[Caterpillar] Chapter 16 - Justice League Unlimited (Patreon)

AN: Someone told me that lobotomising someone is not actually killing them. I thought that doing that to someone would kill their personality, their inner selves, leaving only the body alive. A living body but without a mind. It looks like I was wrong about that. I messed up due to my lack of knowledge. I have edited a little the beginning of the previous chapter to correct my mistake. Thank you for the constructive criticism, RedFistCannon.

Other than that, it looks like I wasn't giggling by myself for no reason while I was writing the previous chapter. I'm glad you all found it funny too haha. Here is the new chapter, enjoy!

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Chapter 16 - Justice League Unlimited

His hands coated in a cyan light and with beads of sweat appearing on his forehead, Naruto focused on speeding up Wonder Woman's recovery. Even so, he could not help letting his eyes roam over her face. Long and silky-looking raven-black locks of hair, unblemished pale-white skin, a pair of supple eyebrows, a cute and small nose, symmetrical and defined cheekbones, an oval face and a pair of luscious, plush and naturally red lips... Naruto felt his pulse speed up when he looked at her.

'No doubt, she's the most beautiful woman I've ever seen.'

Feeling his chakra flow slipping out of his control, he closed his eyes and shook his head to dispel the distracting effect that her flawless beauty had on him. Resolutely, he refused to look at her face anymore and chose instead to keep his eyes locked on his hands or else he would not be able to maintain his Mystic Palm technique. But that proved to be no good either because after 2 minutes he got bored and his eyes unwittingly jumped to what could be seen beyond his hovering hands.

'H-Huge!' was the only thing he could think about.

Before he could stop himself, his cyan-chakra-coated hands lowered and lightly pressed against the large mounds of flesh below. The soft but springy sensation coming from his palms when he touched her peaks was like a small electric shock for his body. But it lasted only for a second because he quickly lifted his hands up and turned his head away, closing his eyes tightly. When he opened his eyes, however, he noticed, to his horror, that the giant fox pressing his huge head against the window of the ship had seen everything that he had done.

'It's over. Ah, I wanna die. Kurama will never let me live it down.'

He was not allowed the luxury to even wallow in his own inner misery and prepare his heart for the aftermath because at that moment, a strangely sensual voice (in his distorted point of view) came from the woman lying below.

"Nng, why were you touching my chest?"

Naruto froze, even the chakra flow to his hands halted and the Mystic Palm technique stopped. Three infinitely long seconds passed, with Naruto just staring at her stupidly, momentarily not knowing what to say.

He dressed his voice awkwardly.

"I was, uh, healing you."

A sound between a scoff and a chuckle came from the fox outside the ship.

"That's not how the Mystic Palm Technique works. You don't need direct contact. You just wanted to feel up her big milkers and-"

"Kurama, you shut your trap!" Naruto hollered.

Understanding what was going on, a hue of pink appeared on Diana's normally pale cheeks.

"I am exhausted and far from being in my best state. It was an accident!"

Kyuubi returned to a smaller size and rushed back inside the ship very quickly, not wanting to miss out on even 1 second of fun.

"So you switched from 'I was healing her' to 'it was an accident'? Bwahahaha!" he mock-imitated Naruto's voice and then barked with laughter.

As if they could read each other's mind, in the next moment, a human-sized fox and a man lunged at each other at the same time.

It was a full-on brawl.

The two of them started rolling on the ground and clobbering each other with punches, trying to strangle the other with their hands or tails and even trying to bite each other in a mess of tails and limbs while Diana and Justice Lord Superman watched them with a blank look on their faces.

Normally, this kind of brawls ended up with Naruto getting the upper hand due to his superior hand-to-hand combat skills but this time it was a completely different story. Huffing and breathing out heavily, Naruto was eventually thrown flat-faced on the floor, sprawled on his stomach, while the human-sized nine-tailed fox plopped himself heavily with his butt on his back.

Triumphant laughter came from the fox:

"Wahahah! I win! Now say it! Say it!"

"Piece of shit!" Naruto cursed under his breath.

At his words, Kyuubi's size increased, suddenly becoming 400 pounds heavier.

"I give! I give up!" Naruto cried out breathlessly.

"Then say it!" Kyuubi said with a gloating voice.

"Kurama...sama."

Kyuubi's size increased once again and Naruto started tapping on the floor with his hand like the loser tapping out in a wrestling match.

"Argh! Gerroff me you fat fuck, you're gonna crush my spine!"

The huge fox brought a hand to one of his large, rabbit-like ears and sing-sang:

"I can't heeeaaar youuu!"

"Kurama-SAMA!"

When Naruto finally yelled those words, an expression as if he had just attained nirvana and ascended to heaven appeared on Kyuubi's face.

Brawling against each other without using any kind of ability or chakra-reinforcement technique was almost like a tradition for Naruto and Kyuubi. They only used their physical strength and Kyuubi adopted a size similar to Naruto. Whoever lost had to call the winner 'master' and obey his commands for a week. It was how they solved their issues and let out some steam.

Usually, it ended either in a tie or with Kyuubi outright losing because Naruto's physical strength was not any lower than his while his fighting IQ was leagues beyond that of the bijuu. Kyuubi could count on the claws of one paw the number of times he had won against Naruto over the past almost 10 years. It went without saying how frustrating that was. This time, however, by taking advantage of Naruto's weakness, the fox won. His elation was beyond words.

Justice Lord Superman was lying completely still on the floor with a seal painted on his forehead and Diana was similarly sitting on the floor while watching in stupefaction how the giant fox was crushing a screaming Naruto under the weight of his massive butt... ...that was the scene on which the Justice League and the other dimension Batman stumbled upon when they finally found the Javelin.

Witnessing the huge fox tormenting Naruto, an incredulous voice came from the other dimension Batman:

"That is the guy that crushed the Justice Lords?"

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"Haa~ I'm so tired!" Naruto complained, now needing to sit and rest in his wheelchair for real. "I was still recovering but I was forced to use so much energy to fight the Justice Lords and then to heal both Hawkgirl and Wonder Woman. Ah, whatever shall I do? Only ramen can save me now. At least 49 bowls of it."

A soft hand grabbed him by one ear and twisted it slightly, enough to make him uncomfortable but not enough to cause him pain. He heard Diana's threatening voice coming from behind:

"Don't think that playing the victim will make me forget what you did."

Naruto suddenly stopped his whining and became as silent as a grave making both Diana and the fox on his shoulder giggle at his meek reaction. Deciding to figuratively pour salt on the open wound, Kyuubi said:

"Listen up, slave. Lightning Rasengan. Now."

Naruto burst with indignation:

"You asshole, I'm seriously weak now! I can't expend more chakra! Rasengans are too hard to make when I'm like this!" he yelled at him.

Kyuubi laughed uncaringly.

"For all I know, you could be faking it again. You pretended you needed a wheelchair for almost a week when you could walk around just fine. So gimme my lightning Rasengan now! Remember, you're my slave for a week. You don't wanna go back on your word, do you? Unless you want me to start talking about stuff? I'm sure that certain people would love to hear more about it."

Naruto did not need to have eyes in the back of his head to feel that Diana who was standing behind his wheelchair suddenly made a very interested face at Kyuubi's words. He ground his teeth in unwillingness but he raised his hand in defeat. A spiralling sphere of blue energy took shape in his palm and yellow arcs of lightning started to dance on its surface once he added lightning nature chakra to it too.

Not waiting for an invitation, the tiny fox stuck out his small tongue and licked at the sphere of lightning chakra. An electric current coursed through him and the crimson red fur all over his body stood straight like needles but Kyuubi let out an excited sound of delight and started taking small but quick bites off the lightning Rasengan. He had travelled the Universe from one corner to the other alongside Naruto and he had eaten countless types of dishes and the raw meat of countless creatures. However, nothing had ever come close to tasting as good to Kyuubi as Naruto's chakra. It was the ultimate delicacy.

From behind, Diana was giggling silently to herself as she watched the interactions between the two of them. She was especially amused at how the fox cub's previously fluffy nine tails looked like a hacksaw now but he still continued to eat the electrifying treat with gusto.

The other members of the Justice League that were in the Javelin were looking curiously at them, especially at Wonder Woman who was acting completely different compared to how angry and frustrated she had been a few hours before.

"Since when did she become so chummy with the two of them?" Flash asked Green Lantern and Hawkgirl who were sitting next to him.

"Something must've happened while we were captured. But the fox liked her from the beginning so I'm not that surprised. What I'm surprised about is the mercenary allowing the princess to pull on his ear like that and not saying anything back." Hawkgirl replied.

"If only the Guardians could see now who they classified as Universal-level threats..." Green Lantern trailed off, making Flash and Hawkgirl laugh.

Meanwhile, Superman and Martian Manhunter were standing close to Batman who was piloting the Javelin. Currently, they were heading back to the Watchtower.

"Can't say I'm not happy how easily we got rid of the Justice Lords. I expected a lot more struggle." Superman said.

"It looks like the mercenary really is a man of his word. He returned the favour he owed us without us asking him to do it." Martian Manhunter said and glanced back the masked Naruto who was sitting in his wheelchair and feeding Kyuubi a ball of lightning energy.

Superman nodded in agreement.

"True. And he helped Hawkgirl recover as well. By all means, she was in a hospital before that." (1)

After Naruto had confirmed that the Justice League was fine, he let go of Justice Lord Superman and freed him from the effect of his painful fuinjutsu. Then, the other dimension Batman took the rest of the Justice Lords and left, going back to their dimension. Now, the Justice League together with Naruto and Kyuubi were returning to the Watchtower.

"What's on your mind, Batman?" Superman asked when he saw him being silent.

"Wonder Woman looks different from earlier today so I'm thinking that-" he said.

"Oho, are you perhaps jealous?" Superman cut in and joked.

The only answer he got was a blank stare. The Gotham vigilante was not impressed.

"Right, who am I kidding? There's no space for human emotions in that broody heart of yours." the Man of Steel said.

"I was thinking that it's time we started our plans. Now that Wonder Woman seems to be back to normal, all 7 of us can finally make decisions together." Batman continued in his usual tone.

The Justice League did not have a ruler per se. They were a team and everyone's opinion held equal value in the eyes of the others when it came to making important decisions. Because of Wonder Woman's previous emotional instability and absent-minded behaviour, the 6 of them had been putting off their plans to expand the Justice League for the past 3 weeks. That was a very important matter and they had not wanted to leave Wonder Woman out of it.

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A few days later, all 7 members of the Justice League were gathered together in the Watchtower. They were sitting at a table, except for Superman who was standing on his feet.

"Since we all agree that the Justice League has to expand, we need to understand the consequences of that. First of all, the United Nations will not like it, not one bit. We can expect that among the heroes that we recruit, there could also be moles from the government or the United Nations. Because of that, we need to be certain that we can trust each other. With everything."

Realizing what Superman's words alluded to, Flash said a bit flustered:

"Hold on a second here. What about the whole secret identity thing? I mean, I trust you guys but I'm not sure I'm ready to expose myself yet."

"You do realize that Batman and Superman already know everyone's identities, right? Probably J'onn knows it too. Moreover, the princess and I don't have a secret identity and Hawkgirl can't exactly disguise herself with her wings either." Green Lantern said.

While they were talking, Batman was the first to take the initiative and pulled off his mask.

"I'm Bruce Wayne."

Superman also took a pair of round glasses from somewhere and put them on his eyes.

"I'm Clark Kent."

"Show off!" Flash mumbled and sagged his shoulders when he heard who exactly Batman was. "I'm Wally West," he said and took off his mask too.

"Red hair. It suits you!" Wonder Woman who sat next to him said with a smile and playfully rubbed the top of his head.

Flash perked up at her words.

"You think?" he asked in a voice that betrayed how happy he felt at her compliment.

Everyone knew who Green Lantern was and that was the same for Martian Manhunter and Wonder Woman. The three of them had never attempted to hide their identities. Everyone turned to look at Hawkgirl who was the only one who had not taken off her mask. She was looking down, as though she was thinking intensely about something.

"Before I tell you who I really am, I ask you to please listen and not interrupt me until the end."

Noticing her unusual seriousness, the others piped down and focused their attention on her. Hawkgirl took off her bird mask and said:

"My name is Shayera Hol. I am a lieutenant and an espionage instructor in the Thanagrian Intergalactic Army."

Despite her request to not be interrupted, John Stewart cried out:

"You mean to say that you are a spy?!"

Similarly, Superman and Wonder Woman stood up and looked at her with serious eyes.

"Care to explain what exactly you mean by that?" Green Lantern pressed on.

Hawkgirl continued without flinching back at his reaction.

"As a Green Lantern, you should know about the intergalactic war between the Thanagarian and Gordanian Empires. It's been going on for generations. Everywhere the Gordanians pass by, they leave only death and destruction in their wake. They kill everyone that opposes them and enslave and sell the ones that surrender. The Thanagarians are the only thing that stops them from taking over the entire galaxy. The reason why Earth, which is so close, at only 25 light-years away from the Vega Star System, had not been invaded by the Gordanians yet, is the Thanagarian fleet holding them back."

Green Lantern calmed down at her words and stood silent, listening to what she had to say.

"However, over the past few decades, the Gordanians' incursions have grown fiercer and their technology advanced in leaps and bounds due to the increasingly growing support of their old allies, the Psions. As of late, we started to lose ground. We predicted that the Earth would soon be faced with their invasion. Coming here, my mission was to ascertain the planet's defences and become familiar with the natives' culture and customs in order for the Thanagarian Army to more easily establish a military base here and halt the Gordanians' advance. To prevent the Earth from being destroyed."

A silence that one could hear a pin drop was instilled in the conference room of the Watchtower.

"You spoke of your mission using the past. Did something change or am I reading too much into it?" the ever-perceptive Batman asked.

Hawkgirl confirmed his thoughts:

"Two days ago, I received a transmission from my commander. My orders have changed. I am to return to Thanagar. I did not know how to break the news to you because they were so sudden but now it looked like the perfect opportunity."

When her words finally sank in, multiple issues dawned on the others.

"You have to leave?! Then...what about us?" Green Lantern asked.

Green Lantern and Hawkgirl had never spoken outright about their relationship with the rest of the Justice League but the others were not clueless. They had long since discovered the growing affection between the two of them. They were not surprised by his question.

Shayera Hol made a conflicted expression and sighed.

"I am military. I cannot ignore the orders I have been given. You were a soldier too, John, you should know that."

Martian Manhunter spoke from the side:

"Then what about Earth? Have the Thanagarians given up on our planet and left us to fend for ourselves? We can't possibly stop an Intergalactic Empire's army alone."

The problem brought forth by the Martian alarmed the others too.

"That's not the case anymore. The mercenary Caterpillar annihilated the Psion race. Furthermore, the Gordanians have still not recovered from the shock of losing their allies like that. Our intel says that over the past 3 weeks that passed since the Psions' destruction, almost 1 million Gordanians have run away from their planet, Karna, terrified at the possibility of the mercenary coming to kill them too. The number of Gordanians deserting the army is increasing on a daily basis too. Currently, the Gordanians' ranks are in disarray. The Thanagarian army has already started winning battles on multiple fronts. Without the backing of the Psions and with the Gordanians shivering in their boots in fear of Caterpillar's retribution, they can no longer hold their own against our troops. Their defeat is only a matter of time. We will finally win this war."

The other 6 in the room were once more reminded of just who was the one living with them in the Watchtower. Watching the easy-going attitude of the mercenary as he bantered with his fox every day, they almost forgot how the two of them had destroyed a planet and how many beings they had killed only 3 weeks ago. Hawkgirl's words reminded them how terrifying the alien mercenary and his planet-busting fox were: terrifying enough to even influence the course of a generation-long war between two Intergalactic Empires.

"When I came to this planet, my intention was to just keep a professional distance from everyone. After all, despite the Thanagarians' good intentions, I was still a spy. I could never be here with you forever. I knew that when the time came, both I and the people I got close to would suffer. I knew that I would have to leave you behind someday...but I could not help becoming close to you."

As she spoke those words her voice became shaky. However, she was a tough woman and she did not cry.

"Seeing as I will not be able to continue living on Earth due to my orders, I should not take part in deciding the Justice League's future course of events. In fact, I will be leaving for Thanagar today. I have already packed all my belongings."

Saying that, she stood up from her chair and left the room.

"Shayera!" John Stewart called out and rushed out of the room after her too.

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The Justice League's meeting was unexpectedly interrupted by Hawkgirl's revelations and her decision to leave the Earth right away. However, after Hawkgirl's abrupt and swift departure, the remaining 6 came back to the conference room.

"John, do you want us to postpone this to a later date?" Superman asked in a tone of understanding.

"Don't mind me." Green Lantern said. Though he looked more taciturn than ever, his expression was composed. "Personal matters can't come before Justice League business. As Shayera said, I was a soldier too; I understand her decision. She can't disobey the orders coming from above."

Superman nodded in acknowledgement and cleared his throat.

"Though Hawkgirl leaving us is unfortunate, there is nothing we can do about it. We have to move on and work harder in order to protect our planet. And now that we know each other's identities, it's time we discuss another very important issue: funding. Not only we will need a much bigger headquarters, which will cost us dozens of millions, but we will also need more spaceships, specialized equipment and many other facilities, enough to accommodate dozens or maybe hundreds of heroes."

Batman said:

"As Bruce Wayne, I am a billionaire. However, I can't support all the costs by myself. Not because I can't afford it but because such a large sum of money disappearing at once without an explanation would attract too much attention and possibly expose the fact that I'm somehow connected to the Justice League. The government is most likely paying very close attention to all the wealthy people since they know that the Justice League would not be able to operate without serious financial backing."

Flash said:

"To be honest, I don't see how much help we could be. I'm just a forensics scientist at the Central City Police Department, John is a retired soldier, Wonder Woman is an exiled princess and Martian Manhunter has no worldly possessions. We aren't poor, of course, but we are not rich either."

"What about Aquaman, have you tried to contact him? He's the King of Atlantis, he's probably even wealthier than I am if we were to count all the sunken treasures at the bottom of the oceans, treasures that only he has access to. He doesn't have to justify his expenses to anyone either." Batman suggested.

"That's a great idea. We just have to see how we can convince him to support us. I will go talk to him myself," Superman offered. "I can also provide the Justice League with highly advanced technology from Krypton and even money if it comes down to it. Over the years, I've gathered many valuable things in my Fortress of Solitude. As Clark Kent I may not be a millionaire but, as Superman, I could always get some rare space materials that NASA or other interested parties would be willing to spend a fortune for."

"I will get into contact with Green Arrow and see if he can support us as well," Batman said.

The others made a confused face. They had not heard about that name until then.

"He's a small, local vigilante operating in Star City. I can't tell you his identity without his approval first but I can tell you that he is just as rich as Batman." Superman explained.

Martian Manhunter who had been silent until then spoke:

"I was contacted by a very wealthy man named Maxwell Lord two weeks ago too, only a few days after our clash against Uzumaki Naruto in Jump City. It was not long after Superman suggested to expand the Justice League. Maxwell Lord offered to support the Justice League financially but..."

Hearing the way Martian Manhunter trailed off made the others curious.

"But what? Is there an issue with his character?" Wonder Woman asked.

"I do not know." Martian Manhunter said.

"What do you mean?" Batman asked.

"I could not read his mind. He is a telepath, just like me."

Bruce Wayne made a thinking posture.

"I know Maxwell Lord. He's the head of Chimtech Consortium and one of the wealthiest men in the world. A rather unscrupulous businessman but nobody ever gets that rich by playing nice against the competition. Still, as far as I know, he has not broken any laws yet. He is not sided with the government either, he's rather infamous for often butting heads with them."

Flash said:

"I don't find it weird that a billionaire would offer to support us. I mean people aren't blind, they see what we have gone through to protect everyone: Darkseid attacked the Earth a few years ago, Imperium and his race almost took over the planet about a year and a half ago and then there was the Gordanian ship threatening to destroy Jump City a few weeks ago too."

Green Lantern nodded in agreement.

"True. If Maxwell Lord wants to support us, I say we go for it. We need all the help we can get."

The 6 of them continued to discuss various matters related to the Justice League's future but, at some point, the alarms of the Watchtower started to blare.

Flash was the first to arrive in the control room, just in time to see a live footage captured by one of the remote cameras placed on one of the many Justice League-owned satellites orbiting the Earth: a very large and muscular grey-skinned man with shaggy and long black hair and a horseshoe moustache was approaching the Earth while riding a space-bike. He was dressed in leather clothes and a very thick chain was wrapped around his forearm while the other end of it was tied to a large, human-sized metallic box which he dragged after the bike making sure to keep it right after the engines, seemingly with the clear intent of heating it up.

When Superman arrived in the control room as well and saw the appearance of the alien detected by the Watchtower, he frowned. .

"Lobo? What is he doing here?"

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AN: in the canon, Hawkgirl did not know that her superiors wanted to take over the Earth and then destroy it by building a hyperspace gate (basically a huge wormhole). She thought that she was sent to Earth to get information for the sake of protecting the planet. She was bamboozled just like the rest of the Justice League about her higher-ups' true intentions (hence why she ended up betraying the rest of the Thanagarians).

But now, due to Naruto annihilating the Psions, the Thanagrians started to win their battles against the Gordanians. They gave up on their previous plans since now they could achieve victory through ordinary means, without the need to sacrifice billions of innocent people. Thanagarians weren't that evil, they were just willing to do anything, no matter how bad, for the greater good of their race. That said, in this story, the Thanagarians no longer have a reason to invade the Earth.

(1) Hawkgirl being wounded was omitted in the story based on the premise that my readers know what happened in the canon. But in case you don't know, in the canon, Justice Lord Green Lantern blasted 'our' Hawkgirl with his power ring and injured her when the Justice League crossed to other dimension and got captured. It is something minor but I pointed it out so you won't get confused.