[Caterpillar] Chapter 45 - Funeral (Patreon)

"They sure did a number on the city," Naruto muttered from the rooftop of a skyscraper as he looked at the city below.

It was two days after Doctor Fate's call that he and Wonder Woman had returned to Earth. Now, they were in Metropolis City.

"I've watched the news reports. Everyone is mourning the death of Superman but nobody is saying anything about the several other hundred people that must've died, caught in the crossfire."

His words were not without reason. Numerous parts of the city were in ruins, proof of the vicious battle between the Kryptonian and his enemy. Many people had not been able to run away from their path. Naruto also noticed the holes that had been blasted through buildings, holes that were roughly the size of a body - no doubt left from how they punched each other through the walls.

The princess was silent, just standing next to Naruto and watching the convoy of people filling the avenue below. It was a funeral procession.

Six people wearing superhero costumes were carrying a black coffin in their hands. They were John Stewart, Martian Manhunter, Flash, Doctor Fate, Captain Atom, and Shazam. The tall, muscular, and manly-looking Shazam was shedding tears unreservedly as he walked. Though the public did not know it, he was in fact, just a little boy. Superman had been his role model and his hero.

Behind the six heroes carrying the coffin, there were thousands of people walking in silence. Only sobs and sniffs could be heard once in a while.

"Don't you want to join the procession?" he asked.

The princess shook her head. "It's best I don't show my face to anyone, I'm a wanted criminal. Also remember that only a few days before I left the Earth, the entire world watched as Superman and I fought against each other in a life-and-death battle. I had run my sword through his body. Imagine if I showed up at his funeral..."

A bit over a year had passed since she had left the Earth. Although she had been angry and hurt at the Justice League's actions towards her, time was the best medicine.

"You know, I don't care about what happened with the Justice League. I have a different life now, away from Earth, with you. But I never wished for anyone to die. And despite my conflict with Superman, I never wished for his death either. The fact that he died is a big loss for this planet." she said.

"You think so?"

"He was more than just a hero," Diana explained. "He was one of the strongest. He was also known for his kindness and selflessness. For many people, he was a symbol of hope. I admired him too in the past. He was among the first to show me that not all men were evil as I had been taught to believe on Themyscira."

When Naruto jumped off the building, towards the ground, she followed him.

"Where are you going?"

"If you don't want to attract anyone's attention, it's better to blend in with the rest of the people instead of flying above their heads, don't you think so?" he said.

A puff of smoke covered him for a moment as he Henged himself to look like a middle-aged man of average height, with brown hair and an ordinary black suit.

Wonder Woman followed his example and made three hand seals - Dog, Boar, Ram. A puff of smoke obscured her body too for a second as she transformed herself into an average-looking middle-aged woman with short brown hair and a modest, long black dress.

"I'll never get over how convenient this technique of yours is," she said while the two of them joined the funeral procession with the rest of the people.

"It's your technique too now. I'm just glad you were able to learn it. At first, I thought we'd have to struggle a lot because you weren't from my homeworld. I didn't even know if you had a proper chakra network until we started."

They held each other's hands as they marched towards the central plaza of the city, making small talk in a voice quiet enough that other people could not hear what they were talking about.

Eventually, they reached their destination. In the centre of Metropolis, a grand statue over 30 feet tall had been erected. It was a monument dedicated to Superman.

"Impressive. Half the city is still in ruins but they actually managed to make this huge statue in less than 3 days. I see they have their priorities set straight," he said sarcastically.

Naruto used to have a neutral opinion about the Earth. However, after the way that the Justice League had treated Diana and after seeing the riots and protests of thousands of people demanding for her to be arrested and punished, he became biased against them all.

"Hush, you!" she chided him and tightened her hold on his hand a little.

⁂

Although the Justice League had been disbanded a year before, many superheroes that had once been members of the League had come to his funeral, even those from places as far from the USA as Australia.

In front of the monument dedicated to Superman, there was a stage and a few hundred seats had been arranged in front of it. They were all separated from the crowd by a cordon and numerous police officers were keeping the perimeter clear.

"By the void..." Naruto muttered.

Following his line of sight, Diana noticed what made him exclaim: seated on the front row of the seats was a rather tall woman with red hair. She was wearing a gold ornament around her neck and a black and white suit with a long white cape.

"Who is that?" Diana asked.

Naruto let out a small curse under his breath.

"Maxima. That crazy queen of Almerac. What the hell is she doing here?"

Naruto did not know that Maxima had once tried to force Superman too into becoming her husband several years before.

Diana watched Maxima with a critical eye, studying her appearance from head to toe. An athletic figure, tall, red hair, and a royal bearing. She could see why Naruto considered her good-looking.

"I'm glad I decided to use a Henge," he said with a small chuckle.

"What's with you, are you scared of her, or what?"

He snorted. "I don't want to make a scene. And I'd rather you and her not start a catfight or something."

"Hey! I resent that!" she said, looking offended even through the Henge that was disguising her true appearance.

"Don't give me that, I know how jealous you are. And for no good reason, I might add." he retorted.

They continued to bicker with each other for a while in hushed voices. But they were forced to stop when Martian Manhunter walked onto the podium because the crowd quieted down as the alien gave his speech:

"Though we gathered here today bound together in sorrow and loss, we share a precious gift. We are all privileged to live a life that has been touched by Superman."

A rather loud sob broke the silence and many people turned their heads towards the source. It was a blonde girl in her late teens, seated in the first row in front of the stage. The red-haired girl next to her embraced her to her chest, muffling her heart-wrenching cries. They were Supergirl and Starfire. Next to them, an old couple and a red-haired woman in her mid-thirties were shedding tears as well. They were Jonathan and Martha Kent, Superman's adoptive parents, and Lana Lang, Superman's childhood sweetheart and fiance. Superman had proposed to her just a week before his untimely death.

"The Man of Steel possessed many extraordinary gifts and he shared them with us freely. None of those gifts was more remarkable than his ability to discern what needed to be done and his courage in doing it whatever the personal cost."

"Let us all strive to accept his gift and pass it along as an ongoing tribute to Kal-L of Krypton, the immigrant from the stars who taught us all how to be heroes."

While the Martian was talking, Naruto tuned him out to look at the people seated in front of the stage. He recognized the faces of many former members of the now-disbanded Justice League. There were also VIPs such as governors, generals, and the president of the USA; presidents and diplomats from other countries; the King and Queen of Atlantis, Aquaman and Mera, and there were even half a dozen members of the Green Lantern Corps.

"Hey, Di, weren't Superman and that bald dude enemies? What's he doing on the stage?" Naruto asked when he saw Lex Luthor walk onto the stage and give a speech of his own too.

"Typical Luthor. He always has to be in the spotlight somehow. When we left the Earth a year ago, he was in prison... yet, here he is now, giving speeches like an upstanding member of society. He probably has half of the present people in his pocket," she said in distaste.

"It's no secret that Superman and I had our differences but it hasn't always been that way..." Lex Luthor began but, suddenly, what looked like a hand grenade with its pin missing was thrown onto the stage.

"Everyone get down!" John Stewart screamed and he willed his power ring to conjure a sphere of green light around the grenade.

The explosion could have killed a dozen people at least but fortunately, the ex-marine turned Green Lantern had been very quick to react. His power ring had prevented any casualties.

However, another grenade exploded, this time in the middle of the crowd at the edge of the plaza, and John Stewart could do nothing but watch in horror how over 30 people were killed in an instant. And then another explosion boomed. And another one.

Panic and terror overwhelmed everyone. Thousands of people started screaming, pushing and shoving each other as they ran for their lives.

The Green Lanterns and the ex-members of the Justice League were quick to react but it took only a few seconds for the death count to reach a 3-digit number.

⁂

Ten people wearing strangely-coloured suits and with their faces painted like that of a clown were standing on the rooftops of the buildings surrounding the square, throwing hand grenades at the helpless population below with wild abandon.

A massive golden shield of light encapsulated the plaza and froze the momentum of the hand grenades, making them explode in mid-air. It was Doctor Fate's spell.

The other heroes burst into action too and The Flash was quick to run up a building and dispose of one of the terrorists. The Green Lanterns immobilized half of the remaining ones and the others were caught in no time by the rest of the League.

What was supposed to be a solemn day to remember Superman's sacrifice to stop the alien creature that had rampaged through the city has become even more tragic than before as over a hundred innocent people had been added to the list of casualties.

Naruto and Diana, still disguised by their transformation techniques, watched the unfolding events astonished. While the Justice League had reacted extremely fast and apprehended all the terrorists in a matter of seconds - the two of them had not even had the time to act - the damage was done.

"Look over there," he told her quietly and pointed with his finger towards the stage.

A tweed purple suit, a large grin showing two rows of yellow teeth, and a thick layer of white paint on his face. His deranged laughter left no doubts about his identity either.

"Ah, ah, ah! I wouldn't take a step closer if I were you." the Joker said with a giggle, one that burst into full-blown laughter when he saw over thirty superheroes surrounding him in a circle. His laughter became hysterical at seeing how everyone's faces twitched every time his finger moved... A string was attached to his finger, a string coming from a vest full of explosives which was being worn by a terrified young woman.

The psychopath looked around, his eyes scanning the dozens of superheroes crowded around him.

"Where is the Batman? How come he is not at the party? How disappointing-"

Suddenly, 2 burning holes appeared in the clown's head.

A smell of burnt human flesh filled the air.

In front of him, a blonde girl's eyes were still burning with a crimson-red light.

Pandemonium broke loose.

⁂

"Oh my!" Wonder Woman gasped.

"Oh boy!" he agreed.

She and Naruto were still disguised as regular civilians, just watching the scene from a distance. What had just transpired caught them both completely by surprise.

In the following 2 seconds, the Flash became a blur to the naked eyes as he yanked the vest off the young woman and threw it in the air towards the Green Lanterns.

"GL!" he shouted.

A green light came from several power rings and encased the vest's explosion, isolating it from everyone else.

"What have you done?! Are you out of your goddamned mind?" John Stewart was the first to come back to his senses and scream.

He was not the only one, not by far.

"The hell were you thinking, girl?!" Steel, a hero clad in a metal suit and carrying a sledgehammer shouted.

But the seemingly frail girl was not intimidated. With her blue eyes still carrying hints of her heat vision in them, she shouted back:

"I saved an innocent life, that's what I did!"

"You call that saving?" Vixen yelled. "You murdered someone in cold blood! Is that something Superman would have done?"

Vixen's words were a low blow. Supergirl appeared to be on the verge of crying but she steeled her expression and stayed firm in her position: "Superman is dead! He is dead because they let that creature live! He is dead because instead of putting it down, the other dimension Superman only lobotomized it!"

"Look around you!" she shouted. "Look how many people were killed by this psychopath just today! We keep throwing them in prison but they just break out and come to kill more innocents again!"

Tears started to fall down her cheeks. They were tears of sadness, frustration, and anger.

"How many times has the Joker been arrested already? How many times has he broken out? How many innocent lives would have been spared if everyone wasn't too scared to do what had to be done?"

"So what now? Are you going to be judge, jury, and executioner? Who gave you that right? Are you above the law?" Captain Atom spat.

Seven Green Lanterns aimed their power rings at the blonde girl. John Stewart cursed under this breath.

"What the fuck is going on with the world?! This is Wonder Woman all over again!"

He clenched his teeth as he looked at Supergirl's tear-stained face. He had teamed up with the young Argonian quite a few times while the Justice League had been still active, before it was disbanded. He had been almost like a mentor for her, often chastising her for not being serious enough in their assignments and for being careless. He had taught her how to be responsible. In time, the bubbly blonde girl had grown on him and he had become fond of her.

However, he would not let his personal feelings interfere with his duty as a member of the Green Lantern Corps or with his sense of responsibility. A construct of green light in the form of a pair of cuffs was conjured by his power ring and he said in a cold voice:

"I suggest you turn yourself in for your crime. Do not make us subdue you by force."

Though her face was stained by tears, Supergirl was no longer crying. There was a determined look in her eyes.

"Subdue me? You and what army?" she spat back.

A temperamental Green Lantern that looked as round as a ball of meat aimed his power ring at her head and snarled:

"You may be a Kryptonian, but you're still just a little girl!"

A blast of light burst from the meatball-like Green Lantern's ring.

But then, a small explosion made everyone back away when a bolt of energy clashed against the Green Lantern's attack. Her eyes glowing with a brilliant green light, a tall, red-haired young woman stepped in front of Supergirl protectively. Green energy bolts appeared in her hands.

"I won't let you harm her even if it's the last thing I do!" Starfire said.

Seeing that John Stewart and the other 6 Green Lantern friends of his were unlikely to be able to subdue Supergirl - everyone knew better than to underestimate her prowess after having witnessed the devastating battle between Superman and the creature they had named Doomsday 3 days ago - the rest of the superheroes at the scene prepared themselves to intervene. The last girl of Argo, Superman's adopted cousin, whatever her identity was, it was irrelevant to them. As she had killed someone in cold blood, in front of thousands of people, there was no coming back from that.

The energy bolts in Starfire's hands glowed brighter and Supergirl clenched her fists too while her eyes became suffused with a crimson-red light. No matter how many of their former friends rose against them, they would not go down without a fight.

⁂

Naruto watched the new development with great interest. He had never expected the situation to evolve this way, for Supergirl to snap and lash out like that, to directly kill the Joker with her heat vision. It had been a brutal but extremely fast and efficient move. If he was to rate her actions, he would give her a 10 out of 10. He completely approved of what she had done.

"We have to help her!" Diana said.

Naruto looked at her searchingly but he could not see her real expression due to the Henge disguising her appearance. All he could see was the worried visage of a middle-aged woman.

"She's exactly like I was 1 year ago. Except for Green Arrow, nobody had stood up for me. I won't let her get arrested for doing the right thing. You with me in this or not?"

Seeing him not replying she added: "I will involve myself with or without your help."

Naruto never forced Diana to do something she did not want and she had never forced him to do things that he did not want either. It was an unwritten rule between the two of them. Nevertheless, they usually ended up doing most things together even if one was not completely happy with it. They could not bear to leave the other struggling alone.

"Haa~" he sighed. "Say that you stop the Justice League from arresting her now, what then? Are you going to stay on Earth and fight against everyone forever just to keep her safe?"

She looked at him as if he was an idiot. "We take her with us, of course!"

He turned his head back at her in surprise. With how wary she had seemed to be of Maxima, Naruto had never expected her to actually suggest taking another girl with them.

"You realize what you're saying?" he asked her just to make sure she had thought things through and that she was not just doing things again in the heat of the moment, out of the kindness of her heart. "Our ship isn't large enough for us and two teenage girls. Our life as a couple will get more difficult too with them around."

Wonder Woman actually looked at him with a hint of anger in her eyes.

"We'll just buy a bigger ship! We've completed over 30 bounties, haven't we? We have more than enough money! Would you rather just let her suffer for no reason?!"

He raised his hands and grumbled: "Sheesh, woman, chill out, I never said I don't want them around. Just wanted to make sure you know what we're getting ourselves into."

She had the decency to at least look sheepish.

"Sorry. And thank you!" she said and tried to kiss him but he stepped back and dodged her.

"Don't kiss me with that face," he said uncomfortably. Diana was still Henged to look like a different person and he had never felt okay with her showing her affection to him while looking like, well, not herself.

She nodded in understanding but still gave him a brief hug to show her gratitude.

"How are we gonna do this?" he asked.

"Just teleport them to your ship."

He shook his head. "Too risky. They might think they were kidnapped by someone and react violently before we get to explain anything. If they wreak our ship we're toasted."

"How about this:" she said. "I'll fly over the ocean, to Africa. Shouldn't take me more than 3 minutes if I don't hold my speed back. You take the two of them and teleport together by my side."

"Alright," he nodded in agreement.

He had inked a Hiraishin formula into her bracelets a long time ago. It was so he would be able to teleport to her side at all times, no matter where she was. It had helped them many times during their adventures over the past year.

Currently, Wonder Woman was not proficient enough with his techniques yet - she was only capable of using some of the easier jutsu like the Henge and the Substitution Technique - but once she became able to cast his Hiraishin as well, the two of them were even thinking about getting tattoos with the other's formula in the future so they would always have a way of teleporting to each other's side in times of need.

With their minds set, Naruto and Diana bumped fists together - it had become a habit - and grinned at each other. Then, they burst into action.

⁂

As the crowd of civilians hurriedly retreated to a large distance away from what was going to become a battlefield for a group of powerful metahumans, nobody took notice of the average-looking middle-aged couple that had seemingly vanished from existence with a Body-flicker movement.

A split second before some of the more trigger-happy ex-members of the Justice League were about to start attacking the two girls, a very dense cloud of smoke suddenly obscured a large part of the square. Everyone's sight was hindered to the point where they could not even see their hands in front of their face.

Two gales of wind quickly started blowing the dense curtain the smoke away as Zatanna and Doctor Fate cast their spells at the same time but when everyone finally became able to see again, the circle that they had surrounded the two girls in was now empty.

"Where are they?!" several of them shouted and those among them capable of flight rose in the air, looking everywhere in their surroundings, trying to spot the two fugitive girls. But they were nowhere to be found. It was as if they had disappeared from the face of the Earth.

Doctor Fate frowned behind his golden helmet. He had known that Naruto and Wonder Woman would come to Superman's funeral - after all, he had been the one to announce them - and although he had not seen them anywhere around, nor had he sensed their magic power, he was almost certain that they had been the ones to whisk Supergirl and Starfire away. However, he kept his thoughts to himself. The alien known as Caterpillar had proved on several occasions that he was not someone he would want to cross. In the first place, he was not exactly opposed to what the young Argonian girl had done. Unlike other superheroes, the sorcerer understood that some beings were simply too far lost to be saved and far too dangerous to be left alive. In his mind, the Joker had been one of those too.