[Eclipsed] Chapter 2 - Two Years Later (Patreon)

Ten thousand Parademons were lined up orderly into groups of one thousand, with five groups in each row, as they listened to the last-moment instructions from their commander. 

Though his face could not be seen due to the black helmet with red accents covering his head, it could be discerned that the commander was different from the Parademons. For one, he did not have wings like them. Clad in black high-tech Apokoliptian armour, his physique and appearance would tempt one to believe that he was a member of the race of New Gods from Apokolips. 

Two other beings stood respectfully behind the commander. One of them looked like a regular, faceless, grey robot, not even wearing clothes. As for the other, it was a seven-foot-tall man, his body packed with muscles. Unlike the robot next to him, the man wore ornate Apokoliptian armour and held a long and powerful-looking spear in his hand. 

In a tall, nearby tower, Darkseid stood with his hands behind his back, watching the well-organised army below with a satisfied look on his face. 

“He turned into a fine weapon, my lord,” a hunchback man wearing a hooded robe said.

“Indeed. The deaths of Steppenwolf, Kalibak, and Mantis were a severe loss to our forces, but he more than made up for their absence.”

“Oh, Great Darkseid, if I may speak freely…” Desaad trailed off hesitantly. 

“What is it? Speak.”

“Uzumaki Naruto has proven to be a formidable warrior, invincible on the battlefield. Over the last two years, he has conquered many worlds in your great name. However, he still questions your orders. He still doesn’t blindly follow your will.”

Darkseid narrowed his eyes at Desaad, but he did not rebuke him. Desaad was right; Uzumaki Naruto did conquer many worlds in Darkseid’s name, but all the planets he invaded were either torn by war and strife or the beings inhabiting them were vile and malevolent. 

The young man often questioned his orders and refused to attack those planets that did not require pacifying. After all, he had been taught that Darkseid’s goal was to bring peace and order to the Universe, not disaster and ruin. 

“The world is mine to conquer. Sooner or later, all will kneel before me,” said Darkseid, his red eyes burning with his Omega Beams. “I will allow him to play the role of a hero and a liberator for now. But Granny Goodness has assured me that she is getting close to finding a way to remove the demon from his body. Once that fox demon is gone, there will be nothing to stop Naruto’s complete brainwashing. I will have absolute control over him. When the time comes, I will use him to ravage those who dared to strike me. I will start with his own home planet, Balorat. I will make him destroy his homeworld with his own two hands. Then the Earth will fall into ruin too. I will leave New Genesis for the last so that I can fully savour it.” (2)

Unaware of what Darkseid and Desaad were talking about him behind his back, Naruto pressed the main button of his Mother Box, and a large wormhole opened in front of him, large enough to allow the entire Apokoliptian army to pass through. 

He walked at the front of his army, with Devilance (the spear-wielder) and Dr Bedlam (the robotic-looking being) following closely behind him. After they stepped into the boom tube, the thousands of Parademons flapped their wings and quickly flew after them like a swarm of giant locusts. 

⁂

Despite being located in the heart of the interplanetary empire known as The Citadel, the planet Rakta retained its autonomy. The Citadel did not involve itself in the affairs of the planet. In fact, that planet had a special status not only in the Vega System but even in the eyes of the Guardians of the Universe. The famed intergalactic police force, the Green Lantern Corps, was prohibited from operating within the Vega System exactly because of the beings living on planet Rakta: the Psions. (1)

This state of affairs led to the Citadel Empire expanding and conquering many of the planets in the large Vega System with no real opposition. 

However, through it all, the Citadel never touched Rakta, the Psions’ homeworld. Not only was the Psions’ existence a guarantee that the Green Lantern would never set foot in the Vega System or interfere in its affairs, but the Psions were also allies whose advanced technology and groundbreaking research on genetics had proved to be invaluable with the passing of centuries for the Empire. 

That being said, the Psions had free reign to do whatever they pleased within the Vega System. They were untouchable… …or so they used to think, until an enormous boom tube opened in the sky above the planet’s capital city. 

In mere moments, dozens of warships and thousands of Parademons darkened the sky. 

Deafening sirens rang, and a dome-like energy shield rose from the ground, encapsulating the entirety of the capital city within.

However, neither the Parademons nor the pilots of the warships made any moves. After spending two years under Naruto’s command, they knew not to take any action, no matter how small, without his explicit orders.

A warship’s trap door opened, and Naruto jumped down, letting himself fall from a height of over 800 metres. 

Inside the energy dome, short and scrawny green-skinned people who looked like humanoid reptiles glared at the cloud of dust that he made when he landed on the ground. 

The Psions’ yellow eyes widened to impossible proportions when he stepped out of the cloud of dust, and they saw the large, bright red Ω symbol on his chest.

“The Liberator!” they cried out.

Despite the good connotation that a name like ‘The Liberator’ was supposed to have, the Psions’ voices were filled with fear. 

No fewer than 49 planets were invaded and conquered by Darkseid’s Right Hand, Uzumaki Naruto. The world at large did not know what he looked like underneath that black and red helmet, but his black Apokaliptian armour and the large Omega Symbol drawn on his chest were unmistakable. It took only two years for his infamy to spread to the very corners of the known Universe. 

“I come in the name of the Great Darkseid to give you an ultimatum: bow down and accept his rule or fight back and be exterminated,” said Naruto, his words coming out in the Psions’ native language thanks to the Mother Box translating everything he said. 

“Go back to where you came from, Butcher. The Psions will never bow down to Darkseid!” the Psion in charge shouted. 

Never taking his eyes away from the Psions, Naruto spoke to the rest of his troops:

“I will destroy their energy shield. Parademons, stand back for now. Destroyers, be ready to open fire on my signal.”

Although Naruto had spoken in the Apokaliptian language and stopped his Mother Box from relaying his words to the enemy, the Psions had their own translation devices too. They understood his words.

“Even if your entire armada were to attack our energy shield for two days straight, they would still not be able to deplete it. Yet you’re saying you are going to destroy it all by yourself?” one of the Psions mocked him. “You are delusional. You have no idea who you’re messing with. The Citadel’s army will be here any moment now. So go ahead and give it your best shot. Make it count, since it will be the last thing you do. A miserable fate awaits you.”

But Naruto didn’t trade barbs with them. The time for talks and negotiations had passed. Starting with the symbol for Hare and ending with the symbol for Snake, he formed six hand seals in extremely quick succession before placing his hands on the ground and using a huge chunk of his vast reserves of chakra to cast an Earth Release technique. 

“Doton: Great Moving Earth Core!”

His words were in a language that the Psions’ translation devices did not recognise and could not translate, but the Psions could not bring themselves to care about it because, in the next moment, a terrible earthquake ruptured the ground and screams of shock and panic erupted from millions of people as enormous walls, hundreds of metres in height, suddenly rose from the earth around the capital city, lifting the ground on which the pillars generating the energy shield were located. 

As the ground around the city rose high up in the sky, the pillars were disconnected from the network supplying them with power, and the energy shield disappeared into thin air. Now, the capital city was surrounded by mountains from all sides, looking as if it were located at the bottom of a giant cauldron. There was no escape for them. 

“Destroyers, open fire!” Naruto shouted, and the double-barrelled particle cannons of the nearly 100 warships flying above the capital city all lit up at once. 

The armada’s cataclysmic attack levelled most of the buildings in the Psions’ capital city and wrecked all their anti-aircraft weaponry. 

“Destroyers, stand back. Parademons, attack! Take no survivors! Kill them all! For Darkseid!”

Bone-chilling roars filled with bloodlust came from the ten thousand Parademons as they plunged down, throwing themselves at the still-living Psions below. A terrible massacre ensued. 

⁂

It took less than a day for the Apokaliptian army to annihilate all the military on the Rakta planet. In the first place, despite being one of the oldest races in the Universe, the Psions weren’t numerous, and the vast majority of them were not adept at combat. They were scientists, not soldiers. 

The Citadel Empire’s protection had made them lax. Other than a relatively small number of Branx Warriors and the Psions’ own army of droids, there were no other lines of defence. The Branx Warriors were famed for their strength in the Vega System, but they were, in the end, overwhelmed by Devilance and the rest of the Parademons. As for the Psions’ androids, that was where Dr Bedlam came in; his ability as a being of energy to possess robots proved to be the bane of their existence. 

Naruto cruelly stepped on the head of a Psion who was trying to crawl away from him, desperate to survive. 

‘Can’t wait to get home and see what Father’s reward will be this time around,’ he thought in a good mood. 

“Nothing quite like being praised after massacring an entire race, huh?” Kyuubi said snidely, his demonic voice immediately making Naruto’s high spirits plummet. 

But he chose to ignore the fox demon’s jibe and shot a fire technique in the air, signalling the end of all hostilities. 

“The Psions are dead. The war is over. We have liberated the planet.”

The Parademons cheered in unison at his words. 

“Don’t start celebrating too soon. We are not done just yet. Gather up all the people who are trapped in their underground prisons and labs. Only after we’ve sent everyone away to safety will I allow you to feast on the fruits of your victory.”

⁂

‘This is the 50th world I have pacified. One more planet conquered. One step closer to peace,’ Naruto thought as he watched a large number of people from all sorts of races make a long queue in front of a Boom Tube. 

The Psions had been famous all over the Universe for their unscrupulous genetic experiments. With the Gordanians acting as their limbs, the Psions kidnapped people of all races from all over the Milky Way Galaxy, performing all sorts of vile and cruel experiments on them for the sake of deepening their understanding of genetics and advancing their research. 

“Peace? Do you really think that Darkseid’s goal is to bring peace to the world?” Kyuubi scoffed. 

‘Have you nothing better to do? Stop bothering me,’ Naruto snarked back at him. 

“I’m telling you that Darkseid is lying to you, you stupid brat! You’re nothing but a weapon to him,” the fox growled. 

“Yeah, because I’m going to believe the words of a fucking demon instead of the words of my father,” Naruto shot back in distaste. 

“I gave you my Negative Emotion Sensing. How is it not obvious to you that you are only a tool to them?” Kyuubi shouted in exasperation. 

“Because it’s an ability coming from you, the demon who murdered my parents. You expect me to trust you? You think I’m retarded?”

While Naruto was having a heated mental argument with the demon fox in his gut, Dr Bedlam came to him and said:

“Commander, I’m afraid we don’t have the leisure to help these insects. The Citadel Empire’s army is surely on its way as we speak. The Citadel does not possess the technology to warp its armada, but this planet is located in the heart of the Empire. They could be here any moment now.”

Naruto momentarily paused his argument with the fox to reply to him. 

“If we don’t evacuate these people somewhere safe, the Citadel and the Gordanians will just enslave them again. All the blood we’ve shed today will have been for nothing.”

If not for the fact that the android he was possessing at that moment was incapable of changing its facial expression, Dr Bedlam would have had a deep scowl on his face. Nevertheless, Naruto could feel his inner frustration and disgust through his Negative Emotion Sensing. 

“Look at him. These are the people that you say that they love you? If you were weaker than him he would’ve struck you down right where you stand,” Kyuubi said. “When will you open your eyes to the truth?”

“Shut the hell up, demon!” Naruto shot back irately. “For all I know, you’re just using this so-called Negative Emotion Sensing to manipulate me!”

“Surely our forces are far more important than these people,” Dr Bedlam said, putting as much disgust in his voice when he pronounced the word ‘people’. “Whether these bugs live or die, who car-”

Dr Bedlam couldn’t finish his words because a vicious backhand caught him straight in the face, hurling him back violently into a nearby building, leaving a human-shaped hole in its walls. 

His growing irritation at Kyuubi’s incessant instigations in his mind and the way that Dr Bedlam was talking about other people as if they were insects made Naruto unable to hold in his anger, and he lashed out violently. 

But neither Devilance, nor the rest of the Parademons showed any reaction to his brutal outburst. After all, they were all from Apokolips. That was exactly how things ran there. The strong ruled over the weak with an iron fist. ‘Might makes Right’ was one of Apokolips’ mottos. 

As the robot possessed by Dr Bedlam stood up with difficulty from the wreckage, a glowing orb of fiery red energy appeared in Naruto’s right hand as he walked towards him. 

“Anything else to add? Do you have any other complaints?”

Dr Bedlam glanced fearfully at his helmet-covered face and then at the molten sphere of energy in his right hand before falling to one knee and bowing his head. 

“No, Commander. Please accept my apologies.”

“Look at you! If only that perverted teacher of yours could see you now,” Kyuubi said and laughed mockingly. “Imposing your will onto others with sheer violence and brutality. I’m sure he would be sooo proud of you.”

“Who? I don’t remember any perverted teachers.”

Kyuubi growled. “That ugly old hag really wiped all the memories of the people who treated you well in Konoha, didn’t she?”

“Don’t call her that!” Naruto shouted at the fox. “Granny Goodness has always been there for me!”

“She’s been there for you, alright. She had to keep an eye on you so that she could fry your brain every time you stepped out of line,” Kyuubi said snidely. 

But Naruto forced himself to stop paying attention to the fox. He focused his attention on the innocent people that he was sending away with the use of his Mother Box’s boom tubes. 

It had to be said that the number of prisoners and test subjects on the Rakta planet was even bigger than that of the Psions. Therefore, Naruto did not have the time to send them all to their desired destinations. The most that he could do was to transport them through a wormhole to Kuraq, which was one of the few planets under the control of the Omega Men. Unlike their name might suggest, the Omega Men were not affiliated with Darkseid or Apokolips. They were a band of freedom fighters from the Vega System whose purpose was to destroy the Citadel Empire and free the people who suffered under their tyranny. 

⁂

Fortunately, Dr Bedlam’s worries did not come true. Naruto managed to transport to safety all the civilians previously enslaved by the Psions and retreat with the rest of his forces before the Citadel’s armada arrived. 

However, the demon fox inside his body never stopped rambling in his head. Kyuubi never stopped trying to convince him that his current life was a lie. 

“[...] Listen to me, Naruto. I have hated you since the day you were born! I still hate you! But I never lied to you! That alien you call father is a mad tyrant. He didn’t save you. He didn’t adopt you. He’s the one who destroyed Konoha and killed everyone you held dear.”

“Even if that were the case, didn’t you hate Konoha? You should rejoice that everyone is dead. Why do you care?” Naruto said in annoyance.

“Because I’m living inside your damn body, you stupid brat!” Kyuubi roared, thoroughly enraged. “Darkseid changed your memories and turned you into his tool. I don’t give a rat’s ass about Konoha, but Darkseid is going to get you killed, and I’m going to die with you! And we’re not on our home planet; I don’t know what the hell will happen to me if I were to die together with you!”

‘Stop screaming, you furry bastard,’ Naruto yelled back at him while holding onto his head with both hands in pain. Kyuubi’s screams were so loud that it felt as if his skull was going to be split open.

‘I don’t care about your Negative Emotions Sensing bullshit,’ Naruto said when his headache subsided just a bit. ‘What I know is that all my childhood, the people of Konoha ostracised and hated me for something that was entirely outside of my control. I was an outcast. I was nothing but a convenient weapon for them.’

‘But Darkseid gave me a home. He acknowledged my existence. He accepted me as I was, despite having filth like you sealed inside my body. Darkseid gave me a home. I've had enough of listening to you badmouth my father. I’m done listening to the filth coming out of your mouth, demon. Enjoy spending the next 3 days in complete darkness and solitude.’ Naruto said angrily and weaved through a series of hand seals before placing his right hand on his stomach, on top of the jinchuuriki seal. 

A firm screen of golden light covered the gates inside the seal, cutting off Kyuubi’s connection with him. Kyuubi thrashed and clawed at the gates of the seal viciously and roared in helpless rage, but none of it reached Naruto. 

It was only a temporary solution, as the demon’s chakra would corrode the barrier after a while, but it would have to do for now. 

Finally done arguing with the fox, Naruto dismissed all the Parademons, sending them back to their barracks. Then, he headed towards Darkseid’s palace. 

As he walked on the main road leading to the palace, a familiar sight greeted his eyes. Tens of thousands of people were out in the streets, cheering and chanting his name. 

The Liberator. Apokolips’ Champion. The God of War. Darkseid’s Right Hand. These were just a few of the names that he heard the enormous crowd of people shouting. 

When he raised his hand and waved at them, the people’s cheers exploded in intensity. 

It was a Hero’s welcome. 

However, behind his black and red helmet, Naruto was not smiling. Despite his non-stop arguments with Kyuubi, his outright hostility towards the fox, and his claims that he did not give a damn about the bijuu’s Negative Emotion Sensing, Naruto could not ignore his feelings entirely. 

‘The demon is trying to manipulate me, twisting my views and perception of the world around me. Father has warned me many times that Kyuubi will try to make me turn against my adopted family and home...’ 

That’s what Naruto was always telling himself, almost like a broken record. On a rational level he knew that he should not trust Kyuubi’s ability to sense negative emotions. But on the other hand, he will still just human after all. 

He could not simply dismiss the fact that he felt only fear and terror coming from the people who were outwardly cheering for him. 

He could not dismiss the amount of hatred and despise directed at him whenever he talked to Desaad, Darkseid’s Prime Minister. 

He could not ignore the deceit that Kyuubi’s Negative Emotion Sensing picked up whenever he talked to Darkseid either. 

Eventually, Naruto arrived in front of two very tall black doors with a large Omega symbol encrusted on them. It was Darkseid’s throne room. 

Inhaling deeply, Naruto let out a long breath, trying to calm down his mental state before he went in and reported to his father. 

Darkseid’s throne room was wide, with numerous finely carved columns supporting the tall ceiling. A red carpet extended from the large double doors all the way to the back of the room, where the throne was located atop a short flight of stairs. 

Naruto lowered himself to one knee when he arrived in front of the throne. 

As he took out his black and red helmet, his appearance was finally revealed. Spiky blonde hair, blue eyes, and three pairs of whisker-like birthmarks marring his cheeks; at first glance, he looked no different from two years ago. However, a closer glance at his face would let one realise that Naruto did not look like a teenager anymore. 

Despite being only 18 years old now, his face appeared to have lost all its baby fat, and the dark bags under his eyes made him look several years older than he was. He looked more mature… and less innocent. He seemed exhausted. 

“The news of your exploits reached my ears even before you returned. You have done well, my son. I am proud of you.”

“Thank you, Father,” Naruto spoke, allowing himself a smile. “As you say, it is our destiny to bring peace and order to the Universe.”

“I chose wisely when I adopted you, Uzumaki Naruto. The Psions have been a thorn in my side for thousands of years, and their genetic experiments have struck horror in my soul. But you have finally meted out my divine judgment on them. Stand. You need not kneel in front of me, for you are my son and the heir to all I am and own.”

“Your words honour me more than I can tell, Father,” Naruto said sincerely as he listened to his command and stood up. 

“There is more than honour that I have in store for you, son,” said Darkseid as he stood up from his throne and walked to Naruto. “As a reward for today’s conquest, I’m giving you one of the most powerful techniques of your homeworld. My spies have tried to infiltrate and retrieve this scroll for years. Take it. It’s yours now.”

Darkseid had made it a tradition that after every one of his conquests, he would reward Naruto with a powerful technique that his spies had retrieved from his homeworld. And the blonde was always excited to gain new powers. 

He received the scroll from Darkseid with both hands and bowed in gratitude. 

“Thank you, Father.”

Darkseid smiled, very pleased with his humble attitude. 

“Well, go on, open it. Take a look at what’s inside,” he said magnanimously. 

Unfurling the scroll as he was told, Naruto’s eyes widened in surprise when he saw the name of the technique contained in the scroll: the Flying Thunder God Technique. 

He quickly rolled the scroll back and fell to one knee again before saying in a loud voice:

“I won’t disappoint you, Father! I will learn this technique as fast as possible and use my entire strength to smite our enemies. No one shall stand in our way. No one shall stop us from conquering the world and installing an era of everlasting peace and prosperity in the Universe.”

With his head bowed low, Naruto didn’t see the evil smile that stretched Darkseid’s face. 

“I’m pleased to see you are happy with your reward. Tell me, Naruto, is there anything else you wish from me?” Darkseid asked. "Would you like your own world to rule? What about a powerful partner to procreate with? You are at that age, after all. Lashina! Guilotina!”

As if they had been waiting the entire time to be called, two slender but very attractive women stepped out from the shadows behind the columns of the room and sauntered to Naruto, each taking one of his arms in theirs, lifting him up to his feet, and embracing his sides. 

Black hair tied in a ponytail, a dominatrix-like mask covering her face, and a skin-tight black suit showing off her fit and sinuous figure—she was Lashina. 

As for the second woman, Guilotina, she was like the complete opposite of Lashina. Her hair was platinum blonde and fell freely to her waist, and she was dressed scantily, wearing only a white breastplate and a white loincloth-like skirt that left her entire hips and thighs exposed, just barely covering her privates. 

Naruto’s heart rate went off the charts as he felt the two women pressing their warm and svelte bodies against him. 

However, despite his body’s healthy reaction as a male to having two attractive women embrace him, Kyuubi’s Negative Emotion Sensing ability threw a bucket of ice-cold water over his excitement, instantly cooling off his head. 

All he could sense in those two women was a desire to elevate their status. A desire to manipulate him and tie him down to their whims. A desire to use him like a tool, just like the demon fox in his gut was telling him. 

Naruto shook his head, pushing away the negative thoughts. Nevertheless, he still freed himself from Lashina and Guilotina’s arms and stepped back. 

“I’m sorry, Father… I… I don’t think I’m ready for that. But I will give it more thought after getting some rest and recovering from the battle.”

Darkseid patted him on the shoulder. 

“There is no pressure. You have all the time in the world. Go, return to your quarters, and rest. You have more than earned it.”

Lashina and Guilotina stepped back in disappointment, but Naruto didn’t pay attention to them. Instead, he glanced at Darkseid. 

“Father, may I ask you a question?”

“Speak, what is on your mind?”

Naruto hesitated for a second before saying: “I was thinking about my homeworld over the past few days. I can’t remember many things about it. I wonder, when do you think I will be able to go back? Just for a visit. Just to remember the place where I grew up,” he added quickly. 

Darkseid narrowed his eyes, but he kept his temper in check. 

“Your homeworld is one of the most hostile and dangerous planets I have ever seen. On the day that I rescued you from there, some of your jailers even activated suicidal techniques for the sake of stopping me. They decimated my Parademons and annihilated my armada. All I could do was take you with me and retreat with a boom tube. You are too precious to me, my son. I cannot risk letting them sink their claws into you. I cannot risk losing you.”

Despite the disappointment filling his heart, Naruto did not let it show on his face. 

“Learn the new technique that I have acquired for you. Try to harness more power from the demon parasitising your body. Once I feel like you have become truly powerful, I and the rest of Apokolips will join you. We will go together, united as one, and pacify your homeworld, punishing all who have wronged you as a child.”

⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂

AN: as you can probably tell, this scenario was inspired by the moment when Darkseid captured and brainwashed Superman. Unlike Superman, however, Naruto has Kyuubi inside of him who, for better or worse, prevented him from becoming a completely obedient tool.

(1) As far as I know, we are not given a name for the Psions' homeworld in the comics. "Rakta" is a name that I came up with.

(2) Just a reminder that Darkseid calls Naruto's planet "Balorat" (I used the orcish language from the Lord of the Rings to come up with it. “Balorat” means “Green”.)

If you are interested in joining my Discord server, you can do it at /x7xdd53WqE. Until next time!