[Eclipsed] Chapter 7 - Consumed by Rage

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Chapter 7 -  Consumed by Rage

Previous chapter

“What the hell happened?” Granny Goodness asked in bewilderment. 

Diana and Barda were also stunned by the unexpected development. 

“If I were to guess, something must have happened to the original body,” Barda said while getting up to her feet with difficulty. 

“Was he, perhaps, defeated by Superman?” Diana wondered. 

No sooner than she said those words, an ear-deafening roar rang and a pillar of crimson-red light split the darkness of the night sky. 

⁂

Big Barda went to Wonder Woman and helped her up to her feet. 

“You’re bleeding. Can you walk?”

The Amazon sheathed her sword and held onto her wound with her hand as she got up but she shook her head at Barda’s question. 

“Thank you. It’s only a flesh wound. We should regroup with the rest.”

“What should we do with her?” asked Barda as she gestured with her head towards Granny Goodness.

Diana didn’t have the chance to answer because, at that moment, a crimson-red creature crash-landed onto the balcony where the old woman stood. It had a vaguely humanoid appearance, but its four tails and the way it stood on all fours, like a beast, made one doubt it was human. 

“Naruto? Is that you?” Granny Goodness said in a sickly sweet voice. “My precious Naruto, you came to rescue your dear granny, didn’t you?”

Hearing the old woman’s words, Diana unsheathed her sword again, and Big Barda tensed too, taking on a fighting stance. 

“Is that him?” Diana asked in a quiet voice that only Big Barda, who was next to her, could hear it. 

“Yes,” Barda replied in a whisper. 

For a few seconds, it looked like Granny Goodness’ words had reached him because the creature walked towards her slowly. He was right in front of her now, and the old woman smiled widely, opening her arms as if to hug him.

“Great Hera!” Wonder Woman exclaimed in shock and Big Barda involuntarily looked away. . . that's because the demon had suddenly shoved its clawed hand into the old woman’s chest. 

“N-Naruto…?” Granny Goodness said in disbelief as blood burst from her mouth. “Why?”

He did not give her an answer. He yanked his arm out, violently ripping her heart out of her chest.

Despite the fact that she was dead already, he grabbed her arms and legs and tore them out one by one. He brutalised her corpse, ripping her body apart savagely and trampling on her remains until she was unrecognisable, painting the whole balcony with her blood. 

“Naruto! Get a hold of yourself!” Kyuubi shouted at him from inside the seal. 

Another bestial roar came from him; it was as if he was deaf to Kyuubi’s words. 

Despite having just killed Granny Goodness, his rage wasn’t abated in the least. A fifth crimson tail grew from his lower back, and the wave of malevolent chakra he let out pulverised the balcony and the rest of the arena, forcing the Amazon to raise her shield and put herself in front of Big Barda to protect her.

Another shockwave exploded as he jumped out of the rubble, abruptly breaking the sound barrier.

Big Barda raised her hand to activate her earpiece and warn the rest of the Justice League about the berserk demon when Martian Manhunter’s voice rang in her head:

“Everyone, don’t worry about the pillar of light. I broke Darkseid’s brainwashing over Uzumaki Naruto. He is on our side now, but I suggest we take Kara and leave as soon as we can. He is in an enraged state of mind. There is no telling what he might do.”

⁂

Taking his unconscious cousin in his arms, Superman headed towards the previously established rendezvous point once he heard Martian Manhunter’s telepathic message. 

Fortunately, it seemed like Green Lantern and Hawkgirl had done a great job in keeping the large group of Parademons and other New Gods at bay, stopping them from interfering with his and Kara’s fight.

As for Darkseid. . .

‘It looks like he has far bigger concerns than stopping me now,’ Superman thought in schadenfreude when the humanoid, five-tailed demon fox landed in front of Darkseid with the momentum of an asteroid.

It was exceedingly rare for the Man of Steel to rejoice at someone’s misfortune, but, after all the things that Darkseid had done to him, the God of Evil was one of the two or three people for whom he could not feel a shred of sympathy.

Not giving them a second look, Superman flew away with Kara, quickly arriving at the meeting point. 

Hawkgirl and Green Lantern were there already, waiting for him. They had numerous bruises, and their clothes were torn all over, but other than that, they were unharmed. 

Wonder Woman and Big Barda arrived at that moment too. The Amazon’s armour was ripped and stained with blood, but the wound in her side was healing and at a speed visible to the naked eye. 

“Where’s the Flash?” asked Superman. 

“Batman and J’onn are missing too,” said Hawkgirl. 

“Flash! Flash, do you copy?” John tried calling Flash with his earpiece, but the speedster didn’t reply. 

At that moment, the Martian spoke to them telepathically once again:

“Everyone, something terrible happened. The release of magical power from Darkseid’s son had destabilised the Power Plant. We have to stay behind and evacuate everyone or they’re all going to die once the reactor explodes.”

A moment of silence was instilled before Superman exclaimed:

“There are millions of people in this city! We can’t possibly evacuate them all in time! Not even Flash could do that. Speaking of, why is he still not here?”

“Flash has been knocked unconscious. I have rescued him now,” said Martian Manhunter. “As for Batman, he has been trapped. I’m heading towards him as we speak. He is stuck in concrete.”

“. . . How did he get stuck in concrete?” asked Hawkgirl with a deadpan. 

“More importantly, what are we going to do about the Power Plant?” Big Barda asked.

“John, would it not be possible for you to contain the reactor’s explosion with your Power Ring?” asked Wonder Woman. 

“You’re talking about containing the explosion of something as powerful or more powerful than a nuke. My ring may be powerful, but even I can’t do something of that magnitude,” Green Lantern said with a shake of his head. 

“I’ll do it,” said Superman. “I’ll stop it.”

Everyone turned to look at him. 

“How would you stop a Power Plant’s reactor from exploding?” asked Big Barda. She was not the only one who was confused; the rest were waiting for an explanation too. 

“I will take the reactor and fly with it into outer space.”

“Are you serious?” Big Barda said in disbelief before turning to ask the others too: “Is he being serious?”

Judging by the look on their faces that Superman was actually serious, she told the Kryptonian in a voice filled with worry:

“I know you are strong and durable, Superman. But even someone like you may not survive if that reactor were to explode.”

“Why, Barda, if I didn’t know any better, I’d think you’re worried about me,” Superman smiled. “Darkseid may be evil, but the millions of people living in this city have no fault. They don’t deserve to die. If it’s in my power to save them, I will do it.”

He went to her with Kara in his arms and said: 

“Will you take care of my cousin until I come back?”

Big Barda felt a lump in her neck that prevented her from speaking. She understood then that Superman was ready to put his life on the line for the sake of the people, and nothing she or anyone else said would change his mind. 

She took the unconscious girl from his arms and nodded solemnly. 

And with that, Superman was gone. 

Everyone watched the departing form of the Man of Steel with mixed looks on their faces: admiration, worry, regret, frustration. . . and shame. 

“Goddamn it,” Green Lantern let out a cuss before he went to Hawkgirl and surprised everyone by taking her in his arms. 

Hawkgirl stiffened, not having expected him to do that. They may have been in a relationship, but they had agreed to keep it a secret from the rest of their teammates because John Stewart did not want to let others know he was dating a teammate. It was unprofessional. 

Uncaring of what the rest thought of him at that moment, he leaned down and took her lips in a short but loving kiss.

“I love you, Shayera.”

He broke the hug and then turned towards the rest.

“It’s been an honour.”

“John! John!” Hawkgirl cried out, her voice cracking because she understood what he was about to do. 

Green Lantern looked at Hawkgirl one more time before flying in the direction where Superman had flown, towards the Power Plant. 

⁂

Unaware of the sacrifice that Superman and Green Lantern had resolved themselves to make, the enraged Naruto crashed like a meteorite into the ruins of the imperial palace, right in front of Darkseid.

The God of Evil was not alone. Heeding his call, all the Parademons and New Gods who had been fighting Green Lantern and Hawkgirl a while ago left them to their devices and rushed to their god’s side. 

“You are in the heart of my empire. You are surrounded by thousands of my Parademons and many more of my warriors are on their way. What do you hope to accomplish, my son?” Darkseid asked. 

“Your son? You dare call yourself my father? After all you’ve done?”

The voice that came from the five-tailed demon fox was terrifying. 

“I gave you more than you could have ever imagined,” said Darkseid. “I gave you a home and a place to belong to-”

“Don’t fuck with me!” an enraged scream came from Naruto. “My friends, my sensei, my family, my village! You killed them all!”

He was so angry that he was hyperventilating, with white clouds of steam coming from his mouth. His chakra flared, and the thousands of Parademons surrounding him all felt as if a huge weight started pressing on their shoulders due to his killing intent.

“Now I’ll take everything from you. Your empire. Your slaves. Your life. Everything.”

A sixth tail grew from his back, and a white exoskeleton took form over his limbs, head, and spine. 



As if the Parademons and the rest of the New Gods warriors could read Darkseid’s mind, as soon as Naruto’s words ended, they all lunged at him. 

Naruto’s fox tails increased in size massively and smashed away entire swathes of Parademons and New God fighters, the strength behind them making the vile creatures explode into blood and gore at the contact and hurling the New Gods back like broken kites.

The God of Evil’s red eyes glowed and his Omega Beams burst forth, slamming straight into the kyuubified Naruto, making him scream in agony and hurling him back for over 300 metres. 

“Get a hold of yourself, idiot!” shouted Kyuubi. “Don’t let your rage cloud your mind! You’re a much better fighter than I am! Don’t let me take control!”

Naruto was still rolling over the ground from the strength of the Omega Beams when the Parademons and the New Gods pounced on him like carrion and stabbed their electrified and magic weapons into his head and chest. 

But none of them could pierce the crimson-red chakra cloak. 

“Electromagnetic Murder.”

With those words, an overpowered lightning nova exploded from Naruto’s body, turning the closest three dozen Parademons into ash and shocking the several hundred others in the distance to death. The New Gods warriors didn't fare any better, many of them being either killed, with the tougher ones being knocked unconscious. 

Seeing that his Omega Beams didn’t hurt Naruto as much as he had hoped and that the Parademon’s attacks couldn’t even pierce his crimson cloak of chakras, Darkseid frowned. 

“Desaad, detonate his lightsaber!” 

The sword handle at Naruto’s waist, which was covered by the cloak of chakra, started beeping. Naruto had no idea what was about to happen. 

A massive explosion was detonated with Naruto as the centre, generating an immense fireball that lit the night sky like a miniature sun. A mushroom of fire and smoke rose up in the air in a manner reminiscent of a nuclear bomb’s explosion. 

The so-called ‘lightsaber’, the techno-magic sword that Darkseid had gifted to Naruto, had been booby-trapped all along, for the situation where he went rogue one day.

The shockwave of the intense explosion had yet to fade when Darkseid spoke:

“You were my knight, my right hand. You had everything. What was mine was yours. But you chose to kick it away. And for what? Revenge? Where did that lead you? To death.”

The mushroom cloud was still polluting the air when a silhouette stepped out of it.

It was Naruto.

The demonic chakra cloak had been stripped away from his body by the explosion, and his clothes were in tatters, looking like rags. But other than that, he was unharmed. 

“I’m not dead yet, motherfucker.”

His voice did not sound demonic anymore, and his rage seemed to have subsided but, for some reason, Darkseid felt a chill going down his spine. The young man's calm made him all the more threatening. 

Darkseid let out a shout and flew at Naruto with his fist cocked back, punching with his entire strength. 

The blonde tilted his head to dodge his wild swing and smashed a Lightning Release Oodama Rasengan into Darkseid’s stomach. Blood and spittle came out of the New God’s mouth as he got slammed back like a cannonball, screaming in agony as his entire body shook and spasmed uncontrollably. 

Unfortunately, Naruto couldn’t follow up with another attack because Devilance lunged at him out of nowhere and thrust his spear at his chest. 

The blond sidestepped his thrusting attack and caught the spear under his right armpit. Then, a Fire Release Oodama Rasengan took form in his left hand and he slammed it into Devilance’s face. 

The New God didn’t even have the chance to scream because that Katon Oodama Rasengan blew half of his head off and charred the other half, killing him on the spot. 

Darkseid was just getting up from the place he had collapsed when he saw a scene that left him petrified. 

“Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!”

Over 200 Shadow Clones appeared in front of his eyes, and a cloak of red energy enveloped their bodies. They all went through a series of seals that ended with Tiger before speaking in a chorus:

“Fire Release: Great Annihilation Jutsu.”

The earth and the sky burned.

The thousands of Parademons and dozens of other New Gods who had rushed to Darkseid’s aid until then and waited for their chance to attack were all incinerated. Not even their bones or their high-tech Apokaliptian armour remained. That hellfire erased everything from existence. 

“It’s only the two of us now,” Naruto said menacingly and dispelled his Shadow Clones as he started walking towards Darkseid. 

⁂

On the other side of the capital city of Apokolips, on the outskirts, Superman looked at the large Power Plant below him deep in thought, trying to decide how to take out the reactor. 

A few moments later, his superhuman hearing picked up the sound of someone’s heartbeat approaching, and he was surprised to see John Stewart flying toward him. 

“I’m here to help you,” Green Lantern said simply. 

Superman nodded at him. He did not try to dissuade him. Real recognised real. 

Ignoring the cataclysmic explosions shaking the skies in the distance from the battle between Darkseid and his adopted son, Green Lantern asked:

“How are we doing this? Do we grab the reactor and rush into outer space as fast as we can?”

“I don’t know what sort of technology they use here on Apokolips. I’m afraid of what could happen if we disconnected the reactor from the power plant. It could explode on the spot, and then it will have all been for nothing.”

“So we have to take the entire Power Plant?” Green Lantern asked, to which Superman nodded. 

He had seen and done many exceptional things in his tenure as a Green Lantern, but he had never attempted something as big as that by himself. 

“I understand. I will scoop it out of the ground, and then we’ll fly with it together. Just give me a moment,” John Stewart said. 

He closed his eyes, clenching his fist, and brought his ring in front of his face. 

He steeled his resolve. He was no stranger to risking his life for the sake of others. Even before becoming a Green Lantern, he had been a Marine. This time would be no different. He was a man of duty and honour. Even if he were to perish, he would do his utmost to protect the innocent. 

He opened his eyes and chanted the hymn of the Green Lantern Corps. 

“In brightest day, in blackest night,
No evil shall escape my sight.
Let those who worship evil’s might,
Beware my power, Green Lantern’s light.”

Responding to his willpower, his ring shone with a bright, almost blinding green light, brighter than ever before. 

The Power Plant occupied a surface of almost 2 square miles, but the construct of light that John Stewart created with his Power Ring was even bigger than that. An enormous construct in the shape of a deep spoon buried underneath the facility and scooped it all out of the ground. 

His superhearing picking up the sound of alarms going off inside the reactor room, Superman was quick to fly under the Power Plant and take it in his arms. 

“Leave it to me, John!” said Superman. “My tactile telekinesis will hold it all together.”

Green Lantern had only lifted and held the massive Power Plant in the air for a few moments, but he was already soaked with sweat. He gladly left it in Superman’s capable hands. 

The Man of Steel appeared like Atlas from the myths as he held a Power Plant the size of a small hill above his head and flew up with it. 

Green Lantern’s job was not done just yet. He flew up together with Superman and focused his entire willpower on creating the strongest shield of light he had ever conjured around his and Superman’s body. He was going to be with Superman and do his best to protect him until the very end. 

The two heroes' speed increased exponentially, and even Superman started shouting from the strain of fighting against gravity while carrying such an immense weight in his hands. 

They just barely managed to reach a height of 12 kilometres in the air when Superman said urgently:

“It’s going to blow up!”

Before his words ended, Green Lantern flew closer to Superman and brought himself into the same protective bubble as him. 

Then, the world went white as an explosion stronger than a nuke went off. 

⁂

Together with his Shadow Clones, he could have ended the fight in a matter of minutes. But he didn’t want that. He wanted to kill Darkseid with his own two hands. He wanted to take his time and make him suffer. He wanted to make him beg for death.

His body was engulfed by a cloak of red energy once more and, outside of his will, his eyes turned red and slit like that of a fox again. 

“Am I supposed to be scared of you? Me? Darkseid?” the God of Evil said with a scoff and started flying slowly towards Naruto to face him, his eyes glowing with his Omega Beams. 

“I’ll make you regret the day you chose to defy me for the rest of your life,” said Darkseid. “I won’t kill you. I will keep you alive and turn you into my tool. And I will keep your conscience intact just so you can witness the destruction of your homeworld at your own hands. I will make you rape and pillage, I will make you kill whatever is left of your people. You chose this, Naruto. You could have been my knight, my champion; but now you will be my pawn.”

As he said those words, Darkseid fired four pairs of Omega Beams and lunged at his enemy. 

Knowing that the Omega Beams were incredibly hard to dodge due to how they homed in on whatever target Darkseid decided on, Naruto raised an immense, 10-meter-thick Mud Wall. 

The first two pairs of Omega Beams slammed into the Mud Wall, making huge craters in it without destroying it completely. But then, Darkseid himself punched his way through the wall with his inhuman strength, much to Naruto’s surprise, who appeared to have not seen it coming because Darkseid had fired 4 pairs of Omega Beams, not just 2. 

The answer to his dilemma came when the Omega Beams appeared from behind his back; Darkseid had controlled half of the beams he had fired to circle around instead of taking a straight path through the massive wall. 

The two pairs of Omega Beams slammed into the blond’s back painfully, launching his body towards Darkseid, who clasped his fists together and smashed them down on Naruto’s head like a hammer. A large cloud of dirt and dust was raised in the air as the young man's body was punched down viciously, making a 20-metre wide and 10-metre deep crater into the ground. 

…Or so it had seemed. 

The blond's body burst into a cloud of smoke, transforming into a pile of broken boulders.

‘What?! How?!’ Darkseid thought in disbelief. 

It had been a simple Kawarimi. 

The God of Evil was still reeling from surprise when Naruto appeared at his back with a Body Flicker movement. 

Darkseid’s reflexes were nothing to scoff at, and he was quick to turn around, throwing a powerful backhand, but Naruto ducked under his swing and kick-stomped the back of Darkseid’s knees.

“Insect! You DARE!” Darkseid screamed, enraged at the humiliation of being forced on his knees. 

His eyes glowed red with his Omega Beams once again, but another Oodama Rasengan collided with the back of his head, smashing him face-first into the ground. 

The Oodama Rasengan exploded in the back of his head, and Darkseid’s own Omega Beams blew up in his face due to his head being planted into the ground. 

The God of Evil was still screaming from pain when Naruto grabbed him from one of his legs and slammed him down. Again. And again. And again. 

He had slammed him into the ground like a ragdoll nearly ten times, shattering the ground with the strength of his slams. At last, he climbed on top of him and starting raining punches and elbows on his face savagely, each one of his hits infused with Kyuubi’s chakra, burning and melting Darkseid’s face, disfiguring him horribly. 

“Kill him, Naruto!” Kyuubi urged him impatiently from inside the seal. “You’re playing with fire! He’s too dangerous! Kill him while you have the chance!”

But Naruto didn’t reply to the fox, too drunk on his bloodlust to listen. 

Darkseid seemed to have become unresponsive for a few moments, not even attempting to defend himself from Naruto’s vicious blows. But, out of nowhere, a massive fist slammed into Naruto’s jaw like a sledgehammer, hurling him back as if he had been hit by a truck. 

It was the first solid hit that Darkseid had landed on Naruto, and it was so powerful that it broke his jaw and nearly knocked him out cold. 

Darkseid stood up from his crater with difficulty, his face a raw, mangled mess of grey skin and purple blood. Nevertheless, his eyes were still intact, and they were burning with more anger than ever. 

Naruto was in the midst of shaking the cobwebs that were clouding his eyesight when Darkseid’s Omega Beams caught him in full again. He cried out in agonising pain as the Omega Beams flayed him alive, melting his skin and flesh. 

Darkseid breathed out with difficulty through his mouth due to his destroyed nose and grabbed his Mother Box, which had somehow survived throughout the onslaught of violence Naruto had dished on him, calling out to his most trusted aide. 

“Desaad! I’ve destroyed his Mother Box with my Omega Beams. Boom tube him away! Now!”

Unfortunately, Desaad didn’t answer his call. 

“Desaad! DESAAD!” Darkseid screamed when he saw Naruto’s flayed and melted skin regenerating like a miracle under the effect of the red cloak of energy and him standing up again like a zombie out of a nightmare. 

Giving up all pretence, Darkseid left a shockwave behind him as he flew away, desperate to put as much distance between him and Naruto as he could. 

Alas, he realised how foolish he had been to turn his back to the enemy only when he saw a crimson-red claw burst through his chest. 

Having gone into his version two Kyuubi mode once again, Naruto immediately caught the fleeing Darkseid from behind and thrust his clawed hand between his shoulder blades. 

Simultaneously, a portal opened behind Naruto’s back, and a powerful suction force pulled him. 

Desaad’s voice rang from Darkseid’s Mother Box at that moment:

“The King is dead. Long live the king!”

Darkseid roared in anger, and a great amount of purple-black blood burst from his mouth. 

“Desaad, you wretched, miserable vermin! You dare betray me? YOU DARE BETRAY DARKSEID?”

Unfortunately for the God of Evil, Naruto’s claw had already pulverised his heart. Even he would not be able to survive that. 

“I will be back! Do you hear me, worm? I will be back and I will give you a fate worse than death! Nobody crosses me and lives! Nobody. . . crosses. . . Dark-!  “

His words were cut off as both he and Naruto were sucked by the boom tube triggered by Desaad and teleported away from Apokolips.