watched her struggle to suppress her fit of emotion.
"Shikamaru, we're dead here. I'm going to go all out and draw them in. You take our remaining people and book it as fast as you can. Leave the Warriors with me. They won't be able to keep up and I'm sure I can use the cover fire from their rifles." Naruto ordered.
Shikamaru stared at the impassive faceplate of his friend and leader's helmet before slowly nodding. He hated it but it made sense. Plus it was their people's way. 'The one for the many. The weak for the strong. The strong for those yet to come.' It was the Hakainian credo of sacrifice.
"I'll get them home, Captain." He answered softly before quickly running to give orders.
Naruto nearly let out a sigh as Sakura landed beside him. He knew better than to tell her no though. For Hakainian women, they bonded to their mate almost obsessively and Sakura's had just been hauled around before her eyes like some trophy. To try and order her back would just waste breath and time.
Instead he took comfort in the fact he wouldn't be fighting the horde in front of him alone. He turned to look at the determined yet terrified and heartbroken faces of the sixteen Warriors that would accompany himself and Sakura into death. This was supposed to be the moment when a leader gave a rousing speech. When he was to rally his troops and pull out an impossible victory but he had been fighting for hours already and the only thing he expected to fuel him into this coming fight was hatred of their enemy. So he wouldn't rouse them with false heroic words. He'd just lay it out in front of them.
"You all deserve to go home to your families and be celebrated as heroes for what you did here today and throughout our entire campaign here on Ber. It's unfair of me to order you into battle with the only outcome being a painful and brutal end. War isn't fair though. You've all seen that. You've lived it. You're Warriors. You were bred for it." Naruto said as he faced them.
"I won't order you to fight with me, I'd like your help in taking as many of them with us as we can but if you think you might have a chance to survive by running. Take it. You won't be accused of cowardice or looked down upon for it. To stay here with me is to die. To stay here with me is to also kill though. That's the real reason I'm staying. Someone has to and I want to kill as many of those lizard fucks as I can. If you want a few for yourself, just shoot down as many as you can and prime a grenade when they get close. The Nine love a good martyr, or so my mother always told me." Naruto said with finality as he collected up his blades and began slowly walking down the slope toward the Citadel forces.
Sakura caught up to him easily and for a moment walked in silence before she finally broke the quiet.
"What was that back there?" She asked.
"A speech I guess." He groused. His head wasn't in it at the moment, was she going to nag on his leadership even now?
"I liked it. Pretty morbid, but every last one of them started pulling ammo belts and pouches off the dead. Seems it did the job." She said with a chuckle.
The woman grunted before removing her helmet and tossing it to the ground beside her. Death would come sooner or later and she always hated those stuffy things.
"Well, It's been...not pleasant but I guess an adventure." She said with an odd mix of sadness and humor.
"Yeah, one hell of an adventure. Regrets?" He asked one of his eldest friends.
"None that matter much in the end." She replied as a faint glow began to coat her blades and she began picking up the pace to match her Captain.
"The words of the Sage were something like, Live your life with joy and find your death with no remorse." Naruto stated as his own blades began to hum with thin coats of energy.
"I always wondered how the son of a Priestess ended up an officer on the battlefield." Sakura said with a rough laugh.
"You forget, I'm the son of a Priestess and a Kage. I was told I was meant to either be the Speaker of the Nine or the Kage that broke the Citadel. Guess all that shit about predictions and prophecy was always bullshit, huh." Naruto answered.
"I could see that happening. It should have happened." Sakura said as both began to bound toward the charging lines of Gordanians.
"Could have, Should have, but didn't. Doesn't matter now. All that matters is I get a few hundred more tallies to my name before I meet the spirits!" He roared as he launched himself forward and impacted the first ranks fo Gordanian infantry.
Naruto's blades cut through them like butter and he carved a path of destruction into the heart of the enemy formation letting them circle around and surround him entirely. In his head he cackled at the prospect of simply being able to attack in every direction and kill the lizard men.
Nearby but out of sight Naruto could hear Sakura butchering her own path through the Gordanians. She lived up to her nickname of Banshee as she howled in rage and slaughtered their prey. Every now and again a random Gordanian would drop dead from a well placed shot from the ridgeline behind them.
The fighting continued for what felt like ages. The dragon men would rush at him and he'd fluidly butcher them and then they'd pause for a moment to try and think of the best way to approach him during which time he would rush them and carve up as many as he could.
They had just begun one of the brief pauses in battle when he heard a chorus of victorious roaring come from the Gordanians to his rear. Shooting a glance that way he saw a few had managed to take the ridge and despite taking dozens with each of them, all of the Warrior caste soldiers he had left there had perished. Sixteen small bloody craters littered the ridge and a twinge of bittersweet pride raced through his soul at the honorable deaths of his soldiers.
"Well come on, I know I'm scary and all but somebody has to attack." Naruto taunted, causing the beasts to launch yet another series of rushed attempts to hack, blast, or simply grab him.
Naruto severed heads from necks, arms from shoulders, and bisected entire Gordanian warriors with ease while the throng continued to circle him. By now, the bodies on the ground had begun to pulp as stomps and lunges turned them and the muddy ground into a singlular mixture.
Another series of cheers rolled across the valley and Naruto knew his childhood friend had found her end at the hands of their enemy. Grief and rage wrapped themselves around his heart at the thought of his two closest friends. Both were heroes of Hakainia and he knew he should celebrate their passing on to the Pure Lands as was custom, but he couldn't help the pain that their deaths brought him. At least he knew he'd join them and all his other loved ones in paradise soon.
Having regained some of his energy from the day's earlier battle, Naruto changed tactics throwing the Gordanians into disarray. He turned to using the elemental techniques that terrified his people's opponents so much. Gouts of flame enveloped entire squads of Gordanian soldiers and burned them to crisp. Their airwaves cooked to a point where they couldn't even scream at the sudden pain. Spears of earth impaled dozens of unlucky lizard men giving them slow agonizing death as they slid further down the spikes. Tiny marble sized beads of water shot out at speeds fast enough to pierce their reptilian skin, carving through their brains and hearts with relative ease. Blades of wind reduced those caught in their path into bloody shreds.
They pulled away from him and her pursued. They begged for mercy and he laughed. He lost his senses in the carnage and swept across the battlefield in a fit of rage, fury, and animalistic instinct to kill. The world around him became drowned out by his own thirst for carnage.
Even when the Gordanians either lay dead at his feet or fleeing from him in terror and the Branx warriors came forward he didn't stop. The rocklike golems were torn to pieces with only marginal more difficulty than their fodder troops had been. By now Naruto was lost. No longer registering anything around him as he killed, and killed, and killed.
All things come to an end though. His rampage like all others soon ran low on fuel. The Branx withdrew and a new opponent stepped forward. A single person. A woman. Tall, blue skinned with sharp teeth breaching just past her lips, she stepped forward and eyes Naruto with a measure of interest and disgust. Like looking down at a rodent wallowing in her garbage.
If she spoke Naruto couldn't hear her in his violent fugue state. The battle would have been one for the history books had he been aware of himself to properly respond. Driven as he was by instinct alone though it was brief. A handful of exchanged blows before a sharp crack to the head fracture his helmet and sent him into unconsciousness.
He wouldn't awaken again for a matter of days, strapped, blindfolded, and gagged in the belly of a Gordanian transport.
Naruto awoke to the sound of shouting and an odd weightless feeling. Opening his eyes he flinched slightly at the sudden bright light. Slowly cracking his eyelids this time he realized that he was flying. Or more precisely he was being carried on the back of Koriand'r as she did her best to try and avoid several Gordanian's giving chase.
"Ally Naruto, you have awoken. I'm glad I was beginning to fear you would never wake again after that blow to your head. I did my best to render aid but there were some survivors from the ship I had not realized. They are wearing armor and are armed now unlike when I got the drop of them onboard the ship. They have the advantage." Koriand'r said as she narrowly evaded a swipe from one of the Gordanian battle axes.
"Get us to the ground somewhere. I'm still a little woozy and whatever they had me bound up with drained me of my power, but I have enough to put up a fight. Two of us is better than one anyway." Naruto said as he scanned the area.
They were in some city. From the technology he could see they were a good couple of centuries behind his and Koriand'r's own peoples let alone the Citadel. Several tall glass and metal towers surrounded them and blocked his vision beyond them.
"Koriand'r where exactly are we?" Naruto asked as they descended toward a lower building's rooftop.
"I do not know the planet. We landed in a forested area when we first arrived and your helmet rendered you unconscious. I tried to wake you but soon the Gordanians were upon us and I tried to flee with you. They kept pace too well and chased me into this city. The natives seem an odd type." Koriand'r informed him as they set down on the roof top and Naruto drew his blades ignoring the thin line of blood running down his forehead.
"What do you mean an odd type?" Naruto asked as he watched the Gordanians circle up above.
"Some fled normally but many simply stood and watched. They are very stupid." Koriand'r answered, causing her companion to blink at her in surprise.
"They just watched as their city was destroyed and aliens battled in their sky?" Naruto asked for confirmation.
"Yes." She answered succinctly before sending a set of green energy bolts at the boldest of the Gordanians as he swooped at them. Her attack seared his hide and knocked away some of his armor but he simply hissed in pain and rejoined his comrades in the air.
"You're right, they do sound very stupid." Naruto replied. Was it possible they as a race lacked basic survival instincts. Their world must have been quite pleasant for them to evolve with such low abilities in risk assessment.
Deciding to shrug off the confusing thoughts surrounding the people of this world, Naruto instead summoned up some of the little energy he had to slash outward with an arc of wind that severed the wing of one of the Gordanians. Naruto was upon him in the blink of an eye and he had jammed his left blade deep into his enemy's head through the eye before flipping backward as an odd projectile impacted where he had previously stood.
"Local authorities?" Naruto asked Koriand'r.
"I do not know. It came from those individuals there. They had been watching us for sometime from the bridge." She called back, shooting another Gordanian down with her bolts of energy, which Naruto quickly moved forward to finish only to have to back off once more as another set of projectiles impacted his path.
Rejoining Koriand'r near the center of the rooftop he grimaced at the wave of nausea swept over him. A mixture of exhausting his energy reserves and his head injury. This was not good. Locals seemed to be siding with the Gordanians and the few above them had no doubt sent for reinforcements the moment their escape pod had landed on this world.
"We can't keep this up." He said as he wobbled slightly only for Koriand'r to worriedly stabilize him.
"You should have stayed in your cells, Troqs!" One of the Gordanians howled as he rocketed toward them with the axe hefted over his head.
Just as the axe was about to impact both of it's intended victims, the dragon man was frozen in a black aura as a girl approached. She looked a year or two younger than Naruto and Koriand'r though she seemed much smaller than either of them, barely reaching their chest in height. If he hadn't noticed the fact that she wasn't that much smaller than the fully grown members of the native species he would have thought her to perhaps be a child based on height alone. As her cloak briefly lifted and she landed on the rooftop with them, he was pleased to notice she was very much not a child. Just short.
Though he again supposed she wasn't that short as she was suddenly joined by the other individuals he suspected had been using the projectiles earlier. He couldn't outright blame them. Their home, a peaceful and vulnerable place as far as he could tell, was suddenly the battleground of aliens.
Koriand'r moved forward to attack but Naruto caught her arm. She glanced at him and he gave a reassuring smile causing her to turn her attention back to the handful of Gordanians above them.
Like Koriand'r's people, Naruto's, even the lowly citizen caste, could learn a language by connecting their energy to that of another race. It wasn't perfect. He'd need to better learn the proper grammar and euphemisms as time went on but it would allow a much easier means of communication.
Holding out his fist after sheathing his blades Naruto waited for the cloaked woman to step forward and tap it. Instead he was disappointed to find she simply stared at him with a dull look in her eyes.
"Really, an alien wants to fist bump me?" She seemed to ask, not that he could comprehend a word of what she said.
A green bird flitted beside her and suddenly transformed into an odd creature, shorter even than the other natives of this world. He also appeared physically very different. Long ears, green flesh and short, thin, body made him look like an outworlder much like himself. It was Naruto's hope that he could speak either Tamaranean or Hakainian.
Those hopes were dashed the moment he attempted to ask the boy to perform the bond with him. Even if the boy was an outworlder, it seemed he had little knowledge of the greater galaxy. Moving on to the next person, a larger man, around his same height with a mixture of biological and mechanical portions fused together. He, like the first two, seemed wary of connecting fists with Naruto causing the Hakainian to grow frustrated.
"Such cowardly idiotic people!" Naruto growled getting a small light laugh from Koriand'r as she continued to monitor the circling Gordanians.
"I told you Friend Naruto. They are a very stupid people." She said with some humor.
"Still they just stand there. How aggravating." Naruto complained, turning to the last two.
The girl strode forward confidently while the boy tried to hold her back. They were both dressed...oddly, though he wasn't sure of the customs of this world's people. They were far different in attire than the people that had watched the fight with the Gordanians from the streets below. The girl wore mostly dark colored clothing with a black cloak trailing after her, though a bright yellow insignia spanned her chest and her red hair contrasted brightly with her uniform. The boy was dressed in much brighter clothes with a yellow cloak and red uniform.
The female finally extended her own hand and let out a quiet gasp as Naruto connected his fist to hers. He let what little energy he still possessed flow into her body and back again eliciting a small shiver from her and a blush. Her reaction was interesting but Naruto now had what he needed.
"Koriand'r, I assimilated their language, I can't give it to you in the same form so you may have to-" Naruto began to say as he turned back to his companion.
Koriand'r simply leaned forward and pressed her lips to his, causing surprise to ripple between the others gathered on the rooftop. Naruto didn't resist instead actually placing on hand gently on her hip as she pressed against him
It ended sooner than he would have liked but still, few men would complain about locking lips with a Tamaranean princess even for a second. The fact that they'd held the act a little longer than was necessary sent feelings of pleasure through the princess herself, not that Naruto knew.
"Excellent, now let us greet one another before the Gordanians decide to attack once more." Koriand'r said, shocking the gathered natives.
"We had best hurry, they are waiting for reinforcements. It will not be long now until another Gordanian patrol craft arrives and I have yet to recover my power fully." Naruto added in further surprising their audience.
"Wait, you can speak English now?" The small green man asked.
"Yes, when I connected my hand with the female... Englian I assimilated your language to a degree. Koriand'r did the same by kissing me just now." Naruto responded.
"As Friend Naruto has said, I am Koriand'r Second Princess of Tamaran. I thank you for your aid dark Englian." Koriand'r said while nodding toward Raven who still held a Gordanian captive in her magic. Though all she got from the others was confused looks.
"Yes, like Koriand'r said. Thank you dark one." Naruto said either not noticing or ignoring the crestfallen look that passed through her eyes as he called her dark one. Not that he did so in an attempt to offend or belittle her. She simply utilized the powers of darkness with ease and strength that was impressive.
"I am Lord Captain Naruto Uzumaki of the Berian Vanguard, Hakainian Infantry. Though there no longer is a Berian Vanguard I suppose." His voice became bitter as he reached the end of his statement and Koriand'r placed a hand onto his arm to support him.
"This day is so weird. Anyway I'm BeastBoy, or well that's what they all call me when I'm doing this stuff." The green one introduced himself and the conversation became much easier after his awkward and friendly greeting.
Twenty Minutes Earlier
"Why did you follow me here? Does Bruce not trust me to take care of myself?" Batgirl also known as Barbara Gordon demanded to the brightly colored boy running along the rooftops beside her.
"I didn't even tell Bruce I was coming with you." Robin, or Dick Grayson, Bruce Wayne's adoptive son argued.
"Oh so it's just you that thinks I can't take care of myself." She sniped.
"It's not like that. You and I only just started seeing each other and you decided to run off to Jump City. I just decided to do the same." Robin tried to argue.
"Dick, you had a full ride set up for Gotham University you-" She began.
"Well now I have a full ride at Harbor View like you. We can both get away from Gotham for a while, go to school, fight Jump City gangs and thieves it'll be great." He interrupted.
"I dunno if I want to go back to Gotham though Robin. That was part of why I moved out here. You shouldn't have just tossed your life back home away and followed me here. If we really wanted to stay a couple we could easily zeta tube to visit one another whenever. It wouldn't even really be a long distance thing." Barbara explained.
"Well yeah but honestly I have been wanting out of Gotham for a while too. Was originally planning on Bludhaven cause it was close enough to home, but when you told me you were coming to Jump City, I changed my mind. I'm even thinking of changing out of the red and yellow and taking on an actual name of my own. Especially since Bruce picked up Jason. I think he's going to start training him soon and after that…" Dick said with a bit of a conflicted tone.
"Batman will need the red and yellow back." She said with a bit of sympathy.
It was different for Robin than it was for her. She was Batgirl on her own. She was out doing her own thing inspired by Batman before he ever brought her into partnership. Robin was a vengeful kid with acrobatic skills and no guardian. Bruce owned Robin but she'd always be Batgirl.
"I guess I should be flattered you know? I mean a sequel of me, Robin Two: The Revenge of the Boy Wonder." He bit out a chuckle that sounded more bitter than pleased.
"Either way it'll be a couple years before Jason is ready for the uniform. So I need to do things separate from Baan in the meantime to prepare better for then." Dick continued and both slipped into silence for a while.
Finally Batgirl stopped and Robin settled in beside her.
"Thanks for coming with me Dick. I guess I would have gotten lonely without any familiar faces around." She said before planting a kiss on his cheek.
"Of course Barb." He grinned.
His grin fell though as several bright lights streaked through the sky over Jump City and crashed into area just passed the cities outskirts.
"Meteorites?" Batgirl asked.
"Is it ever just meteorites?" Robin asked back with a laugh as he shot out his grappling hook and took off along the rooftops in the direction of the crash.
Batgirl followed soon after. About halfway there they stopped as a green falcon suddenly swooped down in front of them and transformed into a boy a few years younger than themselves.
"Oh wow! The real deal here in jump city next to me! Ex-Doom Patrol member BeastBoy reporting for duty Robin sir, Batgirl ma'am." The boy said with excitement as he snapped off an awkward salute.
"Uh," Robin replied at the sudden introduction.
"Nice to meet you BeastBoy." Batgirl said while elbowing Robin in the ribs gently.
"Right, drop the sir and ma'am thing by the way it, feels kinda weird." Robin threw in getting a frantic nod from the younger boy.
"You got it Robin si- I mean you got it Robin, just Robin." BeastBoy replied firing off another shoddy salute.
"Alright enough introductions. Let's move, those things crashed this way." Batgirl said and the group moved.
Robin and Batgirl we're back to free running and this time BeastBoy had transformed into a hawk to get a literal bird's eye view of their targets.
Again they had only gotten a short ways when another teen literally fell into their path. Robin knew him, if only by reputation. Victor Stone was a pretty well known hero outside of the league, he worked with them from time to time but for the most part wasn't considered one of them because he preferred his loner status.
Cyborg, as Victor was known when doing hero work, rolled to his feet almost the same moment he impacted the pavement. His teeth were grinding together as he swung an armor out and his robotic limb reconfigured itself into a humming cannon.
"Think you can just smash up my town Lizard boy?!" He barked before blasting the charging alien figure in the chest with a blue shot of energy.
The alien slammed backward from the impact and crashed into a small newsstand and twitched but didn't move to get up again.
"And stay down this time!" Cyborg hollered before looking over his shoulder at the other three heroes.
"Batgirl and Robin and….whoever you are-"
"BeastBoy." The green boy chirped happily pleased to be included.
"Right, is Batman here?" Cyborg asked.
"No just us." Robin replied.
"Huh, whatever. Watch yourselves. These lizard dudes pack a serious punch and can take a beating and keep coming." Cyborg explained.
"Did it come from whatever those lights were earlier?" Batgirl asked.
"Yeah, some sort of pod. This one came after me while the others from the pod I found all went toward the outskirts of town." He replied.
"That's where all those others landed at." BeastBoy said.
"We had better hurry then. If this is some sort of half baked invasion we just became the first line of defense." Robin spoke with steel in his voice. The group nodded and raced toward the outskirts only to stop as suddenly several walls near them exploded with green blasts of energy.
An alien woman, a beautiful alien woman carrying a handsome alien man on her back shot past them shouting out in some odd gruff alien tongue.
Easily a dozen of the lizard aliens gave chase, their own weapons doing just as much damage to the city around them as her green energy attacks did.
"We really need to put an end to this before they harm too many people!" Batgirl shouted and the four heroes changed direction to chase the group of aliens together.
They pushed to their best ability but being as only BeastBoy could fly they struggled slightly. Thankfully when they saw the unconscious male wake up the two humanoid aliens settled into a rooftop letting them stop on a nearby overpass to catch their breath.
"So, plan?" Cyborg asked Robin and Batgirl who had seemed to be sharing the leadership role of their little crew.
"We still don't know what's going on." Batgirl answered.
"It looks like those two are trying to escape from the lizard aliens. Maybe we should help them." Robin said, though his gaze was centered more on the woman causing Batgirl to narrow her own eyes at him.
"Maybe they are fugitive criminals? They could be mass murderers or something." She scolded Robin causing him to frown at her.
"You think they are mass murderers?" BeastBoy asked, having paled slightly to a mint green color.
"Well no, but we can't be...too...sure" Batgirl trailed off as they saw the male alien use some sort of wind based attack to remove the wing of one of the lizard men sending him crashing to the rooftop below. Then he seemed to flash forward at speeds none of them could easily follow.
They grimaced when he drove his knife into the lizards eye clearly killing it immediately. Batgirl immediately reacted and launched a pair of batarangs at the man sending him flipping back over to his colleague.
"Either way we need to stop them before they all kill each other or a civilian." Robin stated
Just as he spoke he let loose his own projectiles as the male again moved forward to kill another of the lizard men that the female had shot down with her green energy. They impacted just in front of him forcing him back beside the alien female.
"Yeah that's great and all but how do we do that?" Cyborg asked.
"Perhaps fighting isn't the answer. Maybe we can negotiate with them." Another voice chimed in.
The group turned to look at the newcomer before she slipped into a shadow and appeared floating above the fighting aliens just in time to stop one of the attacking lizard men with strange shadow-like powers.
Glancing between one another the group decided to head down and join the girl mostly hidden under her cloak.
The female alien seemed to move forward to attack only to be stopped by the male who calmed her down with a look and smile. She grunted softly and turned her attention skyward to the lizard people holding position above as if waiting for something.
The male then sheathed his blades and slowly, cautiously stepped forward with on hand outstretched in a fist.
"Really, an alien wants to fist bump me?" The cloaked girl asked with a dull tone and flat stare directed toward the alien.
As BeastBoy transformed beside her the alien then offered his fist toward the younger boy causing him to star at the blonde alien as well.
Sighing disappointedly he then moved on to Cyborg who took a half step back from the visitor causing him to grumble angrily in his alien language eliciting a soft peak of laughter from his female companion. Whatever he said Cyborg knew it was an insult and clenched a fist as the alien stepped away from him.
'Enough of this we're getting nowhere.' Barbara though as she stepped forward to tap he hand against the blond's only for Dick to briefly grab her wrist and try to pull her back.
Gently shaking herself free,she finally offered her own fist out to the man letting him briefly tap his knuckles to hers. The oddest wave of energy seemed to run through her body. It was warm but pleasant and she had to stifle the slight moan that threatened to break free as it swept over her sensitive regions. As soon as it started it stopped and he retracted his hand acting as if nothing had just happened. Batgirl did her best to force down the light blush she suddenly had and refocus on the situation at hand.
Her attention was easily returned to the aliens then as the male began to speak only to be cut off by the woman suddenly kissing him. Neither would ever admit it to the other but both Batgirl and Robin briefly felt jealousy spike through their beings only to tamp it down harshly. It didn't make sense to feel that emotion after all. Both could agree the aliens were extremely attractive and built in ways that would make Olympic athletes as green as BeastBoy in envy. Still they had their own relationship and knew nothing of these...beings.
"Excellent, now let us greet one another before the Gordanians decide to attack once more." The female alien said, getting a nod from her companion. The five heroes were stunned at the ease she now spoke English. It was heavily accented and a little stiff in delivery like this woman was used to very formal patterns of speech.
"We had best hurry, they are waiting for reinforcements. It will not be long now until another Gordanian patrol craft arrives and I have yet to recover my power fully." The male added.
"Wait, you can speak English now?" BeastBoy asked.
"Yes, when I connected my hand with the female... Englian I assimilated your language to a degree. Koriand'r did the same by kissing me just now." The male responded.
"As Friend Naruto has said, I am Koriand'r Second Princess of Tamaran. I thank you for your aid dark Englian." Koriand'r said while nodding toward Raven who still held a lizard man captive.
'Englian?' All of the heroes thought collectively in confusion.
"Yes, like Koriand'r said. Thank you dark one." The one named Naruto said. None of them noticed the slightest flinch from Raven or the hurt look that passed through her eyes at the moniker.
"I am Lord Captain Naruto Uzumaki of the Berian Vanguard, Hakainian Infantry. Though there no longer is a Berian Vanguard I suppose." His voice became bitter as he reached the end of his statement and Koriand'r placed a hand onto his arm to support him.
The heroes frowned slightly at that. Obviously they should have realized he was in the military based on his armor and weapons. Still the way he spoke sounded like he had lost a lot of friends recently. The heroes knew better than to pry at the moment though both Batgirl and Robin planned to get the information out of him eventually.
"This day is so weird. Anyway I'm BeastBoy, or well that's what they all call me when I'm doing this stuff." BeastBoy introduced himself.
With him breaking the awkward air the rest of the group quickly followed with introducing themselves before Robin stepped forward to Naruto and asked the important question.
"Why are you all here? And why are they chasing you?" He asked simply and Naruto stared back into the masked visage of the younger boy for a time before exhaling softly and looking up at the waiting Gordanians.
"The Gordanians are the main body of soldiers for the Citadel. A brutal empire that seems to conquer the Vega system and it's sister sector the Virah system. Of the nearly thirty inhabitable worlds within that region twenty-two have fallen to the Citadel's expansion. Those still independent are Tamaran, Hakainia, and the colonies though the colony of Ber will likely fall soon if it has not yet." Naruto explained.
"I have been a prisoner of the Gordanians in exchange for peace for my people for the last six years. Friend Naruto was recently captured after the Gordanians launched a new invasion of Ber." Koriand'r added in.
"Koriand'r freed me while the Gordanians we're vulnerable and disabled their ship. Sadly these ships usually travel in pairs and their comrades will soon arrive with many more Gordanians than this." Naruto further explained.
As if to support his words a purplish tear suddenly appeared in the sky and a long odd shaped ship slowly slid through.
"They have come." Koriand'r said as she lifted up off the ground and began prepping bolts of energy. Naruto drew his blades and readied himself for battle as well.
The heroes all stilled and looked up at the ship suddenly overshadowing the city. Whether they wished to or not they were about to be drug into this war themselves.
"We must disable the Gordanian ship if we hope to have a chance at victory." Naruto said as he sent a barrage of wind blades at the emboldened Gordanians that had begun to rush at the adolescents gathered on the rooftop. Unlike the thin one earlier this set was thicker and sharper. It shredded through the charging attackers causing the heroes to grimace.
Raven waved her hand and the prisoner she'd been holding simply vanished getting a few glances.
"What happened to that one?" BeastBoy asked, though he was a bit nervous to do so.
"He's alive." Was all she said before joining Naruto and Koriand'r in moving to assault the Gordanian ship.
The others joined in however they seemed to be hardly making a scratch as the ship slowly turned it's broadside toward them revealing a side bristling with guns.
"Naruto!" Robin called out. "You've fought these things before, how did you destroy them?"
"They are weak to detonations along their central hull, both ends of the ship are larger than the middle. We would use the Warrior Caste as distractions using missile launchers while a team of Superiors would get inside their shields to plant explosives." Naruto answered as he frowned at the sight of several Gordanians beginning to swarm out of the ship's hangar bay.
"Then we do the same thing." Robin said with determination.
"Cyborg keep bombarding that things shields with your cannon, Naruto, Koriand'r, and Raven focus on the Gordanians and give us an opening. Batgirl, BeastBoy, and I will go up and plant charges. Go!" Robin ordered.
Naruto found himself impressed by the boy. He had obvious leadership skills. Actually Naruto had noticed a of those present seemed to be skilled warriors and leaders though he considered himself, Robin, Batgirl, and Koriand'r above the rest in that regard.
The group split up racing to their designated tasks. Naruto carved his way through the Gordanians sent his way while Koriand'r hovered nearby blasting away at the enemy. Raven seemed a nightmare made flesh for the Gordanians as her powers over shadow entrapped and either killed or disappeared the Gordanian soldiers with ease.
Cyborg's cannon blasts followed by his own taunts and shouts of 'booyah' echoed around the dockyard they had confronted the ship in.
Naruto had lost sight of the others for a time but the sudden blasts along the middle of the ship's length confirmed they had succeeded in the plan. The craft tilted heavily to the side then a terrible screech of metal followed by a deafening explosion that shattered the ship into a half dozen pieces.
For a moment Naruto feared the worst for his new comrades. To sacrifice oneself for their people's victory was as Noble as one could be. When he saw the figures of a large green bird and two bipedal figures gliding down using their cape he smiled.
This force was far from the normal fare of troops Naruto faced on the front lines. Gordanian society pushed the smallest and weakest as well as the dumbest into roles such as prisoner keeping or piloting. Still for this little group of natives to stand with him and Koriand'r and come out victorious with no notable casualties was remarkable.
With himself and Koriand'r as oth being the rough hallmark for a Hakainian Superior, only Cyborg similarly fit the role. Even then he was more like Naruto's friend Rock Lee, an uplifted member of the Warrior Caste augmented to seem near to the level of a naturally born Superior.
Raven was something else. She was most akin to a priestess or even perhaps a member of the Royal Caste with the ease she utilized her power.
Robin and Batgirl, while weaker physically than the Warrior caste that Naruto knew, he couldn't imagine them in any caste besides that.
The last member of their odd little group, BeastBoy didn't easily fit into the Hakainian caste system. He was most like the alien auxiliaries that they occasionally employed to fulfill a specific combat function. Still the boy was eager and very strong in his own ways.
They actually made a surprisingly good team, and Naruto felt pleased to not be the one burdened with the role of leader for once. He felt responsible for the safety of the others to an extent, especially for Koriand'r, but he could only chalk that up as his nature to protect those around him to his best ability.
The small team congratulated one another and cheered in victory for a brief time. Naruto enjoyed the elated embrace from the Princess. Sadly it was short lived as a roar of rage from the wreckage of the Gordanian ship caught the group's attention.
"That sounded like no ordinary Gordanian." Naruto whispered to Koriand'r who sent him an unsure shrug. She might have had more access to the ship than Naruto had, but she was still a prisoner and most of the vessel was restricted to her.
"Any ideas what that is?" Robin asked the pair.
"Judging from the roar, it sounds almost like a-" Naruto began only to see the hulking monstrosity that was the commander of the two destroyed ships rip[ his way out of some burning wreckage.
"A hybrid." Koriand'r whispered in legitimate fear.
"Branx and Gordanian to be exact. This will be a problem." Naruto said with worry.
"What's the big deal? He's just bigger than all the others." Beastboy commented.
"No, his hide is like stone and his strength will be greater than any of us could normally handle, plus-" Naruto began before tackling Raven out of the way of a blast of yellow energy from the staff that the beast carried.
"He is well armed." Koriand'r finished for him.
The group hesitated briefly as the hulking beast closed the distance between them. Only briefly though before they all jumped into action.
Naruto knew he couldn't hold back anymore and caught Koriand'r by the arm. She was confused by him stopping her but listened to him.
"No offense to the others Princess, but you are the only one among them I find myself fully trusting yet. I am going to use the last of my energy to kill the enemy but afterward I will fall into a coma like state. It's shameful to ask but-" Naruto was once more cut off but this time it was by Koriand'r herself.
"You have nothing to worry about. I will watch over you. You have my word Friend Naruto." She said with a smile before launching a rapid series of blasts at the enemy and lifting up into the air.
"Alright that is that then." Naruto said before taking a series of leveling breaths and reaching deep within himself to grasp the last traces of his energy.
An aura of flickering flame and crackling energy soon swirled around him, increasing in intensity until suddenly the aura simply seemed to snap and disappear. Upon opening his eyes though, the slitted blues he previously had were replaced by pure blue light.
The Hakainian Superior let out a primal roar of his own and launched at the hybrid beast connecting roughly with it in mid air and slamming both to the ground. He didn't have the energy to keep this beserker state up for long so Naruto hit the creature with everything he had to keep the fight short.
That was the last thing he remembered until waking up nearly two weeks later in a strange room. Clearly an infirmary of some sort with Koriand'r sleeping in a chair beside his bed.
"So you've agreed to join their team?" Naruto asked. The Tamaranean nodded her head.
"Partly in exchange for giving you medical care but also because...I don't want to go home. My sister sold me to the Gordanians for peace, but it didn't matter in the end. I don't want to return and them believe it was because of my resistance that the war began again." The princess explained.
"That would be understandable. I am sure that my people believe me to be dead, I am hesitant to return to them as well. At least immediately." Naruto replied, simply tired of the endless war that encompassed the entire existence of the Superior caste.
"Yes. So I have chosen to stay here. I have even taken on a name to fit in with the team. The English form of my name is Starfire so I took it as my own." Koriand'r, no Starfire said with a small smile.
"Perhaps you would like to stay with them, and me as well? Earth is a curious place. The team also seems very kind. They asked for nothing in return for helping deal with the Gordanians and providing us shelter." She seemed to be shifting more toward selling the idea of Naruto staying with them.
"Koriand'r...I want to stay, but my responsibility…" Naruto trailed off.
"You have already died for them once before, besides if I am not mistaken you owe me a life debt correct?" Koriand'r said with a sharper tone than he had heard her use with him before.
"True." He said simply, eyeing the princess oddly.
"Well then, until you have fulfilled your debt you are to remain by my side and help the people of Earth. It is possible the Citadel may return here to investigate their lost ships afterall. We would be responsible for the death of several people." She pressed on.
"You don't need to guilt me into it Princess. You're right on all accounts though. So I think it's best that I stay as well." Naruto said, planning to continue talking only to be interrupted by the form of Koriand'r practically jumping into the narrow medical bed with him.
He couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity of his situation. He didn't dare complain, even mentally, though. Who in their right mind would bemoan being held closely by such a shapely beauty as the Tamaranean princess. Not him.
It was of course at this moment the rest of the 'team' they had worked with entered the room. Several did their best to hide blushes, though Cyborg simply chuckled and nodded approvingly while Beastboy let out a sharp wolf whistle at the pari, though the meaning was completely lost on them.
"Do we need to come back later?" Batgirl quickly asked as she began pulling Robin and by extension the others out of the room.
"No, no, it is all fine. I am just elated that Friend Naruto will be staying on earth as well." Koriand'r said cheerfully.
"That's great Starfire. How did you convince him?" Batgirl replied.
"She guilted me into it/ I reminded him that he owes me his life." The pair of aliens said at the same time.
"My teachers once informed me that to acquire a life debt from a Hakainian Superior is one of the greatest boons one can have in the Vega System….though we are no longer in the Vega System I imagine that it still applies." Starfire answered.
"It does. Either way you also made a good point about the Gordanians. Should they return I will have to eliminate them quickly so that the Citadel does not turn it's sights on your undefended and easy to conquer planet." Naruto answered unknowingly causing the earthlings to be rather confused.
"Oh, Friend Naruto, no I found out they actually have a large organization that has even fought off the parademons of Apokolips. Many could even easily kill you and I, such as the Superman." Starfire explained.
"Truly?" Naruto asked in surprise. "Perhaps we were wrong Koriand'r perhaps they are not as...simple a people as first assumed. Still though they must be mighty protectors if the commoners simply point and stare at invading Gordanians."
"We really need to catch them up on everything about earth before we do any actual crime fighting as a team." Robin said with a sigh.
"It's totally worth it though, I mean did you see them? They could totally kick butt!" Beastboy added in as they watched the Tamaranean give a very poor explanation about Earth and it's customs. The Hakainian soaked up the bad information like a sponge nodding along to each of Starfire's words, slowly worrying some of the more mature team members they would be working with.
"Maybe but we need to talk to them about the way they fight. Naruto outright killed those Gordanians without a second thought and Starfire looked like she had no issue with it either." Robin said.
"We'll get there. Like you said, we have a lot of ground to cover before we are up and running. Plus a couple others want in now that we are officially forming a group." Batgirl replied.
"Hey I just thought of something, what is Naruto's earth name if Starfire's is Starfire?" Beastboy asked.
"That's what you're worried about right now?" Raven asked.
"I wouldn't really say worried so much as curious." The green boy responded with a bright grin, getting an eye roll from the girl.
"Oncoming Storm." Naruto called over.
"What?" They asked, realizing he was talking to them.
"My 'earth' name. It would be Oncoming Storm, or more literally Fear the Oncoming Tempest of Heaven...my mother is a high priestess and my father's name is Take Heart the Tempest Rages Anew. Or Raging Storm, Minato. But well that is a large amount of words for you so maybe you can just call me Storm Superior, as I am of the Superior caste. It would be fitting." Naruto explained.
"You could hear our whole conversation, couldn't you?" Raven asked.
"You are still in the same room as us." Naruto plainly replied.
"They are a simple people." Starfire said matter-of-factly.
The team left shortly after that. Unsure how to feel about being indirectly called dumb but in the most inoffensive and unintentional way thay could imagine. They also had much work to do if they wanted to get their new hero team up and running.
Starfire also left Naruto to rest for some time. The blond lay back down thinking of his home. He had served his purpose. He had few friends left alive and his mates had long passed. His father and nearly all his kin were likewise dead. His mother, he'd only even met a handful of times as she was locked away in the Diviniation's Cloister. Here though, he could already see a bond forming with Koriand'r, perhaps given time even with the other members of this 'team'.
"I am better off here...for now." He thought aloud before letting himself drift back to sleep. Even after such a long time on bed rest, he had strained his inner systems too hard to do much more than rest.
So that was the first chapter for Superior Purpose. I hope you enjoyed. Feel free to leave questions in the reviews. For those curious, I will not be posting a full harem list as I feel that will ruin some of the development for characters to come, but those mentioned in the brackets are locked in.
Till Next Time.