Author's Note: If you enjoy this story, come check out my P atreon at banmido. I've got many more like this, early access chapters, giveaways, and other fire content.
Chapters 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13, and 14. are currently available to patrons.
Thanks for reading!
Debbie leaned forward, her cup cradled in both hands.
"So," she said, voice gentle. "What about your parents? What are they like?"
Naruto didn't answer right away.
His eyes shifted. Just a flicker. But it was enough to change the air in the room.
Mark noticed.
So did Nolan.
Naruto stared into his tea for a moment like it might spare him the answer.
It didn't.
He sighed, just a little, and leaned back against the couch.
"My mother," he said slowly, "is the Crown Princess of Centauria."
Debbie blinked. "Princess?"
Naruto nodded. "And a priestess. High Priestess, higher expectations. She was raised to lead the planet one day. People bowed when she walked through the cities. Sang when she spoke in the temple."
Mark stared. "Wait. So you're like… royalty?"
Naruto shrugged. "Yeah. I guess."
It wasn't pride. More like… indifference.
He wasn't bragging.
Just stating facts that didn't mean anything to him anymore.
"She has red hair," he continued, eyes softening just slightly. "The kind that caught fire in the sun. Long. Messy. She used to tie it up with a string she took from her own ceremonial robes."
He almost smiled.
"Her eyes are a beautiful purple. Bright. And always full of judgment."
Debbie smiled softly. "She sounds beautiful."
"She is," Naruto said. "And loud. Gods, she was loud. She could outshout thunder if she was pissed off enough."
Mark laughed. "You're the complete opposite of that!"
Naruto ignored him.
"She is abrasive. Stubborn. Always right, even when she wasn't. But… she was strong. She could calm a forest just by stepping into it. She was kind to people who didn't deserve it. She remembered everything about everyone."
His voice dipped lower.
"She was the light of my world."
A beat of silence.
Then Nolan spoke.
"And your father?"
Naruto's jaw tightened slightly. His fingers traced the edge of his cup.
"I never got the chance to meet him."
Nolan's expression didn't change, but he leaned in, just slightly.
"He left," Naruto said. "Before I was born. My mother said he was a foreigner. From another planet. A warrior. She didn't say much else, really. Just that he came from beyond the stars and changed everything she thought she knew."
He exhaled. Not bitter. Just tired.
"She loved him, I think. Or maybe just the idea of him. Either way… he wasn't there."
Mark opened his mouth, then closed it again.
Debbie reached across the table and placed her hand lightly over Naruto's.
It was instinctive. Maternal.
She didn't say anything.
She didn't need to.
Naruto didn't pull away.
But he didn't look at her either.
He just stared at the swirling tea in his cup.
And the silence that followed was deeper than before.
Not uncomfortable.
But reverent. Like a moment of silence at a funeral no one dared admit they were attending.
Mark broke it first.
"Damn," he muttered. "Your mom sounds like a real force of nature."
Naruto's eyes didn't leave the cup. "She is."
Nolan leaned forward, fingers laced. "And your father," he said, voice level. "You said he was a warrior. From another world. Any idea which one?"
Naruto didn't flinch. Didn't blink. His lips quirked, just faintly.
"Nope."
Mark frowned. "Nothing at all? No name? No species?"
Naruto shrugged again, that same too-light, too-casual movement he always made when the truth was heavier than it seemed.
"She never said. Just that he fell out of the sky and ruined her plans."
He set the cup down with a soft clink.
"Could've been a hero. Could've been a monster. I was never sure which."
Debbie's brows knit gently. "But she loved him?"
"I think so," Naruto said. "Or maybe she just loved what he gave her."
"And what was that?" Nolan asked.
Naruto looked at him now. Direct. Unblinking.
"Me."
Debbie's hand was still resting lightly on his. Naruto hadn't moved.
The silence lingered, but it didn't hang heavy anymore. Just quiet. Honest.
Debbie withdrew her hand eventually, brushing her thumb across the rim of her mug.
"You're welcome to stay for dinner, you know," she said softly. "We were just going to order something. Thai or pizza or, whatever you teenagers eat these days."
Naruto offered a small, polite smile. "I appreciate it. But I've got some assignments to finish. English class is already on my case."
Mark looked surprised. "You actually do homework?"
"I exist in the system," Naruto said, deadpan. "Gotta play along, right?"
Debbie chuckled, already reaching for her phone. "Alright. Next time, then."
Naruto rose, slipping his hands back into his hoodie pockets. He gave a slight nod to Debbie.
"Thanks for the tea," he said. "And the conversation."
"You're welcome any time, sweetheart."
He glanced at Mark. "I'll see you at school."
Mark gave him a lazy salute. "Later, Naruto."
Naruto rolled his eyes and turned to the door. Nolan was already rising, as if by habit.
"I'll walk you out."
Naruto didn't object. The door clicked open, letting in a brief gust of late-afternoon chill. They stepped onto the porch together.
The sun was dipping behind the rooftops, throwing long shadows across the neatly trimmed lawn.
They walked to the edge of the porch in silence. Neither of them was in a rush.
Nolan stood with his hands behind his back, gaze level.
Naruto stopped a step before the sidewalk, waiting.
"You've been on Earth long?" Nolan asked casually. Too casually.
Naruto didn't look at him. "Six months."
"You've adjusted quickly, quicker than I did when I first arrived."
"I do my best."
A pause.
Then Nolan turned his head slightly, enough to glance down at him from the corner of his eye.
"You're strong," Nolan said after a moment. "I watched the footage. The mech you destroyed was military-grade. Took a small army to even slow it down. You folded it in seconds."
Naruto shrugged. "I got lucky."
Nolan didn't smile. "There's no such thing as luck when it comes to force."
Naruto finally turned to face him. His expression was neutral, unreadable. But his voice was steady.
"Are you looking for something, Mr. Grayson?"
Nolan's brow twitched. Just a fraction.
"Just trying to understand what kind of person's moved into my son's life."
Naruto tilted his head slightly, almost amused.
"I'm just a classmate."
"Classmates don't usually dismantle weapons of war on school nights."
"Maybe your son just makes interesting friends."
They stood there in the dusk. The breeze stirred the leaves on the lawn. Somewhere down the street, a dog barked twice and went quiet.
"I'll see you around." Naruto said.
And with that, Naruto stepped off the porch and started down the sidewalk.
Nolan watched him go. Eyes narrowed. Shoulders still.
And for the first time in a very long while, he wasn't sure if he'd just met an ally.
Or a wrench in his plans.
The front door shut behind Nolan with a quiet click.
Nolan stood still for a second, his hand resting lightly on the knob.
Outside, footsteps faded.
Inside, silence hung like fog.
Debbie exhaled a small laugh and rubbed her arm. "He's... different."
Mark flopped back onto the couch. "He's cool. Weird, but cool. He doesn't talk much at school, this is pretty much the most I've ever heard him speak."
"I don't even know I got him to come meet you all."
Nolan didn't respond. He was still watching the door.
Something unreadable passed behind his eyes.
Not fear.
Calculation.
The kind a man makes when he's weighing the weight of the planet.
Then.
He blinked.
And smiled.
"Debbie," he said softly, turning back into the room, "could you do me a favor? I just remembered something. I promised Art I'd drop off those fabric samples for the new costume design, he wanted feedback by tomorrow."
Debbie raised an eyebrow. "Can't you fly them over in the morning?"
"I could," Nolan said, moving to the closet, grabbing a folded packet of stylized cloth. "But if I wait, he's gonna stay up all night waiting. You know how he gets. Besides... I need to stretch my legs."
He kissed her cheek. Calm. Warm.
Rehearsed.
She didn't question it. "Alright, alright. Tell him I said hi. And no beers this time. You two turn into two chatterboxes after a couple."
Mark snorted. "So true."
Nolan's hand lingered on Debbie's shoulder just a second longer than usual.
Then he nodded, stepped outside, and closed the door behind him.
The Guardians stood in a loose circle around the central platform.
Most felt confused and uneasy.
The air felt off.
The alert lights blinked red. Silent. No alarms. Just a pulsing heartbeat of crimson.
Darkwing dropped from a shadowed corner near the ceiling, cape fluttering like a torn flag. He scanned the room.
"Why did you call us here?" he asked, voice low, suspicious.
The others looked around.
"I didn't call anyone," War Woman muttered. Her mace hung loosely at her side, brows tight. "No distress beacon. No threat detected."
Green Ghost floated in, half-phased through a wall. "Me neither."
The flash of a portal lit up the center platform. Red Rush stepped out, helmet already in hand.
"No one signaled the alert?" he asked.
No one answered.
Then the steel doors behind them rumbled. Everyone turned.
Omni-Man stood there.
Stone-faced.
Unmoving.
"Omni-Man?" The Immortal narrowed his eyes. "What's going on?"
Nolan said nothing.
He stepped forward.
Then exploded into motion.
SMASH.
Red Rush caught it first. Nolan's fist blurred, and Red's torso folded in with a crack like a tree splitting down the middle.
"Ghuh!" he wheezed, mouth open, eyes wide. He blinked.
Then Omni-Man grabbed his leg and swung him like a club.
CRASH. Red Rush collided with Green Ghost mid-phase, her body popping partially corporeal. She screamed as her ribs shattered on contact.
Darkwing threw a batarang.
It pinged off Nolan's head.
He didn't flinch.
Darkwing vanished into the rafters. The Immortal charged, roaring. War Woman followed, her mace lighting up with blue runes.
Aquarius leapt from his water tank with a guttural snarl, tendrils of liquid trailing him like jellyfish.
Omni-Man met them head on.
BOOM. War Woman's mace slammed into Nolan's chest. He slid back an inch.
Then drove his elbow up into her jaw.
CRACK.
She spun, blood trailing from her mouth as she hit the wall and didn't get up.
The Immortal landed a blow to Nolan's side.
It echoed.
Did nothing.
Nolan grabbed his arm, twisted, and drove a fist through his torso.
SKRUNCH.
Green Ghost tried to phase again.
Too slow.
Nolan's hand shot forward, closing around her throat. She half-disappeared.
Then he squeezed.
Her neck popped like a rotten melon.
Darkwing dropped down behind him, staff spinning. He struck twice, fast and precise.
Back of the knee. Neck.
It felt like hitting metal.
Omni-Man backhanded him through the air.
Darkwing screamed as he was flung across the room, smashed against a pillar, spine snapping audibly. He collapsed in a heap.
"Why?" someone shouted.
"I trusted you!" Aquarius hissed, leaping again.
Water surged forward.
Nolan caught him midair and tore him in half.
SPLASH. Blood and saltwater painted the ceiling.
The Immortal, one arm limp, got up again, snarling. His eyes burned red.
"You were like a brother to us."
Omni-Man didn't answer.
He grabbed The Immortal by the throat, hoisted him up, and ripped his head clean off.
THUNK. The body dropped. Blood misted the floor.
Omni-Man stood alone.
Breathing hard.
Chest rising and falling, hands twitching.
Around him, the Guardians of the Globe lay broken, torn, crushed, and eviscerated.
The silence that followed was suffocating.
He looked down at his hands.
Then at the corpses.
He didn't speak.
He just walked to the center of the room, eyes cold. No triumph. No regret.
Just finality.
__
Author's Note:
If you enjoy this story, come check out my P atreon at banmido. I've got many more like this, early access chapters, giveaways, and other fire content. Chapters 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12 are currently available to patrons.