Alfred Pennyworth was a man of principle. A man of honor. Integrity. Raised in England to be a stand up English gentlemen of the highest order. Served the British Government during his time in the military in an almost pseudo James Bond type manner (though he did nothing as scandalous as the movies portrayed the suave fiction character) during the days when spying on other countries for information about their plans were all the rage. He retired from that life and served the Wayne family loyally for years. Alfred was proud and honored to be in the service of Mr. and Mrs. Wayne along with their only son Bruce Wayne himself. He had lived a long and happy life with no regrets surrounding himself or his actions.
So when the figure appeared from the shadows of an alley and managed to discreetly pull him into it the dark corner away from prying eyes with something sharp and pointy aimed at a key spot along his back, he remained calm for the most part.
"Relax Mr. Pennyworth. If I wanted you dead, there were other places along this street I could have done it," came the calm almost emotionless tone of the mystery kidnapper while moving his hand from the mouth of the butler to the throat.
"If you are going to end me sir, I would suggest you do it now and be done with it. I have nothing of value on me nor will I tell you anything else you can use to gain such wealth," said Alfred calmly despite everything.
"I'm not here to end you Mr. Pennyworth. I am here at the behest of another. Your Master knows about him from recent events in here in Gotham," replied the figure with Alfred's back stiffening slightly.
"The ninja wearing the animal mask of a fox?" questioned Alfred while the figure just chuckled.
"Correct. Which means you know that I know who your Master really is when he puts on his mask at night. But that secret will remain as such out of respect for him. However, we are getting off track on why the two of us are here talking in this dark alley. I need you to deliver a message to your Master," replied the ninja behind Alfred.
"A nonviolent message I hope?!" asked Alfred while getting another chuckle.
"Of course. But the message is not from my Master. It is from another person from your Master's past. One who he needs to talk to immediately about something considered to be of incredible importance to him," replied the ninja.
"May I ask who this person in question is? Master Bruce has known many people over the years," said Alfred before he felt something enter his coat pocket.
"A picture is worth a thousand words Mr. Pennyworth. What I just gave you should help answer most if not all of them. Know this though, the future of the Wayne family, and its continued existence through blood rests on what decisions Bruce Wayne makes here on out after seeing this picture. We do not wish to end the Wayne bloodline, but given the nature of what I just gave you, it would be best if we were not pushed to reduce it further to a single drop over that of a trickle," said the ninja before he let go of the Wayne butler and walked deeper into the shadows.
When Alfred felt he was no longer at risk of being killed or gravely injured, the man took the picture out of his pocket, and his eyes widened at the image. It was at this point, the Wayne butler knew what the ninja was talking about at the end of the conversation, and felt worry rise in his heart. With a swift sense of urgency, the man put the picture away carefully, and walked swiftly (yet with dignity) to the car to head for Wayne Manor immediately.
The protection of the Wayne bloodline was at stake!
(Bat Cave-A Short Time Later)
"It is real," commented Batman, as he scanned the image from the picture several times, and had the computer check for every single way it could be altered or faked.
And found nothing of the sort.
"Begging your pardon Master Bruce, but I am glad the picture is real," remarked Alfred with a sense of joy in his voice and in his eyes.
"And why is that Alfred?" asked Batman with Alfred not looking away from the picture.
"Because it means there is another Heir to the Wayne name. A name I have tried to help protect and see grow beyond being only just one member. Now there are two," replied Alfred while seeing the child's face and knew without question the boy was the son of Bruce Wayne.
"She's corrupted him Alfred. Or has done a good job of doing it so far. Given who her Father is and the organizations they both belong to," commented Bruce with Alfred frowning.
"I don't believe that sir. Those eyes on the child still hold innocence. Innocence you once had at that age," countered Alfred with Bruce frowning.
"Perhaps, but this picture is a few years old. Things change in a few years Alfred," said Bruce while Alfred nodding.
"Perhaps they do sir. But, until I see the change myself, I won't believe such innocence is dead in this boy as it is in you," said Alfred before walked away and left Bruce Wayne to his own thoughts.
(Gotham City-Abandon Factories District)
Matt Hagan A.K.A. Clayface scowled at the ninja currently standing in front of him and without any sense of fear, horror, disgust, or any kind of emotion one would expect to seeing a monster like himself. The young man just stood there, not a care in the world at the idea of standing in front of a creature like Hagan. It was disturbing in a way and that was saying something considering what Hagan had become thanks to Daggett Industries and Ronald Daggett himself for making such an addictive face cream. How this ninja found him here was also disturbing, but given how ninjas were suppose to be experts in gathering information, and using it to their advantage...perhaps there were truths to the stories behind them after all.
If Sai was aware of how troubled Hagen was at the sight of him, the pale faced ninja did not show it in the slightest. He just kept smiling his fake emotionless smile, and showed a simple scroll outstretched in his hands. When Clayface extended his arm to take the scroll from Sai, the former actor turned criminal manipulated his large hand to become multiple smaller ones in his palm to unroll it, and read its contents carefully.
"This is all legit? None of that corporate backstabbing?" asked Clayface with Sai nodding that it was indeed legitimate.
"That is correct. My Master is in fact a big fan of your movies and knows how you came to be what you are now. His only true regret in this situation is not being able to help you out sooner. Do you accept his most generous offer to you?" said Sai while Clayface just looked down at the scroll again in thought.
The terms were pretty straight forward. Surrender to the police, call Whirlpool Inc. to get in touch with Uzumaki Menma. In doing so the man would immediately dispatch a whole army of high priced lawyers he commanded to get Hagen out on some special probation he already gave Pamela Isley. While Clayface and Poison Ivy never truly interacted with one another, both of them had known of the others past history easily enough through the news, and the second hand accounts of their own past deeds.
Still, this was a golden opportunity one did not just say no to when approached in secret by agents of a wealthy businessman with a high tech company capable of fixing what was done to him. No one had bothered up until now to give a damn about him to the extent he needed in terms of help. Sure, Batman claimed he wanted to help, but never said how he would help. Unless the masked vigilante had a massive fortunate and high tech company to back up his own offer...he would take his chances with the man who currently did.
Not to mention that there was a promise of getting Matt Hagen employment by working for Whirlpool Inc. in possibly being the corporate spokesman for the company. Or maybe doing some commercials for them in the future once cured of his condition. A great way to get back in the acting game in Matt's mind since he loved to act and it ate at him daily at not being able to do what he loved.
"I accept. I want to be normal again. I want to act again. I want my life back!" exclaimed Clayface while Sai nodded again.
"Do what is asked of you in the scroll and you shall Mr. Hagen. Also, if you would be so kind as to destroy that scroll, we don't want certain elements finding out about this. They tend to find ways to stir up unnecessary trouble at the most inconvenient of times," said Sai with Clayface nodding before he did what was asked of him.
"When do you want me to surrender to the police?" asked Clayface with Sai shrugging slightly though his fake smile never left him.
"In a few days. Three at most. My Master will be expecting your call around that time Mr. Hagen. Even if they deny you said phone call, my Master will be having agents on standby to report such things, and will act accordingly to get you out," said Sai before disappearing into the shadows.
"Talk about job security," remarked Clayface before he decided to think things over in his head and hoped this worked out.
(Washington D.C.-Sometime Later)
"Disgraceful! Look at this Waller! Whirlpool Inc. gets another criminal out of jail and has plans to 'cure' said criminal of his condition before hiring him of all things!" said General Lane angrily while looking at the paper in front of him while Waller was across from him at the high end restaurant they met to eat and plan things.
This place also knew how to be discreet with them when they met to discuss things.
"What did you expect General? Whirlpool Inc. wishes to make a name for itself. Would you prefer they keep the Lex Corp. name and have some Lex Luthor wannabe continue doing what Luthor was doing?" asked Waller while she ate her meal with a serious look on her face and acting like the meal itself wasn't good at all.
Which wasn't true since the meal was fantastic, but the mood Waller, and General Lane had been in prior to the meal was horrible.
With Cadmus in a state of life-support financially, both Waller and Lane were in a state of limbo on what to do regarding their mission to combat the Justice League. They had both gone to the President to get the official funding for Cadmus since Luthor and his own funding to Cadmus was now nonexistent. Sadly, the President of the United States did not believe the Justice League would become like the Justice Lords in the different dimension. The Justice League had been open with the President about the issue and had assured the man that they would not become their clearly polar opposites.
And as such, any chance of getting government support was scraped in its entirety.
"I would prefer Lex still had Lex Corp. and we had funding from him to make the high tech weapons needed to combat the Justice League. To crush Superman and all the other heroes running the world around without restraint or under our control. It was one of the main reasons we created Cadmus in the first place Waller. To control and use such tools for the good of the country," said General Lane with Amanda Waller nodding.
"And now our own grasp on it is all but lost to us. All because of a single ninja of all things," commented Waller while General Lane scoffed and took a sip of his drink.
"Ninja. Bah! That so called ninja a meta-human hiding behind such a thing to cover his own tracks. He knows if we found out his identity, it wouldn't be that hard to control him once a capture team was deployed, and getting the smug bastard to do what we want for a change," countered General Lane while looking at the newspaper again and the title of it before slamming the paper on the table.
"Sadly, what resources we possess have been unable to find out the said identity of our mysterious masked ninja. We have reports of several other masked ninja running around Gotham, Jump City, and Metropolis at random intervals," remarked Waller while she kept on eating her meal.
"Meaning the ranks of our enemy are growing. Before we had one of them. Now there are what? Two? Three of them total? How long before there are five? Twenty? If this isn't nipped in the bud soon, we will be overrun by an army of these masked fools, who only answer to someone not of this country," said General Lane, who was of a strange patriotic mindset where unless you were born and raised in the United States, you were a second class citizen, and possible enemy of the country.
You were either everything American or nothing else in his mind.
"I'm open to suggestions General. Who do you wish to recruit to our cause and can we even afford it?" asked Amanda Waller with General Lane sighing.
"Hardly. In terms of candidates, no one who is trustworthy. Even if we did get some kind of suicide squad together, there is no one enemy, who we can properly aim them at, and it would only put us on the Justice League's radar no matter how hard we cover up out own involvement," remarked General Lane while he saw Waller narrow her eyes in thought.
"Are you still in contact with Deadshot and Deathstroke?" asked Amanda Waller with General sneering.
"You want to hire them? Those mercenaries? To put out a contract hit on an enemy who no doubt gave us a false name?" asked General Lane since he would rather shoot himself in the foot.
"There is no other alternative General. They have access to additional resources even we do not have in our possession. Not to mention they will no doubt be steep in price to pay for their services, but what technology we do have can help give us a sizeable discount," said Waller with General Lane letting out a growl.
"I would prefer that they be forced into submission and simply do their job like any good obedient soldiers should do," growled General Lane with Waller sighing knowing the man was in his own little world about being loyal to the United State and never serving it for any other reason then you want or have to do it.
Such views were going to get the man killed one day.
(Whirlpool Inc.-At the Moment)
"Victor Fries!" exclaimed Menma happily while shaking the other man's hand.
"Mr. Uzumaki. Its good to see you in person," replied Victor with a smile on his face while keeping up the facade of not knowing this man as the one who saved him and Nora from their own personal Hell.
"Likewise. How is Nora?" asked Menma while the two sat down in their respective chairs in his office.
"Good. The home you provided us here in Metropolis is most generous. I thought we would have to leave the one in Miami for it until your lawyer explained we could have both," said Victor with Menma smiling at him.
"You're a good man Victor. And as such, good men are hard to come by. I want those who work for me to not only be the best, but get the best in return. Your efforts to help Whirlpool Inc. in helping the world become a better place will NOT be ignored. Not while I run this company. Together, we will combat death, diseases, and other illnesses by stopping their one advantage we do not have," replied Menma with Victor nodding.
"Time," whispered Victor firmly knowing things like diseases and illnesses always had time on their side because cures to them were so far away while those trying to find the cure slowly getting older with each passing year.
And the lives of these victims of these things were already taken with more on the way.
"Time. But together, we will deliver a serious blow to it, and to death itself," said Menma confidently while knowing lives would be saved through this venture.
"On a different note, I heard on the news you were making a great many waves with your actions as of late aside from myself," commented Victor before the two walked through the building to the R&D floor Victor was assigned.
"Yeah. I have been gathering up former criminals with horrible pasts and giving them a second chance in life. Not only are they cured of their given problems, but I also give them a new life working for me with their given skill set. In short, I give them a new more profound purpose where they once had none," said Menma calmly with the man beside him nodding.
"Like you did for me," whispered Victor to Menma, who smirked at him before his face went serious.
"I saw the tape that made you what you had become. I saw the reason behind your pain and suffering. You are a good man Victor and you were in your own Hell, and it was not deserved," whispered Menma seriously.
"Thank you for freeing us from that Hell. I can never repay you. We can never repay you. Still, I will do my best to provide you and your company with all the means to save lives through my skills," said Victor before shaking Menma's hand and entered his new lab to get a feel for the place.
"He seems enthusiastic," remarked Mercy after walking up to her employer/lover and seeing Victor working through the glass window.
"True. Still, Victor keeps his excitement about his family and work well under control so I don't have to worry about him going psycho on us. The man loves his work almost as much as he loves his wife. I intend to keep it that way," replied Menma while the man saw Victor get to know his staff while working.
"I hear Harvey Dent is going in for surgery later today to deal with the scarred half of his body," added Mercy while they walked through the company hallways.
"Of course he is getting the surgery. I'm fitting the bill for the best doctors and the latest medical procedures be done here after all. I trust you were able to get in touch with his former fiancé Grace and tell her the good news?" asked Menma while Mercy nodded.
"She's flying out today. First Class," commented Mercy with Menma nodded.
"Have a driver sent to the airport to pick her up. Harvey will be very angry with me if he were to find out the woman he loved had to catch a cab over coming here in style to see him. In his mind, she is to be treated like a Queen. For the sake of his recovery and their overall happiness, let us not disappoint," said Menma firmly with Mercy nodding.
"Pamela and Harvey have history together. You will need make sure they can work in the same building together without complications," commented Mercy with Menma nodding.
"I know. I already discussed that with Pamela. Once Harvey has been healed physically, followed by the mental healing later on, the two will need to sit down to have a serious talk," said Menma with Mercy cringing at the thought of how that would play out.
"It won't be pretty. Harvey might relapse with her around," warned Mercy with Menma making a noise in his throat.
"Possibly. It all depends on Harvey and his recovery on a mental level. We will wait until Harvey's mental strength can handle the idea of speaking to Pamela face to face before we get to that point of actual confrontation. I will be there too so nothing gets out of hand for either of them when the time comes," said Menma while Mercy only nodded before the entered the elevator and went down a few more floors.
"Matt Hagen is in the lab we assigned to help with his condition. He wanted to speak to you in person. Possibly to thank you for this opportunity you have given him," added Mercy with Menma nodding.
"I figured as much. What is the status of a potential treatment for him?" asked Menma since he asked for Mercy to keep him up to date on Hagen's condition.
"Preliminary results show promising results on treating Mr. Hagen. But no one in the lab wants to get too optimistic unless there is solid evidence to feel that way. They all fear disappointing you and the end result of that disappointment being they all...disappear," replied Mercy with a smirk on her face.
"I'm not Luthor. I'm not going to fire them or make them disappear simply for failing to do something when asked. Especially when its not their fault. If the results show it can't be done one way, just have them try it out another way, and another if the next one fails. Every problem has a solution and I won't give up on Hagen simply because we haven't found the one solution to his own problem yet," replied Menma before they entered the lab and saw the noticeable form of Clayface on a lab table.
"Mr. Uzumaki. Its an honor to meet you in person," said Clayface while Menma smiled at him.
"The honor is mine. I'm sorry we haven't met earlier. My schedule was back to back up until now that I couldn't postpone anything long enough to see you. Being the Head of a multibillion dollar company can surprisingly be a challenge in finding time for those who you should be focusing on," replied Menma with Hagen nodding.
"Everyone here seems positive they can cure me of my condition. But there is one issue I'm a bit worried about," said Hagen with Menma frowning.
"What issue?" asked Menma while Hagen hesitated for a second.
"As you may already know, I use to take some special cream made to mold my face into any shape or form. But I only took it because of my face being scarred and disfigured in a previous accident. I love to act and no one wants a disfigured man in their movie unless its in horror and they're too cheap to hire someone normal to spend makeup on. To get to the point, I fear once you restore my body, the disfigurements my face once had will now return to haunt me again," said Hagen while Menma looking like he understood.
"I understand. The cream you took is the only thing keeping them back and if we were to reverse things back to normal, it would possibly leave you scarred again. Cured of your overall condition you are in now, but not fully healed along the facial area," said Menma while thinking things over.
"Yes. If that does happen, I don't know what I would do. I want to be cured, but at the same time...I want to be normal looking too," said Hagen while Menma nodded.
"I understand Mr. Hagen. Don't worry. If by some chance your fear does come to pass, I will get the best cosmetic surgeons in the world flown here to fix that issue. I intend to see to it that you are cured and healed all in one. Just be patient. All good things come to those who wait," replied Menma with Hagen nodding.
"You have been straight with me Mr. Uzumaki. More then I can say for others. Daggett. Batman. Everyone has always used me for one thing or another without giving back what they owed. But not you. You are an honest man. Do you know how hard and how rare it is to find an honest man? Until today, I couldn't shape shift into one. But now I can. You. Thank you for doing this. It means a lot to me," said Hagen with Menma smiling.
"You're welcome Mr. Hagen. Now as to curing you, this won't be a simple, yet quick one two process. First, my scientists have to run a series of tests. Some longer than others and in many ways will seem time consuming or done twice. But these tests are done to make sure everything is done correctly in the process of undoing what made you into this. If this is done correctly, I want it to be done with pinpoint precision. The last thing I want to do is be successful, only to have the procedure have some unforeseen side effect, and we somehow make things worse. So again, if things seem a bit slow during the tests, don't get agitated or angry over waiting. I don't want things done quickly. I want things done correctly," said Menma with Hagen nodding.
"I understand. And after this...please call me Matt. Its been a long time since someone has called me Matt," replied Hagen with Menma smile at the man.
"Sure thing Matt. I will come by to check up on your progress here in the lab from time to time. And if you ever run into some kind of problem, no matter what it might be, let me know," said Menma before patting the large shoulder of Hagen and walked away with Mercy.
"You have some hero worship going on back there," commented Mercy with Menma now smirking for a second before it went serious.
"Bite your tongue Mercy. How are we doing in terms of public opinion? I hear some News Media Outlets and a few newspapers have been less than...nice about me," said Menma with Mercy sighing since it was true.
"At the moment, the majority of the public is on your side. They are mainly unsure of you using former criminals to advance the company further. If we were able to provide them with something in the near future in terms of results, it will no doubt ease their minds, and cast away their fears," said Mercy before they eventually entered his office.
"I agree. But progress cannot be rushed Mercy. Even to appease the masses demanding I give them immediate results. At Whirlpool Inc. we don't do things quickly. We do them correctly. That is our motto here at the company now Mercy. Not the 'rush a new product out the door and hope it doesn't blow up and we have to call the lawyers!' motto Luthor embraced because he found it to be a much cheaper policy to handle over making sure it didn't happen at all," commented Menma while Mercy agreed with him on that since Lex had done that in the past and it would have backfired if not for army of lawyers he hired to drown defendants in paperwork until their resources ran dry.
That cybernetic power suit for the police made a few years back by Mr. Henry Irons had been one such an instance and Luthor paid a lot of hush money with his deep pockets to make it go away.
"On another side note, General Lane called here asking for a sit down. He wants to talk about future military contracts with us with some of the old toys we still have in storage," said Mercy with Menma grumbling.
"Of course he does. General Lane wants weapons. Weapons that Luthor made and wants me to give to him for a descent price. No doubt the ones capable of killing Superman and his cousins. He can't get them at Wayne Enterprises or Star Labs so he goes where they are locked away in storage awaiting to be dismantled before the action to dismantle them is given," remarked Menma while knowing he had those weapons in storage and was planning to take them apart with their components being recycled for alternative uses.
"Should I tell him no to a sit down?" asked Mercy with Menma thinking things over in his head.
"No. It would be rude and he will no doubt see it as such. Give him sometime next week, but tell the General the meeting will be short. I don't want to entertain the war monger any longer than necessary," replied Menma with Mercy raising an eyebrow at him.
"Did you have a bad experience with someone like him?" asked Mercy with Menma shrugging.
"The Boss did. His name was Danzo. Someone who believed everyone and everything was his enemy. All he wanted was war with other people not of our village simply due to them not being born in our village. Danzo trained an elite ninja division called Root, but they were all mindless emotionless drones, who obeyed him without question due to their extreme conditioning. They couldn't do anything without his expressed approval or given command. He even killed allies simply because the man thought they would be a threat to our village in the far distant future and wanted their strongest people taken out before that time," replied Menma with calmly.
"What happened to him?" asked Mercy with Menma smirking.
"Let's just say the bastard was a sore loser and decided to blow himself up rather than be judged by others he deemed weak when compared to his way of thinking. The man did not like being judged by others and thought himself the closets thing to being a God as humanly possible. Manly because he didn't care about humanity on an emotional level and just wanted to rule over it with an iron fist under 'the ends justify the means' or 'the greater good' bull crap you hear about from people when asked why they do the things they do," replied Menma while Mercy was surprised by this.
"And General Lane fits this Danzo's personality?" asked Mercy curiously.
"In almost every single way Mercy. Which is why I or rather the Boss will take a great deal of pleasure in ending his life in the near future the moment he tries something stupid against him," remarked Menma in a deadly calm tone.
(Wayne Manor-Living Room)
Bruce Wayne just stared at Talia. She was across from him in a comfortable chair with a simple table between them. Alfred was not here. He had provided tea and cookies as was his duty to provide treats for guests before Bruce had him leave in the off chance this got violent.
"That scowl on your face does not suit you my beloved. It makes you look old. Too old in fact," said Talia while she had accepted the tea and one of the cookies Alfred provided.
"Considering who I am talking to and what happened, can you blame me?" asked Bruce almost coldly.
"Actually I can. I can blame you because it was your attitude and your way of thinking that made me keep our son from you," answered Talia while Bruce growled.
"He's your son. I don't even know the boy because of you," countered Bruce while Talia scowled now.
"As if you would have tried to know him. I know you well beloved. Too well. I knew if you ever found out, the boy would be taken from me, and would be here instead. Do not think for one moment that I do not know how you would behave in this instance Bruce. You would have denied me the right to ever see him again," Talia shot back while Bruce did not say anything about that accusation since it was most likely true.
"Has he been trained to be like you?" asked Bruce with Talia's eyes softening a little.
"Only to defend himself. And before you ask, I trained him. Not my Father. Not any of his men. Just me," answered Talia while Bruce calmed down a bit.
"Lethal or nonlethal skills?" asked Bruce with Talia looking away.
"Nonlethal skills for now, but I was planning to eventually train him on the other in a few more years when his mind and body matured to understand the concept of taking a life," replied Talia knowing Bruce did not like the idea of his son being trained to spill blood.
"To become your Father's Heir," surmised Bruce while Talia scowled.
"I keep telling you my Father knows nothing of Damien. I have spent my time spread thin doing everything I can to protect my son from my Father's influence. Had my Father had his way, Damien would be every bit the monster you feared I would turn him into after all this time, and bringing you over to his side against your will," said Talia while Bruce clearly didn't believe her in the slightest.
"He still could be the monster I fear your Father would turn him into Talia," commented Bruce while Talia was a breath away from throwing the tea cup at him.
"How will you know unless you meet him? Talk to him? Get to know him?" asked Talia while Bruce grimaced since he had a feeling Alfred would push for him to meet the boy.
"When?" asked Bruce with Talia smiling again.
"A few days from now. Gotham City Park," answered Talia while Bruce nodded.
"No tricks Talia. I mean it," warned Bruce while Talia frowned at him again.
"I am many things Bruce, but I would never risk my child, or use him as a pawn in some game I wish to win. I am not my Father in that regard," countered Talia before she left.
"Your charm at swooning women has not lost its potency Master Bruce," said Alfred, as he came back, and watched the woman leave the house.
"I can't trust her Alfred. For all I know, the child has been trained to get close, and kill me in my sleep for God's sake," remarked Bruce since he wouldn't put it past Talia or anyone else the boy had been trained by.
"Do you really believe that sir? Or are you only using it as an excuse to not know the boy beyond what you know?" questioned Alfred with Bruce scowling at him.
"I'm just preparing for the worse case scenario here Alfred. Somebody has to prepare for it," answered Bruce before he went to the Bat Cave to change.
'Even after all this time, no matter what talents or skills you possess, you are still a novice in the ways of family, and knowing love Master Bruce,' thought Alfred sadly to himself.
Hopefully, this boy would be a Godsend to the Wayne family. Or what was left of it.
(Metropolis-Penthouse Suite)
Kara was eating with her clone Galatea and the sorceress Tala with a massive blush once again on her face while trying not to glance at the slightly open bedroom door. She did not know what to expect shortly after being part of this...harem! But this was not it. She didn't even know how she joined in the first place? It seemed so...weird! One moment, Kara was resisting the sight of Naruto having sex with all the women around him, the next instant, she was part of it, and been told the basics of what was expected in being part of this group of women. It was quite a surprise to her that she was being semi-forced into a relationship with this now revealed to be ancient primordial God (which of course now explained some things) of a man who also claimed to be a Super Pervert too. How, on a more serious note, he could no longer tolerate how humanity was destroying itself, drowning in corruption, all the while those who swore to combat this evil never finished what was started, and let the current system the corruption influenced deliver the final say. How Naruto was going to balance out the good and the evil with neither one being overpowering in terms of one dominating over the other to make things worse.
Too much good made people lazy, soft, naive, and ignorant in the belief that evil in all things were ultimately weak, thus not to be taken seriously. Such ignorance left the world open to being attacked or blindsided by something they should have seen coming, but did not because of their ignorance. Too much evil was well...it kind of spoke for itself. It led to pain, suffering, torture, enslavement, death, and the worse case scenario...the planet's overall destruction. Most likely done by evil people, who would do it simply out of some spite for someone else they hated. Neither option was suitable in Naruto's opinion and Kara reluctantly agreed with him on different levels.
Speaking of Naruto...
The sounds of loud pleasurable screams could be heard from two different women in the bedroom. The other two women beside Kara were also eating, but didn't sport the blushes since they were use to this type of thing, and chose to ignore it for now. Kara herself was wondering just how they could ignore the sounds of Starfire and Harley being taken by Naruto? And why was the door even open?! If Kara didn't know any better, she would think Harley had kept it open purposely so the sounds of the threesome could be heard by the others.
Or possibly just by Kara since she didn't have her super hearing back yet. Or the rest of her powers. She was still on the "don't quite trust you to tell the Justice League about us" part of this harem type of relationship so the seal Naruto had placed (to her complete and total embarrassment) on her butt kept them from working.
"Someone is horny," commented Galatea with a smirk.
"I am not!" protested Kara while giving Galatea a glare.
"Don't be like that dear. Denial is not healthy. Trust me," said Tala simply with a smirk of her own.
"I am NOT in denial!" protested Kara while Galatea's smirk grew.
"Says the woman with a growing wet spot now forming between your legs and staining her new panties," commented Galatea since she used her eyes to see through the table.
"Why you...you...!" fumed Kara while having no real defense against Galatea's words since they were, to her shame, quite true, and it would only embarrassed her further if she tried to fight it.
"You got to give it to Harley. Her libido is pretty high," commented Tala calmly while hearing some profanity coming from the other room and knew it was the woman.
"She has been repressed for years under the clown's thumb. All work and no play makes Harley a crazy woman. Well...crazier than usual," said Galatea knowing from her time in Cadmus that Joker was considered one of her future targets for them to kill when the time came to bring down the hammer on the criminal underworld once the Justice League had been taken down.
One final scream from both women and one male were soon heard with the faint sound of three people breathing heavily. A short while later, Naruto came out drying himself off following a nice quick shower and grinned at the three women who finished putting the dishes away after they were done eating.
"You spoil us. You do know that, right?" asked Galatea with a smirk before glancing at Kara, who was averting her eyes from his lean muscled body, and blushing at the sight of him.
"Should I not spoil you? Leave you twisting in the wind?" asked Naruto with amusement before sitting down on the nearby couch and sighing with the TV turned on.
"Hell no! When I want sex, you better damn well give it to me!" exclaimed Galatea with her eyes burning with passion and a bit of fury at the very idea of being denied any sexual pleasure.
Naruto let out a small chuckle knowing he turned the woman into a sex crazed woman at times and honestly didn't care so long as he was the one she wanted it from. With a small sigh, the blonde haired man switched to the news, and saw something that caught his eye.
"And in recent news, Whirlpool Inc. CEO Uzumaki Menma has officially announced his company's controversial Special Criminal Rehabilitation program. This unique program is designed to help certain criminals with super powers find a new life for themselves by having their powers removed. Upon become a normal human being, Whirlpool Inc. sets up each person with employment depending on the skills they had prior to their life of crime. While many think it is a good way for criminals with powers to be reintegrated back into society, there are some who feel this action is not only wrong, but should not happen in the first place. One General Sam Lane of the United States military spoke out earlier this week about such a program brought about trouble for the United State."
The scene changed from the anchorwoman to the firm, yet elderly appearance of General Sam Lane in his crisp Four Star General ranked uniform with an angry scowl on his face.
"This program weakens our country. Such criminals should be handed over to the United States Military for service. To fight for the country they constantly undermine to pay off their debts for the harm they cause its innocent citizens. Not take away their powers and then employ them once released back into society! What about all the innocent lives these criminals ruined? All of the families? This is NOT justice. It is an injustice and I intend to make sure this program is no longer running using corporate sponsorship where loyalty to a country is paper thin based on the company paycheck to the employee!"
The screen switched back to the anchorwoman.
"Harsh words from a harsh man. General Lane himself is no stranger to providing ideas considered to be controversial in nature. The General himself has long since supported a more government controlled program similar to what Uzumaki Menma is providing. But the difference between them is where those with powers, regardless if they are criminals or not, are immediately drafted for military service. However, such a radical proposal has constantly been turned down by the President of the United States on the grounds that it infringes on the civil rights of those who just want to try living a normal honest life regardless of their abilities. Mr. Uzumaki could not be reached for comment at the time, as he was not around to be interviewed regarding General Lane's comments."
Sighing at the news in front of him, Naruto turned off the TV, and went into full blown serious mode about how to deal with the annoying General. On one hand, he could just kill the man, but that would bring a lot of heat down on him in his ninja persona. And he didn't need that. Amanda Waller would no doubt use him as a martyr to convince the President of the United States to fund Cadmus or a Cadmus organization clone knockoff of sorts until the original could get up and running again. Maybe even going so far as to get Luthor out of jail to work for it in an unofficial capacity to further keep him on a tight leash. The man was wanted by every civilized country in the world and the United States wasn't about to hand him over to anyone else knowing full well some would try to milk Luthor's brilliant, yet slightly delusional mind for all it was worth.
Another means of getting rid of General Sam Lane would be to find and release all of his dirty secrets he did back in the day all the way up until now to the Media. Which would involve Cadmus and any other nasty unsanctioned organizations he was currently apart of that shouldn't even exist. Of course, in doing that, Naruto could easily get right on the Justice League's radar, and Batman was no doubt itching to send other heroes after him despite the "do not look for me or your friends and loved ones will die!" threat lingering over him.
The man didn't know how to let go of things and that was something Naruto believed would be his downfall if he wasn't careful.
And Naruto certainly couldn't ask any of the women in his life to do it. Kara wouldn't kill the General. Tala might, but she would be spotted a mile away and the Justice League had several mystics in their ranks who could sense magic, and it wouldn't take long for Batman to eventually discover Tala in some manner. Pamela and Harley were out since one was on probation and the other was in hiding with him. Starfire was out because she was suppose to be in exile at an undisclosed location (a tropical island) away from all of this and get the Justice League's attention. Galatea was out because she officially did not exist and while the files pertaining to her were destroyed when he first took her...the risk of sending them was too great given Waller would suspect something if she did her own bit of digging.
A sudden impact of memories hit Naruto from his Shadow Clone at Whirlpool Inc. and his frown increased further. Apparently, the General had said quite a few choice words to Menma at their short meeting, and none of them were flattering. There was even words from the angry General saying things you can't take back. Namely about how he wished the United States had more atomic bombs back during World War II and just launched them all over Japan to wipe out the entire country (racist much?). Shortly after that little moment in time happened, someone tried to assassinate the Shadow Clone, namely the assassin known to the world as Deadshot. The man not only missed, but was seen by Menma before relaying all the memories to Naruto mentally without dispelling. Naruto made a mental note to make the assassin pay for that since he considered such a move, and the General who no doubt hired him for not giving the military hard ass of a man what he wanted.
And what did the man want? Access to DNA samples of Matt Hagen when he was still looking like Clayface, Victor Fries before he was cured of his condition, and of course a fresh DNA sample from Pamela for his own scientists to examine. Menma had turned him down of course saying those samples were either destroyed or unattainable since the last would violate the privacy of one of his employees. Naturally, General Sam Lane was not a man who took no for an answer regardless of the reasons given, and was incredibly angry with his obstacle standing in the way by the name of Menma. Deadshot was merely a means to remove said obstacle from office and put someone the General could trust into position to take over. Naruto mentally commanded Menma to discreet dig around to find out who were the most likely candidate who would take over if the Shadow Clone were to "die" and find out how they were connected to Lane.
It was also quite clear that this man, who was being rude, and a egotistical dick all in one, needed to be removed from play. Normally, Naruto would just end him quickly, quietly, and without a care in the world how people reacted. But this time, it needed to be done in a violent, and public setting. Screw getting on the Justice League's radar and even the U.S. government, it was high time to kick some more ass!
Uzumaki Naruto style!
(General Sam Lane's Residence-Three Weeks Later)
General Lane sat in his office at home drinking scotch from his scotch glass. No ice. He wanted the burning alcohol to flood his mouth and system with its mind influence power. He had removed his coat and had it on a hanger in the closet while sitting down in the nice leather chair worthy of his rank as a Four Star General in the military. The room was dark with no lights on, but the day was sunny outside with the light shining in various places through the blinds of the windows in the room.
As to why he was drinking so late like this, it was quite simple. General Sam Lane, Four Star General, Patriot of the United States military, and overall defender of his nation had been...relieved of military duty. Dishonorable discharge. He was no longer a high ranking Four Star General in the military. Not anymore. It was all over the papers for the last two weeks. One moment, General Sam Lane was at his assigned military base, at his assigned desk when two MPs came into the room with a JAG officer, and had him arrested right there on the spot for various criminal military charges of a sensitive nature.
For the last two weeks, General Lane had to sit in a court room, hear damaging evidence to his career, his character, and as a soldier of his country. Evidence which was provided by an anonymous source, who dropped everything off at JAG, and no hint as to who did it. The General's hired attorney tried to defend him as best he could, given the damaging evidence in hand aimed against his client. But in the end, the case was hopeless and all Sam Lane could do was cut a painful deal that kicked him out of the military without any jail time out of respect for his years of loyal service.
Fortunately, the majority of the trial was all hush hush due to the sensitivity of his case and reporters were kept away. But the Media wanted to know and what they couldn't know, they speculated. From speculation, there were rumors, accusations, and ultimately people deciding he was guilty outright before long without even knowing the whole story behind it.
So much for innocent until proven guilty. Of course the General wasn't one to talk since he thought Superman along with the other heroes of the Justice League were guilty of some past misdeed in their own way. He never cared for the reason behind Superman's sudden attack on Earth thanks to Darkseid brainwashing the Kryptonian. It was just an excuse the former General needed to begin his war against the aliens, the freaks, and all the other nonhuman entities his world was producing. Sam Lane could see the world had changed drastically since he was a young private in the army, eager to take up the sword (or gun in this case) against America's enemies. Kill them all and let the one true God, who loves America sort it out! That had been his mindset then and it was his mindset now. All these meta-humans he had seen popping up were unnatural. Nature making mistakes in playing mad scientist with the human body that would ultimately doom the nation if not the world with their powers. On one hand, he wanted to destroy them all. Aliens, meta-humans, and freaks with dangerous powers thinking they could pretend to be normal.
Sam Lane had no intention of pretending with these people. If they were going to live and have powers, they were going to be put to work. They were all resources in his eyes. They were tools. Weapons of war. Dogs of war. His weapons. His dogs. In his mind, Sam Lane believed all of them should be trained and kept alive for a single purpose...to make America the dominant, if not the ONLY country on the planet. If not for some of his more questionable assignments and past military record (uncensored to the fullest), the now former General would have run for President, and given his country the teeth it deserved.
Sadly, such things were but a dream now. Out of reach or never even a possibility.
"I thought I made it clear to you and Waller that your time trying to run things whether alone or together at Cadmus was over?" commented Naruto in his ninja attire before he stepped out of the shadow in the corner and sat down in the chair opposite of the General.
"A good soldier does not submit to the enemy. He fights with all his being against his enemy," Sam Lane shot back with Naruto nodding.
"That they do. But you aren't a good soldier Lane. Not anymore. Though given your own military history, I doubt you could be called either," said Naruto while Sam Lane scowled and reached for his gun hidden within his desk.
"You have no right to judge me for my past actions. I did what was right for America. My country had to be protected from all possible threats," said Sam Lane while Naruto just scoffed at him.
"Not from the stuff I read from your file. Love how you tried to find a way to locate the ancient Amazon island Themyscira after Wonder Woman made herself known. I knew you believed in God, but surely you don't believe in the whole 'all other religions should be cast down', do you? Doesn't matter. Still, I highly doubt your plan, upon being even remotely successful, would work in sending a few Black Ops teams there to assassinate the Queen of the Amazons, and make it look like the Bana tribe was responsible. I mean you wanted to plunge the Amazons into a civil war, have them kill each other to the point where they were too weak, and too confused from the fight that you could send an entire military force there to take them out under the disguise of humanitarian aid. A real life Trojan Horse maneuver if there ever was one. All the troops butcher all the remaining Amazons and letting you make up any story you want. In the end, you would claim the ancient relics, if not the natural resources of the island for the United States without anyone from the other countries possibly knowing. Turning it into some secret military base, purge the island of anything deemed 'unnatural' in your eyes, and ultimately rape the island of all its wonderful greatness," said Naruto before Sam Lane drew his weapon and prepared to fire.
Only to find his hand severed at the wrist and crying out in pain.
"My hand! You bastard!" exclaimed Sam Lane while clutching his wrist tightly to keep himself from dying of blood loss.
"Don't be so over dramatic. You lost a hand boohoo. Do you know how many times I lost a limb and had to wait for it to grow back? Plenty. Besides, you were being a dick, and I don't appreciate it in the slightest. Second, you shouldn't have pulled a gun on me. And finally third, you shouldn't have hired Deadshot to assassinate Uzumaki Menma simply because he wouldn't submit to your demands to alter the program he setup or fund a new version of Cadmus in secret," replied Naruto while Sam Lane painfully glared at him with a mixture of shock and anger.
"Even if you take me in, you can't prove anything!" protested Sam Lane with Naruto just scoffing at him.
"Prove it? Do I look like the police? The Batman? Superman? The Justice League? No. I am none of the people who would gather the physical evidence first before moving in on you to the let the courts decide. I am the court. I am the judge, jury, and executioner to those who stand before me. I already know it was you because the timing was too damn convenient once your meeting with Uzumaki Menma ended. I have already found the link between you and the small handful of people in Whirlpool Inc., who can possibly replace Menma upon his death, and who you chose among them to do it. Suffice to say, he won't be returning any of your calls anytime soon in the future," replied Naruto smugly while Sam Lane grit his teeth in pain.
"You will pay for this. I have friends. Powerful friends. If you think they will just stand by and let you kill me...," said Sam Lane while stopping when the pain spiked.
"And who are these powerful friends of yours Mr. Lane? Luthor? Waller? One is in jail and the other will not doubt be investigated soon enough since she was seen with you not that long ago eating together at a high class restaurant," replied Naruto with Sam Lane's eyes narrowing.
"How did you know that?" demanded Sam Lane while Naruto smirked behind his mask.
"I have my sources. Now in regards to your wicked ways and what you did to earn my ire in the first place, I had hoped the military courts would throw the book at you with the force of an atomic bomb. But sadly, they failed due to deal with them, and of course the military court agreeing to it even though they had a slam dunk case. I think Waller called in a marker to make them accept the plea since only she has that kind of juice and doesn't want your trial to open up an investigation into her. I think it is only fair that you die here in this office, suffering a painful, and dishonorable death befitting a former military man in disgrace," said Naruto before throwing his tanto hidden in his right sleeve via a hidden seal there.
The blade hit true and pierced Sam Lane right through the forehead and out the back with the force behind the throw being enough to bring it all the way to the hilt. The blade of the tanto itself had pierced the back of Sam Lane's head and sprayed the now dead man's brains out the back.
Gory stuff to be sure. but effective all the same. It was just a shame no one would know the truth behind what happened in this room. As much as he wanted to claim credit for the former General's death, Naruto knew that was not an option for him. Waller would take this act in killing the man as a personal insult to Cadmus and herself in the process. Thus resulting in her doing something drastic and there was good chance of it coming up good for her and bad for him depending on who she looked to ally with in the future.
So with that in mind, Naruto easily damaged some electrical wiring in the room, and with a small explosive seal around it, triggered a small fire that was spreading throughout the office slowly, but noticeably. The single smoke alarm in the hallway would have went off if not for the fact it didn't have any batteries within it thanks to the former General taking them out years ago. His late wife had gotten the thing in case of a fire erupted within the house due to his past cigar smoking habit and leaving his cigars lying around with the risk of something catching fire being high. He had stopped after some considerable effort and only after his wife died of lung cancer. But at the time, Sam Lane had gotten rid of the batteries in the smoke detector without his wife noticing, mostly due to the fact she was more focused on Lois, and later on battling the cancer.
Now no one would know something was wrong until the neighbors saw the smoke and decided to call the Fire Department. Though that might take awhile longer then expected since the neighbors never liked Sam Lane or his arrogance at times when they met him at the neighborhood Christmas parties. Always walking around in his military uniform each time, showing off his medals, bragging about his accomplishments, putting people down if they said something he didn't agree with, and other hurtful things. The only reason the people at the Neighborhood Christmas party always tolerated him was of his wife and their daughter Lois. But now one was sadly dead and the other moved away while not being on speaking terms with her Father.
As far as the neighbors were concerned, they didn't see anything, hear anything, or smell anything coming from the Lane house when the fire finally became more...noticeable.
(Unknown Location-Deadshot's Hideout)
Deadshot cried out in pain. He didn't expect this to happen. The contract was simple and gave out descent pay that was good enough for him to take it. Kill Uzumaki Menma in his office at the behest of his client and make sure it sense a clear message to the man's future successor to never say no to General Sam Lane.
Only for it to go sideways on him. It was a straight forward assassination job. Easy target through some a clear windows, no obtrusions blocking the target from his sniper scope, and one bullet aimed at the target's skull. He waited for the meeting, which was short in his opinion, with the Four Star General to be over, and waited five minutes before pulling the trigger. With the silencer attached to his state of the art sniper rifle muffling the noise and the distance he was at, Deadshot could have easily killed a lot of people below or in the office buildings before anyone realized what was going on.
It was almost a shame he didn't have more time or bullets to test that theory.
It was at this point that the contract went sideways on him. As the bullet he fired did NOT hit his target, but was stopped by some state of the art bullet proof glass designed to stop bullets just like the one aimed at killing the young CEO of Whirlpool Inc. What was even worse and slightly more frightening was the fact Uzumaki Menma did not look the least bit surprised by this, but rather annoyed.
The man even turned to look in Deadshot's direction and mouthed the words "You better run!" like he was going to come after the assassin personally.
Right now, Deadshot suspected that was a distinct possibility given he was pinned to the wall like he was crucified with swords piercing both his hands, both his feet, one buried deep in his left shoulders, and one mean looking knife along the lower right portion of his ribcage. The attacker, dressed as a ninja, had followed him back to his temporary base of operations when Deadshot fled the scene of his failed assassination attempt. The ninja himself struck him by surprise and without remorse. Deadshot had fired bullet after bullet at the masked man, but the ninja easily blocked bullets from his machine gun not unlike Wonder Woman did with her damn bracelets. Only he walked forward without fear and did it like this was nothing before slicing through Deadshot's machine gun. By that point, the ninja said something in Japanese, and the next thing Deadshot knew, he was flying back into the wall behind him that practically broke his back in multiple places.
And since that moment, the Master shooter/assassin had been at this masked ninja's not so loving care, and unmerciful assault on his body ever since with few breaks.
"No more. Please no more!" pleaded Deadshot while biting back the pain.
"And I should stop, why?" asked the ninja in a kitsune mask.
"I told you everything you wanted. The who, the what, the why, and the when. The whole nine yards," gasped Deadshot with the masked ninja nodding.
"True, but that just leaves one pipeline of information to run dry. I want to know more," said the masked ninja.
"More?" asked Deadshot with a hint of dread in his voice.
"Yes. More. I want to know everything you know Deadshot. Names of targets, the dates they were killed, the payment methods used, the clients who hired you, and everything else under the Sun. And for every lie you tell, half-truth, not to mention outright refusal to answer me when asked a question...I will hurt you. I will break you. Mind, body, and even your very soul! I'm not a member of the Justice League who believe in letting the prisons or courts of law deal with you. I'm not Batman with his no killing policy. I'm the kind of guy who has no problem getting his hands dirty and bloody. So I suggest you start talking to me as if you want to live past this key point in time where you currently stand on the precipice of life...and death!" said the ninja coldly while staring Deadshot right in the eye.
And naturally, Deadshot talked like his life literally depended upon it. Which it did. Or at least he thought it did, but in truth Naruto wasn't going to let him live past this time. Even if he did live, the wounds sustained from the...interrogation had lasted too long in terms of being treated, and the man would die from infection or blood loss.
Whichever came first.