"Normal conversation"
'internal dialogues'
"I'm guessing that's the bad guy." Green Lantern commented as he pointed at the large humanoid creature floating above the ocean and slowly making his way towards the city.
"What's gotten you all riled up," Batman asked, seeing Naruto's shocked expression.
"I know" Kurama commented as he stood beside Naruto, "I had the same expression when I faced him for the first time".
"Such a malevolent presence..." Naruto replied, his red eyes opening wide in shock as his body shook a little. Even though Darkseid was not actively flaring his power, it was merely his overwhelming 'presence' that had Naruto rooted in place. A presence seeped in such evil, malice, and cruelty, that it froze Naruto where he stood, devoid of any expression, "It's astounding...".
"Why's he trembling so much?" Superman asked, Pointing at Naruto, "He doesn't look that tough to me".
"You are a creature of a lower dimension, as such, you can't sense the raw power Darkseid possesses" Kurama answered, "You should consider yourself lucky that you can't sense his strength, besides, he is not trembling in fear" Kurama pointed towards Naruto, whose face was now twitching uncontrollably as he attempted to control his true emotions.
As Kurama spoke, a squad of F-35 multirole combat, fighter jets dove from the clouds and locked their weapons on Darkseid's imposing form, unleashing their payload of missiles at the New God and flying past him.
Thunderous shockwaves of exploding missiles filled the skies and echoed throughout the city. The bank of heavy smoke concealed Darkseid's form but his glowing red eyes were still visible as the smoke parted and Darkseid continued to fly forward at the same leisurely pace as before, revealing himself to be completely unharmed, not even a scratch on his blue armor. His eyes suddenly glowed a deep red as two beams of brilliant crimson energy shot forth, zigzagging at right angles in a plethora of seemingly random directions, too fast for an un-augmented eye to follow save for the bright red trails that the beams left behind.
The two beams suddenly veered backwards in an unpredictable pattern and began to catch up with the three F-35 fighter jets with ridiculous ease. The Pilots tried to shake them off by banking to the sides but the laser beams merely corrected their course, twisting and turning before separating and pursuing their targets independently.
Before the pilots could even hope to react, the twin beams of destruction caught up to them at an unexpected angle and burned a massive hole clean through each of the three fighter jets. A second later, the three military aircraft blossomed into a trio of thunderous, fiery explosions, leaving their scattered debris to fall into the sea without any survivors. It was over in seconds and not once did Darkseid ever look back over his shoulders as he proceeded to the harbour unimpeded.
"No!" Flash gasped in horror to Naruto's far left, the tragedy of what he had just witnessed getting to him. The others stood, equally horrified but did not vocalize it, however, by the way they clenched their fists and tightened their jaws, their feelings on the matter were visible. Even had that not been the case, Kurama easily picked up on their horrified shock and grief.
"Truly astounding..." Naruto repeated, he had a manic expression on his face, no longer trying to hide his true feeling. A sudden slap on the back by Kurama broke him out of his stupor as he looked around at the surrounding heroes, "As I was saying, he wasn't trembling in fear but in excitement."
Taking a deep breath to calm himself, Naruto began, "We should get the civilians out of here first, Flash and Green Lantern will help with the evacuations, My brother and Shazam will take care of the parademons. Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and I will face Darkseid and try to keep him from entering the harbor, we should avoid causing further collateral damage than we already have".
"What about me?" Victor Stone aka Cyborg, asked.
"You possess the same technology as Darkseid, try to hack into it and see if you can reverse these boom tubes and send these parademons back to Apokolips" Naruto replied.
Everyone agreed to the plan, and though Green Lantern tried to protest, Flash quickly pulled him away from the others.
"You may not have noticed" Batman started as he approached Naruto, "But you and I are normal humans, I don't think we would be of much use in a direct confrontation against Darkseid."
"I got that covered" Naruto replied as he nodded towards Kurama who sighed in resignation and conjured several red magic circles around Naruto and Batman and began to weave through hand seals.
"What's he doing?" Superman asked as he approached Naruto and stopped at the edge of the magic circle, Wonder Woman doing the same.
"My brother is a master of the mystic arts" Naruto replied, "Right now, he is reinforcing and augmenting our bodies with protection and other spells so that we don't get one-shotted by Darkseid when we face him in combat".
Superman hummed as he observed the process, "Can you use magic as well?".
Naruto shook his head, "I don't have much affinity to it."
"Where did he learn all of this?" this time it was Batman who asked the question.
"It's done" Kurama interrupted as he clapped his hands, all the various spells and magic circles floating in the air converged towards the two and seeped into their body, "It'll hold for about an hour depending on the amount of damage you take."
Naruto nodded as he thanked Kurama.
"Let's go" Naruto called out as he unexpectedly started to fly towards Darkseid, Superman and Wonder Woman followed suit.
"Interesting..." Batman muttered as he observed the spells glowing dimly on his body then leapt in the air and began to fly as well.
"So, how should we proceed?" Superman asked as he flew towards Darkseid.
"Since we have no information on his strength or powers, I think you and Wonder Woman should face him head-on and get a better idea of his capabilities, I believe the two of you are strong enough to keep him occupied meanwhile Batman and I would support you while trying to come up with a strategy to neutralize him."
"You are surprisingly well-versed in combat strategies", Batman commented.
"Running a billion-dollar company will make you like that" Naruto replied, "You should know" he finished with a small smirk.
The group quickly reached Darkseid and blocked his path with Superman and Wonder Woman in the front with Naruto and Batman following closely behind.
"I am entropy, I am Death, I am…. Darkseid" Darkseid introduced himself, his hands folded over his chest, eyes glowing red, and a look of superiority on his impassive face.
"We are rich," Naruto retorted as he pointed toward himself and Batman, "and they are powerful" then at Superman and Wonder Woman, "Now that we have assigned ourselves an adjective. Let's get to the matter at hand".
Superman and Wonder Woman cracked a smile at the blatant disrespect of the new god.
"You have come here to terraform Earth, I can't allow you to do that" Naruto continued as he floated forward and came to a stop right in front of Darkseid, his eyes meeting the new god's with confidence.
Darkseid was silent for a few seconds as he studied Naruto, "You do not have the power to stop me" he replied as he unfolded his arm.
"Alone, I would definitely lose" Naruto replied as he extended his arm and pointed his index and middle finger at Darkseid's face, making a finger gun, "Fortunately, I am not alone", he then bought his thumb down, making the motion of firing a gun.
For a few seconds, nothing happened, then the sky began to rumble and a golden light began to illuminate everywhere, before Darkseid could react, a powerful yellow beam hit him from above and blasted him into the ocean below.
Naruto smirked as he blew the non-existent smoke from his fingers.
"Why do I feel like that attack was meant for me" Superman retorted.
Before Naruto could reply, he was blasted away by the twin red lasers coming out of the ocean, hurling him back toward the harbor. The water sizzled and vapourised as Darkseid emerged, his eyes glowing red, the armor around his chest and forearms had broken off, and both of his grey hands were charred black, there was a slight singe on his forehead from where the blast had initially hit him.
Superman wasted no time as he dashed straight toward Darkseid and landed a heavy blow on his jaw, snapping his head to the right, Superman followed up with another punch but it was easily dodged by Darkseid, the giant then snatched the blue cape and swung Superman at the fast approaching Wonder Woman, making both of them crash into the ocean below.
Noticing the red glow from Darkseid's eyes Batman threw several batarangs at his face, the concussive force of the blast snapped the new god's neck to the side.
Looking down at his glowing bat projectiles, Batman thought 'Must be the magic Kurama enchanted me with', he knew his explosive batarangs did not have such power in them.
Fortunately, Batman did not have to face Darkseid alone for longer as Wonder Woman shot out from the ocean, her sword pointed straight at the giant's heart, Though, she quickly had to abandon her attack and raise her arms in defense to block the red beams shot from Darkseid's eyes.
Xxx With Kurama and Shazam xxX
Kurama watched as he saw Naruto depart with the other heroes.
"So, what's the plan?" Shazam asked as he floated towards Kurama.
Kurama pointed toward the towers in the distance, "While speedy and greeny clearout the civilians, we should destroy those towers, they are gateways connecting Earth to Apokolips and as long as they are standing our chances of winning are slim"
"Understood!" Shazam replied as he flew towards the nearest tower, killing several Parademons on his way.
Kurama pressed a button on his forearm device and teleported himself to the top of his ship which was floating in the sky above, invisible to the naked eye.
Peering down at the chaos below, he thought 'Clearing out the Parademons individually will take a shit ton of time' Sitting down cross-legged, he closed his eyes and focused on the city below, 'I always wanted to try this but never had the opportunity' Kurama smirked as he started to go through several hand-seals, the preparation took him several minutes, during which he sensed the massive build-up of energy in the clouds above, 'You cheeky bastard!' Kurama thought as a golden beam descended from the sky and hit its mark, 'I can't be outdone by you!' he thought as slammed his palms together and slowly pulled them apart to reveal a spherical mass of magic circles rotating rapidly within the confines of his palms. Rotating his palms so that one was above the other, he bought them closer to his stomach and furrowed his eyebrows in concentration.
As the seconds ticked by, the swirling mass of magic began to properly align themselves, no longer a messy sphere but a proper magic circle with thousands of tiny circles moving around inside.
With his spell ready, Kurama muttered "The Culling Blade" and gently closed his palms.
Xxx With Flash and Green Lantern xxX
Having evacuated the civilians, the two heroes were making quick work of the Parademons with their speed and ring constructs but were gaining no ground as the enemy was swarming them with their superior numbers. There was a brief lull in their battle when the golden beam descended from the sky, a huge majority of the Parademons had retreated to return to their master.
"We are being over-whelmed!" Green Lantern exclaimed inside his huge robotic construct as he swung the giant sword in his hand, several parademons had latched onto the construct's legs, keeping it grounded and mostly immobilized.
"I know!" Flash yelled back as he punched through several parademons at the foot of the green construct.
Jumping on the shoulder of the construct, Flash remarked "There is no end to them!", Far in the distance he could see Shazam and Cyborg obliterating the parademons in scores but even they were getting overwhelmed.
Suddenly, Black magic circles started to fill their vision, each circle positioned right behind the parademons, the circles moved along with their enemy, following them where ever they go. Within seconds, all the parademons in the city were marked with the magic seal.
"What is happening?" Flash questioned as he caught his breath, Green lantern floated towards him as he let go of his green construct.
"It's probably that bastard Kurama" He retorted in disdain.
Suddenly, the parademons began to fall from the skies as red swords began to emerge from the magic seals, stabbing them through their backs and into their hearts.
"Well," Flash started as he stared at the carnage before him "At least he is on our side".
Xxx Back with Naruto xxX
Pushing through the rubble he was buried under, Naruto stood up and dusted his suit. Most of the damage from the beams was redirected by Kurama's magic barrier but the impact still roughed him up a little.
"That was fun" Naruto muttered as he fixed his cuff link and stretched his neck, the parademons had surrounded him by now.
"Come," he motioned with his finger as he got ready for the fight.
As they began to close in on him they suddenly fell to the ground with red swords stabbing through their chests.
He could see Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman holding their own against Darkseid but neither was gaining any ground.
Spotting Naruto from the sky, Flash, Green Lantern, Cyborg, and Shazam landed near him, Kurama teleported next to Naruto as well.
"That was so cool man!" Shazam gushed, "One second I was surrounded and next the parademon started to fall like dead flies".
Ignoring Shazam, Kurama asked "What's the plan now" as he watched the fight in the distance.
"Any Progress on closing the portals," Naruto asked as he saw there were portals still open throughout the city through which new waves of Parademons were entering.
"Darkseid is transferring data to the mother boxes, they are the ones creating these portals known as boom tubes" Cyborg explained, "I can connect to these boxes and send in a command to close the portals".
"Do it" Green Lantern replied.
"No" Naruto shook his head negatively and motioned toward the big tower in the ocean which was acting as a gateway to Apokolips, "We don't know what will happen once we close the portals, there were a lot of people that were abducted by the parademons and flown towards that tower, we can't just leave them there to die".
"The tower connects Earth to Apokolips" Kurama informed, "From the intel I have, these Parademons take the habitants of the planet through the tower and into Apokolips, where through a process called metamorphosis turn them into Parademons to serve Darkseid".
"We will need to rescue the people that were captured and bring them back to Earth safely first and then close the portals unless you have another way to bring everyone back" Naruto stated.
"Actually, the boom tubes work independently of the tower, I should be able to close the boom tubes without affecting the tower's connection" Cyborg replied.
"Are you able to open boom tubes as well" Naruto inquired.
"I can try" Cyborg replied as focused on the mother box in his hand.
BOOM!
The boom tube opened up without an issue. Nodding to himself, Naruto suggested, "Kurama and Green Lantern can go through this portal and enter Apokolips, from there the two of you should be able to easily rescue the captured civilians".
"Why do I have to go with this criminal" Green Lantern retorted in disgust.
"The two of you can rescue a large number of people at once with your powers, the most any of us could do is 4 at max" Naruto explained.
"But-" Green Lantern started but Naruto cut him off. "It is decided then" and motioned the two to enter the portal.
Kurama walked in without a fuss, he knew arguing with Naruto will get him nowhere, GL followed behind grumbling.
As Cyborg closed all the portals around the world, the remaining Parademons were sucked back into them.
"Wait, how will they get back?" Shazam questioned.
"Kurama is resourceful, he will find a way" Naruto replied.
No sooner than he spoke, Superman crash-landed near their location.
"A little help would be appreciated" Superman retorted as he wiped the blood from his lips and got back up.
"Take a few minute breather" Naruto suggested as he and the rest flew towards Darkseid, "We got this".
As the team joined forces again, Naruto directed Shazam and Cyborg to assist Wonder Woman and keep Darkseid busy.
"So, were you able to find any weakness?" Naruto asked as he approached Batman.
"He is tough, extremely so" Batman answered as he caught his breath, "Those beams from his eyes are very powerful as well".
"A good defense and a powerful offense" Naruto stated as he observed the other heroes fight Darkseid, "We can teleport him back to Apokolips but he can then teleport right back to Earth using the boom tubes".
"We will have to incapacitate him" Batman replied.
"Don't worry, I have a plan" Naruto replied with a smirk.
With their plan set, Naruto and Batman joined the fight.
Darkseid by now had been bruised pretty badly, the entirety of his armor was gone and he was bleeding from the slashes across his chest courtesy of Wonder Woman.
"Give up" Naruto stated as he walked toward Darkseid, "Your minions are all dead and the portals to Apolokips have been disabled. You have lost".
Darkseid grunted in annoyance as he began to power up, "If I can't have Earth, no one can!".
Faster than either Flash or Superman could react, Darkseid channeled his power into his charred hands and slammed it toward the ground.
The others may have failed to react but not Naruto, Faster than any normal eye could track, he appeared in front of Darkseid and blocked the New God's attack with his forearms, the black suit disappeared from his torso and moved to cover his forearms.
BOOM!
A huge concussive blast spread through the city, shattering all the windows, a much-preferred outcome than if the New God's fist had hit the ground.
Most of Naruto's shirt had torn off in the explosion, and his trousers had also ripped along the thighs.
Pushing Darkseid's hands aside, Naruto launched a devastating uppercut, launching him into the air, Naruto jumped after him, the nanites surrounding his forearm morphing into a Katana.
"Now!" yelled Batman, having explained the plan to everyone, as Superman and Wonder Woman dashed towards their airborne target.
Superman appeared behind Darkseid and held him in place while Naruto and Wonder Woman dashed forward and stabbed their respective blades toward Darkseid's face.
Darkseid raised his arms to protect his face, but the blades passed through his forearms like butter and stabbed themselves into the New god's eyes. Superman dive-bombed him from the sky and crashed him into the ground.
As the dust from the impact settled, Darkseid could be seen lying on the ground, blood flowing from his eyes, He soon attempted to get up but as he laid his hands on the ground to lift himself up, his hands crumbled into dust as he fell face-first in the ground with a shocked expression on his face.
"You are one tough Bastard" Naruto stated as he walked toward the humiliated god, "Did you really think you would walk away from the attack of my most dangerous weapon with just scorched arms " he came to a stop next to Darkseid, grabbed him by his throat and lifted him in the air, "It took a while but it did its job".
Nodding towards Cyborg, who created a boom tube for Apokolips, "Beaten, Humiliated, Blinded with both arms destroyed, think back to this moment if you ever dare to look towards Earth again. Because next time, I'll make sure nothing of you remains" With his threat delivered, Naruto tossed the broken god into the portal.
"That was cold" Green Lantern muttered as he looked away, Flash nodding along.
"Had to make sure" Naruto replied as he removed a cell phone from his pant pocket which had somehow survived the ordeal.
"Send a pickup near my location, there are several civilians in need of assistance" Naruto ordered and pocketed the phone.
"Wait, what about Kurama and Green Lanter" Flash questioned.
"They just arrived a few minutes prior" Naruto replied as he sat on a nearby boulder, "They have rescued everyone and destroyed the last tower as well".
"So, what now" Cyborg questioned.
"I'm hungry" Naruto replied as he laid on his back, "I could go for a hot bowl of ramen, I own this high-end restaurant uptown, the chef makes the most delicious food you'll ever eat, you are all welcome to join me" Naruto finished as he sat back up
"Free food" Flash responded, "Count me in".
The other agreed as well and with that, they left the scene.