[Caterpillar] Chapter 32 - Aftermath (Patreon)

Over one hundred members of the Justice League were gathered at the Watchtower. The atmosphere, however, was vastly different from usual. There was no order and everyone was in the midst of arguing with others.

"You snapped someone's neck like a cold-blooded murderer!" someone shouted. It was a man wearing the attire of an English medieval knight.

The centre of everyone's attention was a tall and athletic woman with long black hair and blue eyes. Her white and gold armour was stained with still fresh blood and her otherwise dignified and beautiful face bore the marks of a violent fight against a formidable opponent seeing as there were bruises on her cheekbones and dried blood at the corner of her mouth.

"I did what I had to. If I was presented with that situation again, my choice would be the same. It was the life of a criminal for the life of countless innocent people." the woman replied.

"Who allowed you to be the judge, jury and executioner? We are the Justice League. We don't kill! Are you out of your goddamned mind?" Superman screamed at her in anger. His blue and red suit was in tatters and his face was no less bloodied and hurt than that of Wonder Woman. Furthermore, although the sword wound in his stomach had closed up, his suit was still soaked with his own blood.

"You of all people should not talk about others being out of their mind, Superman!" Green Arrow shouted back at him, unexpectedly speaking up to defend Wonder Woman.

What nobody knew was that when he had first started his vigilante work, Green Arrow had murdered quite a number of criminals in Star City. It was only after he had 'cleaned up his yard' and after gaining some notoriety that he became low-key with his actions and started acting like the rest of the superheroes, sparing the criminals' lives. Fortunately, he had erased his traces very thoroughly after that and the rest of the Justice League was not aware of his radical past deeds.

"It was out of my control! But she willingly murdered someone!" Superman shouted back and stepped aggressively into Green Arrow's personal space.

Though he had no superpowers, Green Arrow was not intimidated in the least.

"What? You're going to punch me to shut up? Or maybe kill me to keep quiet? Like you murdered hundreds of people in Metropolis a few years ago?"

Superman stepped back startled.

"No! I wasn't going to-..."

Captain Atom intervened and said:

"That doesn't change what Wonder Woman had done! She had murdered someone in cold blood, perfectly aware of herself. What's even worse, the entire world had watched her do it!" Pointing an accusatory finger at her, he declared: "You will have to take responsibility for your deeds in front of the International Court of Justice!"

Captain Atom was an Air Force Captain. Although he was a superhero, he was a part of the United States military too. He understood better than most how far-reaching were the consequences of Wonder Woman's actions. The US government was just looking for an excuse to take drastic actions against the Justice League. The United Nations wanted to suppress them too because the Justice League had grown too powerful for their liking. Until then, the Justice League had never killed anyone so the United Nations and NATO had their hands tied up. All the members used non-lethal means of apprehending the criminals and operated somewhat within the law's constraints. But the Amazon princess' actions changed that. Now, the United Nations had a legal ground to oppress and maybe even force the Justice League to disband.

Because of Captain Atom's words, the subject was diverted from Superman back to Wonder Woman. While some of the heroes tacitly agreed with what she had done, only Green Arrow had been brave enough to voice out his support to her. The rest kept their mouths shut. There were also a few like Supergirl and Starfire who adopted a neutral stance, choosing to stay on the sidelines and not get involved. But the vast majority of the members of the Justice League were very vocal in their jeers directed at Wonder Woman.

It was in the midst of that chaos that a deep and demonic voice rang over the noise made by dozens of people's yells:

"Shut Up!"

They had been so absorbed by screaming their heads off that no one had noticed a non-affiliated spaceship entering the Watchtower. Now, they realized that two beings had all of a sudden snuck into their ranks. When they turned their heads and saw the giant nine-tailed demon fox and the masked man next to it, they immediately became silent.

Though the original members of the Justice League were more concerned about Naruto due to their clash in Jump City, the rest of the members did not know about his true power. Instead, the rest were more scared by Kyuubi's strength. After all, they had all seen the video of a demon fox as tall as Metropolis City's skyscrapers defeating the Justice Lords from the other dimension.

"Diana. Come here." the masked blond man said calmly.

In front of over one hundred of her teammates and friends who were screaming at her and accusing her of being a murderer, Wonder Woman kept her calm, showing them a composed and cold face. But when she saw that Naruto and Kyuubi had come for her, her suppressed emotions were about to burst. She almost ran to him, into his arms.

"We're leaving," Naruto said simply to the others and then turned around with Diana.

"Hey, where do you think you're going?" Shazam shouted when he saw that Wonder Woman was going to leave just like that.

He flew at a high speed, intent on blocking the door and cutting off their way but a massive appendage, even thicker than his torso, was slammed into his body and he was swatted away like a fly. He crashed into the metallic outer wall of the Watchtower with a bang, leaving a human-shaped dent in it.

Dark laughter came from the fox when he saw the muscular hero barely pulling himself up to his feet.

"I haven't killed someone in ages. Who wants to be first? I'll be more than happy to oblige."

There were almost 150 metahumans present there but none of them dared to step forth. Shazam was one of the most durable and physically strongest members of the Justice League, almost on par with Superman. If he was smacked back that easily, it stood to reason that most of them would turn into a smear of blood by the demon's tails.

"That's what I thought. Trash," Kyuubi said mockingly. He was goading them to attack him.

"Don't provoke them, Kurama. We're not here to fight." Naruto said.

"Speak for yourself. I'm itching to see some blood." the fox growled at him.

"You're itching for a beating."

The two of them bickering like they were not giving 2 cents about the large group of metahumans behind them was almost like a slap for the superheroes there. Unable to stand the humiliation, Superman shouted:

"Don't think you'll be able to protect her forever, Uzumaki! What she has done will not go unpunished!"

Naruto let go of Wonder Woman's hand and turned around.

"She just whooped your ass and left you half-dead after stabbing you with her sword. Does she look like someone who needs to be protected?" he said and looked at him in ridicule.

Martian Manhunter who had been mostly silent until then spoke at that moment.

"We're not talking about harming her. But Wonder Woman committed a taboo. If she wants to continue working as a member of the Justice League, she has to be held accountable for her actions. She will have to take responsibility and be trialled by the International Court of Justice."

Naruto snorted at his words.

"You think I'd let her be part of this charade after this?"

"Naruto!" Wonder Woman tried to make him stop but he said categorically:

"No, Diana. You just fought with your life on the line to subdue a Kryptonian who was trying to kill you. They are your teammates and your friends, but instead of supporting you, they're the first to denounce you. Some friends they are, kicking you down at the drop of a hat. With friends like these, you're better off living among enemies."

Then he told the Justice League:

"Even if she were somehow acquitted by the sheep living on this planet, I wouldn't let her be part of this organisation of imbeciles anymore. You people do not deserve her."

⁂

Back to Wonder Woman's apartment in New York, Naruto opened the door for her and followed her inside. They stopped in the living room and she let herself fall on the sofa heavily.

He sat down with her and started to examine her face.

"He beat you up so badly. You're hurt."

"You should've seen his face," she said, chuckling weakly. He did not laugh.

Bringing his hand up to her face, he caressed her bruised cheek with his thumb gently, to make sure he was not causing her pain. A cyan light started to glow around his hand and healing chakra started to seep into her skin, speeding up her regeneration.

Diana closed her eyes and let out a sound of comfort at the warm energy infiltrating her body. The bloodlusted Kryptonian had almost killed her when he punched her from outer space into the planet like a meteorite. Then, he reshaped a portion of the Andes Mountains with how he repeatedly smashed her into mountains, almost levelling some of them in the process. While Goddess Demeter's blessing had allowed her to draw energy from the earth and heal her most serious wounds, her entire body was one big bruise. Everything hurt.

"Why didn't you summon me? I could have teleported to your side in an instant. You wouldn't have been hurt like that." he said.

"You said it yourself, I'm not a damsel in distress. I don't need someone's protection. I am a warrior."

Naruto frowned in annoyance. He knew how proud the Amazon princess was.

"Besides, I didn't have your dagger with me. It was 5 am when J'onn woke me up and I left in a hurry. I forgot to take it with me," Diana mumbled in a low voice.

"I told you to keep it on you at all times, didn't I? What if something worse happened?" he scolded her.

When Wonder Woman looked to the side stubbornly, he dropped his shoulders and gave up. He did not want to nag her too much at that moment. But he was going to make sure they would talk about it again soon.

He fiddled with the clasp holding her white cloak and untied it before taking it off. He also took off her golden tiara from her forehead and her golden wing ornaments framing her face too. After that, he untied the clasps of her golden pauldrons, revealing her bare shoulders.

Standing up from the sofa, he took off her high-heeled golden greaves, leaving her bare-footed. When his arms came behind her knees and around her back, she said with a stammer:

"What are you doing?"

She was starting to grow embarrassed when she realized that he had undressed her and now he was carrying her in his arms.

"Shh. Let me take care of you." he shushed her and headed to the bathroom with her in his arms.

When they entered, the princess saw that the bathtub was already filled with hot water. A shadow clone had prepared the bath for her before dispelling itself.

He let her down in front of the bathtub. Objectively, at that moment, Wonder Woman's appearance left much to be desired. A bruised and bloodied face, her hair was shaggy and filled with dirt, she was stinking of sweat and her previously white clothes looked grey, stained with mud and blood. However, in Naruto's eyes, even in that deplorable state, Diana looked beautiful. When he saw her shy and embarrassed expression, he could not contain his feelings of love for her. Though he had just let her go, he brought her once again in his embrace.

"If you hadn't already beaten the crap out of Superman yourself, I would have ripped him to shreds," he said and hugged her dearly.

She did not push him away. But when she felt his hands starting to pull at the back of her white and golden top, she looked up at him startled.

"Baby, I-, I don't think I'm ready for this," she said.

He had lost count of how many times she had acted provocatively over the past weeks, trying to seduce him. But now, she was acting like a scaredy-cat. Nonetheless, he did not have any indecent thoughts in mind at that moment.

"Relax. I won't do anything like that. But I could stay and help you wash if you wanted," he said, grinning. Her meek reaction was poking at his inner sadistic side. He felt the urge to push her down and tease her but he held himself back. Everything had a time and a place. Now, she was wounded. Other things were more important.

Kissing her forehead, he added: "Have a shower. Soak in the bath. I'll wait for you outside, ok?"

⁂

Hums of comfort and pleasure were coming from Diana as Naruto worked his magic on her. Channelling the Mystic Palm Technique, he was infusing her tired and bruised body with his chakra. A cloak of yellow-red light appeared around him and when he placed his hands on her back again, the princess shivered. Then, her bruises started to disappear at a speed visible to the naked eye. Naruto's Yang chakra had a very powerful rejuvenating attribute. Coupled with her already excellent constitution as an Amazon and a Zeus' daughter, she was healed in a matter of seconds. Even her tiredness disappeared.

Though she was completely fine now and she no longer required his assistance, he did not stop. He started to massage her. He gently caressed the back of her neck and slightly pushed with his thumbs on her trapezius muscles. They were more defined compared to other women and her shoulders were wider too. He took his time massaging her stiff and sore muscles and secretly smiled to himself. When his index finger traced her spine, she made a cute sound and her back involuntarily arched.

As his hands travelled further down her back he heard her breathing quickening in anticipation. But he purposely did not touch her glutes, caressing her hips instead. She started to subtly squirm when his hands touched her inner thighs, very close up to the towel covering her below the waist.

"I can't massage you properly if you don't relax your muscles."

She was on her stomach and could not see his face but she could hear the smile in his voice.

"How can I relax when you touch me like that?! Pervert!"

"You're the one who's been perving on me all this time, how does it feel to have the tables turned on you for once?" he said and chuckled.

But he stopped teasing her after that and started to really massage her legs seriously. From her strong and meaty thighs to her sculpted calves and her surprisingly dainty feet. She started to groan in comfort again when he began to massage the soles of her feet.

"Yes, there!" she almost moaned.

"That's what you get for fighting crime and monsters while wearing high heels," he said.

"If getting a massage from you is the price, I won't stop fighting in heels any time soon," she said, giggling, but she let out a squawk when he unexpectedly smacked her butt.

Being pampered and spoiled like that, Diana momentarily forgot about the pandemonium in the outside world at that moment. Other people saw her as a stoic warrior and, more recently, a brutal and cold-blooded murderer but when she was with him, behind closed doors, she transformed into an ordinary woman, a woman whose heart fluttered whenever the man she loved showered her with his affection.

When he was done massaging and teasing her, they cuddled together in bed. It was barely noon and the world at large was on fire, with the mass-media fanning the flames even harder but they were disconnected from everything else. Now, they were watching a movie called "Home Alone". Christmas was just around the corner and many television channels started streaming the traditional Christmas movies.

"This house is so full of people, it makes me sick! When I'm growing up and getting married, I'm living alone! Did you hear me?"

They chuckled at that particular line.

"It's chaotic, but I wish I grew up in a home like that," Naruto said wistfully.

"Our future kids-" Diana began to say but she dressed her voice and stopped.

"Do continue, please," Naruto said, smiling from one ear to another at her slip of the tongue.

Luckily for her, she was saved by the bell. Just at that moment, the doorbell rang.

"I'll go," she said and quickly jumped out of the bed, rushing out before Naruto could open his mouth.

He was still chuckling to himself when Diana's startled cry reached his sensitive ears:

"Hermes?! What are you doing here?"

The fluffy and feel-good mood from before vanished. An arc of yellow-red light was left in his wake as he teleported out of the bedroom. An instant later, his body appeared right in front of Diana, in the doorway. A cloak of yellow-red chakra enveloped him as he entered directly into his bijuu-mode and a flaming Rasengan took shape in his hand in the blink of an eye.

⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂

AN: Because Wonder Woman took off her Bracelets of Submission in her fight against Superman, the cat is out of the bag. Now, the Olympian gods have learned about her real identity, that she is Zeus' daughter.

PS: for those who might not know, the Justice League is not out of character here. When Diana killed Maxwell in the canon, everyone turned against her, yes, including Superman and Batman.