Injustice Book 2: Darkness in the Light (Naruto + Young Justice Crossover)

Chapter LXXXVI - Young Justice Arrives

"Normal Speech."

'Normal Thought.'

"Demon Speech."

'Demon Thought.'

"Other Speech variants."

Location/Time.

-X- Line Break -X-

Wednesday 31st December, 23:00.

Earths Atmosphere,

The Watchtower.

Looking upon the monitor before him, Vandal felt a grim smile come to his face. Naruto Uzumaki, Roy Harper, Black Canary, Red Tornado, Guy Gardner, Blue Devil, Wildcat, Citizen Steel, Flash I, Hourman II they were all defeated and only at the cost of Plastic Man, Green Arrow, Atom and Khufu Kha-Tar,

Khufu was a truly unfortunate loss, despite not being as strong as the Justice League members like the Flash II and Hal Jordan, was still incredibly powerful in his own right. On a level similar to that of Aquaman and arguably would stand as comparable to Green Lantern I in his prime, a feat not many could have claimed in that day and age. Things had changed now, the threats heroes faced growing more powerful and demanding they in turn grew stronger.

It was a circumstance that made Vandal's goals more demanding and difficult, but in turn, increased the potential reward in the end.

Turning to his right, Vandal looked to see Klarions fingers dancing rapidly, face set into one of concentration as he moved the puppets he controlled. Unfortunately, their interface and link with their puppets wasn't fully up to scratch as they had initial believed. Admittedly this was because they underestimated the true depths of power that the Justice League possessed, especially the top tier members.

What they originally believed to be their full power was around only sixty to seventy percent and that misjudgement was costing them. What they had was still an overwhelmingly powerful force, it was not allowing them to bring out the full totality of the Justice Leagues powers in most cases.

The only exceptions being those below the level of Aquaman, Khufu and Chay-Ara. They were the only ones they'd been able to accurately predict the limits of their power and while they were able to bring out said strength, the others were weakened. Luckily for them, the more Justice League members taken out by the ragtag team of heroes meant that with fewer puppets, more power could be unleashed by the remaining heroes.

A jump that went from seventy percent to near eighty percent and that number would only increase. However, despite these advantages Vandal would prefer not to lose any more members, he didn't know if whatever chip they were using to counteract the Starro tech could be reversed and if not other means would need to be found to exert control over those lost. The worst-case scenario is that eliminating them was the only choice.

Vandal couldn't afford to lose any, they were all valuable and necessary to the future. They would be the core of his army, its foundations, the elites and his biggest weapon against Darkseid. Just a single one missing could cost him massively and Vandal was not one to let go of a pawn easily while it still served a use.

'Now though, we are set to gain even more of a prize.' He thought, looking upon the downed heroes. Black Canary and Red Tornado were unknown variables and Wildcat and Hourman II were too old, they had no powers and unlike Green Arrow and Batman, were not young enough to compensate for that disparity. However, there was no denying their skill and Hourman II had once possessed the power of precognition. 'I will hand him over to Cadmus, see if they can find a way to bring back and extract his power of precognition. It could prove valuable to our plans moving forward.'

Despite those thoughts, Vandal was also keenly aware that there were still threats present. Naruto and Flash I were still conscious and could still prove a threat. Red Tornado was in pieces and Guy Gardner had exhausted the power of his Lantern Ring. However, Vandal had experience with Lanterns before, he knew that if given a chance to summon their Battery they could recharge their Power Rings.

He was also keenly aware and cautious about the four remaining heroes, Jason Blood, Green Lantern I, Atom Smasher and Starman. They were fresh and Jason Blood would be especially dangerous, especially the Demon residing within him, Etrigan.

'I've already lost Khufu, I can't lose Aquaman, Chay-Ara, the Flash or Hal Jordan. It's time to press our advantage.' Vandal affirmed to himself. "Klarion, send in Captain Atom, Icon, Captain Marvel and Doctor Fate. End this once and for all."

He was also aware that the team of young sidekicks could be somewhere nearby the desert. Klarion had done as he asked, using Flash II's speed and searched the area for any sign of the young heroes. Queen Bee and her soldiers had done the same. He was tempted to send in those troops as well as the four heroes he had dispatched, but at the same time they had a limited stockpile of Apokoliptian weapons, losing anymore would not look good upon them.

Their truce with Darkseid was tentative, ask for too much and Vandal knew he would become a burden to the Dark God of Apokolips. No, at this point in time he needed to solve this himself while preserving what resources they had.

"Access: Captain Atom, 1-2. Captain Marvel, 1-5. Doctor Fate, 1-7. Icon, 1-8." There was a long duration of light, the Justice League members disappearing from the Watchtower leaving them in silence and Vandal turned back to the monitor. He could see the four heroes that had hung back springing into action now, no doubt recognising that they could no longer stay out of this fight and preserve their stamina.

And as he had expected, their attention was focused upon the two strongest and dangerous members, the Flash II and Hal Jordan.

But before he could focus any further upon that, Vandal noticed a blur rushing towards him. Klarion noticed it too, an Eldritch blast of magic lancing out that Kid Flash barely avoided, skidding to a halt by the feet of Vandal. Making a noise of displeasure and frowning deeply, Vandal thrust a kick out, striking Kid Flash in the sternum and knocking him back.

There was a guttural roar, Superboy leaping through the air and landing in a crouch. He came up with a powerful uppercut that Vandal leaned back, spinning round to land a kick into the clones chest. It didn't do much, not that Vandal had expected it to and instead used it to push himself away and put some distance between them.

The clone had learned though, rushing in and never giving him an inch only to be struck by a powerful blast of magic by Klarion that threw him to one side with a cry. "Superboy!" Miss Martian shouted worriedly.

"Use fire." Vandal ordered and Klarion responded, magical fire bursting from his hand forcing all the heroes back, except for one. The young protégé of Icon, Rocket summoning a shield as she flew through it unharmed, directly into a powerful Eldritch blast by Klarion that knocked her back slightly. However, it, in turn, resulted in his concentration being split between controlling the Justice League and fighting the team, which meant his fire attack disappeared.

They were at a disadvantage, Vandal recognised that instantly, but he still had a trick up his sleeve. While they hadn't fully completed their mission upon Rimbor, they will have done enough damage for their plan to work anyway.

"Recall all League away missions."

And moments later a Boom Tube opened, out from it came some of the most dangerous heroes in the Justice League; Batman, John Stewart, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter and Superman flew out. By the reaction the team gave, they also recognised the danger of the situation they now found themselves in.