My Audio Books Chapter 1254 Hh

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Caterpillar by grumpywolf

Naruto & Justice League Xover Rated: M, English, Adventure & Romance, [Naruto U., Diana of Themyscira/Wonder Woman] Kyuubi/Kurama, Words: 202k+, Favs: 5k+, Follows: 5k+, Published: Oct 7, 2020 Updated: Apr 15 3,216Chapter 27 - Break up

AN: New chapter up, enjoy!

Chapter 27 - Break up

"So this is where you live." Naruto said when he entered Wonder Woman's apartment. It was a very spacious and modern-looking apartment, on the top floor of a skyscraper, in New York. The floor-to-ceiling tall windows in the living room offered a gorgeous view of the city.

"Are you surprised?"

"A bit. I was expecting you to live in some ancient manor on a mountain or something."

"That was a dig at my age, wasn't it?" she said with narrowed eyes and slapped him on the butt, making him jump up startled. She laughed delighted at his reaction. "What? You've quite enjoyed touching my butt over the past week, I think I'm entitled to do the same with yours."

It was one of the very rare moments when Naruto's face became red.

"Fufu, so you do get flustered too~"

Grinning from one ear to another, she pressed a quick kiss on his lips and then slipped away, leaving an embarrassed Naruto behind. When she returned from her bedroom 3 minutes later, he saw that she had taken off her white and golden armour and put on some casual clothes instead: a pair of grey sweatpants and a baggy dark blue t-shirt. Despite the plain clothes, he felt like her pure beauty was shown even more than when she was wearing her glamourous armour.

"Don't just stand there, come, make yourself at home." Diana said as she grabbed his hands and pulled him to sit next to her on the sofa.

As Naruto took off his fur-collared cloak and put it on the armrest of the sofa, she looked at him silently, from head to toes.

"I think we should go and buy some normal clothes. You can't go around in your cloak and combat suit everywhere. People will look at you like you've come out of a sci-fi movie."

From an Earthling's point of view, it looked like the battle suit of a super-soldier from a sci-fi video game. There were matt metallic plates protecting his shoulders, his back, his chest and his shins, a utility belt around his waist and two holsters on his thighs that stored a particular type of daggers, daggers that had sealing formulas inscribed on their handles. Naturally, if Naruto was placed next to Earth's superheroes, compared to guys wearing bright red colours or their underwear above the pants, his attire would not catch anyone's eyes. But Diana was planning on spending time with Naruto without their armour, among regular civilians.

"So, when do you start your hero work again?" he asked.

"In 2 days, next week, on Monday."

"Want me to tag along with you? It would be fun to do some missions together." he said.

Diana hesitated.

"I'd love that...but I don't think it would sit well with the rest of the Justice League. Don't forget, you're still the boogeyman for them. It wasn't too long ago that you and Kurama destroyed a planet. They're still scared by that."

Naruto looked bummed out.

"Speaking of Kurama, I haven't known him for as long as you do but I think he's been acting strangely in the past few days."

After leaving the Watchtower and coming down to Earth, Kyuubi asked Naruto to drop him in the centre of Africa, somewhere in the middle of the continent's savanna.

"Now that you mentioned it, I see it too. He's been away for long periods at a time."

"Maybe it's because of me?" Diana asked. "Maybe he's trying to give us space and not feel like the 3rd wheel?"

Naruto looked at her in doubt.

"I don't know about that. I think he just felt in the mood to bully and beat up some lions. He's always doing that to the apex predators of any planet he goes to. Last time we came to Earth, he beat up and ate a bear in the Balkan Mountains, in Europe. Something about showing everyone who's the 'top dog'. But you may be right, he's been quite distant on Genesis Stadium too. I'll go talk to him today."

Then, he stood up and grabbed his cloak from the sofa, putting it back on.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"I'll go see Doctor Fate. He's helped me a great deal last time with purging the poisoned natural energy from my body. Since I'm back to Earth, I should pay him a visit. Do you wanna tag along?"

She shook her head.

"Maybe some other time. You go, I'll wait for you here, at home. You might even find a surprise when you come back."

Diana followed him to the door but when he was about to leave, she grabbed him by the cloak.

"Didn't you forget something?"

"What do you mean?" he asked, feigning ignorance.

"Naruto." she said in a warning voice.

He grinned at her glare. But he cupped her cheeks with his hands and kissed her on the lips. What was supposed to be a quick good-bye kiss became much longer when she wrapped her hands around him, not letting him go.

"At this rate, you'll make me not want to leave anymore." he said when they finally broke away.

She giggled and pecked him on the lips one more time.

"Now you're free to go." she said as she turned him around. Then, she slapped his ass one more time and pushed him out of the apartment. He did not even have the chance to object because she closed the door right after him.

"Good grief." he said in amusement. "Who is she and what has she done with the prudish princess from before?"

When they had just become a couple, Diana was bashful and she would flush over the smallest displays of affection from him. But it looked like that was a thing of the past. Now, it seemed like the saying 'what goes around comes around' was quite true because it was his turn to be flustered at her forward behaviour. During the elevator ride, he could see his still embarrassed face in the mirrors on the walls. But luckily, there were no other people to see him.

⁂

An over 100 feet long space ship landed at the outskirts of Salem, Massachusetts. In the clearing of a forest, there was only one simple building: a rather tall but very narrow quadrilateral tower made of bricks. There were no windows and no doors and the building itself did not look like anyone could live in it.

Naruto walked around the narrow tower with an expression of interest on his face. Behind the white mask covering his face, his slit pupils transformed into rectangular bars like that of a toad and an orange shade appeared around his eyes. After entering the Sage Mode, he became able to see the thick energy surrounding the tower. There was an entire network of spells covering it.

Confirming that he was at the right location, he cancelled his Sage Mode and his eyes returned to their previous appearance, red and slit, like the eyes of a fox.

"Doctor Fate? Do you hear me?"

At his call, one of the walls of the tower started to glow and a bright golden portal in the shape of an ankh appeared.

"Mr Uzumaki, do come in." a voice came from the beyond the portal.

Once he stepped through the portal, he found himself inside a rather dark room. It was not to the point of not seeing his surroundings but the lack of natural light and the dark red undertone gave the room a mystical feeling.

"Welcome to my humble abode." an old man greeted Naruto. He had grey hair and he was dressed no different than other men of his apparent age on Earth.

"Nothing humble about this place." Naruto said with a chuckle. "If I'm not mistaken, this is a pocket dimension, isn't it?"

"I take it it's not the first time you've seen one?" Doctor Fate asked.

"You can say that, yes."

"What brings you here, today? Do you need my help?" the sorcerer inquired.

Naruto shook his head.

"No, everything is good. I just returned to Earth today and I come to say hi. Sorry for coming in uninvited."

Doctor Fater turned his head and called out:

"Inza, dear, we have a guest. Do you mind bringing the refreshments?"

Then, he showed Naruto to a couch and they sat down next to a coffee table.

"I've looked at your tower with my Sage Mode for a bit. There's an impressive number of spells. I wouldn't be too far off to call this place a fortress."

"I've made many enemies over the years. Enemies that are far more dangerous than the average thug, beings of a magical nature. As a sorcerer, I can never be too careful." Doctor Fate replied.

Naruto took out a scroll from one of the pockets of his utility belt and, under the sorcerer's curious eyes, he unfurled it on the coffee table, revealing the sealing diagram and kanji drawn on it. Then, he placed his hand on the seal and, with a puff of smoke, a communication tablet - a lightwave device appeared in his hand.

"Most intriguing. I didn't know you were a magician too."

"Magician is a very broad term, you know that better than I do. But yes, you could say I am wielding magic powers too." Naruto admitted.

He could create small dimensions in his sealing scrolls to store objects, but that was nothing impressive in comparison to Doctor Fate who created a pocket dimension that could even hold living beings - they were in it right now. Naruto was clearly aware of Doctor Fate's superiority when it came to magic. In the first place, chakra was more like a cousin of the true magical power and it was used mostly for battle, not for fine and detailed spells. To cast detailed 'spells', the use of a fuinjutsu technique was necessary, an array with formulas that would control chakra way better than a living being was capable of.

Just then, a beautiful woman that looked like she was in her mid-thirties entered the living room pushing a trolley with cookies and nectar. Wearing ankh-like earings and emitting an aura of tranquillity, she was none other than Inza, Doctor Fate's wife.

"Diana told me that Earthlings have a custom to give their friends presents during the winter holiday. I know it's still early but I wanted to offer it to you now so I won't disturb you at that time."

Doctor Fate looked at Naruto in surprise.

"Oh my!"

The sorcerer was momentarily distracted. He had only helped cure Naruto at the request of the Justice League. He had not expected that the alien would come to think of him as a friend from something as 'insignificant' as that.

"You're a sorcerer and very wealthy man at that. I didn't know what else to give you. This is a communication device. You can contact me through it, no matter where in the Universe I am, even if I'm at 10 galaxies away. It's a technology belonging to the New Gods of New Genesis."

Then, he grabbed a cookie from the table and bit from it.

"I know you are powerful and don't need anyone's help. But the Universe is a large place and you never know what could happen next. If you ever find yourself in a tight spot, I will help you. It's a promise."

⁂

By the time he left Doctor Fate's tower, it was dark outside. It was the beginning of December and night came much faster than before. There were almost 300 miles from Salem in Massachusetts to New York City but Naruto covered that distance with his spaceship in a few minutes. Flying above New York at night gave him a very beautiful view of the city.

He was in a great mood as he rode the elevator towards the top floor of the building where Wonder Woman's apartment was. A smile involuntarily appeared on his face when he knocked on the door. Seeing that nobody was answering, he opened the door by himself. But then, a thick cloud of smoke blasted him in the face and he momentarily lost his breath.

"What the hell? Diana! Diana!"

He closed the door and ran into the apartment worried that something happened to her.

"I'm here!"

Following the direction of her yell, Naruto arrived in the kitchen. In there, the smoke was so dense that he could almost not see his hand in front of his eyes. And there she was: wearing an apron and with a bowl in her hand, Wonder Woman was...cooking.

"W-What are you doing?" he asked.

Just as he was speaking, Wonder Woman poured the bowl of water in her hands over the pan on the stove. The boiling oil blew up at the contact with the cold water and the pan was blasted off the stove. The smoke in the kitchen became even denser than before and, as on cue, it started to shower from the ceiling in the entire house as the fire suppression system was activated.

And, if that was not enough, only a few moments later, the entrance door was roughly opened and a squad of firefighters burst inside, fully geared to combat the fire. Worried because of the intense smell of smoke, her neighbours had called the fire department.

⁂

After they dealt with the firefighters and they stopped the fire-suppression system from dousing the entire house with water, they had to hire the services of a specialized company to clean up the mess. Nevertheless, they would not be able to come back and live there for the next 2-3 days or more.

Now, two hours later, they were inside a hotel room, sitting in the suite's living room in silence. The rims of Diana's eyes were red and she looked like she was going to cry at any moment. Eventually, she buried her face in her hands and she really started to cry.

As for Naruto, he was torn between wanting to laugh and wanting to comfort her. He came next to her and put an arm around her, rubbing her back softly.

"Hey, don't cry. It's okay, nothing happened." he tried to soothe her.

"I'm sorry. I wanted to give you a surprise but I'm so useless. I never cooked before." Wonder Woman sobbed.

At that, Naruto had to bite his tongue to not laugh. Luckily, she was still with her face in her palms or she would have seen the traitorous grin on his face. As amusing as the situation was for him he gradually became more serious when he realized that she was actually crying for real. In the end, Diana cried herself to sleep in his arms, much to his stupefaction.

He took her in his arms and carried her to the suite's bedroom. Looking at her tear-stained cheeks, he caressed her gently. He tucked a stray strand of her black hair behind her ear and kissed her forehead. After that, he left the bedroom and closed the door after him.

'Why did she cry so hard? What was she so upset for?' Naruto thought to himself. 'Maybe because she ruined her apartment? But she didn't strike me as someone who cares about material possessions that much. Besides, I have enough gold to exchange into Earth's currency and buy another place if I wanted. And I'm sure she has plenty of money too.'

He could not help feeling confused. He wanted to ask for someone else's opinion but Kyuubi was not there and he did not really have other close friends to ask for advice either.

'Maybe I'll find an answer on the internet.'

When they left the apartment, Wonder Woman had taken a small laptop with her too, among several other things. By chance, it was still working, it had not been ruined by the water pouring from the ceiling. As he turned it on, he noticed that it had been in sleep mode and that a program was already running. It was Internet Explorer and there was a page opened too.

10 ways to show your significant other that you appreciate him

1. Compliment him. Tell him that he is handsome and that [...]

2. Cook for him. The fastest way to a man's heart is through his stomach. Few things make men feel as happy as the image of their wife waiting for them at home with warm food and a smile after an entire day at work.

3. Give him long hugs [...]

Suddenly, Wonder Woman's earlier behaviour made a lot more sense to him. Naruto palmed his forehead and laugh in a mixture of disbelief and amusement, exasperation even.

"Yare, yare...That's what you've been crying your eyes out for?"

It turned out that the reason for her crying had not been her ruined apartment but the fact that she could not cook to make him happy. But he had never had such expectations from her in the first place. He knew that she had been raised as a warrior. He was not expecting from her to suddenly act like a housewife and cook for him and do chores.

'To think you were that self-conscious about this. You dummy...' he thought, his heart filled with warmth.

⁂

In contrast to the fluffy and feel-good feelings Naruto was experiencing at that moment, other people were not having it as easy. For example, inside a restaurant in Metropolis City, Superman was feeling quite miserable that evening.

"That's it? We're gonna end it just like that?" a woman said revolted.

She was dressed in a very elegant black dress, wearing heels and her black hair fell in waves over her back.

"I thought you invited me out for a romantic dinner not that you were going to break up with me!"

Clark Kent exhaled loudly and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Don't tell me you haven't seen it yet, Lois. It just doesn't work. We have different views and none of us is willing to compromise. We end up arguing almost every time when we go out on dates."

"So you're going to just give up? Am I the only one that cared about this relationship? Hah! I get it! You're a superhero so you can get any woman you want. No point in staying with a nagging, lowly journalist like me, is that it?"

Superman looked around worried that someone heard her saying that he was a superhero and frowned.

"I thought you knew me better than that." he said.

"Yes. I also thought I knew you better than that but it turned out Clark Kent was-"

"Lois!" Superman almost shouted and Lois Lane abruptly shut up.

A few heads turned to look at their table and one of the waiters came to them.

"Sir, with all due respect, we would appreciate it if you lowered your voices to not disturb the other customers."

"We apologise." he said awkwardly. The waiter nodded and then went to clean another table of empty dishes.

Turning towards Lois Lane, Superman said:

"Let's talk like adults, without pointing fingers and throwing insults."

Taking her silence as her expressing her agreement, he continued:

"This relationship doesn't make sense when we're both doing nothing but argue and hurting each other. Your father also never liked me in the first place and he isn't exactly subtle about it. Furthermore,"

"This is about my latest article on the protest, isn't it?" she asked.

Superman couldn't remember when was the last time he intentionally hit a woman but he felt like he really wanted to smack her at that moment.

"Are you not hearing what I'm saying!?"

"What's there to listen to? Your Justice League work is more important than me. It's as simple as that." she accused.

He sighed in irritation. At one point, he had thought that he was in love with Lois Lane but he getting more disillusioned with her the better he got to know her.

'Lana dropped everything and flew over the ocean to help me when people believed that Clark Kent had been assassinated and she betrayed Lex Luthor too, putting her life in danger for my sake, while we were nothing but friends. And then here's Lois for whom my feelings didn't matter as much as a damned newspaper headline.'

Any hesitation that he might have had before that evening about ending his relationship with Lois Lane vanished at that moment.

"Looks like it doesn't matter what I say, you'll ignore it anyway. Since that's the case, I'll stop trying to explain myself. It's just not working between us. But I hope you're smart enough to not reveal my identity. It won't end well for you."

Lois Lane clenched her fists.

"Are you threatening me? You think I'm afraid that you'll-"

"I won't have to do anything." Superman cut her off and said. "There are hundreds of metahumans and death-row criminals that would love nothing more than to have the chance to hurt me or those close to me. If that day when my identity is leaked comes, I will make sure to protect my Ma and Pa. But I will leave you to the wolves. And you should be well aware of how incompetent the police and even the army are when it comes to dealing with metahumans. Yes, even your father, General Lane, won't be able to keep you safe. And the only one to blame will be yourself."

Seeing how Lois Lane was livid with anger, Superman shook his head. That was not how he had wanted to end things between the two of them. He had wanted to part ways amicably and remain friends after that. Now, he regretted that he had ever confided his true identity to her.

"See you at work tomorrow." Superman said and he stood up from the table to leave.

After he made several steps, he heard her calling:

"Kent!"

He turned around to look at her.

"You're right, I am smart enough to know to keep my mouth shut. But trust me when I say this, I'll make you regret it!" she said.

"Oh, I am regretting it already. Good-bye, Lois."

Then, he left without sparing her a glance.

Though he was at quite a distance from the restaurant already, his superhearing caught the shout of anger Lois Lane let out after he left and subsequently the yelling match she got into with the waiter after he politely asked her to leave. Slightly shaking his head, he went into a side alley and, in a blur of movements, he changed from his elegant dress suit into his red and blue superhero costume. After that, he took flight and left Metropolis.

As he flew, his mind went to a redhead woman, her teasing smile and her mischievous eyes. Thinking about Lana Lang, his bad mood from his fight with his now ex-girlfriend gradually dissipated and he smiled. But little did Superman know that Lois Lane would keep her promise and that it would happen very soon, much sooner than he would have imagined.

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Caterpillar by grumpywolf

AN: New chapter up, enjoy!

Chapter 28 - Maxwell Lord (I)

Clark Kent took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose tiredly. Due to his Kryptonian physiology he hardly ever got tired but nowadays he felt drained. It was a tiredness of the mind.

"Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, huh?" he muttered to himself.

He put the newspaper on the table and grabbed his mug of coffee to sip from it. Though he put the newspaper aside, his eyes were still drawn to the very eye-catching headline on the first page, written with big bold letters:

I won't kill you but your hospital bill will by Lois Lane.

It was an article on the most recent incident that Superman had been involved in. He had thwarted the attempts of some criminals at re-establishing the Intergang but, maybe because of his bitter past with the Intergang, or maybe because the past few weeks of stress were starting to get to him, he had been a bit careless with his strength and one of the criminals ended up with a broken leg.

Two weeks passed since Superman broke up with Lois Lane and the journalist had not missed even one chance to write some biting articles directed not just at him but at the entirety of the Justice League. Naturally, that also led to conflicts with his teammates.

"I told you to not do something stupid! I told you that you'd implicate everyone with you!"

Batman's shouts were still ringing in his ears.

'With every passing day, I start to understand more and more my other self from the alternate dimension. Can't the others see that we're doing all we can to help?!'

He had a belly full of anger. To distract himself from his anger-inducing thoughts, he put the mug back on the coffee table and picked the newspaper again. He flipped the pages until he reached the tabloid section, hoping to drown his thoughts with mindless gossip.

Maxwell Lord IV and Lois Lane, together?

Billionaires are flocking to the star journalist of Daily Planet like moths to a flame. Years ago, it was Lex Luthor; then, it was Bruce Wayne. Now, it looks like Maxwell Lord IV fell prey to Lois Lane's charms. We can't help but wonder - what is her secret to attracting wealthy and powerful men? [...]

The newspaper's page crumpled in Superman's grip and he threw it back on the coffee table. He felt like the anger and frustration that he had bottled up over the past few weeks were on the point of blowing up. He was almost hoping for some clueless alien to attempt to invade the Earth so he could have an excuse to let loose.

He went to the bathroom and splashed some cold water on his face.

'That's a dangerous way of thinking.' he chastised himself. 'I should take a few days off from work. I'll go home, back to Kansas.'

He was hoping that a few days spent together with his Ma and Pa would help in alleviating some of his stress and anger. He needed a break from all this drama and back-and-forth with the mass media.

⁂

"This movie was AWESOME!"

"No, it was not! Horribly inaccurate and lots of unneeded violence. Especially the rape scene was completely unnecessary. I knew King Leonidas' wife personally. She would never have sex with someone else than her husband for any kind of favours!"

Naruto and Wonder Woman were on their way out of a movie theatre. They had just watched together one of the most popular movies that year - "the 300". But their opinions on it could not be any more different.

"It wasn't exactly rape. She agreed to it." Naruto said.

"It was coercion. You go to someone and put a knife at his neck and ask for their purse. Of course that they will 'agree' to hand it to you." Diana shot back.

He raised his hands in surrender.

"But that wasn't the focus of the movie."

She sniffed and said:

"Mhm. The focus was on the glorification of the Spartans against the invaders."

Naruto sighed. Over the past few weeks since they started living together, he naturally noticed how biased Wonder Woman was against men in general. A biting remark here, a condescending one there; it was not often and she never said bad things about good men. But she was full of spite against those like the rap singers and other similar people that disregarded women.

"Ok, ok, I get it. You still have to admit it - that "this is Sparta" moment was incredible. Phew, I get the chills just thinking about it!" Naruto said and he pulled up the sleeve of his top to show the goosebumps on his forearm.

"You're strong enough to destroy planets but something like that pumped you up?" she said. She could not help giggling.

"It's different!" he retorted. "He was just like the rest. An ordinary man, with no superpowers, no technology, nothing. The Persian Empire was a behemoth. Compared to them, he was an ant. To have the balls to do something like that ... ... phew! I don't know what I would've done in his place."

Though they had contrasting opinions about the movie, their discussion was engaging and they had fun as they tried to win the 'argument' on whether the movie had been good or bad. But they stopped their back-and-forth when they came out of the cinema's building and saw the street packed with people. Thousands were marching together with banners and yelling chants.

"We demand justice!"

"Down with the Justice League!"

Naruto and Diana looked at each other for a moment.

"The hell is going on?" he asked.

Obviously, he could see what was happening but he was asking what had sparked this protest.

"Two hours ago, before the movie started, there was no sign of protests or anything. No way this was spontaneous. Someone organised this, I'm sure of it!" Diana said.

Naruto took his newly purchased smartphone from his pocket and accessed the internet. Typing 'breaking news usa' in the search bar of the searching engine, he found what was going on.

"Let's go somewhere else." he said and he put an arm around Wonder Woman's waist. Then, the two of them vanished, leaving only a few arcs of light behind.

A moment later, they appeared on top of one of the nearby skyscrapers. When they looked at the scenery below, they realized that situation was much worse than they had initially thought. There was an ocean of people below, tens of thousands of them and more were gathering by the minute. It was 5 pm - the peak of the rush hours in New York City - but the entire traffic in the centre of the city was frozen.

"You have to see this." Naruto said and showed her his smartphone.

He tapped on the first result of the searching engine and he was redirected to youtube.

Batman throws man off an 8 story building

It was a blurry video, apparently recorded by a security camera if the low quality was anything to go by.

"Tell me! Who do you work for?" Batman in the video screamed with his growl-like voice and shook a middle-aged man by his collar.

"I don't know! I swear!"

At his answer, Batman dragged the struggling man by his clothes to the edge of the building's roof and pushed him until he almost fell off. The man screamed in terror.

"Tell me!" Batman shouted and pushed him completely off the roof, now only holding the man by his clothes, suspended in the air.

"Please! I can't tell you! He'll kill my family if I said anything! Please!" the man screamed and he started to struggle desperately. But his wild struggle made the hem of his collar rip in Batman's hands and he fell.

The screen went black and then a few written lines appeared:

The man survived the fall but the doctors think he will be paralyzed for life. These are the 'heroes' that protect us.

It was a very short video with amateurish editing and the title was a massive clickbait - Batman had obviously not thrown the man, it had been an accident - but although it had been posted only 3 hours before, it already had over 20 million views and the number was increasing crazily with every passing second.

"This is bad." Diana said, a grave look on her face.

She often acted as the spokesperson of the Justice League, along with Martian Manhunter because they were the best people to interact with the mass-media. Diana had been blessed with goddess Athena's wisdom and she was a stoic, no-nonsense type of woman when interacting with people outside of her very small social circle. As for Martian Manhunter, he was also over 1000 years old and he was a full-fledged alien at that. The reporters were having a hard time getting up and personal with the two of them and they had never managed to make them say stupid things on TV, to get a rise out of them, or to get them stuck with tricky questions.

However, in the current situation, even Wonder Woman did not know how was she going to justify Batman's behaviour in eyes of the general population.

⁂

Two days later, Martian Manhunter and Superman were inside a spacious and luxurious office. In front of them, Maxwell Lord IV was sitting at his desk with his hands linked together under his chin.

"My parents taught me to lend a helping hand to those that need it. That's why I offered the Justice League my support in running their operations. But, throwing people off buildings? That's not what I signed for."

He stood up from his seat and put his hands behind his back as he looked through the wide windows at the city below.

"In the lights of the current events, I decided to retract my sponsorship of the Justice League."

"If you watched the video, you would know it was an accident!" Superman started to say incensed but Martian Manhunter's voice rang in his mind at that moment.

'Superman, we've agreed that you'd let me do the talking.'

The Man of Steel took a deep breath and became silent.

"An accident it may have been but the reality is that a man was paralyzed because Batman decided it was a good idea to dangle him a hundred feet in the air from the hem of his clothes." the billionaire said.

"In the process of apprehending the criminals, mistakes do happen. I am not saying it is a good thing but it is a reality, regardless of whether one wants to accept it or not. The police has its fair share of cases of unwarranted brutality and use of lethal force but the government still finances it. Why? Because society needs the police to function. Cancelling our relationship because of one isolated incident is irrational. The world needs the Justice League."

At Martian Manhunter's words, Maxwell Lord IV became silent for a while.

"Your words are not wrong. Without the Justice League, the criminals would run amok as they pleased. However, I stand by my decision."

"WHY?" Superman shouted, unable to hold in his anger anymore.

Unfazed by the Kryptonian's outburst, Maxwell Lord replied:

"I may be a philanthropist but, first and foremost, I am a businessman. The general view of the Justice League is worse than ever. If I continued to support an organisation that throws people off the buildings my company's image would be dirtied too."

The door of the office was opened and a black-haired woman wearing a purple blazer and a white skirt entered the office.

"Lois, honey, what are you doing here?" Maxwell Lord asked.

"I had a feeling the Justice League would be here today so I kept an eye open for the opportunity."

"With all due respect, this is a private discussion. Mass-media is not welcome." Martian Manhunter interrupted.

"Oh, don't worry. Lois is ok, she is my fiance." the billionaire said and the woman raised her hand to show them the gaudy diamond ring glittering on her finger.

In the end, Martian Manhunter could not change the billionaire's mind. Maxwell Lord IV stopped his sponsorship of the Justice League.

Through it all, despite his outburst at the beginning, after Lois Lane's appearance, Superman had been completely silent. Stone-faced, he had not made even a sound until they left.

⁂

After more than two weeks of just lazying around, Naruto was getting bored. Wonder Woman was often away, busy with Justice League work and fighting crime while he had nothing to do except for staying at home, wasting his time on the internet.

"I wanna take a job tomorrow." Naruto said while he and Diana were having a walk through Central Park, in the evening.

Wonder Woman took her time to reply.

"I'm sorry things are the way they are. I hoped we could spend more time together but there are so many problems that I barely have any free time to be with you."

Naruto came in front of her and stopped, making her look at him.

"Why are you apologising? I love every single moment we spend together."

"But the atmosphere here ... ..." she trailed off and let out a sigh.

Just then, a big snowflake landed on Diana's nose and Naruto chuckled.

"I don't really care what's going on here. As long as I can see you smile every day, nothing else matters."

"That was so corny." Diana said but she took the initiative to embrace him and rest her chin on his shoulder.

When they parted, Naruto wrapped his scarf higher up his face, to cover the scars on his cheeks, leaving only his red eyes and strawberry-blonde hair visible.

"You're still so self-conscious about your scars? I told you I think they're really cute!" she said and brought a hand up to pinch his cheek.

"Pot calling the kettle back. You forgot how you cried yourself to sleep after you destroyed your kitchen?" he said and laughed.

"Shut up"

He took her hand in his and then they started walking again. It was late in the evening and it was snowing. There were almost no people at all in the park at that time. But for the two of them, it did not matter. They enjoyed the tranquillity, the beauty of the snowy paysage and the warmth of each other's hand.

"It's going to be a short bounty. An information broker sent me a message that the Thanagarians are requesting my services. I accepted it because the reward is something that piqued my interest."

"Do you really have to go?" Diana asked with a pout. "You promised we'll spend Christmas and the New Year together, didn't you? What was it that you said? - I never go back on my word."

"Christmas is on the 24th, isn't it? Today is the 18th. I have plenty of time to return. I will keep my promise to be with you here on Christmas and on the New Year too."

"Even sooo, I will be lonely." she said.

The way she was whining and pouting brought a big smile on his face.

"It won't be long, princess. I should be back in 2 or 3 days tops." he said and brought her hand up to kiss it. "You're going to love what I'll bring you when I come back."

"What is it?" she asked.

"Hmm, won't tell you now. Don't wanna spoil the surprise."

"Don't be like that! You can't just leave me hanging!" she said and pulled on his hand.

"But I can. Watch me!"

However, it was just a front. He knew he had no chance to resist her. He caved in at her pout in a matter of seconds.

"It's an Asbsorbacron. A Thanagarian device. As for what it does~ hehe, that's for me to know and for you to find out." and as he said that, he jumped back to dodge a poke at his ribs.

Joking around and teasing each other, eventually, they left Central Park and headed back to Wonder Woman's apartment.

The next day, in the early morning, fox and man left the Earth on their spaceship, not knowing what world-changing events would take place in their absence.

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Caterpillar by grumpywolf

AN: New chapter up, enjoy!

Chapter 29 - Brother Eye

What Earthlings recognized as the North Star was located at ~300 light-years away from Earth. But what very few people on Earth knew was that Polaris System was also the birthplace of the Thanagar Empire, one of the most technologically-advanced civilisations in the galaxy. When it came to interstellar distances, 300 light-years was considered very short - after all, just Milky Way alone was more than 100,000 light-years across. With that said, when Naruto input the coordinates to trigger the space-warp, he knew that their journey was going to be very short, hence also why he had told Wonder Woman he would be back in 2-3 days tops.

"Something on your mind, Kurama?" Naruto asked without looking at the fox curled up on the co-pilot's seat. Instead, he stared at the spectacle of grey, white and black lights that could be seen through the cockpit's window, as they travelled through the wormhole.

When the fox didn't reply, he said bluntly:

"Are you bothered by Diana?"

"Why would I be bothered by her?" Kyuubi said and opened just one of his eyes to look at him briefly before closing it again, looking as if he was sleeping.

"I don't know, man. You've been distant as of late. Sometimes we don't see you for days. You've even stopped pestering me for food like you normally do. You're acting weird."

"That's what worries you? That I don't eat?" the fox said with a chuckle.

"There's something on your mind and I know it. Even Diana noticed it and she hasn't known you for as long as I do."

A momentary silence instilled.

"I just want you to know that you don't have to feel like you're the 3rd wheel or something. You're the most important person in my life, even more than her. We're brothers for life, Kurama."

"Look at you getting all mushy and sentimental." Kyuubi jeered but Naruto who had known the fox for over a century recognized that he was embarrassed. "I'm telling you it's not about Diana! Who was the one that liked her from the beginning? Try to remember. It was me!"

When he heard his words, Naruto realized that his worries were for nothing.

'He's right, I used to tease him about his infatuation with her belly rubs. He liked her even before me... Come to think of it, didn't he act like a wingman for us? Kurama, the matchmaker.'

He chuckled to himself at that thought.

"Then what's wrong with you?"

Kyuubi looked like he was debating whether to tell him or not.

"I-, ..."

"Oh come on already, spit it out!" Naruto said, getting annoyed at how the fox kept beating around the bush.

"I'm hearing voices." the fox eventually said, a look of defeat on his face.

Naruto looked at him as if to make sure the fox was not messing with him.

"Are you for real?"

"I don't know what's going on either, ok?" Kyuubi said in frustration.

"Maybe you're finally going nuts? I mean I wouldn't be so surprised when I look at your age." Naruto said jokingly.

"That's exactly why I didn't wanna tell you! I knew you'd laugh!" the fox shouted.

"Alright, alright, sorry." Naruto raised his hands and apologised.

"It started a few months ago. At first, it happened rarely, once in a while. But it's gotten worse as of late. Now, whenever I'm awake, I hear broken parts of sentences, from multiple voices at the same time and I can't understand what they're saying. It's like a constant buzz in my head."

"A few months ago? Hmm, what could have triggered that?"

"It started happening after we killed the Psions." Kyuubi said quietly.

Naruto looked at him with a hint of nervousness on his face.

"You think maybe-... maybe their ghosts are haunting you?"

His sudden meek demeanour made the fox burst into laughter. Though a century passed since he was a teenager, Naruto still showed signs of discomfort when talks about ghosts were brought up.

"Don't be stupid. Ghosts don't exist." the fox said.

"Mhm. Magic is not real either and gods and demons are myths too, aren't they? A fox cub transforming into a mile-long behemoth and blowing up a planet is impossible too, isn't it?"

"Point taken..." Kyuubi admitted.

"I think we'll have to visit Doctor Fate when we come back. He's a sorcerer; he might know something about this voodoo stuff."

⁂

"I'm aware of how rare and valuable Absorbascons are but that is not enough to pay for my services," Naruto said.

The winged man sitting across the table frowned behind his golden helmet. It was one of the envoys of the Ruling Council of Thanagar, sent to seal the deal with the mercenary Caterpillar.

"Your information broker said that the payment was just fine." the Thanagarian said.

"For espionage? Yes. But for assassination? Not even close. Regular assassination missions can cost up to 4 times more. They can be even more expensive than that, depending on the difficulty and other circumstances - like you wanting me to pose as a Gordanian to make them think that there was a traitor in their ranks that killed their commander and sow discord."

Initially, the bounty was supposed to be about Naruto breaking into one of Gordanian's asteroid bases in the Vega System and stealing their intelligence. A simple espionage mission. With his Henge or his camouflage jutsu - the one that made him almost invisible - espionage missions were a piece of cake for him. But now, the Thanagarians wanted him to also assassinate the Commander of the Gordanian forces stationed in that asteroid base.

The envoy kept being pushy and trying to convince him to take the job for nearly 15 minutes. Eventually, getting annoyed, Naruto said:

"I don't negotiate my jobs like in a bazaar. You don't get to haggle over the price of my services. If you don't like it, hire someone else."

His words would make strangers that heard him think that he was full of himself but Caterpillar was one of the most sought-after mercenaries in the Milky Way galaxy and beyond. His information brokers had enough deals for him to work for several years without running out of bounties. It was not Caterpillar who had to beg for jobs but it was his employers that had to beg him to work for them. His nigh perfect mission completion rate and his good name made him a very desired bounty hunter. The fame he had built for himself over the past century as an intergalactic mercenary was nothing to scoff at.

The envoy gave up.

"What is your price then?"

"For a pure espionage mission, as we've agreed beforehand, an Absorbascon is enough. But if you want me to impersonate a Gordanian and assassinate the Commander of the asteroid base, I want something more. I want the Nth metal."

The Thanagarian jumped to his feet as if burned.

"Impossible!" he almost shouted.

Nth metal was unique in the Universe. It was the Thanagar Empire's most prized possession. While weapons forged from the Nth metal could not be said to be sentient, the fact remained that unless one bonded with the metal, they would not be able to bring out its full capabilities. In the hands of a regular person, the weapon would just be a durable tool with the propriety to disrupt magic. However, Nth metal possessed many other miraculous abilities that would surface only after one bonded with it. Abilities such as increasing the self-regeneration of the wielder, granting them the ability to fly, the ability to store energy for later use and so on. But the method to bond with Nth metal was known only by the Thanagarians. It was their pride and the secret of their power.

Naruto shrugged his shoulders and stood up.

"Then I guess our conversation is over."

The Thangarian also stood up and said in a hurry:

"W-Wait! Giving you Nth metal is impossible! For thousands of years, we've never given it to an outsider! But we can give you anything else, you name it! We can even give you a position as a vassal to the Empire, to rule over one of our colonies if authority is what you desire."

The envoy looked at the mercenary as if to gauge his reaction but because of the white fox mask he was wearing, he could not see his face. Nervously he added quickly:

"Or maybe something of value? Advanced weaponry, ancient artefacts, the newest model of military spaceships, precious minerals or-"

"I don't care about that stuff. The Nth metal is the only thing that interests me. Either that or nothing." Naruto cut him off and said.

Ever since he had come to terms with the fact that he could not find a way back home, he stopped caring as much about wealth because he no longer needed to finance expeditions across the Universe and in the void outside the 3600 sectors. Nowadays, he only cared about bounties that had interesting rewards for him.

In the end, the two of them could not come to terms and the deal fell apart.

⁂

"Damn, I wasted time and fuel for nothing," Naruto grumbled during the space-warp on his way back to Earth.

Then again, it was not exactly the first time a deal fell apart due to his employers thinking that his price was too high so he was not disheartened about it. He was just annoyed that he had missed out on watching Wonder Woman's sleeping face that morning for no reason. But his mood brightened when the ship came out of the wormhole and a blue planet could be seen in the distance.

When he got closer to the exosphere of the planet, two space-ships barred his way. The Watchtower had detected him and some of the Justice League's members came to check who he who. Nonetheless, being in a relationship with Wonder Woman meant that there was nobody in the Justice League who had not heard of him before. He was allowed access without any difficulties.

As he flew towards the Northeastern coast of the USA, he thought about the dense network of satellites surrounding the planet.

'It looks like security is even tighter than when I came to Earth the first time. I should have a talk with Diana about this.'

⁂

"Hey, I've returned."

"Already? You said you'd be away for 2-3 days." Diana's surprised voice came from the other end of the line.

"The deal fell apart. They thought I was asking for too much. Nevermind that, where are you?" he asked.

Currently, he was in Wonder Woman's apartment in New York but she was not there despite that it was late in the evening.

"At the hospital wing-"

"Are you ok?! Who happened, who hurt you?" Naruto asked quickly.

"Relax, dummy, I'm okay. But Batman isn't. Superman beat him badly, to an inch of his life."

"The hell...?"

"I know, right? We've never seen that coming either. It was so out of the blue. Earlier today, Superman went and destroyed his Batcave and beat him into a coma. Batman is still unconscious. The Justice League is looking for Superman everywhere but he's nowhere to be found."

As he talked to her, he also turned on her laptop and searched on the internet to see if the general population got wind of what had transpired. But, to his surprise, it looked like they more than found what happened.

"Do you know there's even a video of how Superman beat up Batman?"

"Yes, I watched it too. I don't understand how in the world did the mass media get their hands on that. It makes no sense. The Batcave is a secure place, not known by anyone. The only logical explanation would be that someone close to Batman secretly filmed the scene and posted it. But that makes no sense either because the only person he's close to would easily trade his life for him if needed."

Though Wonder Woman and Naruto were together and extremely close to each other, she never divulged her teammates' identity to him and he had also never put her in a rough position by asking her of it. The Justice League's civilian identities were their secrets and she would never betray their trust. That's why she did not say Alfred's name when she spoke of the person close to Batman.

"Are you aware of the network of satellites monitoring the Earth?" Naruto asked. "I've meant to talk to you about this a few weeks ago but other things came up and I forgot about it until recently."

"You mean the Watchtower?"

"No, I'm talking about the other several thousands of smaller satellites orbiting the Earth."

On the other end of the phone call, Diana became silent.

"I noticed it the first time I came to Earth but it looks like the number increased over the past few months. You should talk about it with the rest of the Justice League. If you're not in control of it, then it means that someone has been watching all your movements for a long time already. The video of Batman dropping that guy from the rooftop and then the video of Superman beating him up in the Batcave - only someone in control of that network of satellites would be able to get them."

"Even if an enemy is controlling that network of satellites, how would they get a hold of a video from Batman's Batcave, a secret location known to only a handful of people?"

"If someone can control so many satellites at once, how hard do you think it would be for them to hack someone's device and use the camera installed in it? For all we know, they could use your phone's camera and mic or your laptop's webcam. Anything."

"Is something like that even possible?!" Wonder Woman asked a little shocked by the huge implications.

"A human might not be capable of doing it but what about a machine? There are AIs out there capable of doing incredible things. Brainiac, the one who destroyed the Kryptonians was an AI too. The Justice League needs to investigate this seriously. Someone has been pulling the strings from the shadows for a long time. The manipulation of the public opinion against the Justice League and the anti-metahuman movement that escalated in the past few months are probably related to that guy too."

⁂

In the wee hours of the morning, Batman woke up. He tried to sit up but he fell back and let out a groan at the feeling of pain wracking his body. The sound he made attracted the attention of Martian Manhunter who was sitting on a stool next to his bed. He was the only one that stayed overnight to watch over him.

"Don't try to sit up. You have a broken neck and multiple rib fractures. Superman almost killed you."

At the Martian's words, Batman became aware of the cast around his neck and the bandages wrapped around his body. He looked like a mummy. It was the most brutal beating that he had ever taken in his life.

"It wasn't Superman." Batman said in a raspy voice. His throat was sore.

Martian Manhunter took a bottle of water from the nightstand and helped him drink from it.

"It wasn't him? But there's even a video of how he attacked you."

"It was him, but he was not in control of himself. Someone is mind-controlling him."

A grave expression appeared on the Martian's face.

"If it's going to be a repeat of what happened when Darkseid brainwashed him, people would never forgive him again. He has to be stopped." Batman said. It was as if he was more worried about Superman's situation than the fact that his entire body was one big bruise and that he had multiple broken bones.

"The Justice League is looking for him but he's nowhere to be found." Martian Manhunter said.

With gritted teeth, Batman forced himself into a standing position. When the Martian tried to stop him, he glared at him.

"You can either help me get up or stand aside!"

"But your injuries are very serious this time. If you don't-"

"J'onn!" Batman rarely called anyone by their real names. It showed how urgent was the situation. "If I get access to a computer, I will find Superman in a matter of minutes, no matter where he is hiding."

Though he was still hesitating, Martian Manhunter took Batman in his arms and carried him to the supercomputer in the Watchtower's control room. Worried looks were thrown their way from the Justice League members that they encountered after they left the hospital wing. Everyone knew what had happened to him.

His face was glistening with cold sweat from the pain coursing through his body as he stood on the chair in front of the computer but he just clenched his teeth and endured. He started operating the computer and a window with a username and a password section appeared. But after filling the boxes, a red text appeared on the screen:

Administrator rights revoked. Access denied.

"What?! How is this possible?!" Batman shouted and slammed his fists on the keyboard. Even someone as composed and as in control of his emotions as him was greatly disturbed by the new development.

The network of thousands of satellites orbiting the Earth that Naruto spoke to Diana about had been created by Batman. He was also the one that had created the artificial intelligence that administrated it. However, now, he could no longer access it. He had lost control of it.

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Caterpillar by grumpywolf

AN: New chapter up, enjoy!

Chapter 30 - Maxwell Lord (II)

"Are you saying you've been spying on us the whole time?!" Green Lantern shouted incensed.

He was not the only one. Even a good-natured person like Flash was disturbed by the news. Martian Manhunter was frowning deeply too. But Wonder Woman was not that taken aback by the news because she had always been aware of Batman's deep mistrust towards other people. Furthermore, Naruto had already warned her about the network of satellites.

Although the Justice League had over 100 members at the present, it was still only the old members that led it. With Hawkgirl retired and gone back to her homeworld and with Superman's whereabouts unknown, there were only 5 of them in the conference room now. And Batman had just revealed to them that he had been working behind their backs for months, that he had created an AI to spy on all metahuman activity on Earth.

"We've trusted you, Batman. I trusted you." Flash said.

"We've been together for years, through many hardships. What made you think we'd ever betray the Justice League? For me, the Justice League is not just a team or an organisation ... ... it is like my family." Martian Manhunter also said.

Even Batman's stoic expression briefly crumbled at the Martian's words. But he steeled his face and said:

"It is because we've been together for so long that I know everyone very well. In the eyes of ordinary people, you are like gods. What happened if one day one of you went rogue like Superman did a few years ago and killed hundreds in Metropolis under Darkseid's control, or like he beat me into a coma just yesterday because someone else was controlling him!"

"You said it yourself! Someone else is controlling him. He'd never do something like this willingly!" Green Lantern said.

"Wouldn't he? Did you all forget about the Justice Lords? It took only Flash's death for them to do a 180-degree turn and take over the government. And don't tell me that we are different. Because we're not. They were just like us in the beginning." Batman shot back.

The rest became momentarily silent at his words.

"Now, the Justice League has over 150 members. Most of them are metahumans, people with superpowers. The Justice League has grown more than powerful enough to take over the Earth in a matter of days. How do you keep in check so many superhumans when they are operating all over the world? How do you make sure they are not abusing their power? How do you prepare for the possibility that one of them could go rogue? I had to create a system to keep an eye on them. To make sure that I would be able to prevent that from happening."

"And look how well that worked for us." Wonder Woman eventually retorted. "Someone stole your AI from you and now the mass media has direct access to exclusive videos of you dropping people off buildings and Superman going berserk. And you should know very well that is only the tip of the iceberg. Whoever is in control of that AI now has become one of the most dangerous people in the world!"

Batman looked like he wanted to say something but he stopped. The mood in the conference room was extremely tense.

⁂

Later that day, back to her apartment in New York, Wonder Woman was sitting at her desk with a piece of paper and a pen in her hands. Every once in a while, she noted down some of her thoughts.

'It all started when Lois Lane and Superman broke up.' she thought and wrote it on the paper:

1. Lois Lane and Superman broke up.

'Then, she started slandering him and the Justice League in the media, writing biased articles against us.'

2. Lois Lane's petty revenge

'If I'm not mistaken, it was also around that time that Superman became more violent. He broke someone's legs in Metropolis. Normally, he's extremely careful with his power and pulls back his punches to not hurt people...'

3. Superman becomes more violent.

4. Maxwell Lord stops financing the Justice League

5. Maxwell Lord and Lois Lane become engaged

6. Superman almost kills Batman and goes missing

7. Batman reveals he created an AI named 'Brother' and a monitoring system to spy on everyone. He lost control of it too.

She was trying to see what triggered Superman into acting the way he did. She rested her head on her hands and her forehead scrunched in thought.

'Is Lois Lane the one that caused everything?'

She quickly denied that idea.

'No, she's just a journalist. A petty and vindictive woman, but that is the extent of it. She doesn't have the resources or capability to orchestrate something of this magnitude.'

Her eyes fell on the other name that appeared in her notes: Maxwell Lord.

'Is he related to this? It does look like he's the one that riled up Superman by stopping his support to the Justice League and then taking Lois Lane.'

But she shook her head. She did not have enough information. She could not just randomly throw the blame onto someone without any evidence.

'I don't have any evidence but my gut feeling is telling me he is somehow involved in this mess. He is a billionaire, he has the resources and power to take over Batman's AI.'

"Ah!" she let out a sound as she suddenly remembered something.

'J'onn also said that when Maxwell offered his support to the Justice League, he could not read his mind and see his real intentions.'

She let her head fall on the desk with a thud and a long sigh came out of her mouth.

"But correlation is not causation. Am I reading too much into it?" she asked herself out loud.

Goddess Athena had blessed her with wisdom but that did not mean that Wonder Woman could magically find the answer to any dilemma. She could not draw any reliable conclusions without having enough information. After all, Maxwell Lord had not been caught doing anything illegal. Her suspicions were purely based on her instinct. She knew that he could very well be innocent and have nothing to do with it.

She jumped a little when two heavy but gentle hands landed on her shoulders. She did not need to turn around and ask who it was because she recognized the person behind her from their subtle smell. A sigh of comfort came from her when those calloused hands started to softly knead the stiff muscles of her neck and shoulders.

"It's very late already, you need some rest. Come to bed." Naruto said as he massaged her shoulders.

"Mmm!" she groaned when he pressed on a particular sore spot of her muscles.

Originally, she was going to refuse him as she was still too worried about the situation the Justice League was going through but she quickly became putty in his hands.

She turned around with her chair and raised her arms up, her eyes looking up at him pleadingly. It was not hard for him to guess what she wanted.

"You big baby." he said but he took her in his arms. Her legs naturally came around his waist and her arms around his neck. He hugged her lovingly and she buried her face into the crook of his neck, nuzzling him.

Before meeting Naruto, Diana had not known the joys of being pampered by someone, the feeling of being showered with love and affection. But once she had gotten a taste of it, she could not get enough of it. She latched onto him as he carried her to the bedroom. But when he put her down and was about let go, her arms and legs would not let him leave.

"Good grief, when did you become so spoiled?" he said teasingly but he laid down with her in bed.

She turned around on her side and pressed her back against his chest.

"Hug me, Naruto."

She just wanted to cuddle.

He spooned her and embraced her from behind. But she took the arm that was around her waist and brought it up, hugging it to her chest.

"Is that a flashlight in your pocket or you're just happy to hug me?" she said a bit later when she felt something stiff against her bum and both of them started laughing.

"You know exactly what you're doing!" he accused her. Pressed flush against him and with how she hugged his hand in the valley of her breasts, there was no way his body would not react to her actions. He was a healthy man too.

Silence instilled again after they stopped chuckling.

"Baby?" Diana called out.

"Yes?"

"Don't you wanna do it?"

She bit softly into her lower lip. They had been living together for a few weeks already. Although they had agreed with taking things slowly, it was becoming almost impossible for both of them to hold themselves back. Behind her serious exterior, Diana was a very passionate woman and Naruto too was the kind of person that once he gave his heart to someone, he would dedicate to them 100%.

"I just wanted to meet your mother first. I wanted to ask her formally for your hand before we went to the next level. To do this the right way."

She turned around in his arms to face him. When they looked at each other, they realized that they were both slightly red.

"You wanted to ask her for my hand? Marriage?" she asked.

She had a good idea what his answer was going to be but her blood still started to rush just at the thought of hearing him say it.

Though he could feel his face starting to burn, he did not chicken out.

"Yes. Because I love you."

Diana's stomach twisted in a funny manner. He was showing it through his actions every day how much he cared for her. Listening to her talking about her day and her worries related to her hero work, sometimes preparing breakfast for her and serving it in bed, hugging her and caressing her, kissing her, and other minor things that he was doing unconsciously but she took notice of.

However, this was the first time that he had actually told her that he loved her. At that moment, the princess understood what it meant for one to have butterflies fluttering in their stomach.

She hugged his wide back and rubbed her face against his chest as she mumbled something.

"..."

"What was that? I couldn't hear it."

She raised her face and looked up at him. She thought that he deserved to hear her say it clearly too:

"I love you too, Naruto."

Seeing how his face lit up like a Christmas tree made a warm feeling course through her body. It was not often that she got to see such an innocent and happy smile from him. Bringing her hand up, she caressed his scarred cheek and he closed his eyes and leaned into her gentle touch. The love she felt for him was almost overflowing; she could not help taking his lips in a long but slow and passionate kiss. Then, she nuzzled her face into his neck and hugged him a bit tighter, pressing herself flush against him. He embraced her in return as well, gently rubbing circles on her back.

The time they spent in the evenings cuddling like that had become a source of strength for her to tackle the stress and exhaustion of her daily life as a superhero, especially during the current events. Just the idea and the mental image that he was waiting for her at home every day encouraged her in these trying times. Falling alseep in each other's arms was healing both her tired body and mind. Not knowing when, he had become a constant in her life, a pillar of support.

⁂

"...wake up!"

A distant voice rang in her mind as she slept.

"Wonder Woman!"

Because of the insistent voice, she was eventually woken up.

"An emergency came up. We need you at the Watchtower!"

Diana let out a sigh of frustration.

"What is it now, J'onn? I have a day off today and there are plenty of other superheroes, surely you don't need me now. Especially at this hour." she spoke in her mind, replying to the Martian.

Looking at the digital clock on the nightstand, she saw that it was 5 am. The sky was completely dark, it was snowing, and the sleeping Naruto next to her radiated such warmth that she wanted nothing more than to just lay there in bed, basking in the comfort of his arms.

"I'm sorry to bother you, but this is urgent. Blue Beetle was murdered."

She stood up with a groan.

"I'll be there in 15 minutes."

⁂

"We received a tip from an anonymous source that gunshots were heard from Maxwell Lord's office in Coast City four hours ago." Martian Manhunter said.

He was in the control room of the Watchtower alongside Captain Atom, Wonder Woman, Green Arrow and Vixen. There may have been a total of 150 heroes enlisted in the Justice League but they were not working all at the same time and most of the active superheroes at that hour were working in the field. There were very few of them stationed at the Watchtower.

The Martian operated the computer and a few photos of the crime scene appeared on the screen.

"What do you mean anonymous?" Green Arrow asked.

"We don't know their identity. But we could not just ignore their intel so a team was sent to check its veracity. And it was true; when they reached Coast City, they found Blue Beetle dead. His body was still warm, which means that the murder was very recent."

"Who are the suspects?" Captain Atom asked. "And what was Blue Beetle doing there in the middle of the night? Maxwell is no longer working with the Justice League. Unless he and Maxwell had a special relationship, him being there would be trespassing."

"We don't know about the connection between Blue Beetle and Maxwell Lord. It's also too early to tell who killed him. But, strangely enough, the security agents acted as if they had not heard anything at all. I've read their minds too, they really don't know anything. They were shocked to find out someone was murdered inside of their boss' office." Martian Manhunter said.

"Where is Maxwell now?" Wonder Woman asked.

"His secretary claims that he left on a business trip to Europe, Switzerland, to one of his overseas companies a few hours ago."

"I'll go speak with him." she said. "If he had anything to do with Blue Beetle's death, my lasso will compel him to tell the truth."

Wonder Woman had already been inwardly suspicious of the billionaire before; hearing Martian Manhunter say that Blue Beetle was murdered in Maxwell Lord's office and that he suddenly left the country was all the confirmation she needed.

"I will go at the crime scene and see if I can pick any familiar scents," Vixen said.

"I'll come with you." Captain Atom offered and Vixen nodded in agreement.

After Martian Manhunter gave her the location of Maxwell Lord's company from Switzerland, Wonder Woman took a Javelin and flew from the Watchtower back to Earth, to Europe.

⁂

"You'll forgive me for saying it, princess, but you look good on your knees."

Those condescending words came from a brown-haired man dressed in black cargo pants and a black t-shirt. He was standing with his arms behind his back, looking down on Wonder Woman with an arrogant smirk on his face. He was Maxwell Lord.

In front of him, the Man of Steel was forcing Wonder Woman to kneel on the floor with a hand clenched around her wrist and another around her neck. When she arrived at Maxwell's corporation and entered his office, Superman attacked her before she had the time to react. Because she had not expected a violent altercation out of the blue, the berserk Kryptonian overwhelmed her with his superior strength.

"And I want you to stay that way, on your knees." the billionaire said before he told Superman in a commanding voice: "Let her go. She'll stay down."

But the smugness on his face faltered when Wonder Woman did not fall to his mind control ability after Superman let her go and stood up instead.

"I see with a god's eyes and understand with a god's wisdom. Your powers will not work on me, Maxwell."

Despite his initial surprise, Maxwell recomposed himself. Though the Amazon was standing now, he was not in the least worried. After all, Superman was known as the greatest and most powerful member of the Justice League - and his control over Superman was absolute.

"Hm, I didn't really think it would work. But you can't blame a guy for trying."

Wonder Woman turned towards the glazed-eyed Superman and pleaded:

"Superman! Kal! Listen to me. You can fight him!"

Maxwell laughed.

"No, he can't. He believes what I want him to belive, he sees what I want him to see."

As on cue, Superman showed a desperate expression on his face and shouted:

"Ma! Pa!"

Wonder Woman suddenly grabbed Maxwell by the collar of his shirt and punched him so hard that she sent him flying into the other side of the room.

"What are you doing to him? What are you making him see?" she shouted and she raised her fist looking like she was going to punch him again.

"He's seeing Darkseid, in the midst of murdering his beloved Ma and Pa, his adoptive parents. Should I add more flavour to it? Alright, I'll have him see Supergirl die too." Maxwell said with difficulty but his face was stretched by an ugly grin despite the blood coming from his broken nose.

"Kara!" Superman screamed at that moment as in the illusion shown to him by Maxwell Lord, he witnessed Supergirl dying under Darkseid's Omega Beams.

"Free him!" Wonder Woman also shouted but Maxwell looked at her with eyes filled with ridicule.

"Why would I do that? I have absolute control of Superman, something that not even Lex Luthor has been able to manage despite that he's been trying for years. And before you think that knocking me out or beating me up is the answer, let me tell you, it isn't. Because eventually, I'll wake up, if only for a moment. And when I do, Superman will dance for me again."

He stood up from the spot where he had been thrown with an air of sublime confidence and satisfaction around him.

"It's taken me months to achieve this. Meticulous planting of suggestions and images in Lois Lane's mind and in his. It wasn't that hard, mind you, to manipulate someone as ambitious as her. But I had to do it. To isolate him. To frustrate him. To weaken his mind. I've thrown away billions of dollars, 'sponsoring' the Justice League and I hired dozens of hackers to sabotage Batman's AI. All that, just so I could get close to Superman and be in contact with him. But I did it and there is no turning back. As long as I live, Superman is mine to control."

"What was your reasoning? Why did you do all that? What do you have to gain from it? You have everything a man could have possibly ever wanted!"

"Why? Because what chance does humanity have against someone like you or against someone like him? What chance does the Earth have against metahumans, against you who are gods among regular people?" Maxwell said. "But that is enough talking for now. There's nothing you can say or do to change my mind. And you have just run out of time."

As his words ended, it was only Wonder Woman's honed reflexes that made her raise her bracelets in front of her, just in time to block the deadly beam of heat from the Man of Steel's eyes.

"Superman, no! Fight against it!" she shouted.

But the Kryptonian was too far gone. His eyes were bloodshot, veins were pulsating like small snakes on his temples and a crimson light burned around his eyes, ready to blast a beam as hot as the sun at any moment. An enraged scream came out of his chest and he lunged at her filled with bloodlust. He was not seeing a white and gold-armoured Amazon. In his eyes, she was Darkseid, the one who had just murdered everyone that he had ever cared about.

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Chapter 1254 - hh

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