A lingering array of floating asteroids hovered along the vast cosmos, the backdrop of colors lighting the area, allowing Other to walk along the rocky path as he practically glided towards his destination like the other worldly specter that he was. Climbing the spiraling staircase that lead to his master"s chambers, Other took each step with clear trepidation, each step taken with further hesitation. Finally, he reached the last step, his cloaked form stopping as he saw the Dark Lord had vacated his usual spot upon his levitating throne, his back facing him as he looked pa.s.sed the asteroid field into the ever-expanding universe. Gone was his battle armor, the tyrant wearing a sleeveless lightly armored vest that was gold and royal blue in color, with military styled pants and golden combat boots that went up to his knees. The man"s awesome size seemed even more prominent, his muscular arms in a seemingly constant flex, his biceps looking like they were about to burst at the seams.
"Well?" Thanos demanded, his throttling baritone boomed.
Other nodded swiftly, his arms moving up defensively out of reflex, "It appears our sources are correct, the Maelstrom has the Stone in his possession. From what they have reported, the Xandarians "allowed" him to take it after Ronan"s invasion on the pretense he hide and protect it, rather than use it."
The Mad t.i.tan hummed, though whether it was out of anger or curiosity was unknown to his subordinate, "The fools. To trust something like that anyone but themselves shows how weak hearted they have become. Though, I suppose a thousand years of war can do that." Rubbing his chin, he continued, "Had they kept it our loss of the Stone wouldn"t have matter, as we could"ve taken at any point we chose. Now though, there"s no telling what that boy has done with it."
The hooded figure nodded, "And there have been no reports of him using the Stone. No one knows where he has decided to keep it."
"What of our a.s.set?" Thanos asked, "The one we tasked with capturing him? The "G.o.d Slayer?""
"He still struggles with finding him my Lord. His reports say that the boy has a knack for disappearing off the face of a planet and appearing on another two galaxies away." Looking up he asked, "Do you believe he is using the Stone within the Tesseract?"
"Perhaps." Turning to face his subordinate, the t.i.tan bellowed, "I tire of these games. I"ve allowed the Slayer to take so long because his killing of "G.o.ds" along the way amused me, but no longer will I allow his procrastination. Tell the fool if he doesn"t find the boy by the end of this yearly cycle, I will show him the power of a true G.o.d."
"Yes, my Lord, of course my Lord."
-x-
Location: The Planet Haragon
-x-
"On your feet boy!"
The man called boy gave a vocal scoff as he was pulled to his feet by the mountain of a man in front of him. The boy was wearing a thick brown fur coat under an orange armored vest with red highlights, a matching shoulder pad on his left shoulder attached to the vest. With his hood pulled up with a Sakaaran Scavenger mask covering his face, one could only guess his appearance.
Pulling on the chains keeping his captive restrained, the giant wore a set of leather armor that was brown in color, fur strapped under the armor pieces to keep the man at least somewhat warm. While ma.s.sive, he had the standard Haragonite look of what looked like a mutated turtle without their sh.e.l.l, his dirty green skin tone decorated with vengeful red tribal tattoos.
The two trekked through the tiled hallway, pa.s.sing cell doors one by one, their occupants peeking past the bars to see who was being summoned by the Exalted One.
"Dead man walking." One of the prisoners hissed.
"Don"t bother begging, he"ll only make it slower."
"Lucky b.a.s.t.a.r.d was only here for a few hours before they called him to court."
"Probably an Asgardian or something."
"Or a Sakaaran. Look at the mask."
The dead man didn"t bother to reply, keeping his eyes forward as he kept up with the Haragonite to keep him from pulling on the chains. Coming up on a pair of towering stone doors, the guard stopped in front of it as he gave it a single hard knock. The two waited for several moments in a patient silence. Then, a m.u.f.fled, "Enter," was heard.
It didn"t take a second before the stone doors to swing open with a loud echoing creak. With a mighty thoom the doors opened all the way, presenting the two with the wide courtroom in front of them. Dimly lit by a plethora of hovering lanterns, the stone tiled hall was filled with dozens of armed Haragonites, the types of swords and axes they were carrying varying from person to person. At the end of the courtroom was a ma.s.sive throne carved out of stone, two Haragonites on each side. And there, plopped lazily on the throne, was the Exalted One. The man was rather large, though considering he was a Jotun his height wasn"t really all that special. His dark blue skin was covered by a dark grey robe, though it looked to be more for decoration than protection from the cold.
His hand held up his chin as he gave the prisoner a chilling glare with his angry red eyes, "Bring him to me."
With a sharp pull, the guardsman pulled the prisoner forward. Bringing him before the throne, the guard kicked out his leg to bring him to his knees. With a swift pull, his hood was brought down to reveal slightly spiked blonde locks. Grabbing the mask, he slid it up to show a man in his mid-twenties, his bright blue eyes drilling into the Exalted One, the whisker like marks on his face crinkled up as he smirked up at the man.
"Frosty." Naruto greeted.
The Exalted One"s glare grew even colder, "You should watch yourself, Maelstrom. It is by my mercy that you"ve lived this long."
The blonde didn"t respond, instead looking up at the Frost Giant defiantly.
"What are you doing here Maelstrom?"
The blonde shrugged, "I was here to help out the villagers under your "protection."" Looking around he said, "And look at where that got me."
His brow furrowed The Exalted One asked, "And what prey tell brought your attention to us? Is Xandar aware of our actions?"
"Xandar?" Naruto asked with a scoff, "No. No, they"re still too busy tiptoeing around the Kree to pay attention to something as small time as you." Looking up at the Exalted One he said, "You in particular were hard to pin down. Every village I went to, none of your goons knew where you were staying at. Scarred Thor might come after you?" He asked with a smirk.
"That oaf?" The Exalted One asked, "If the fool didn"t know I was here when he and his Asgardians were waging war with this planet, I doubt he"ll ever know."
"That or you"re such a small fry he didn"t see the need to bother." Naruto shot back, "You were probably just a grunt when your king tried to invade Asgard."
"Small?" He whispered harshly, "Small?! I am Lekey! Right hand man to King Laufey himself!" His arm swept across the hall, "I lead a militia of over a thousand Haragonite warriors, I have control of over a dozen villages in the region! I am the Exalted One!" Getting up from the chair he finished, "Should that oaf of a prince show his face to me, I will plant his head on a pike, and use his beloved hammer to bring Asgard to the ground."
Naruto"s smirk grew into a full-grown smile, "Did you say Lekey?"
Lekey gave a confused pause, "…Yes?"
Giving a sigh of relief, Naruto swiftly pulled at his shackled hands, breaking the restraints as though they were b.u.t.ter, "Man, you have no idea how long I"ve been waiting on someone to actually use your name. Exalted One this, Exalted One that, leave it to a guy like you to give yourself such a name when all you"ve done is take over a few small villages." Pulling up his sleeve, he showed his Uta, a hologram of Lekey"s face popping up, his name and what looked like a bounty underneath, "Lekey of Jotunheim, wanted for ma.s.s murder on several planets, along with several counts of extortion. Current bounty set at fifty million Units, dead or alive."
"What?" Lekey asked, "What is the meaning of this?"
"Well, a friend of mine tipped me off that a guy with a big a.s.s bounty was extorting several villages on Haragon for "protection payments." He agreed to tell me where you were if I split the bounty with him. Sadly, none of your lackeys new your actual name, and since you moved around so much none of them knew where you were, I had to "get captured" so I could be brought to you. Standard stuff, not that complicated." Naruto said as he stretched out his wrists.
Lekey"s grit his teeth as he hissed out, "Kill him."
That was all his men needed to hear, the turtle like warriors drawing their weapons out as they charged the blonde in front of their master.
Naruto, not taking his eyes off Lekey, said, "Come at me then."
-x-
Location: New York City, New York
-x-
"I"m Christine Everhart."
"And I"m Will Adams."
"And this is WHiH World News." Christine said, the duo sitting side by side at their pristine news desk. As the camera focused on the blonde woman, "Today marks the final day of a city-wide cleanup in Washington D.C. after the event now known as Project Incite, where it was uncovered that agents of the long thought disbanded terrorist cell, Hydra, had infiltrated the intelligence agency known as SHIELD. One such mole being Alexander Pierce, the Secretary to the WSC, who oversee all SHIELD activities. These events culminated in the death of SHIELD Director Nicholas Fury, the disbandment of SHIELD by the government, and tens of millions of dollars in damages to the D.C. area."
The camera panned to Adams, "Last night, Tony Stark announced the building dubbed Stark Tower as the official headquarters of the Avengers. The team will act independently from any world government, and will act as a deterrent from events that are similar in nature to the Incident that occurred two years ago in New York City."
"Speaking of Tony Stark," Christine said, "The billionaire has just finished giving his testimony against the scientific research and development agency known as AIM. The company is currently under investigation after it was revealed that they were connected to the Mandarin, a terrorist who took responsibility for the bombings that occurred throughout the world. Mandarin was shown to be a front, with AIM having been behind the bombings that occurred due to the volatile experiments dubbed Extremis. The organization has been shut down, and any surviving members are currently being investigated and charged."
As Christine was about to speak, the television screen went mute. Remote control in hand, Illyana Rasputin got up from her seat. Setting down the remote, the woman leaned back so she was laying on the bed, releasing a heavy sigh as she did.
"Long day?"
Not bothering to turn her attention to the voice, Illyana mumbled, "What did I say about teleporting into my apartment?"
In her bedroom was the Ancient One, the woman walking across the room with her arms behind her back in a stoic prance, "And what have I said about showing such disrespect to your teacher?"
Illyana had the decency to look admonished, "I"m sorry."
Reaching the blonde woman, the Ancient One said, "I"ve allowed you to stay outside of Kamar-Taj while you undergo your training, at the very least I should be allowed to make unexpected visits now and again." Sitting down next to Illyana, a cup of tea appeared in her hand. After taking a sip, she continued, "Your teachers say you"re progressing well, a true prodigy some claim."
"Better than Strange?" She asked.
"No." The Sorcerer Supreme admitted.
"Is there a reason you"re here master?" Illyana asked.
The Ancient One nodded, "There is."
The woman nicknamed Magik waited several seconds for her master to continue, before finally saying out of impatience, "And?"
"I have felt…a presence, these past few days. A presence that comes closer and closer to Earth. One that I don"t know if its current defenders can fight against."
Illyana looked at the Ancient One in confusion, "And what does that have to do with me?"
Looking at her student with a slightly pointed look, the master said, "I know that he gave you a way to contact him. A way to summon him."
Magik gave the Ancient One her own look, "I"m not saying I don"t. But why can"t we help in stopping this "presence?""
"We are charged with safeguarding the world from mystical threats. Threats such as these are not ours to meddle." The sorcerer explained, "Now how do we summon him?"
With a shrug, Illyana got up from the bed and walked over to the dresser. Pulling open the drawer, she shuffled through the piles of socks for a moment before pulling out a bundle wrapped in clothe. Now back on the bed, Illyana carefully unraveled it to reveal a tri-tipped blade, "He gave me this a couple years ago. Said if I ever needed anything to throw the blade into a surface and he"d be here in a flash."
As the Ancient One took the blade into her hands, she said, "Good. Because the presence has arrived." The sorcerer nodding to the television, the mute turning off with the motion.
Illyana looked to the television, the news showing a breaking news announcement as what looked like an alien ship descended onto Kowloon Bay near Hong Kong, the water parting along the ships thrusters. The ship was unlike anything the blonde woman had seen before, with a diamond like shape with a dull grey color scheme with golden tr.i.m.m.i.n.gs, she could safely say it wasn"t anything from Earth. Hovering just over the water bed, the ship became still. Then, it moved forward. Slowly it encroached upon the edge of Hong Kong, crawling closer and closer to the city"s harbor. Reaching one of the dozens of docks connecting to the bay, the ship came to another stop. As a door began to crawl up, a figure could be seen in the entry way. Walking into the light, a ma.s.sive grey skinned man walked onto the dock, the heavily armored and armed creature walking with no real sense of urgency.
In a baritone voice that was somehow easily picked up by the distant cameras, the man spoke, "I come for the Celestial. Bring him to me."
-x-
"What the h.e.l.l is a Celestial?"
Walking through the Stark Tower hanger, Clint Barton and Steve Rogers barreled towards the Avenger"s Quinjet, the Captain strapping his shield to his back as he said, "No idea. We have an idea if this guy"s hostile?"
It was Maria Hill who answered, "He has yet to make any kind of move, he just keeps demanding to see the Celestial. The local police and military have been ordered not to engage, they"ve set up a perimeter and are waiting on our arrival."
"Is Tony on his way?" Steve asked.
"He called almost as soon as the ship entered our orbit, he"ll be there just a little before us. He"s bringing Banner along with him."
Nodding, Steve and Clint entered the jet, with Clint heading towards the c.o.c.kpit. Looking to the co-pilot seat, Hawkeye gave a quick nod to the one in the seat, "Ready?"
Giving a c.o.c.ky smile, Natasha replied, "Are you?"
"Always."
-x-
"Bring him to me. I will not ask again."
Tony Stark, the man wearing his Mark XLIII suit, looked to Banner, the two of them standing several yards away from the mysterious alien, "You have any idea what he"s talking about?" He asked, the face section of his armor raised up to reveal his face.
Bruce shook his head, "No clue."
The armored man sighed, "Yeah, me neither." Stepping forward, he said to the creature, "You gotta name big guy?"
Looking to Tony, the "big guy" answered, "Desak."
It was Bruce who said, "Well…Desak, we don"t know what you"re talking about. What is a Celestial, exactly?"
"Not what." Desak said, "Who."
"Okay, who exactly are you talking about?" Bruce pressed, "Maybe we can help you find them."
Desak narrowed his eyes, "Do not play the fool with me. I know that the Celestial came from this planet before heading for Xandar." Slowly, the G.o.d Slayer reached for the axe strapped to his back, causing Bruce to step back and Tony to aim his Repulsors, "If you will not bring him to me, perhaps he will come on his own accord." And with that, he drew his weapon with a resounding thw.a.n.g.
A nervous looking Bruce eyed Tony, "Code Green?"
The face section of his helmet came down hard as he said, "Yeah. Code Green."
-x-
Illyana watched as the alien fought back against Iron Man and the Hulk, the armored creature flinging the former across the city like a rag doll and matching the latter"s strength with surprising ease. Her attention was turned away from the television when the sound of a blade hitting wood, her eyes drawn to the three-bladed knife stuck in the wall. Giving her master an annoyed look, the blonde said, "Did you have to throw it in my wall? This apartment is a rental."
The Ancient One didn"t seem to care about that, "I thought you said he"d be here in a flash? This isn"t a flash."
"Maybe he meant a literal flash?"
Giving an annoyed hum, the Ancient One folded her arms behind her back, "Are you sure there isn"t another step to it?"
"Nope. He just said to throw it and wait."
Closing her eyes while giving an agitated sigh through her nose, the master said, "Then we wait."
Looking to the television, Illyana said, "Well it looks like the rest of the Avengers are there." True to her word, Captain America, Hawkeye, and Black Widow had just arrived on the scene.
Her eyes still closed, the Sorcerer shook her head, "I doubt they"ll be able to hold him off for long."
"Hold off who?"
As Illyana jumped in shock at the new voice in the room, the Ancient One simply opened her eyes with a strange calmness, a small smile on her face as she turned to recently arrived blonde. The man had grown since the last time she"d seen him, the way he held himself was more mature, confident. Wearing a rather strange attire that looked slightly worn and torn, with rips and slashes littered around his person, with a green liquid that smelt like blood staining the brown fur. And in his hand was the head of a blue skinned creature, its lifeless eyes staring up at her as blood dripped from his gaping neck to the wooden floor below.
"From him." The Ancient One answered, nodding her head towards the television.
Eyeing the TV with a raised brow, Naruto saw Desak swatting at Captain Rogers, the super soldier raising his shield just in time to take the brunt of the blow, sending the man flying before landing in a roll. As the Annihilator reared back his battle axe to try and behead Tony, four arrows found themselves imbedded in his triceps before they each exploded in medium ball of fire. As Desak walked through the parting cloud of smoke, not looking damaged in the slightest.
"Huh." Naruto mumbled, his eyes on the televised battle as he sealed away the head of Lekey, "He got a name?"
"He calls himself Desak." Illyana answered, though most of her attention was on the blonde"s out of this world appearance, "He"s looking for someone named Celestial, thinks he"s from Earth."
A dangerous edge came to Naruto"s eyes, "…Celestial huh."
Illyana looked at her fellow blonde in confusion, "Do you know him?"
Naruto didn"t bother answering, placing the scroll into his hip pouch as he stoically said, "I"m gonna help take care of this." Looking to Illyana he continued with a smile, "After that we can catch up."
Illyana couldn"t help but look hopeful as she asked, "Does that mean…you"re coming back?"
The ninja chuckled, "Yeah…yeah I think so. I"ve been gone long enough, don"t you think?"
"Yeah, for sure."
His smile getting a little bigger, the Uzumaki said, "I"ll see you in a bit then. Same with you AC." And with that, he was gone.
-x-
"Hulk…SMASH!"
Desak jumped back as a giant green blur smashed into the ground in front of him, sending concrete and other debris flying in all directions. He wasn"t allowed a reprieve however, as he felt a beam of energy hit him in the back, the blue soldier"s shield slam into his jaw, and several arrows slice into his ribs, each blow forcing him to take a slight step back from the force of them. It wasn"t enough to keep his attention off the ma.s.sive green rage machine, the Annihilator easily catching its fist without showing much strain, the ground underneath them exploding from the power of the impact.
The G.o.d Slayer glowered at the Hulk as he grumbled, "Is that all you have, beast?" Yellow energy began to emit from around his body, his eyes glowing the same haunting color as he said, "Perhaps when I kill you, the Celestial will show himself to me."
Faster than anyone of the Avengers could follow, Desak"s fist plowed into the Hulk"s face, sending the green beast into a high velocity propulsion into one of the parked police cars nearly fifty yards away, the Hulk"s impact nearly flattening the vehicle as he bounced up before skipping across the pavement. As he tumbled to a stop, Desak appeared above him in a burst of speed, his broad sword in a reverse grip.
Realizing what the alien was about to do, Stark shouted, "Stop him, now!" With that order he fired off a beam of energy from the Arc Reactor centered in the chest piece of his armor, with his fellow Avengers throwing everything they had at the alien to keep him from plunging his blade into the Hulk"s head. That was a success, though only a minor one.
"AUGH!" The Hulk screamed in agony as the broad sword"s blade sliced into his lower chest.
"BRUCE!" Tony yelled in worry as Black Widow and Hawkeye desperately fired off their weapons at Desak to try and get him to back off their comrade. Desak brushed off the attacks however, pulling his blade out of the Hulk as he prepped the sword to finish it off.
As he reared the sword back, a powerful presence seemed to make itself known, stopping him from separating the enraged beast"s head from its shoulders. Lowering the blade to his side, he turned his head to see Naruto standing amongst the team doing their best against him, all of them staring at him in shock.
"NNaru-" Natasha stuttered, her body nearly shutting down from shock, "Naruto?"
"Holy s.h.i.t." Clint muttered.
After giving Natasha a quick once over, Naruto turned his attention to Desak, "So I hear you"re looking for me."
Desak nodded, "You took your time. I did not think that the man they called a Celestial was a coward."
"I apologize for taking so long, but wouldn"t it have been easier to just give me a call? It wasn"t like I was hiding or anything." Walking forward, he continued, "But no. You had to make an a.s.shole out of yourself by attacking a planet that would have zero idea as to where I was. It"s a good thing I left a way for someone to call me, otherwise you"d have probably destroyed this place." Stopping just a few feet away, he finished, "And that p.i.s.ses me the f.u.c.k off."
Like a viper, Naruto"s hand struck out at Desak"s chest, his hand resting on his skin for only a nanosecond before the two of them disappeared as though they"d never been there at all.
-x-
Desak stumbled back as he appeared in a vast desert dune field, the pounding heat beating down on his heavily armored form, a cloud of sand blowing into his face forcing him to guard his eyes with his hand, "Where have you taken me Celestial?"
Naruto, placing the Sakaaran mask over his face to protect his face from the mild sand storm billowing around them, said, "They call this place Tadrart Acucus. No cities or people for miles." Summoning Sasuke"s chokuto into his hand, he got into defensive stance, "Well?"
The Annihilator chuckled as he twirled the great sword around almost playfully, "Prey to your G.o.ds if you have them Celestial. For you will be meeting them soon."
"I don"t have a G.o.d to prey to. All I have are people I consider precious to me." His blade poised he finished, "And you just tried to kill the some of the few I have left."
As those words left his lips, he struck.
CLANG!
Their blades locked together, the sound of metal grinding on metal filling the air as the two of them glared into each other"s eyes. Naruto"s muscles strained and flexed as he tried to hold back the monster of a man from breaking past his guard. Little by little however, his feet began to skirt back against the sand. About to lose his footing, Naruto back stepped quickly before taking two testing swipes at Desak"s midsection, each one blocked with ease.
Desak seemed to lose his patience with Naruto"s prodding, parrying the next slash with a hefty shove from the flat side of his sword before stabbing at an open blonde, said ninja forced to spin out of the way, only to get his legs kicked out from under him forcing him to become parallel with the ground for a moment. That moment was all Desak needed, bringing his blade down like a hammer on Naruto"s hips, splitting the man in half with one fluid cut.
POOF
Desak raised an eyebrow as his opponent disappeared in a puff of smoke. Looking around the desert dunes, the man was annoyed to find an unharmed Naruto standing not far away, his chokuto in a reverse grip, the blade incased in lightning, "I had heard you were full of cheap tricks."
"Most of my people were too." Naruto said.
Pulling out the shield strapped to his lower back, Desak got into a defensive stance, "They must have been a bunch of cowards then." Desak was barely able to get the last word out, forced to bring up his shield to block the incoming spear made of lightning, the man skidding back from the force. He then raised up his blade, just in time to block the blonde"s chokuto from splitting his head like a banana, a sonic boom escaping from the impact.
"You don"t know a d.a.m.n thing about them!" Naruto growled out, his eyes a dangerous red as he came at the Annihilator with a flurry of strikes and stabs, doing his best to end the ignorant fool in front of him.
In the middle of his barrage of lightning fast attacks, Kurama yelled, "Calm down brat! This fool isn"t someone to lose your cool on!" When Naruto continued with his attacks, the Tailed Beast said, "If you weren"t so p.i.s.sed off you"d notice that his shield is absorbing the chakra surrounding your blade every time you hit it! He can absorb energy you d.a.m.n brat! That"s why neither of them are shattering from a single hit from your Chidori Blade!"
Cutting off the constant flow he"d been giving the chokuto, Naruto gave his sword a testing swing into Desak"s shield. Almost as soon as the sword made contact, the lightning around Naruto"s blade disappeared, "Whwhat?" Naruto stuttered. His eyes narrowing, Naruto said, "That"s some nifty weapon you got there. It"s even able to absorb chakra."
"So, you finally notice?" Desak asked, "I was wondering how long it would take."
Jumping back, Naruto attached the sword to his back with Magnet Release. Flipping through a long set of hand seals, Naruto shouted, "Well, let"s see how you handle this! Lightning Release: False Darkness!"
Opening his mouth as wide as his jaw would allow it, the blonde fired off a thick beam of lightning, the streak of electricity blasting off at the hulking warrior across from him. Desak simply readied himself, his shield raised to where the lightning bolt would hit.
THOOM
When the jutsu hit, the force of the explosion forced Naruto to shield his eyes slightly, but not enough that he couldn"t see the huge flash of energy as the ground around where Desak had been hit exploded, sending clumps of sand everywhere. As the sand settled and the dust cleared, Naruto narrowed his eyes when he saw Desak was no longer there.
He wasn"t given much time to ponder it, as a ma.s.sive fist soon found its way into Naruto"s jaw. Blood and spittle sprayed from his mouth as he took a step back to correct his balance. Then another fist came, this time slamming into the other side of his face, and one more right into his stomach, his body folding over Desak"s fist as more blood sprayed pa.s.sed his lips.
Desak looked down at Naruto, his face one of boredom as he brought his fist back from Naruto"s stomach, allowing the blonde to stumble back. Redrawing his great sword, the G.o.d Slayer withdrew the blade with one swift pull before bringing it down on Naruto"s head.
Naruto, still stunned from the a.s.sault, could only watch as the sword came down on him.
-x-
"Where the h.e.l.l did he go?!"
Tony sighed in agitation as he heard Barton yell over the Quinjet"s engine, "If I knew I"d tell you Legolas."
"Don"t call me that!" Clint shouted, pointing his finger at Stark in agitation, "Naruto just f.u.c.king disappeared with a guy that was throwing Banner around like he was nothing! We need to find them, and help him!"
"We"re trying Clint." Steve said, trying to calm the agitated dead shot, "We"ve got Hill back at Stark Tower searching for any sign of them, we"ll get a hit eventually. You just have to be patient." He insisted, placing a hand on the man"s shoulder.
Clint brushed off Steve"s hand as he turned sharply to Natasha, "Aren"t you going to say anything? The man is back after three years, and you haven"t said a thing! Don"t you lo-"
"Shut up!" Natasha shouted. Blinking, the woman quickly calmed herself as she allowed her cold façade to take over, "We"ve got to get Bruce to Stark Tower, thanks to the other guy the bleedings stopped, but he still needs to see Dr. Cho as soon as possible. Naruto can handle himself…he"s stronger than you think."
Stark nodded, looking over at the unconscious Banner, his chest wrapped in b.l.o.o.d.y bandages, though his breathing had steadied and color had returned to his face, "She"s right. We"ll find Naruto, Clint, but first we have to get Banner to the Tower."
-x-
Naruto blinked, momentarily bewildered at the sight of the giant wall of sand that had sprung up and intercepted the sword just as it was about to carve into his skull, "Thanks for the save…Kurama." He thought.
"No problem brat. Now get on your feet. You"re embarra.s.sing yourself."
"Right." He said aloud, jumping back several dozen yards as several spikes of sand shot out of the ground towards Desak, the man using his surprising agility to dodge each one, the warrior forced to back pedal several feet before the spikes stopped their a.s.sault. Closing his eyes in concentration, Naruto allowed himself to enter Six Paths Sage Mode, his eyes taking on the distinct color and shape to show his transformation. Taking a calming breath, Naruto got into a combative stance, waiting on Desak to make the first move, "He"s a lot faster than I thought he"d be. It"s like fighting a Kage back home."
Kurama nodded in the seal, "He"s got some kind of power source. Didn"t you feel that energy spike?"
The blonde frowned, "Not really…then again I"ve been a little preoccupied with getting my a.s.s kicked…man that hasn"t happened for a while now has it?"
"Well like I said, it"s embarra.s.sing. So get your head in the game before you get us both killed."
Naruto nodded as he called out to Desak, "You"re pretty good. The best I"ve seen so far outside my planet, that"s for sure."
The Slayer raised his sword at the ready, "And you"re nothing but a disappointment. You"re no Celestial. No G.o.d. If it were any other circ.u.mstance, I wouldn"t even bother with you. It is only because of who you"ve angered that I seek your death today."
If Naruto planned on asking who Desak was talking about, he never got the chance. With a quick duck, he felt the tip of his hair get chopped off as he drew his chokuto, parrying the next strike as it came with ease before sending a swing of his own. Naruto felt Desak not expect the strength in his swing, the warrior forced to reinforce his stance at the last minute when the blonde nearly broke it with a single strike.
The two then engaged in a brutal dance of blades, the Annihilator blocking with his shield and attacking and parrying with his sword, and Naruto doing his best to get a good enough opening to give a fatal blow. No such open came, the two"s desert dance coming to a stop when they jumped back from each other, each a.s.sessing the other intensely.
Extending a hand out, Naruto said, "Magnet Release: Faithful Attraction!"
Desak looked down at his sword and shield, the two of them trying their best to pull away from him. Holding strong, the G.o.d Slayer held onto his weapons with a vice like grip. Suddenly, a yellow glow began to surround the brute of a warrior, the ethereal shade of yellow giving off a dangerous energy.
Realizing he was getting nowhere with his Faithful Attraction, Naruto cut off the jutsu, just in time to cover his eyes as Desak gave a mighty battle cry, the sand splitting open and jutting out beneath him as he roared up to the heavens, the yellow energies presence becoming even greater.
"Holy s.h.i.t!" Naruto yelled, sending chakra to his feet to keep himself from blowing away, "The guys going Super Saiyan!"
"No, you fool!" Kurama screamed, "He"s using that power source! This is rivalling a Tailed Beast in energy! Five tails, at the least!"
"Big guns it is then." Naruto said as he was about to activate his Six Paths Sage Cloak. It wasn"t to be however.
Desak blasted off towards him like a rocket, the already destroyed ground beneath exploding, destroying the dune he was on to make a giant crater.
"Humph!" Naruto grunted as Desak barreled into him, taking him in midair with enough speed to keep them going before they slammed into a distant rock formation, "AAUGh!" Naruto screamed at the impact, the two of them drilling into the hard rock with extreme force and speed. Desak quickly took advantage of that, bringing his fists down on Naruto"s face over and over again, the blonde"s blood caking his knuckles as he tried to pound his skull in. Having enough with the punching, the Annihilator grabbed Naruto by the hair roughly.
Blood pouring down Naruto"s face, nose, and mouth, the blonde muttered, "That all you go-" Desak didn"t allow him to finish his sentence, slamming his head so hard into the rock it left an indent. Bring his head back again, Desak repeated this. Over and over again.
"So pathetic. Though…I suppose I shouldn"t be shocked you couldn"t stand up to the power of the Designate. Only one man has, and he"s the one that wants you dead. Consider it a blessing he sent me rather than coming himself. Though it doesn"t really matter either way, for you"ll be meeting him soon enough. So, allow me to once again give you this final curtesy. Prey to your G.o.ds, if you have them. For you will be visiting them soo-"
"RASENGAN!"
The sound of grinding metal filled the desert dunes. And the sound of an explosion of energy followed soon after. Desak flew away from the still down Uzumaki, the Slayer clutching his shoulder as he glared at the blonde. Naruto simply gave the glaring warrior a b.l.o.o.d.y smile, getting up from the ground, stumbling as he did, he said, "I don"t give a s.h.i.t who I p.i.s.sed off. I don"t give a s.h.i.t who you are. I honestly couldn"t give a s.h.i.t what your whole story is. All I care about is that you tried to kill people I care about. For all I care, you became a dead man the moment you stepped foot on this planet." The ground beneath him cracked as he allowed his Six Paths Sage Mode to activate. As he began to power up, so did Desak, the man"s strange yellow energy building up around him, his eyes glowing with flickers licking off like embers. As rock and sand began to lift from oversaturation of energy in the air, Naruto finished, "Well, let"s go then."
Both men"s charge created simultaneous sonic booms, the sand and rock beneath them exploding outwards. But that was nothing compared to when their fists met in a mighty clash. They kept from continuing the clash, with Naruto throwing a mighty left hook into Desak"s chin, just as the Annihilator jabbed at the ninja"s temple. Blow after blow, the two went into each other with everything they had. The only problem was that Desak didn"t seem to feel any of the bone shattering blows Naruto was dealing out. The sentiment was not shared. Blood dripped from Naruto"s mouth as he heaved and huffed, weaving back and forth as he looked for an opening to strike. While the man opposite of him was bleeding and bruised as much as he was, he didn"t show it with his stoic façade.
Jumping back, Naruto flipped through several hand signs, "Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation!" He thought, taking a deep breath before unleashing a thin stream of fire at the nearby Desak. The Annihilator quickly brought out his shield, raising the enchanted equipment just in time to intercept the jutsu from hitting his person. Just as the jutsu hit the shield though, the stream of fire expanded into a sea of inferno.
Naruto didn"t finish at that, going through another set of hand signs as he thought, "Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!" Taking another breath in, he released it with a might heave, producing a magnificent gust of wind into the field of flames.
"Not done yet." Naruto thought, "Help me out here Kurama!"
"Sure thing brat!"
Holding his hand up, Naruto called out, "Big Ball Tailed Beast Rasenshuriken!" Extending two chakra arms from his back, Naruto and Kurama formed a ma.s.sive Tailed Beast Ball over his head. Naruto quickly added an abundant amount of wind chakra into it, allowing a whirling shuriken like blade to wrap around the ball of Tailed Beast chakra. With a grunt, Naruto hurled the ma.s.sive jutsu at the now smoldering aftermath of the fire jutsu, knowing that Desak was still in the middle of it all.
Desak didn"t seem all too keen on waiting for the attack to come to him, jumping at the jutsu as it swept across the desert plain, swinging his energy incased sword at it with all his might.
BOOOM!
-x-
"Found anything yet?"
Agent Hill looked up from her tablet to say, "Not yet Captain. How"s Banner?"
"He"s fine." Tony answered as he walked into the room, running his hand along his scalp, "And we just got a hit. They"re in the Sahara, Tadrart Acacus to be exact."
"How the h.e.l.l did they get all the way over there?" Clint asked, sitting over in the corner as he tweaked with a trick arrow, "Do you think he somehow used the Tesseract?"
"Possibly." Tony answered, "Where"s Pointbreak when you need him?"
"Ms. Foster said he left for Nidavellir two days ago, whatever that is." Hill said, not taking her eyes off of her tablet.
"Note to self, get Thor a phone." Clint grumbled sarcastically.
Looking over his shoulder at Natasha, the woman sitting over at the bar with a blank expression on her face, Steve asked Clint, "How is she?"
Clint shook his head, "She"s shut herself off. There"s no getting through to her when she"s like this."
"So, what do we do here?" Tony, "That guy was tearing us apart before Naruto showed up, we"ll need a game plan if we"re going to give him some backup."
"He won"t need it." The group looked over at Natasha, the woman not bothering to return the favor as she continued, "I told you, he"s stronger than you think. He"ll win."
-x-
Slowly, Naruto picked himself up from the ground, sand spilling off his back as he got onto his hands and knees, looking up at the now huffing Desak, the man getting up himself, "We"ve gotta destroy that sword and shield. I mean…seriously." He thought.
"I agree. A shield that absorbs energy and a sword that negates it? f.u.c.king ridiculous."
"The question is how. Jutsu are all out, and chakra enhanced strength is useless. So"s Nature Chakra, and Six Paths Chakra. My entire a.r.s.enal is pretty much gone."
"There is that."
Naruto sighed, "No, that"s energy too."
"True."
A light bulb went off in Naruto"s head, "Got it!" He said aloud. Pulling up his shirt sleeve, Naruto revealed several seals tattooed to his forearm. With a quick application of chakra, a puff of smoke surrounded Naruto. As a gust of wind blew the smoke away, Naruto"s new weapon was revealed.
Desak raised an eyebrow at the object in Naruto"s hands, "What a strange weapon." He observed.
Naruto"s smiled at the man opposite of him, his blood-stained teeth gleaming in the desert sun, "Say h.e.l.lo to Kabutowari, or as its victims knew it by, "Helmet Splitter."" The Bluntsword, as it was also known, consisted of a single sided axe that was connected to a ma.s.sive hammer by a thick leather rope.
"Hmph, fine." His yellow energy still covering him and his sword and shield, Desak charged at Naruto. His charge was intercepted by two Shadow Clones popping into existence, both wielding a kunai rather than a matching Kabutowari. Quickly dispatching the first, Desak engaged in a quick standoff with the second, the clone using wind to keep his kunai from breaking under the Annihilator"s strange energy. That standoff didn"t last long however, as the clone gave Desak a defiant smirk.
"Boom." It said.
BOOM!
The explosion didn"t seem to faze the G.o.d Slayer, the man looking around for the real blonde with his shield and sword at the ready. Left, right, and even behind, the Annihilator looked for his opponent. Catching something from the corner of his vision, Desak looked up quickly to find Naruto coming down on him, the axe half of Kabutowari about to come down on his head. Quickly raising his shield, Desak caught the axe"s blade, the sound of metal slamming into metal ringing across the desert. Naruto didn"t seem to mind the block, if anything his smirk grew bigger.
"Kiri Blade Technique: Defense Breaker!"
With a mighty heave, Naruto slammed the hammer half of the weapon on the blunt end of the axe portion.
The sound of splitting metal and tearing flesh was heard soon after.
"AUUGH!"
Green blood sprayed across Naruto"s face, his axes blade having just amputated Desak"s hand at the mid-forearm.
"Humph!" Naruto grunted, getting a foot to the stomach, sending him rolling back from the now one- handed man.
Clutching his stumped arm, Desak watched, rage in his eyes, as his precious blood spilled onto the sand below. Looking at what was left of his shield, the Slayer growled as he gazed at the cut in half piece of metal. Sliding it off his arm and throwing the now useless tool to the ground, Desak ground out, "You have no idea how lucky you are that the Other ordered me to bring you in alive."
Naruto charged forward, thinking to himself as he did, "One down, one to go."
"Be careful brat, he"s different from before." Kurama warned.
"Right." Naruto thought back, coming onto Desak as he swung the hammer towards his knee cap. Quickly stepping away from the swing, the man swung his sword at the blonde"s neck, said blonde"s axe coming up to block it with the blunt backside. This kind of exchange continued for some time, with Naruto trying to use Defense Breaker to destroy Desak"s sword, and the Annihilator strategically keeping the axe and hammer as far from each other as possible, this proving difficult with a single hand.
Finally, Naruto"s combos proved too much for Desak. His hammer coming in for a gut shot, Desak used the flat side of his blade as a guard. Taking advantage of the opening, Naruto swung the axe straight at Desak"s temple.
Time seemed to slow down, the axe"s blade creeping closer and closer towards Desak"s skull. It never made contact.
"AUUUUUUUGH!" Desak screamed, a ma.s.sive amount of energy exploding outwards as he did, sending Naruto flying back from the force of it.
Naruto, on his back, groaned as he tried to gather himself.
"Naruto! NARUTO! Get up!" Kurama"s warning came too late.
"FUUUUUCK!" Naruto screamed in pain, writhing in pain as Desak"s great sword plunged into his stomach, pinning him to the ground in the process. Looking down, Naruto could only widen his eyes in shock at the blood pouring from the gaping wound, the energy surrounding the blade burning his skin like a blow torch.
Looking up at Desak, the warrior hovering above him, Naruto raised his hand in a rage, "Chidori Spear!" He called out, reaching into his reserves to summon the lightning jutsu.
Naruto"s eyes somehow managed to widen even further in dread as he looked at his hand, the jutsu never appearing, not even a spark, "Wha…what?!"
"This blade is enchanted to negate any energy it comes into contact with. It was a gift from the very being that gave me my Amulet. While the shield absorbs any kind of energy and converts it to the Amulet in the form of G.o.dly Energy, the sword negates that energy entirely. A handy thing to have against beings who rely on their energy for combat." Desak grumbled, his G.o.dly Energy swirling around him violently, "Look, even that form you took is gone."
Looking down at himself, Naruto finally realized that his Six Paths Chakra Mode had disappeared, "Kurama?" Naruto thought, "KURAMA?!" He frantically screamed in his mind. And for the first time in a long time, there was no answer.
"If you"re trying to channel that power, don"t bother. As long as this blade is in contact with you like this, you"re powerless."
And for the first time in a long time, Naruto felt true fear.
His mind racing a mile a minute, the blonde tried to think of a way out from under the blade. He had no chakra. He was quickly bleeding out. His strength was leaving him even quicker. Before long, he was gonna pa.s.s out from either the pain or from blood loss. He needed to think. Think. Think. THINK.
But nothing came to him. Eventually, his mind began to slow down. His arms falling to his sides, his eyes drifting up the sky. And as he watched the blue sky, he saw a Quinjet fly overhead, just as patches of darkness began to encroach on his vision.
He was going to die.
-x-
"Oh my G.o.d…" Even with the mechanical tone to his voice, anyone could hear the shock in Tony"s voice as he looked down at the sight bellow them. Naruto was down, a sword in his gut and Desak standing above him, defeated.
"Get down there!" Natasha ordered frantically, "We have to save him!"
Clint didn"t bother answering, having already begun to plunge the Quinjet down to the ground for a landing.
Steve clipped his helmet on as he ordered, "Stark, Hawkeye, we"re distraction. Widow, you"re extraction. Get Naruto and get him out of here."
Natasha nodded firmly in response.
Rogers looked over to Tony, "Any chance Veronica is ready for action?"
"No, Bruce and I were in the middle of finishing it up when this guy showed up. It"s not battle ready yet."
"d.a.m.n-" Steve was cut off by a violent bought of turbulence, the Quinjet shaking violently, "What the h.e.l.l"s going on up there?!"
Clint struggled to keep the jet stable as he shouted, "I don"t know! Something"s going on with Naruto!"
Steve and Tony quickly walked over to see what Clint was talking about, the two of them shocked to their core at what they saw. Down below, Naruto was covered in a strange purple energy none of them had ever seen before, the force of it sending hurricane level winds their way. The energy rocketed up into the sky, parting any clouds that were in its path, blowing pa.s.sed the ozone layer on its way.
"We"ve got to back off!" Tony ordered.
"WE CAN"T!" Nat screamed back, holding on for dear life as she did.
"If we don"t we"re dead!"
Clint struggled with himself for a moment before cursing loudly, "f.u.c.k!" Bringing the controls back, the dead shot pulled the Quinjet away from the ground.
-x-
Darkness. That was all Naruto could see when he opened his eyes. But this…this was a new kind of dark. This wasn"t like in s.p.a.ce where he knew there were countless things there with him in the void. Here though…here he felt truly alone. There was no noise. No smell. Nothing. Just him as he floated along in the darkness. And then, echoing against the darkness, the sound of dripping water filled the void.
Drip
"h.e.l.lo?"
Drip
"Where…am I?"
Drip
"…Kurama?"
Drip
"IS ANYONE HERE?!"
Drip
"…is this h.e.l.l?"
Drip
"No."
Naruto jumped as he turned towards the voice that was surprisingly close to him. Forcing himself to turn around he came face to face with what was perhaps the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Her porcelain white skin tone heavily contrasted with the dark void surrounding them, while her obsidian colored hair blended with it almost entirely. Draped around her 5"5 frame was what look like an evening gown made out of the universe itself, the fabric littered with twinkling stars and several cl.u.s.ters of spiraling galaxies.
Naruto looked into the woman"s deep brown eyes, said orbs seemingly boring into his very soul, "Who are you?" He demanded.
Taking a step on mid-air, the woman said, "Who do you think I am?"
"Some kind of G.o.d, I"d have to guess." Naruto admitted, taking into mind the powerful presence she gave off.
"Some have given me that t.i.tle, yes." The woman said, taking another step forward, "Though I am so much more. Hades, Yama, Anubis, Hela…so many have used my name to further themselves. I touch everyone, everywhere." Now only several inches from the blonde Uzumaki, the woman slowly raised her hand, stopping just as it was about to touch Naruto"s cheek, "I am Death."
Naruto could feel a chill roll down his spine, his voice a whisper as he said, "The Shinigami?"
Death smiled, "That is one my avatars, yes." Naruto jumped when he felt the woman place her other hand on his stomach, right on the seal that holds back Kurama, "I can feel it, our connection."
"Connection?"
"Remnants of my energy helps hold the beast at bay." Death explained, a gentle smile on her face, "I have been with you from the very beginning. You"re such a stubborn boy, so set on avoiding me. And yet, here," Her hand gently rested against his cheek, "I can touch you now." She purred.
It felt as though someone had dumped a bucket of ice cold water on his face, sweat building along his temple, "I"m dying?"
"You are."
"But…I can"t. Not yet."
"Why? Your friends are dead. Your family. Your home. How long do you think this façade you"ve put up will last?" Pressing up against him, she said, "This mask you"ve put up…is pathetic. Wise cracking, devil may care. It"s all a fiction."
Annoyance began to fill Naruto"s mind, though for some reason he couldn"t move away from the beautiful woman, "You don"t know what you"re talking abou-"
"You don"t know whether you want to move forward or backward. Just that you can"t stand still. You are a man filled with so much that I cannot comprehend. Pain, sorrow…you bury your thoughts deep inside. But you can"t hide such things from me. Your mask is useless here."
Naruto simply stared into the woman"s eyes, his mild blank, incapable of saying a word. After a moment, he felt her hand move up his face, her thumb wiping something away from beneath his eye. It was then that he realized why.
He was crying.
And finally, the d.a.m.n broke. Tears began to flow freely, the woman in front of him pulling him down for a tight embrace. At first, Naruto struggled, choking on his sobs as he did, but soon caved in to the woman, returning the hug with all his might, "I…I failed them. I failed them."
"Yes…you did."
"I miss them…I miss them so much it hurts."
"I know." She soothed, rubbing the back of his scalp.
His shoulders shook as he whispered, "I just want to see them again."
They were silent for several moments, nearly five minutes as Naruto began to calm down, his tears having dried up and left streaks down his face, the blonde resting his head on her shoulder.
Finally, Death broke the silence, "Is that really what you want?"
"Yes." Naruto answered without hesitation.
"Then all you have to do is give in to me, my beloved."
Resting his hands on her shoulders, Naruto parted from Death, "…what?"
"All you have to do, is give in to me. And then…and then you will see you precious people again."
In that moment, Naruto could not help but feel ashamed of himself. Ashamed that he was truly thinking over the offer given to him. Ashamed that he was so close to give up. So close to breaking his nindo. His ninja way.
"…no." Naruto finally answered, his voice a weak whisper, "I want to…you have no idea how much I want to. But I can"t. Not yet."
Death smiled as she looked up at the blonde, "Such a stubborn boy." After a moment of hesitation, Death pushed herself up on her toes, pressing hers and Naruto"s lips together. Separating, she whispered, "Allow me to give you some a.s.sistance then."
And all Naruto could see after was a sharp, never ending light.
-x-
"HUUUUGH!" Naruto gasped, his eyes flying upon only to cringe at the sudden intake of light. Looking around, Naruto could feel a vast amount of energy swirling around him. His eyes drifting to the sword that had been embedded in his stomach. Had been being the key word. The blade seemed to have shattered from the sudden burst of turbulent energy, leaving only the piece that was still in his midsection.
"-uto! NARUTO! Can you hear me?!"
"Yeah Kurama, I can hear you. You can stop screaming now." Naruto grumbled out loud, turning over to his side with a pained grunt. Taking several breaths in and out to prep himself, Naruto used Magnet Release to pull the blade out, the sound of slicing flesh and flowing blood causing him to flinch, "f.u.c.k that hurts!" He shouted.
"I"m healing it as fast as I can, but it"s probably gonna scar."
Slowly standing up, Naruto muttered, "Of course it will."
"What the h.e.l.l happened to you brat? You were comatose for like three minutes then all of a sudden you started releasing that weird energy. It stank of death and destruction."
"I…don"t know."
"You know I can tell when you"re lying brat." Kurama said, an edge to his voice, "I"ll drop it for now, but I expect an explanation. You got that?"
Deciding to change the subject, Naruto thought, "I think it"s time we use it, Kurama."
Kurama gave a savage smirk, "It"s about d.a.m.n time!"
"I"m gonna need a minute though. You have any idea where Desak is?"
"Yeah, he"s taking on the Avengers a half mile away."
"f.u.c.k." Naruto cursed.
-x-
"Hawkeye, aim for the eyes! Tony, go for the back! I"ll go for the knees!" Captain America ordered, throwing his trusty shield with all his might into the behemoth of a warrior"s knee cap. As he flung the shield, Clint released several arrows he had notched back and Tony fired a heavy-duty missile from his armor. The arrows were the first to hit, bouncing off the glowing alien"s face worthlessly. Cap"s shield was next, ricocheting of his knee back into the walking propaganda"s arms. The rocket was the last to hit due to the distance between the one that fired it and the target, said target not even taking a step forward as the rocket exploded into his back.
Scoffing as the smoke parted around Desak, Natasha yelled out, "That energy around him is protecting him! We need something that can penetrate it!"
"I got just the thing."
Natasha jumped as she turned towards the voice that appeared next to her, her guns at the ready. Her eyes widened at who she saw, "…Naruto?"
Naruto, his vest and jacket having been taken off leaving him bare chested, said, "Natasha."
"You…I thought…" Natasha stuttered, "I thought you were-"
Naruto gave a gentle smile, "I know. But I"m fine now." Stepping pa.s.sed her he continued, "You guys gotta get outta here. This is about to get ugly."
"Uglier than it already is?" Natasha asked.
"Sadly." Naruto admitted, "I"ve got some clones prepping my next move, but it"s about done. You guys need to leave. Now."
"Alright, just don"t die…again." Natasha finally submitted, giving the blonde one last look as she pressed into her ear piece, "Steve did you hear that?"
"Every word." Captain said over the radio, "Are you sure about this Widow?"
Natasha, her eyes still on Naruto, said, "Yeah, if he says we should go, we need to go."
"Got it. Clint, Tony, we"re making a tactical retreat. Head for the Quinjet."
Naruto, didn"t bother listening in on their response, stepping toward Desak, the man still incased in his G.o.dly Energy. His stump of a hand seemed to have healed over, leaving an ugly scab where his hand had once been. In his other hand was his battle axe, the weapon prepped to go as he looked at the blonde, "Welcome back, Maelstrom."
Naruto gave Desak a questioning look, "What, no more calling me a Celestial?" He asked, looking around the area to make sure Natasha and the others were retreating.
"No, you"ve proven to me you aren"t one. There"s no point in giving you such a t.i.tle. It"s disappointing."
"Yeah, you"ve been picking me apart this whole fight. From your weapons that negate my abilities, to your overwhelming power, you"re the most powerful person I"ve fought in a long time. But now, all you got is that power." Naruto said, watching from the corner of his eye as the Quinjet lifted off the ground.
"This power is the energy I"ve absorbed from centuries of combatting beings who called themselves G.o.ds. Beings like the Asgardians that frequent this planet. I have more power in the hand you cut off than that pathetic form you took on."
"Yeah, I noticed that. If I"m being honest with myself, it"s very impressive. I took on a primordial G.o.d in that form after all. So, I guess I"ll have to try something new." Naruto said, his face filled with concentration. Feeling one of the clones" memories flood his brain, he closed his eyes in concentration. Feeling the energy his clone had gathered entering his body, Naruto breathed through his nose as power filled his body to the brim. Slowly, he opened his eyes, revealing they had turned into a dark purple, with the area around his eyes taking on a golden hue, with a matching dot in the center of his forehead.
Raising his hands, Naruto gave them a testing flex, "I call this Cosmic Sage Mode."
Desak looked at Naruto in clear shock, "How are you able to use that power? Are the rumors of you being a Herald true?"
Naruto suddenly disappeared, the sand beneath him not even shifting after his sudden burst of speed. Desak didn"t even have time to register he"d moved, not before he found a fist slamming into his face. A sonic boom reverberated off the blow, pushing the two back from each other. Naruto landed on his feet after a quick flip. Desak hit the ground on his face, his body burying itself in a desert dune. Said dune exploded as the Annihilator zoomed into Naruto"s comfort zone, the man now enveloped in even more energy. Naruto didn"t seem to care, too busy looking up at the man as he tried to drive his raised axe down on his head.
CLANG!
Desak looked down at the blonde underneath him, his eyes scrunched up in disbelief.
Standing there, a single arm raised up, was Naruto. And in his hand was Desak"s axe, the blonde having caught it in his hand by the blade.
"What?"
With a twitch of his hand, Naruto snapped the axe"s blade head in half, rendering the weapon useless. Jumping back, Naruto quickly applying wind chakra to the blade. Seeing that it took to the energy like any other chakra blade, the blonde said, "Just like I thought. The shield absorbs energy, the sword negates energy, and the axe channels energy. A veryeffective trio." Tossing the blade like a frisby, Naruto smirked in satisfaction when the wind covered blade flew into Desak"s shoulder, flying through his body like a bullet, "I took you on a.s.suming I had the advantage with all my different abilities. That almost got me killed."
"Even without my weapons, I can still kill you. I"ve only tapped into half of my energy."
Naruto"s eyes narrowed, "Of course." He said sarcastically. Bursting forward, Naruto engaged the berserker in combat, each connecting punch, kick, knee, and elbow sending small shock waves throughout the desert plain.
Naruto smirked as he thought, "He"s landed three solid hits on me and I barely felt a thing! This is awesome!"
"This form will only last for ten more minutes brat, don"t waste it." Kurama warned.
"Right." Naruto thought back, "Chidori!" He screamed, a bundle of purple lightning surrounding his hand.
Desak didn"t have the speed to swat away the attack, allowing Naruto"s hand to plunge into his already wounded shoulder. Desak didn"t even give a grimace, grabbing ahold of Naruto"s forearm in a vice grip to keep him in place.
Quickly building up his energy, the G.o.d Slayer began to rain down blow after blow on Naruto, the blonde doing his best to deflect as many of the strikes as possible. But only being one handed proved too much of a handy cap for the Annihilator, the blonde dodging Desak"s kicks and elbows with a surprising amount of swiftness. Slapping away one of said elbows, Naruto took advantage of the opening by bringing upon a barrage of punches of his own, each more punishing than the last.
Bringing his fist back, Naruto began to gather Cosmic Energy into his hand. The closed fist now engulfed in a strange purple and yellow glow, Naruto gave a mighty battle cry as he plowed it into Desak"s face, sending the giant man flying away from him. Gathering more energy around both fists, Naruto pointed in the still flying Desak"s direction. Letting loose, the blonde fired twin energy blasts at the Annihilator.
Desak, feeling the attack coming his way, fired his own energy beam into the other two, enveloping and overwhelming them both, causing a ma.s.sive explosion to erupt from the standoff.
But before Desak could right himself, Naruto appeared above him, "Cosmic Release: Rasenshuriken!" Slamming the purple and yellow colored Rasenshuriken into Desak"s chest, the Naruto clone smirked in satisfaction as it exploded, causing him to pop out of existence.
Naruto nodded as he felt the memories come back to him, all while he felt the power of Cosmic Sage Mode leave him. Nearly dropping to his knees in exhaustion, the ninja quickly created a Shadow Clone, only for it to pop and tell the other clone a mile away that he needed a hit. Still breathing heavy as the energy re-entered his body, Naruto thought, "That"s the last clone, I"ll have to make another one-"
"No Naruto! This form takes more out of you than we thought! Your body can only take so many hits at a time, and that"s when you"re at your maximum. If you try and enter Cosmic Sage Mode for a third time, you might not be able to handle it."
"Well s.h.i.t." Naruto thought, "I guess I"ll have to end it here the-"
Naruto"s thoughts were interrupted by an explosion of energy, the shock wave shaking the ground enough for Naruto to almost loose his balance, "Holy s.h.i.t! I"m sure half the f.u.c.king planet felt that one!"
Yellow energy rocketed towards the sky, with a mighty roar accompanying it, stepping out of the crater his body had once been lying in, Desak skulked out with murder in his eyes, his teeth gritting to the point they were about to snap, each step cracking the stone and parting the sand beneath them.
The blonde saw the next attack coming, barely able to bend down to avoid the mighty back hand, and just agile enough to back flip away in time to avoid the incoming axe kick. Quickly finding himself on the defensive, Naruto eyed the necklace around Desak"s neck, the gem glowing fiercely as he thought, "I gotta destroy that gem around his neck, that"s gotta be the source of his power!"
He wasn"t able to come up with a plan though, his attention forced on Desak, the man putting all his effort into landing a brutal blow. Knowing he didn"t have time to dance around, Naruto disappeared in a burst of speed.
"Sage Art: Earth Release: Rushing Stampede!" Naruto called out, slamming his hand on the formation next to him. The formation quickly broke up into several large pieces, each one floating in the air for a few seconds before blasting off towards the seething Desak.
Energy practically leaking from his eyes, Desak countered with a large beam of energy firing off from his eyes, turning each piece of rock into rubble.
Trying to take a step forward, he frowned when he felt something thick wrap around his legs. Looking down, he scowled as a thick tendril of sand began to creep up his legs. Looking to Naruto, he saw that the blonde had a look of absolute concentration on his face, his arms raised up above his head, "This won"t hold me, boy."
"I know." Naruto admitted, "I don"t need it to hold you though." Several clones popped into existence, using Magnet release to hover into the air as they began to add into the big Rasengan that had begun to form above the original.
"Just distract you."
Desak blinked when he heard the blonde"s voice right next to his ear, just before he felt a pair of arms wrap him in a full nelson and a pair of legs lock around his waist, "Sage Art: Earth Release: Weighted Boulder Jutsu!"
The Annihilator"s eyes widened in shock as what felt like the weight of the planet itself rested on his shoulders. The added weight brought him down to his waste in the sand, though the pesky grains of earth seemed to be doing its best to keep him up as much as possible. Pointing his rage at the Naruto in front of him he demanded, "What have you done to me boy?!"
"Just a little jutsu that weighs you down. It takes a lot outta me to use since Earth Release is my worst element, but it"s good enough to hold you down for a couple minutes." The clone holding him explained, the real Naruto too busy forming his attack to answer, "You almost done over there?"
"Yeah…I"m done." Naruto grunted, sweat pouring down his face, "Cosmic Release: Galactic Rasengan!" Looking up at the attack, Naruto couldn"t help but smirk. In the center was a ma.s.sive Rasengan, the spiraling purple orb swirling at tremendous speeds. And rotating close to the center Rasengan was a cl.u.s.ter of elemental Rasengans, nine in total to be exact, each one using a Tailed Beasts" respective element.
Desak could only watch as the attack finally took shape, a look of astonishment on his face. Quickly realizing the danger of the attack in front of him, Desak dug into the lowest depths of his power. His veins pulsing and his muscles flexing from exertion, the Slayer finally let loose his power. His skin began to crack and peel as the G.o.dly Energy began to seep from his every pore, the entirety of his eyes now a glowing yellow. The Naruto clone began to struggle against the enraged monster in his grasp, his eyes shut tight as he tried to hold him for just a moment longer.
Knowing he only had seconds before Desak escaped and his Cosmic Energy left him, Naruto hurled the ma.s.sive attack at what was now a pillar of energy.
BOOM!
-x-
The Avengers covered their eyes from the light the attack"s explosion gave off. Even from over ten miles away, the four felt the Quinjet shake violently from the aftershock.
His eyes still squinted shut, Stark asked, "Was that our guy or the other guy?"
"Ours I hope." Clint answered, fighting against the controls as he tried to pilot the ship higher in the air to avoid any more of what was going on bellow, "That was like an atomic bomb went off or something."
"He"s lucky there aren"t any villages nearby." Rogers said, blinking away the spots that were now littering his vision, "That explosion could take out a city, just image a little colony of villages."
"The world government isn"t going to like this, not at all." Natasha said, worry dripping into her voice ever so slightly.
"They"ll get over it." Tony said.
-x-
As the smoke and dust began to settle, Naruto felt the last of his Cosmic Energy leave him. Dropping down to his hands and knees, Naruto had to fight to catch his breath. His arms and legs wobbling like jelly, it took all his might not to fall down all together.
"…He"s still alive brat."
"Yeah," Naruto said in between breaths, "I know."
Stepping through the cloud of smoke and falling sand, Desak walked out of the crater Naruto had created. His armor was practically nonexistent, with only his shredded pants and dinged up leg guards keeping him from being completely nude. His body was littered with cracks, blood seeping from them at a steady stream, dripping to the sand beneath him. His G.o.dly Energy no longer surrounding him, the blonde could tell that he was on his last leg. As Desak began to stumble over to the downed Naruto, the ninja could see that the gem around his neck was heavily cracked, steam leaking off the stone.
"You damaged my Amulet. Never in all the time I"ve served under the Designate has that happened. It almost shattered from the power of that attack. She will surely punish me for my weakness."
Naruto grimaced a he looked up, "Why won"t you just die already?"
"You almost succeeded in that endeavor, boy. But, it seems that you can"t go on any longer." Kicking Naruto in the stomach, he sent the blonde to the ground, "I no longer care what Thanos wants. I"m killing you today. Here and now. Prey to your G.o.ds, boy, because you"ll be visiting them soon."
Crying out in pain, Naruto could barely move as the man got on top of him. Feeling his thick hands wrap around his throat, the blonde began to struggle against the G.o.d Slayer with what was left of his energy. Desak didn"t let the punches and knees to the groin affect him, pressing his thumbs against Naruto"s wind pipe, putting all his left-over strength into it choking the warrior below him to death.
"Gaghk!" Naruto gasped out, quickly feeling his air way cave in around Desak"s fingers. And when it felt as though he was about to suffocate, a smirk spread across his face.
POOF!
Desak blinked in astonishment as the blonde underneath him exploded in a puff of smoke.
"Wh"
Desak was cut off mid-word when a hand burst from the sand below, said appendage covered in screaming lightning.
The sound of flesh tearing filled Desak"s ears, the man looking down to see that the hand had pierced thought the Amulet"s gem, blasting through it into the Annihilator"s chest cavity, right where his heart was.
Looking into the eyes of exhausted looking blonde, he could only listen as the ninja whispered, "…die."
And so he did.
Collapsing lifelessly against Naruto"s hand, the blonde quickly heaved him over so that he didn"t land on top of him. Pulling himself out of the sand, Naruto barely made it out before he fell face first to the ground. Cursing, he looked up when he heard the sound of a jet engine above him.
"Just rest Naruto. You deserve it." Kurama said with pride.
"…no, I don"t." Naruto muttered. His eyes fluttering shut, he tried to fight off the need to pa.s.s out for as long as he could. And as darkness slowly encroached on his vision, he heard a voice scream his name. And as Natasha blurred into view, a smile spread across his face as consciousness left him.