章 38: Plunder
Month Later
It was a silent peaceful night in Central City, on the mountaintop overlooking the city was the fully furnished home of Naruto, and while his girlfriends, and son was asleep, the former jinchurriki was in the gym,
Every time Naruto's fist struck the heavy bag he would see Savitar running Iris through, for the last month he's only had a total of 12 hours of sleep, he would have sex with the girls rest a bit then the nightmares would start and when he got up he would workout, invent training equipment, go dimension hopping for a bit, or watch Dash sleep
Jay wanted him to go on about his life without obsessing over what he saw, but that wasn't possible. As Naruto spent a lot of time on Infantino Street sitting on the roof of a building looking over the scene as he mentally made plans to stop Iris from dying
Naruto rested his head against the heavy bag, before he grabbed a towel and wiped the sweat from his face and body, before he sped to the kitchen and made breakfast
Making his way upstairs to the nursery, Naruto smiled down at Dash just as the babes eyes opened, "Hey, little man." Naruto smiled picking up his son, "Want to eat eat?"
Naruto changed his son's diaper and put him in a fresh onesie before he took the baby to the kitchen and grabbed a bottle from the fridge and vibrated the bottle to heat up the milk before he feed his son, humming a tune
"Hey." Iris said walking into the kitchen in a robe
"Hey." Naruto replied as the two shared a kiss before she looked down to Dash and kissed his temple,
Iris walked to the table and sat down picking up a strip of bacon, "How was your sleep?" Naruto asked
"The best. That new mattress you got from the whatever dimension is the best." Iris smiled before she frowned, looking at Naruto's back "So why aren't you sleeping in it?"
Naruto turned around and looked at Iris, "Been restless." he shrugged as Iris watched him before an alert went off on their phones
"It's a fire." Naruto said as he looked over the alert
"Richmond Heights." Iris said before Naruto handed Dash to her and she immediately calmed the whining baby as Naruto kissed his head and her lips
"I love you." Naruto said
"I love you too." Iris smiled before Naruto sped away
Richmond Heights
A crowd watched as the fire raged as an officer paced, "Detective Patterson just ran inside. He hasn't come out yet. The fire department will not make it here on time."
Flash and Impulse blitzed into the building and phased through the door and grabbed Dt. Patterson and another man that was trapped underneath the building before they shot out of the building when Impulse returned and put the fire out before she raced back out to see Flash waiting for her as the Detective coughed
"Flash, Impulse. Thanks." Dt. Patterson said getting nods before they sped off
Naruto and Whitney walked through the hallway, "Oh, man, that was so dope. How do you stay so calm? You're like scary calm in the middle of a fight." Whitney said
"It's just experience, Whitney. You've been growing faster at a surprising rate. Pretty soon when you have learned everything, you'll go on and make a name for yourself." Naruto smiled which Whitney returned
"Can't wait to kick some ass, but you have to teach me phasing." Whitney said causing Naruto to nod
"I will, but don't you have class to get to?" Naruto asked causing Whitney to look at the time
"Oh shi-" Whitney sped off leaving her suit on the mannequin
Naruto chuckled as he entered the Cortex, "Hey guys." he greeted kissing Caitlin lips, and Dash forehead
"Yo." Cisco said walking in before he and Naruto shared a fist bump
"Hey, how are the concentrated dendrotoxin bullets coming along?" Naruto asked Cisco
"Fine, I'm going to make another set of bullets with a more concentrated dose of dendrotoxin to increase their stopping power that should be able to take down metas." Cisco said getting a nod from Naruto
"And the healing tank?" Caitlin asked
"Its ready. Should any of us suffer life threatening injuries, we would heal after a nice rest in Bacta from the Star Wars dimension." Cisco said staring at Naruto
"Your not going to let that go, are you?' Naruto asked
"You went to Heaven without me." Cisco said causing Naruto and Caitlin to smile, "So no, until you take me there, I will keep bringing it up."
"Sumptuous day, brethren." HR greeted on a Segway
"Oh, boy." Cisco said
"Good morning, H.R." Caitlin greeted
"Oh, not just good. It's g-r-r-eat, and why is that? Because I'm finally ready to announce that the new S.T.A.R. Labs museum is ready for its opening soft opening so come."
H R. rolled away as Naruto sighed and slowly they all followed the man, "What's wrong?" Caitlin asked
"I know H R.'s heart is in the right place, but I don't think he understands what S.T.A.R. Labs means to us here. We changed the name for a reason." Naruto said
"Yeah, S.T.A.R. Labs died with Thawne." Cisco nodded
"We should tell him." Caitlin said before Naruto nodded and walked up but stopped short as he and the team entered to see exhibits
"Behold." H.R said
"You did all this?" Caitlin asked
"Yeah. Well, I don't wanna take all the credit. I'm too modest to do that, but yeah."
"Uh, who exactly is paying for all this?" Cisco asked causing H.R to laugh
"That's a great question. Olga! Allow me to introduce you to your new coworkers." H.R introduced dodging the question, as attention was drawn to a woman who turned to face them, "Everybody, this is Olga."
"Da." Olga bowed
"Hi." Cisco and Caitlin greeted as Naruto waved
"Oh, and she doesn't really speak English so much, but she's great. So right over here, we have the ticketing and the admissions. Over there, our specialty coffees. Oh, uh, that reminds me. Caitlin Initially, I had you targeted for ticketing, but it occurs to me, with a few lessons in foam art, you could very well man up excuse me woman up our cappuccino stand. What do you think?"
"H.R., I think the Museum is a good idea but you should remember that S.T.A.R. Labs doesn't have the reputation of the one your used too." Naruto said as H.R. looked at him, "S.T.A.R. Labs is the reminder of what people have lost at the hands of Thawne when he was masquerading as the Wells of this Earth."
"You think its a good idea?" Cisco asked
"Yeah, it could open the door to kids to develop a love for Science. And we can put up exhibits of things we're still working on, and maybe a Meta-human wing."
Cisco and Caitlin nodded
"Perfect, N.A. Now for the pièce de résistance." H.R. said before he pushed a button and an hologram of Cisco appeared
"Welcome to the S.T.A.R. Labs. Museum." the hologram greeted
Naruto and Caitlin began to laugh as Cisco pointed at the hologram, "I'm sorry, did you make a hologram of me?"
"Oh, Francisco, you made it perfectly clear you didn't want to be a tour guide. You're not. You're a virtual tour guide." H.R. said
"Guess what. That falls under the umbrella of not wanting to be a tour guide." Cisco replied
"On we go." H.R. said restarting the hologram
"My name is Francisco Ramon. I wasn't always the esteemed engineer you see before you. It was my love of science that allowed me to overcome my tough upbringing and join S.T.A.R. Labs, before our beautiful and handsome founder, Harrison Wells, stepped down. I hope my love of science will inspire some among you to join the scientific community."
"Wow. Beautiful and Handsome." Naruto said smiling at Cisco
"I don't sound anything like that." Cisco said just as the hologram began to glitch
"My love of science my love of science. Myloveofscience."
"Yeah, I'm gonna need you to take a look at that." H.R. said to Cisco who laughed
'I can't do it 'Cause I have important things to do, so -" Cisco trailed off as he walked away
"I gotta run an errand." Caitlin said handing Dash to Naruto, 'I'll see you at home.'
"Of course." Naruto smiled kissing Caitlin who left as Naruto looked down to Dash, "Want to go see Mama Linda?"
Dash gave a toothless smile looking around as he reached up for Naruto's face before the father left
Next Day, Happy Harbor
Naruto was sitting on the rooftop of the Mason Family Ice Cream Shop, eating two scoops of Cookie Dough Ice Cream with extra sprinkles, his favorite ice cream in the multiverse ahead of Cookies and Cream, besides eating Naruto had a tablet and was watching footage of Savitar taken by his suit during their clashes, analyzing the way he moved and fought
"Why does his movements look so familiar to me?" Naruto asked himself the spoon hanging from his mouth and he replayed the footage and watched it again, before an alert appeared causing him to sigh
"Robbery in progress." Naruto said before he quickly finished his ice cream and groaned as he experienced brain freeze, "Dammit. Never doing that again."
As his head stopped aching Naruto recalled his mask and took off
Jared Morillo aimed his rifle that was humming before a shockwave was shot from it shattering the glass that protected the jewelry and he made to take it all
With Naruto
Naruto was on his way, "Gideon show me footage inside the Jewelry store." he said watching his hub and his eyes widened when Plunder appeared to be taking the diamonds
Naruto's first instinct was to turn around an let the thief get away but Plunder had no connection to Savitar. While he wanted to change the future he couldn't stop protecting the city, and with that he sped up
Jewelry Store
Plunder was almost finished when Flash who jumped on the roof of the building across the street phased through the walls and planted his feet on the back of Jared's head and slammed his face into the ground, knocking him out
"Is everyone okay?' Flash asked getting nods, "Good."
Naruto sped around the store and repaired all the damages, "There you go, Mr. Chang."
The elderly Asian man who owned the establishment nodded smiling, "God bless you, Flash. When your ready to pop the question to the lucky lady in your life, come to me. I'll give you anything free of charge."
Flash laughed shaking Chang's hand, "Its okay, Mr. Chang. Just get home safe and say hi to the Mrs. for me." Flash said taking Jared and speeding him off to Iron Heights
Later, Uzumaki Labs
Naruto arrived into the lab with his mask peeling away, "Hey." Naruto greeted Caitlin, Iris, and Linda
"Where have you been?" Iris asked
"Studying." Naruto said turning to see everyone dressed for the opening, "Don't you all look ravishing."
"Don't do that." Iris frowned causing Naruto to raise an eyebrow, "You've been gone all day. Your not sleeping and we all can tell that something is bothering you. What is it?"
"I've been through a lot in my lives. Insomnia is a symptom of that." Naruto smiled
"Naruto you don't frighten. You meet every challenge with excitement and fierce determination. What are you having nightmares about?" Linda asked as Naruto frowned
"Let us in, please." Caitlin said
With a sigh Naruto was about to speak when H.R. entered, "Guys are you all ready for oh, man. N.A., you're supposed to be dressed for the museum opening."
"H.R., I'm a speedster. I have time." Naruto said
"Nobody likes a braggart." H.R. replied before he clapped his hands, "Cars are still pulling up, AMD the house is pack. All we are missing is you guys. Come on! Don't be late to the part-ay!"
H.R. ran off before with a sigh, Naruto changed put of his street clothes to a Armani suit, "I need a drink."
Naruto said walking out of the cortex with the girls behind him
Museum
Naruto walked down the stairs to see people all walking around looking at the exhibits as champagne was given out and people looked at the 3D images of future projects that were still being created
Walking into the party Naruto nodded at everyone as he grabbed a glass of champagne, "Nice set up you have here." a man said behind him
"Thanks. So what bring the illustrious Bruce Wayne to my neck of the woods?" Naruto asked watching Iris, Linda, and Caitlin mingle with some debutante
"I need your help with something." Bruce said causing Naruto to raise an eyebrow, "I need it built fast, for the League."
"What is it?' Naruto asked only for Bruce to hand him a flash drive, "Let's see what we got here."
Naruto walked over to a holo-table and placed the flash drive onto it, and after its contents was downloaded Naruto opened the file named Watchtower, and 3D blueprints of a large satellite appeared
"A satellite?" Naruto asked raising an eyebrow, "Don't you have enough of these?"
"I want this to be the base where we can watch over the world and be the beacon of hope for everyone." Bruce said
"Wasn't Batman created to be a symbol of Fear?' Naruto asked
"Things have changed." Bruce said
"Ain't that the truth." Naruto sighed glancing over to Iris, before he dismissed the blueprints, "I'll get on this."
Bruce nodded and rejoined the party, as Naruto sighed and walked over to the girls, "Hey." he greeted as they looked at him, "Listen, something has really been bothering me. I promise you all that I will tell you when we are done here."
The girls nodded with smiles, before Julian walked up, "Allen." Julian greeted
"Uh, hey Julian. What are you doing here?" Naruto asked
"Well, uh, I've given it some thought, and I'd like to accept your invitation.'
Naruto, Iris and Linda raised an eyebrow as Caitlin walked forward, "Thank you for accepting, enjoy the rest of the party."
Julian nodded and walked off as Caitlin looked to Naruto, Iris, and Linda, "You invited Julian to join the team?" he asked
"I know, he's an acquired taste, but,"
"Yeah, well, he is Dr. Alchemy, the big bad's little bad, so," Linda said
"Yeah, he put you in that cocoon, and fused you with Killer Frost." Naruto added
"And I may need his help. Every night, when I go to bed, I'm afraid that I'm gonna wake up be her. I can feel her gnawing in the back of my mind. Maybe Julian can think of something that we haven't."
Naruto sighed
"We have all been through so much, but if I become her and hurt any of you including Dash. I will never forgive myself. The things we see, the things that we face no one can do this alone. Trying is the biggest mistake that you can make. I think we can give him a chance."
"Do you truly believe that he can help you?" Naruto asked frowning
"I do." Caitlin nodded
"I trust your instincts, Cait. But we won't tell him that I'm the Flash or about the stone. He still has to prove himself worthy of our secrets." Naruto said getting a nod from Caitlin
Naruto looked at the time, and with a sigh grabbed another glass of champagne and walked up to the stage with Caitlin, and Cisco before he tapped on his glass to get everyone's attention, "We would like to thank you all for attending the opening of the Uzumaki Labs Museum. I wish I could claim all the credit but all this was the idea of our friend H.R."
Everyone clapped for H.R. who smiled
"Now, I'm sure all of you remember the catastrophic event that happened 2 years ago that gave birth to metahumans. Here we invent instruments to save lives and stop those who would abuse their abilities on innocent people." Cisco said
"Our goal with the museum is to help foster young minds to the joys of science, and show them that there is more to life than just being an athlete or a musician. Thank you all for coming out tonight." Caitlin said before applause went around
The rest of the night passed by quickly, before Naruto brought everyone into the Cortex
"I know you all have noticed for the last month, I've been preoccupied. I need to tell you all why that is. Gideon."
A newspaper article appeared, "Flash Missing." Julie Greer, April 25, 2024." Iris read, before she looked to Naruto, "I d-"
"The byline used to read "Iris West-Allen." The future's changed." Naruto said
"So maybe I quit my job." Iris shrugged
"Yeah, that's what I'd hoped at first too, or something, but I...I'm sorry I didn't tell you this sooner. When Clariss threw the Philosopher's Stone into the Speed Force, the backlash sent me to the future...I saw Savitar murder you."
Everyone looked at Naruto wide eyed, "And I saw myself, and I...I wasn't fast enough to save you."
"Nate, no I mean, we...still have the Stone. Savitar's gone, so..." Whitney began
"Maybe not. We don't know anything about the stone, maybe keeping it out of the Speed Force will free him eventually or how it even works. We don't know." Naruto interrupted
"Is that why you keep having nightmares?" Linda asked causing Naruto to nod
"You keep seeing me?" Iris asked getting another nod, "How long?"
"How long what?" Naruto asked
"How long until it happens?" Iris asked teary eyed
"This is not gonna happen. The future is always changing. So that gives us four months to figure out how to stop Savitar."
"But, Nate, the future, it's harder to change than you can imagine. The future wants to happen. The way it was explained to me was, imagine if you had a row of dominos, okay? Now, those dominos are all set up, and it,"
"Here." Cisco interrupted H.R. with a case of Dominos
"So convenient yeah uh, Nate, if you wou-"
Naruto sped forward and stood the dominoes up on a table, before the others walked up to see what H.R. demonstration, "So imagine, okay, domino each domino is a moment in time. One moment in time leads to the next, so as one domino falls, it hits the next, it hits the next, and the next, and the next, and so on, leading to the inevitable conclusion, and that is," H.R. tipped over a domino causing a chain reaction and they all fell over, "The future."
"And what happens if we alter certain events?" Naruto asked
"Well, you could conceivably change where you end up, but, Nate, if you would," Naruto reset the dominoes, "So you could change the future, but you'd have to be very careful about which events you alter." H.R took two dominoes and tipped one over again and this time the last domino wobbled a bit but remain standing
"We need to figure out everything that happens leading up to Iris's death...Wait, when I saw the future, there was a news scroll on TV. I mean, that could offer us some clues." Naruto said
"Absolutely. I think I can help with that. Hang on, McFly. About to vibe you back to the future." Cisco said getting a nod from Naruto
Next Day
Iris, Linda, and Caitlin entered the cortex to see Naruto working on a device, "Hey." he greeted as he picked up the device that was the size of a tire
"Hey, what do you got there?" Iris asked
"I plan on I stalling this on the roof, it'll automatically suppress metahuman powers for anyone not keyed into the building." Naruto said
"How long did you sleep?" Caitlin asked
"..An hour." Naruto said causing the girls to look at him in worry, "Let's go see if Cisco is ready."
Naruto got up and walked away with the girls following and they arrived to Cisco's Workshop to see him and H.R. shaking hands
"All right, guys. You ready?" Naruto asked
"Yeah, we're ready. The machine's souped up and ready to go. It's gonna be a hell of a vibe. All you have to do is just sit back, relax or, well, try to relax and concentrate, really focus on the exact date in the future that you traveled to." Cisco explained as he and Naruto walked to two chairs and grabbed a headset to match their brainwaves
"Yep. May 23, 2017." Naruto said putting on the headset
"Nate, whatever happens, I am right here waiting for you, okay?" Iris said getting a nod from Naruto
"I know." he smiled
"Crank it." Cisco said after taking a deep breath
"Three, two, one." Caitlin counted down before the two men took sharp breaths
Vibe
Naruto and Cisco appeared in the alleyway, "What do you see?" Linda asked
"An empty street. A bus stop." Cisco said
A portal opened and Flash dropped out, "The me from Christmas just came out of the Speed Force." Naruto said
Flash walked to the bus stop with Naruto and Cisco beside him, "He's watching the news report. These are the headlines, right?" Cisco asked Naruto who nodded
"Headlines. Yeah you know what? Call 'em out. I'll write 'em down." H.R. said
"Um "Music Meister gets six-figure book deal." Cisco read
"Luigi's opens after murder." Naruto read
"Linda Park honored at City Hall." Cisco read
'Good for you, Linda." H.R. said as Linda nodded
"Killer" Cisco began before he paused looking to Naruto
"What does it say?" Caitlin asked
"Killer Frost still at large." Cisco said with a sigh
"City still recovering following gorilla attack." Naruto read
"Don't!" Future Flash said
"Savitar has Iris." Naruto frowned
"Don't do this." Future Flash pleaded
"Now finally, my revenge is at hand." Savitar said
"Look." Cisco said causing Naruto to look over and his eyes widened when he saw H.R. on the roof
"H.R. is here." Naruto said
"Me? Are you sure?" H.R. asked
"Yeah, you weren't here before. Future's changed since then." Naruto said causing the team to gasp
Naruto and Cisco watched as Savitar killed Iris and frowned as Cisco placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder as his future self cried
"Just get us out of here." Naruto said
Real World
Naruto snatched the headset from his head, "You had Plunder's rifle pointed at Savitar. Somehow telling you about Iris's death, it changed the future."
"I was wrong, you were right. Your theory is correct then." H.R. said as Naruto and everyone crowded around the board
"Guys, my future isn't the only one that we need to change." Iris said looking to Caitlin who smiled
"No, the these headlines, though, they tell us what happens in the future where Caitlin becomes Killer Frost and Iris dies. If we can change the headlines, that means we can change the future."
"That's right." Cisco nodded
"Challenge accepted." Linda frowned
Later, Training Room
Naruto watched as Caitlin meditated, before she exhaled a cold air, and her eyes opened showing of her glowing white pupils as her hair turned blonde, "Hello lover." Caitlin greeted
"Caitlin."
"That's not my name." Killed Frost said
"So what, you just decided to take over your doppelganger?" Naruto asked
"That Earth 2 poser is gone." Killer Frost said
"Then who are you?' Naruto asked
"I am dear old Caitlin's darkness. The sadness from Ronnie's death, the suppressed memories of our father, our mommy issues. Everything that makes her sad, or mad makes up me."
"So your like a defense mechanism?" Naruto asked
"Till the time comes when I take over completely." Killer Frost smirked walking up to Naruto, "Would you like that, Flash? We could have so much fun together."
"We already do. The way I see it. You are just as much Caitlin as she is you. Two sides of the same coin. We have a son, together." Naruto said causing Killer Frost to look over at Dash who was in a clones arms asleep,
Killer Frost gasped when Naruto placed a hand on her cheek, "You and Cait, need to accept each other. I used to be in this same situation. When I accepted my darkness I became stronger. I taught Caitlin to harness wind, and water. Introduced her to Talia who taught her to fight, and protect herself. You and Caitlin need each other to reach your potential. Find a way to communicate with your other half."
Killer Frost looked at Naruto, before she receded and Caitlin returned to normal, and immediately she hugged Naruto who kissed her cheek.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
AN: Whitney and Jesse are a couple.
The Future Article about Naruto vanishing wasn't a Crisis. In the future after finding out who Savitar was, Naruto distanced himself from Barry and when he was ready to reconnect, Barry was already missing, and he went looking for him.
I made Caitlin and Killer Frost, like Ichigo and Hollow Ichigo.
Nora will be Naruto's daughter.
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