Haruto was sitting on his throne upon the raised pedestal and looking over his vast kingdom, his head resting on his clenched fist. The meeting had gone pretty well considering the sour moods of his children over his abrupt departure from the Kingdom to the Human World.
The rest had warmed up eventually, not able to keep onto their annoyance for long in his presence, though Kurama had once again proven his legendary stubbornness. He had been sulking and pouting throughout the entire meeting, but had eventually been pleased upon his promise to not leave before meeting them first.
"Oken."
As soon as the words left his mouth, Oken appeared in front of the raised pedestal and bowed. "Yes Sire?"
"I want you to head over to the Island of Santa Prisca." Haruto stated evenly without turning his throne around to face his kneeling Right-hand man.
"Objectives and time limit?" Oken asked curiously, wondering what his Master wanted in an island.
"Simply observe and report back immediately."
"Your wish is my command. I shall leave immediately."
Haruto felt Oken's presence disappear from his isolated dimension inside the celestial body and move towards the island. He had no particular reason for sending Oken to that island, except that he wanted to make the upcoming mission for the Sidekicks to be easy.
The thoughts swirling around in Batman's head were only focused on the island since he had apparently found some reasons to be suspicious.
The King had to give the human credit for being so observant, no wonder he was called the Greatest Detective ever. Such keen mind and intellect would push him far, if he didn't allow himself to be swallowed by the darkness of his past. He had Oken gather everything about the human and had to admit, he was a fascinating one.
A man forced into the dark life of vigilante by the early and unfortunate death of his parents in front of his young eyes, transforming him into a being of darkness, striving forward with the purpose of bringing his parents murderer to justice.
In all honesty, each member of the League had some traits and background that made them unique than the rest.
Superman, for all his strength and might possessed the kindness and patience of a monk. A man sent from a distant planet to be raised by two humble farmers and made into the man he was now. The humble, mild mannered Clark Kent one moment … and the powerful and stoic Superman the next.
Diana of Paradise Island, the beautiful daughter to the fabled Queen of the aforementioned island and gifted by some unknown power, the perfect upholder of peace and honesty.
Billy Batson aka Captain Marvel, a humble orphaned boy, gifted with mystic powers by a Wizard named Shazam. A young boy one second … and with the utterance of a single word, able to change into a powerful adult. To think an orphaned boy would possess so much strength.
Aquaman, the King of Atlantis living in the surface world to preserve peace and represent his people.
Oken appeared in the Throne Room after a few minutes and saw his King deep in thought " Well? "
"The island is being occupied by the Cobra Cult, formerly controlled by Bane, a cult dedicated to worshipping and serving a mere human, name Cobra who claim himself to be a deity" Haruto smiled at the small show of annoyance when Oken mentioned 'Deity' "The purpose of the hostile takeover so to speak, is to create a combination of Venom and project Blockbuster from the now half destroyed Cadmus"
Haruto revolved the throne around and calmly walked down the pedestal with his long white hair and cap trailing behind him over the crimson carpet " Excellent. On a side note, I want you to keep an eye on Cadmus as well as the Genomorphs "
"Sire, I don't understand" Oken said confusingly, not sure why his Master would want him to keep an eye on something that was destroyed.
" You'll understand soon. Oh and, do try not to obstruct my children's path to enter the Throne Room, especially Shukaku " As soon as he reached the end of the stairs, a black portal appeared in front of him.
Oken detected the underlying hint of amusement in the King's voice and couldn't help but smile himself "I'll try my best, Your Majesty"
With one last smile of approval, the King walked inside the portal and disappeared without a trace.
Mount Justice
"Santa Prisca, this island nation is the primary source of illegal and dangerous strength enhancing steroid. Infrared heat signature indicates that the factory is going on in full capacity, though the shipment of Venom had been inexplicably cut off" Batman explained to the team of five young sidekicks "This is where the team comes. It will be your job to find out if the factory is still functioning or not. This is a covert Recon mission, observe and report back without engaging. If the Justice League needs to intervene, then we will"
The team nodded in consent, though Dick Grayson looked like he wanted to ask something "Who'll be leading the team?"
Batman and Red Tornado exchanged looks of silent agreement and turned towards the team "Work that up between yourselves"
Recognized Destiny!
Batman grunted when the usual suffocating pressure of the aforementioned man entered the cave, announcing his presence. He couldn't for the life of him figure just how that damn pressure was there.
He had followed Destiny several times only to lose sight of him … had put several trackers on him to track him on his private satellite only for the screen to show no signal. It had been hell, trying to find out who and what he was during his regular days when he was not on duty.
All that endless investigation and searching had resulted in nothing!
Haruto walked up to the screen in his usual regal stride, full of confidence and power, an aura of calmness and comfort oozing off of him in waves as he smiled that usual calm and friendly smile "Greetings Team"
"Good morning" The team replied with small smiles on their faces, except for Batman who didn't want to smile and Tornado who didn't know how to smile.
Haruto snapped his fingers and turned towards the screen, an image of Cobra and his cult working on several projects, trying to perfectly blend Venom with Project Blockbuster in order to create the new and more enhanced version of venom, Cobra Venom appeared on the screen
"I already have the info regarding the island"
Batman narrowed his eyes in suspicion "How did you come by this information as well as the visual proof?"
Haruto gave his him a small smile "Though your suspicion is well placed, there is no reason to deny the validity of the info I have gathered"
"Forgave me if I don't exactly trust your information considering that the source is unknown" Batman retorted sarcastically, though he did lost the sarcastic tone when the pressure increased a little "The team will proceed anyway"
The team passed the unfathomable man an uncharacteristic look, expecting him to show some sort of dissatisfaction for being disrespected, but were stunned to find him smiling calmly like it wasn't bothering him at all.
Haruto didn't seem the least bit bothered by the lack of trust; rather he seemed more amused than annoyed. He wondered how long it would take Batman to realize that he was not one of the 'bad guys'. Then again, he didn't really care about his opinion. He would follow the team nonetheless, simply to ensure their safety.
Outside the Cave, Night Time
Haruto emerged from the cave and watched the team fly away in Miss Martian's Bio Ship with a calm look. He snapped his fingers and a black winged steed appeared before him as he calmly mounted on it. The steed bowed in recognition and followed after the Bio ship by flapping its mighty wings, flying undetected in the darkness of the night.
"Drop zone A in 30." Miss Martian voice sounded through the ship, snapping Haruto out of his thoughts. It seems they were approaching the assigned location.
"I'm ready." Aqualad's voice said silently, followed by his abrupt jump from the underside of the ship into the ocean below, no doubt to hack the motion sensors by approaching it from the ocean. He watched as the Atlantian used a device to hack the sensors and inform the team.
"Aqualad to team, the motion sensors have been patched. The data is now in continuous loop, move in!"
"Acknowledged!"
The Bioship moved over the island and into the dense forest ahead, safely hovering above a small clearing. The black winged stallion followed the Bioship and hovered right next to it, while the White King looked on serenely. Miss Martian, Robin, Kid Flash quietly exited the underside of the Bioship.
Haruto smiled in amusement when Superboy jumped down upon them with the grace of meteor, creating a small crater under his feet.
That boy just couldn't control the aggressive side of his Krptonian DNA!
"Miss Martian, Robin, Kid, Superboy, switch to Infrared and see if you are being followed" Aqualad said through the com-link.
Kid Flash lowered his red goggles over his eyes and looked around the forest, looking for any heat signatures. His face lit up in realization when he saw a group of heat signatures moving towards the direction opposite to them "There a squad coming, but not towards us apparently"
"There are two of them, it looks like they'll find each other before they find us" Superboy interjected, using his X-ray vision to scan the surrounding forest. As soon the words left his mouth, a series of sounds eerily similar to guns firing resonated throughout the forest, signifying the two squads' meeting.
Kid Flash turned towards Batman's sidekick, only to see an empty space where Robin should've been. The White King knew he had to talk with him about that particular unpleasant habit of his. Haruto looked towards the scene where the Cobra cult and Bane as well as his followers were firing at each other relentlessly.
Haruto slowly walked through the forest towards the fighting scene with a calm look on his face. Getting rid of this Bane character now would be an excellent opportunity, considering his busy schedule. His sudden appearance from the woods apparently caused the fighting between the two sides to stop, as they looked at him expectantly.
"Good evening gentlemen! Can someone kindly direct me toward the one named Bane?" he asked calmly with a friendly smile on his face.
The calm King created an invisible barrier around the area so that the young sidekicks wouldn't accidently stumble upon the scene. He had no intention of having them witness death so early in their lives.
Bane grunted in annoyance "What do you want?"
"Greetings, young one! My apologies, but I'm afraid you are going to die here" Haruto answered in his usual calm and smiling tone, causing Bane to growl in anger.
"It seems to me that it is you who is ready to die!" Bane retorted in anger, using the steroid stored in the small glove like device to transform his body into a bulky and muscular man.
Roaring in anger, he rushed towards the still smiling and calm man. As soon as he reached the white haired man, the drug-enhanced criminal lifted his right hand and rammed it forward, intent on crushing the tall man who had the audacity to mock him with empty threats of death.
Bane stumbled back in mind-numbing shock and pain when the bones in his hand were crushed with a sickening crunch as soon as his hands touched the still white haired man. He had to use all his life long battle hardened pain tolerance and endurance to stop himself from screaming out in agony when he looked down at his revoltingly mutilated hand.
The fingers were twisted and turned towards his wrist; in fact his whole forearm up to the elbow was twisted and turned like it had been through a grinding machine!
Jumping back with a pained grunt, he gave his shocked men a discreet signal to start firing. The silent signal snapped the frightened men from their stupefied stupor as they reached for their guns and pointed it at the still calmly smiling white haired man.
However, that seemed to have been the wrong action they could've possibly taken as the bullets they had fired returned back to them with twice the speed and power, igniting in flames from the sheer force of the air fraction.
Bane looked on with shock and a little bit of fear as his whole squad was killed, more like cut in half by their own weapons. Just how a bullet even managed to cut someone in half, he would never find out.
The Cobra cult had remained silent throughout the proceeding, however they snapped into attention when they witnessed the attack on the white haired man and its ineffectiveness. They couldn't let someone as dangerous as this one live, seeing as he could prove a threat to their "god".
With a silent agreement of attacking the white haired man, they slowly reached for their Plasma Guns, only for the ground beneath them to open like the mouth of giant beast and swallow them whole, never to be seen again.
Haruto gave the slightly shaking Bane a look of curiosity and fascination, as if he was a mystery he couldn't understand "How do you feel about the death of your comrades? Does it sadden you? Anger you? Or maybe you don't feel anything at all about their deaths and are more focused on how to survive?"
He of course knew what he felt and thought, not because he could read his mind or look into his twisted soul, but rather from the expression on his face, the sweat dropping down his forehead and the slight shaking of his knees. You don't live for countless millenniums and not know how to read someone like an open book.
Perhaps the criminal had never seen someone redirect someone's attack back at them with twice the speed and power or someone able to split the earth in half and let it swallow a whole squad of trained soldiers without moving a muscle?
"What's the matter, child? Can't decide how to survive this battle? Is your strength enhancing steroid not able to help you?" Haruto asked calmly, as if he wasn't in any hurry to finish the battle.
Bane now looked more confused than scared. The words 'young one and child' said by this man were truly confusing. The white haired man didn't look that old, in fact he looked younger than him, and yet he was calling him a child.
That aside, the man obviously was invulnerable, if his terribly twisted and deformed had anything to say about it. The other two abilities he had shown were simply not in his database. He had no one listed in his records with the ability to manipulate earth or simply reflect bullets, neither a Hero nor a Villain.
The smiling and regal face of pure confidence and the constant aura of power oozing off of him were suffocating, not to mention the bone crushing otherworldly pressure settling on his shoulders.
Just what he had he gotten himself into?
"Hmm, it seems like you are unable to satisfy my growing curiosity in regards to your kind" Haruto said with something akin to disappointment and walked away, causing Bane to look both confused and relieved to have been spared.
His momentary thoughts of relief were soon shattered like a fragile glass when he lost feelings in his hands and feet, prompting him to look at his body organs with horror. His hands and feet were slowly turning to sand, slowly and gradually moving up to his abdomen and chest, until it reached his head.
The last picture of the famous criminal mastermind was his face frozen in horror, a silent scream etched on his face before the wind carried it to place unknown.
An Hour Later
Haruto floated in the serenely star littered sky, with the full moon shinning brilliantly as always as he looked on below at the Sidekicks trying to come up with a new plan to infiltrate and prevent the shipment of the dangerous newly developed drugs
Killing needlessly had always been a nuisance to him. Why kill someone who is not even able to harm you? Why harm someone when he has no intension of harming you?
Taking that into account, the death of Bane would help in more than one way. First of all, the strength enhancing drugs would be stop, meaning no adults or teenagers being tricked into thinking it would be for their body benefit. He was not only an illegal drug producer; he was also a contract killer like the rest of them, assassinating people just to keep their mouths shut, so that his dirty secrets remained secrets.
On a side note, it would give Batman more time to relax if there was one less criminal to deal with.
Coming back to the Sidekicks, they had failed at their first attempt to steal or destroy the new drugs. The cause of their failure had apparently been due to their lack of teamwork and lack of a qualified leader.
Batman had been right to leave the selection of the team leader to the team itself. He had given them the authority to choose a suitable leader from amongst themselves, trying to figure out who they would choose and to see if their selection was a valid one.
Haruto smiled when they chose Aqualad to lead the team, seeing as he was the only logical and suitable choice for a team leader. He had been the one to safely escort them outside enemy's territory in order to come up with a sound plan.
The sound of a helicopter approaching the island reached his ears, he didn't even bothered to look, already knowing who was sitting in it.
Looking down now, Superboy seemed to be the decoy for the team, giving them time to successfully infiltrate the ware house where the shipment was stored. That decision seemed to have been the wrong one, since there were some of Cobra's minions guarding the shipment.
The resulting commotion between the team and the Cobra cult caught the attention of the rest as they raced towards the warehouse.
Oh well, it seems he had to interfere one way or the other.
Raising a finger towards the large and strangely deformed humanoid creature currently fighting Superboy _ no doubt a product of the new drug _ he sent a silent and invisible blast of lightening energy, burning and electrocuting the massive creature to a crisp.
The look on Superboy's face was quite amusing and expected. How would you feel if your opponent was suddenly fried like a chicken right in front of you without even knowing the source of the attack? He had to give the clone credit for getting over his surprise and taking advantage of the momentary distraction caused by the sudden death of the creature.
That momentary distraction gave the team the advantage they needed to overcome the superior number of the enemy. The arrival of Sportsmaster was an expected but unwelcomed surprise, for the team anyway. They soon lost their advantage and Sportsmaster took off with the shipment.
Haruto gave the helicopter a sideway glance, instantly lighting it up in flames. While he could kill the man without even batting an eyelash, he needed him alive for now in order to take the one simple of the Cobra Venom to the Light and for the pieces to smoothly fall into place.
Taking someone out at the early stage of a game was not entertaining at all.
The white haired man King watched as the masked man jumped from the damaged and flaming helicopter with the only undamaged simple of the new Cobra Venom in his hand.
Seeing as their objective was fulfilled, the team retreated one by one, slowly dispatching the bold ones trying to capture them. Haruto slowly floated down to the ground when the team entered the Bioship and flew away, with more questions than answers.
The Cobra cult suddenly was on the defensive when a harmlessly smiling white haired man floated down from the sky without a care in the world. The man was dressed like their own lord, red skin tight shirt, black leather pants, segmented wrist bands as well as red boots, long white hair and a red cape fluttering in the soft wind.
Cobra gave his tense minions a silent signal to stop them from firing. He may have lost a lot today, seeing as his factory was damaged by mere children, not to mention his honor and dignity blasted away in front of his partners, however, he still had to keep his stance of a powerful deity in front of others.
"Identify yourself!" one of the minions shouted in irritation.
"Greetings, my name is Destiny. I am here as your executioner" Haruto greeted pleasantly, instantly putting the already tense soldiers even more on-guard as they pointed their Plasma Gun at him threateningly. He had the audacity to threaten their 'god'!
"What insolence! You dare address a god in such a manner" Cobra said with a frown, finally letting his irritation show.
"My sincere apologies, I had no idea I was addressing a deity when I spoke those words" Haruto explained calmly, all the while smiling harmlessly, not at all bothered by the expected show of hostility "Though my mistake could be clearly justified due to the fact that you apparently have minions to protect you"
Cobra frowned even harder "I have no need for them; they simply obey me like all creatures of the world should and would eventually"
"Pardon my disrespect, but I see no evidence of your self-proclaimed godhood, considering you were outsmarted and defeated by children" Haruto stated curiously. It was so amusing messing with these kind of individuals.
Cobra was slowly but surely getting angry if the sudden redness of his face and the clenching of his fists were any indication of that fact. He couldn't really blame him, seeing as the man himself knew his false proclamation of 'godhood' "You dare question my actions! Kill him!"
Haruto smiled delicately and serenely walked through the countless blast of plasma firing towards him relentlessly without a care in the world. The look on Cobra's face was calm, though he couldn't fool his ancient eyes. On the inside, the man was practically shaking like a leaf.
Cobra backed away discreetly, as not to appear too obvious that he was retreating, from the calmly approaching man. His Plasma Guns should have been more than enough to deal with a lowly human, yet this calmly smiling white haired man was walking through it like they weren't scorching plasma, but merely a shower of flower petals raining down upon him.
He knew he should have upgraded his troop's weapons, in order to properly deal with the likes of Superman and this man.
"Why back away? Aren't you a deity? Shouldn't you force me to submit to your will?"
The calm and smiling way he was asking those infuriating questions was getting on his nerves!
The calm and curious glint in his piercingly narrow crimson eyes was disrespectful! The way he was looking at him as if he was an interesting creature he could not understand, as if he was an endangered animal being studied by curious bystanders in a zoo, was angering him to no end!
"I would like a prove of your 'godhood', to see what the power of a deity would look compared to mine"
"I need not stoop myself so low that I would submit to the whims of a lowly creature" Cobra retorted snappishly, getting angrier by the second. He would not be disrespected by the likes of him!
"That's means you can't do it? I have to say I'm greatly disappointed" Haruto stated with a sigh.
The firing had stopped to witness the conversation between their lord and the strangely powerful man. Some of them were starting to wonder if their belief and faith at him as a true deity had been a correct one, seeing as he was shaking like a leave in front of the white haired man.
The fact that he hadn't been able to provide a proof of his self- proclaimed godhood wasn't helping matters any. Some of them were wondering just how they hadn't asked that same question the white haired man had asked?
Seeing the uncertainty in his minion's faces, Cobra knew he had to fight in order to regain his lost dignity. If he didn't, he would eventually lose all his followers.
Without uttering a word, he threw his black cloak away and sped towards the calmly approaching man with an angry scowl. However, before he could attack, a firm hand shot up and grabbed him by the throat, lifting him up like a mere toy.
"Racing towards your opponent deprived of any sort of plan or strategy, not to mention knowing any of his weakness isn't befitting of a deity. You ought to have knowledge of his weakness and every move before he even makes them" Haruto said calmly, unhurriedly squeezing the struggling man like a lemon "Considering the fact that you can't seem to provide me with a solid substantiation of your self-proclaimed 'godhood', I have no choice but to end your existence. However it seems this island needs to vent its suppressed anger by doing that itself"
Haruto let go of the panting and wheezing man as he dropped to his hands and knees, his followers not even bothering to help seeing as they were too transfixed on the sight of the white haired man King floating in the sky, his cape and long white hair fluttering in the wind while the full moon shined brightly behind him.
As a deity of Nature itself, he knew their grief and agony more than anyone, he understood their feelings. The smoke and the poisonous gases from the factory had killed more than enough of their kind for them to simply stay silent.
It just goes to show just how ungrateful humans are. The island had given them a place to stay and live without being hunted and killed, yet they had repaid that act of kindness by contaminating its vegetation and land.
"You have my permission" Haruto said with a fond smile and felt their aura of gratitude and happiness. With his job done, Haruto flew away, knowing the island would exact its revenge as agonizingly slow as possible. Cobra and his cult would wish they had never been born!
Cobra and his cult looked on with a confused look on their faces, wondering what the white haired man meant by that as he flew away without even looking behind him. They soon got their answer when the trees and small plants of the island were suddenly brought to life, slithering and flickering towards them like snakes.
The rocks and seemingly unmovable boulders suddenly developed humanoid bodies, red menacing eyes and spikey body parts.
Cobra and his cult felt as if they had been dropped in hell. The last thing they ever saw was the flashing of lightening in the sky and the attack of the hungry rocky and plant beasts as they descended on them like a pack of wolves on a helpless dear.