Here is Chapter 5 of Maelstrom of the Marvel Universe. More and more super villains keep popping up around New York as Naruto and Peter need to work together to keep New York and its people safe. But they also must deal with their own personal lives, tracking down the Green Goblin and making a case to bring down Tombstone. Easy right…eh, not so much. Enjoy!

The rise of super villains

October 8th, 2010

It had been two days since the Green Goblin attacked Tombstone's charity gala to try and take him out and then take out Maelstrom and Spider-man. After they stopped the bomb, they went back and saw the Goblin as gone. On top of trying to put away Tombstone and stop his army of new super villains, as Peter was calling them, they needed to find out who this Green Goblin was and to stop him. Currently, Peter was in his suit and was out on patrol, swinging through the city hoping to see the Goblin somewhere.

"Paging Mr. Goblin! Paging Mr. Green Goblin!" Spider-man shouted as he swung through the city and then stuck to a wall. "Man, I hate it when a bad guy gets away."

"HELP! HELP! They've stolen the truck!" Spider-man heard as he saw a truck of expensive sports cars get hijacked from the dealership.

"And a hero's work is never done." Spider-man said as he swung down and landed on the roof of the truck and peaked his head in to see the hijackers. "Peekaboo!"

"Spider-man!" They shouted.

"Don't worry, I'll shake him!" The driver said as he swerved the truck but Spider-man wasn't moving.

"Really, that's how we're playing it?" Spider-man asked.

"I'm out of here!" The other one said as he opened the door and moved to steal a car. The driver tried to follow him but Spider-man webbed him and his hands to the seat and steering wheel.

"Since you're stuck here, how about we slow this thing down?" Spider-man asked as the driver hit the brake but it wasn't working.

"I can't! It's not working, I swear!" He shouted as Spider-man looked and saw the brake cable had been severed.

"Hold on their sneaky!" Spider-man shouted as he webbed the other hijacker to the side of the truck bed.

Spider-man yanked the keys out of the truck and then jumped in front of the truck and shot out two web lines to the side of buildings to slow the truck down. He then shot 6 more lines as the truck was nearing a crosswalk and it barely stopped in time to stop from hitting a crossing blind man.

"Whew, that was close." Spider-man said as he crawled over to check on the hijackers, nice and snug in their capture. "Now you guys wait here for the police. They'll be taking you to jail. Picture time!"

Spider-man took a picture and then left as the police were closing in. "Ah, that felt good." Spider-man said.

"Nicely done." Peter heard Naruto say over the comms.

"Hey, Naruto. Well that's the end of the good news. No sign of the Goblin." Spider-man said.

"Well, he'll show up again. If he's hell bent on taking down Tombstone, we'll see him. For now, stay on patrol. I've got some work to do." Naruto said.

"All right, call me if you need anything." Spider-man said.

"Likewise." Naruto said as he ended the call. Naruto was back at their unofficial headquarters doing some research on the Goblin. He was analyzing the data his armor recorded during the fight and was analyzing the Goblin's weapons and armor.

"All right, Jarvis. Are we ready?" Naruto asked as he moved over to a section of computers and scanners to analyze the Goblin's armored gauntlet Naruto took during the fight.

"Scanners are ready, sir." Jarvis said.

"All right, begin multi-spectrum resonance scan." Naruto said as the scanners analyzed the gauntlet. "Commencing scan of metal's chemical make-up."

Naruto then pressed some buttons and a small drill appeared in the scanning tube. Naruto wanted to drill into the metal to get a better read on the metal's chemical and physical properties. The drill hit the metal as sparks filled the container until Naruto heard something break. He looked to see the drill point had broken apart.

"Well, that was expected. Ok, try the infrared and ultra-violet scans and activate the sonic vibration scanner." Naruto said as the scanners kept doing their work.

"Preliminary scans of the metal show a 90% match to the metal used in the armor of the Rhino. Although this version is much more refined and contains a higher trace of this mysterious alloy." Jarvis said.

"Sure, is mysterious. It took solid punches and energy blasts from me and it didn't even get a crack." Naruto said as the scanner finished analyzing the chemical make-up and it was extraordinary. "And the chemical make-up of this metal is nothing that's on the periodic table."

"Ok, Jarvis run database searches for any kind of material with this kind of chemical makeup. It's a stretch but I might be able to find something." Naruto said as the computer began searching but managed to get a match from an old data archive in the Stark Industries server.

"Match found, sir." Jarvis said as Naruto brought up the file and opened it. It was old, dating back 40 years.

"Wow, this is an old file." Naruto said as he looked at it.

"Yes, sir. Dating back to when Howard Stark was CEO of Stark Industries. He recorded a unique metal with a strange chemical makeup being used in black ops military experiments." Jarvis said.

"If this was part of a military black ops experiment, how did Howard Stark get any info on it?" Naruto asked.

"Apparently, Mr. Stark was asked to consult very briefly on the project. He was kept on a very limited need to know basis and wasn't told the entirety of the project." Jarvis said.

"Well, the chemical make-up for the metal is the same. Adamantium." Naruto said as he looked through the file. "When this metal is made and refined, it's supposed to be indestructible. That's why the Goblin's armor was so tough."

"And the Rhino's armor was made of adamantium as well, although a less refined version." Jarvis said.

"Ok, well O'Hirn works for Tombstone. Tombstone must have scientists and advance resources to create Adamantium. It's not cheap. The limited amount of meteorite fragments with adamantium around the world has to be scarce. Jarvis, I don't suppose there is a way you can track down the meteorites. It could be a way to find out who the Goblin works for." Naruto said.

"Calculations are underway, sir." Jarvis said as Naruto nodded. "By the way, I believe you have a visitor."

"I thought Linda was at the library." Naruto said as he activated the security cameras to see who it was.

"It is not Ms. Park, I'm afraid. I do believe it's Agent Coulson of SHIELD." Jarvis said as Naruto looked and saw it was him.

"Huh? Wonder what I did this time." Naruto said as he stood up to go see Coulson.

Line Break xxxxx

Agent Coulson was waiting outside the Stark Industries warehouse and lab with a blacked-out SUV parked in the parking lot. He observed the perimeter, seeing the personal security team who checked the ID badges on the workers who were coming and going from their lunch breaks. He also saw the loading bays stocked with trucks that were being organized for their shipping destinations from companies that bought Stark equipment.

"Agent Coulson." Coulson turned to see Naruto walk up to him. "Good to see you again." Naruto said with a smile as Coulson shook his hand.

"Likewise. Sorry for the unexpected visit. SHIELD doesn't normally do house calls but this is a different situation. Usually we would have you come to us at a neutral location but Director Fury thought that given your experience, a low-key method was right." Coulson said.

"It's no problem. Am I in trouble or something? Or does this have to do with that Avenger initiative." Naruto asked as Coulson chuckled.

"No, I'm afraid I can't talk about that further but we do need to talk to you about your recent heroic exploits in the city." Coulson said as Naruto nodded.

"Let's talk in my office." Naruto said as they walked into the warehouse and Naruto led Coulson to his headquarters.

"This is your office?" Coulson asked.

"Just temporary. When Stark Tower is finished, I plan on moving all of this there. Besides, if I did this at the hotel I'm staying out they'd probably charge me extra." Naruto said as he closed the door. "So, what's up?"

"Director Fury has grown a bit concerned about the recent appearances of new gifted individuals in the city over the past few months." Coulson said.

"Gifted? Oh, you mean the enhanced super villains I've been dealing with." Naruto said.

"Enhanced?" Coulson asked.

"It's how I categorized them. Sounded better than meta-human." Naruto said as Coulson nodded.

"Has a simple yet nice ring to it." Coulson said.

"Yeah and believe me I've been trying to figure that out ever since I got here. But I think the problem actually predated me." Naruto said as he walked over to the computer.

"You mean that Mr. Parker's enemies have now gone from simple robbers and killers to people with super-powered gifts or equipment." Coulson said as Naruto looked at him.

"How did you know?" Naruto asked.

"We know everything. But we've kept our distance. Director Fury was going to send someone to talk to him but ever since you've been here, we decided to just observe." Coulson said.

"I think that's a good idea. Peter's a good hero but he's still just a kid. He's more fit for protecting a city rather than being drafted for the Avenger initiative." Coulson said.

"Noted. Mr. Parker's appearance was an anomaly but these escalated enhanced people has become a growing concern. And with the latest appearance of the man you fought over the weekend, Director Fury thought it would be best to touch bases." Coulson said.

"Right, the Green Goblin." Naruto said.

"Green Goblin?" Coulson asked.

"It's what he called himself. Here, look." Naruto said as he brought up the image of the Green Goblin. "I don't suppose he's someone that SHIELD's been going after and I just happened upon him."

"I'm afraid not. He's a new player and we know nothing about him. And that never happens. And given his tech and powers, he's someone we want to contain before he causes enough damage or his powers get into hands of the wrong people." Coulson said.

"Given that he was psychotic and tried to blow up an entire building filled with people, I'd say that we're way past that. But I agree." Naruto said as Coulson nodded.

"So, what do you have?" Coulson asked.

"Honestly, nothing so far except for theories. Nothing that I can work on yet." Naruto said as he brought up the information. "Goblin made his first appearance during that attack at the charity gala. Powers include super strength, heightened senses, possible regeneration and the ability to shoot out green energy blasts from his hands."

"Sounds like someone tried at the super soldier serum." Coulson said.

"Yeah, but added their own twists to it." Naruto said.

"Have you had any luck in trying to track down the Goblin down?" Coulson asked.

"Zero. Whoever he is, he knows how to hide his tracks. I tried tracking down his tech and his glider but I got nothing." Naruto said.

"His tech. What is it?" Coulson asked.

"Advanced. That glider was packed with enough weapons to take on a small country and the armor would have made him invincible." Naruto said.

"How? Some kind of special titanium polymer?" Coulson asked.

"No, Adamantium. I managed to grab one of the Goblin's gauntlets and analyzed the metal and it matched Adamantium." Naruto said as Coulson looked at him.

"That raises some red flags. Adamantium is supposed to be extremely rare and costly to acquire. Even more so to manufacture on any grand scale." Coulson said.

"Yeah, and it was used for the Rhino's armor as well. I'm thinking that whoever is making the super villains for Tombstone and whoever gave the Green Goblin his powers and armor is the same person. We find him, we take them both down." Naruto said as Coulson nodded.

"Good observation but that still leaves a lot of unanswered questions. I'll update Fury with these files." Coulson said. "There was one black ops military project that had access to Adamantium but that was years ago. It's possible the scientists from that project found new employment."

"Yeah but that would also mean that whoever is behind Tombstone and the Goblin has the resources to pull something like this off." Naruto said as when an alarm began to sound in the room and the warehouse.

"I'm guessing that's not the lunch break clock." Coulson said.

"What's going on?" Naruto asked as he and Coulson left the room and into the warehouse to see people running, several security guards on the floor either dead or very injured and a lot of commotion coming from one of the restricted labs that only Naruto used. Naruto and Coulson looked to see someone dressed in a Stark's security outfit taking things from the lab. Test tubes filled with liquids and the hard drives from the research computers.

"Hey!" Naruto shouted as the man turned and pulled out a pistol and aimed at Coulson. Naruto saw this and covered him as the man fired his gun and the bullets either bounced off Naruto's skin or broke against it. The man emptied his entire clip and then pulled out a flashbang. He then tossed it at Naruto and it exploded in smoke and light.

The bright flash and loud noise impaired Naruto and Coulson for a bit before it faded. Naruto then looked and saw the man who had broken into the factory escape through the sky light.

"What the hell?" Naruto asked.

Line Break xxxxx

The police arrived at Naruto's warehouse and began taking statements from him and his workers while paramedics checked on the injured security guards and the workers in shock. Naruto finished talking with Captain Stacy and walked over to Coulson who was leaving. Naruto walked over to him to see him walking over to his SHIELD car but Naruto stopped him.

"Coulson, wait." Naruto said as Coulson stopped. "Who was that guy?"

"I'm not sure what you mean." Coulson replied.

"That man may have broken into my warehouse to steal from me but I don't think it was a coincidence you were here when he broke in." Naruto said as Coulson looked at him.

"Really?" Coulson asked.

"Well, considering that you have two other agents waiting for you in that van, the 6 other SHIELD vans waiting on the street and the fact that he shot at you, knowing I would protect you so he could make his escape. It would seem that his actually target was to get you out of his way." Naruto said.

"Nice deduction." Coulson said.

"Thanks, but if you're going after him I want in. He hurt my employees and stole from my factory which means I'm going to bring him in. If it's your job to take him in then fine, but I want to help." Naruto said as Coulson looked at him.

"All right. Let's talk." Coulson said as he then touched his ear piece. "Break cover and regroup on me."

The two people in Coulson's van got out and walked over to him, both carrying two long suitcases and wearing regular clothes, probably to blend in. One of them was a man about 5ft11 and the other was a 5ft10 woman. "Naruto, this is Agent Barton and Agent Morse. They're working with me. Agents, you know Naruto Uzumaki." Coulson said as they nodded.

"All right, then. Let's talk." Coulson said as Naruto grabbed his armor. They then left in Coulson's car and went to a SHIELD secured site to discuss the break in. Naruto had a black bag over his head to obscure his vision as to where they were going and when they got there, he was led out of the car into the makeshift base that Coulson and his agents were using.

Naruto was sat down in a chair and the bag was taken off his head. Naruto blinked a few times as his eyes adjusted to the bright lights of Coulson's makeshift base. "Was the bag really necessary?" Naruto asked.

"Security measures. You understand." Coulson said as Naruto stood up and stretched.

"Not exactly the type of base I'd expect for a SHIELD operation." Naruto said.

"That's the point. We blend in and no one expects us." Coulson said.

"Ok, so who is this guy? Who are you after?" Naruto asked.

"An ex-SHIELD agent. To be honest, this type of information is classified and I don't think you should be privy to this." Coulson said as Naruto nodded.

"I get that and I'll keep it classified but he stole my tech and I know how to track him down so either we work together or put that bag back over my head and let me do this on my own." Naruto said as Coulson nodded.

"Very well. The person who broke into your facility and tried to kill me is Anthony Masters. A former SHIELD Specialist and field agent. One of SHIELD's best and brightest." Coulson said as he brought up a picture of a 6ft black hair, brown eyed man in SHIELD uniform.

"He's someone who if given a mission, he'll complete it no matter what." Barton said

"He doesn't look like much." Naruto said.

"The same could be said for you." Morse said as Naruto nodded.

"Touché." Naruto replied.

"Agent Masters was one of the youngest recruits to SHIELD because of his unique talents." Coulson said.

"What kind of unique talents? He has powers?" Naruto asked.

"Not exactly. To be honest we're not sure if his unique talents are powers but it's something that Agent Masters has had his entire life." Coulson said as Naruto read the brief summary of the ability.

"Photographic reflexes?" Naruto asked.

"Agent Master's mind and photographic memory work at a pace faster than any recorded human or enhanced. He is instantly able to identify, analyze and mimic the movements of anyone." Coulson said.

"Making him the perfect undercover agent." Naruto said.

"Masters never failed an undercover assignment. And with his photographic memory, there isn't a skill he can't master in a second." Morse said.

"His unique skills made him a perfect agent for SHIELD. He passed every field assignment with flying colors and became one of the agency's best agent." Coulson said.

"So, what happened?" Naruto asked.

"All that time going undercover and establishing undercover contacts began to affect him. His view point on SHIELD and his missions changed and he began to isolate himself, and we discovered he began to moonlight his skills to people who paid a lot of money." Barton said.

"Mercenary." Naruto said as Coulson nodded.

"He fled before we could arrest him and he's used his skills to stay one step ahead of us. All that time undercover gave him plenty of experience and covers for him to use and he knows all our tactics. We've sent in strike teams over the years but they always end up badly and Masters gains new skills with his unique ability." Coulson said.

"Even gave me and Bobby a run for our money." Barton said as Naruto looked at the files and was pretty impressed. This guy's training and history made him sound like one of the Akatsuki.

"What brought you here to New York?" Naruto asked.

"We managed to get a rough track of Masters by tracking the movements and jobs of his alter-ego." Coulson said as they brought up an image of Masters in his gear. He wore black body armor, with white boots and gloves. He had a belt with pouches containing different weapons and a white cloak with a hood. The most eye-catching thing about Master's appearance was the mask he was wearing, it was a white skull and looked creepy as hell.

"Taskmaster. Huh, seems appropriate." Naruto commented.

"We got whispers that he was in the city for a job, something dealing with new tech and formulas. We've spent the last week trying to figure that out and all points of the investigation led to your research." Coulson said Naruto rubbed his chin and thought about this.

"It seems you were right. Stark Tower is rising to be one of the leading subsidiaries for dealing with energy, technology and bio-tech and that kind of attention breeds competitors." Naruto said.

"We think Master is here for a corporate espionage job. A lot of companies would probably pay millions for your tech and blue prints for your projects." Bobby said.

"You're probably right, but that won't do them any good." Naruto said as he took out his smart phone, pressed a button and put it on the table and soon a 3-D holographic display appeared. "3-d interface, my own advancement on Tony's tech."

"So, what are we seeing? What did Masters take?" Coulson asked.

"A little bit of everything. Before the police arrived, I went over the areas Masters had been and figured out what he took. He took schematics for some rudimentary designs of energy cells, capacitors, regulators, things that would revolutionize technology around the globe." Naruto said.

"More than enough motive for some tech company to hire someone to steal it." Barton said.

"Anything else?" Bobby asked.

"Yeah." Naruto said as he pressed a button on his phone and it showed a complicated chemical formula that Coulson, Bobby and none of the SHIELD members could make sense of. "This is something I've been working on recently. It's a formula that would enable the human body to regrow severed and amputated limbs."

"Are you serious?" Barton asked.

"It's something still in development but give me a month and I can have something ready for testing. It's been the focal point of my research for a while." Naruto said.

"Something like that…innovative biology would be worth billions." Bobby said.

"But something tells me that's not what has you so concerned." Coulson said.

"You're right. The formula isn't the hard part, any scientist could engineer it but it would never work. Not without this." Naruto said as he hesitated to activated the next hologram. "I'm trusting you on this, Coulson. From now on, what you see here, is never spoken of again."

Coulson nodded and put his finger to his ear comm. "Everyone leave the area now." Coulson said as all the SHIELD agents and personnel left including Agent Morse and Barton. Once everyone left, Coulson took out his phone and deactivated all the SHIELD tech and removed his ear piece. "All cards on the table."

Naruto smiled and activated the next slide which brought up a DNA molecule and an analysis of a blood sample. Coulson knew enough to see that this DNA molecule had extra DNA strands and the blood sample showed an enhanced white cell count and the red cells replicate at a high rate.

"What am I looking at?" Coulson asked.

"My blood." Naruto said as Coulson looked at him. "My blood isn't like normal humans, seeing as I'm not normal. It's the key to making this formula work. I had a vial in a secret safe near an encrypted and locked workstation where I could work on the formula. Masters took the research and the vial of my blood."

"Wow, this is bad. Any researcher with your blood could attempt to replicate your powers." Coulson said.

"I don't think Masters knows what he has. No one knew of that vial of my blood but when whoever paid Masters to do this figures out what they have…horrible would be an understatement." Naruto said as Coulson nodded.

"Then we need to find Masters and destroy that vial and keep your research from getting into the wrong hands." Coulson said as Naruto deactivated the holograms and Coulson called his team back in. "We have our tech team running scans and tracking down every possible lead in the city. Cell phones, ATM's, traffic cameras…anything with a camera is eyes and ears for us."

"It'll limit Masters' options and slow him down but not stop him. He's former SHIELD and knows how we work." Bobby said.

"I've got some of my contacts in the city keeping an eye out for any brokers or middle men who deal with people who might want this kind of information but it's a long list." Barton said as Naruto nodded.

"And I appreciate and admired the steps SHIELD goes to get him but I have a better idea." Naruto said as he activated a special feature on his phone.

"What are you going to do?" Barton asked.

"The hard drive he stole from my lab had a tracker placed in it which allows me to track it should it leave the lab." Naruto said as he brought up the map of Manhattan and Jarvis began running an algorithm to track the hard drive. If Masters had the hard drive on him, he had the other things he stole from Naruto…including the vial of blood.

"Masters would have scanned the hard drive for a tracer." Barton said as Naruto nodded.

"And he did and he removed it but I have something else. I planted something of my own design within the wiring and circuits of the drive. When the tracer is removed, or deactivated by anyone besides me, the standby components in the drive itself begin to send out coordinates over a UHF frequency." Naruto said as Barton raised an eyebrow.

"That's an ancient frequency. No one uses it since the invention of data centers and the internet." Barton said.

"Which makes it the best way to secretly track any potential thief. When the drive is in motion, more information comes in to help me narrow down the exact coordinates but as of the moment…" Naruto said as the approximate location of the drive was within a 5-block radius of Time Square. "it's in time square."

"Perfect place to do a drop. It's the most populated place in the city. Populated equals invisible." Morse said.

"Then that's where we'll be. If that's where Masters is making the drop, we'll be there to catch him. Get the men ready. We leave in ten." Coulson said as Barton and Morse left to get ready.

Line Break xxxxx

Coulson and his SHIELD team coordinated and set up several teams around Time Square. There were people in civilian disguise dressed as tourists or street vendors while others were around other parts of Time Square to cover the various exit routes and entrances but there was lot of ground to cover. Barton and Morse were in a café in civilian disguise on 47th street while Naruto and Coulson were in a parked car on 45 and 8th. They were on site in Time Square for over an hour as the signal from the frequency of Naruto's drive indicated Masters was still somewhere in Time Square but where, he couldn't narrow down.

Naruto and Coulson were in the car, running point on the hunt for Masters and his buyer. They were running the camera feeds to the SHIELD van 5 blocks away and running it through their facial recognition program to locate anyone who could be Masters buyer. Coulson watched people walk to and from Time Square while Naruto sipped some coffee.

"All teams, status update." Coulson said.

"Team 1, no sign of Masters or his buyer." Team one responded.

"Team 2, nothing." Team two responded.

"Team 3, nothing yet." Barton responded.

"Team 4, clear." Team four responded.

"Team 5, nothing on facial recognition." Team five responded.

"Roger that. Keep a visual out. The tracer indicates Masters is still in the area. We'll keep an eye on signal, if Masters moves we'll know." Coulson said in the radio as he looked at his watch and saw it was around 3pm.

"So, is this how SHIELD stake outs play out on a normal basis?" Naruto asked as he took a sip of coffee.

"More often than you think." Coulson responded. "It's old school but it still works. If Masters is doing a drop off for his buyer, he'll be here."

"And if he knows we're on to him?" Naruto asked.

"That's why you're here." Coulson said as Naruto smirked and sipped his coffee when his phone rang. He grabbed it and saw it was Linda.

"Hey, Linda." Naruto said as Coulson looked at him. "No, I'm not there. I'm busy. Busy with what?"

Naruto looked at Coulson who looked at him back. "With…superhero business. I can't really go into too much detail but I'll be preoccupied for a while. I'm sorry. I'll make it up to you later, I promise. Bye." Naruto said as he hung up.

"Didn't feel the need to tell Ms. Park what you're really doing?" Coulson asked.

"No, her life is hard enough with me in it. I don't need to throw gasoline on that fire as it is." Naruto said as he exhaled and rubbed his forehead. "I don't suppose you have any advice?"

"You seem to be doing fine on your own. My advice, women are an enigma and you can spend your entire life trying to figure them out. But that's what makes them worthwhile." Coulson said as Naruto chuckled.

"You've had some experience in that area?" Naruto asked as Coulson smiled and nodded. "Any worthwhile?"

"She is." Coulson replied.

"Is she a SHIELD agent?" Naruto asked.

"She's a cellist. Second chair, Portland Symphony orchestra. I see her play whenever I'm in town." Coulson said as Naruto chuckled.

"Really?" Naruto asked.

"You ever see a beautiful woman play the cello?" Coulson asked.

"No." Naruto replied.

"It's something else." Coulson told him. "She laughs at my jokes too which is a big bonus."

"But she knows what you do? That you're a SHIELD Agent?" Naruto asked as Coulson nodded.

"It's how we met. She had an encounter with something that called our attention. We were called in to investigate and the situation was dealt with. I assured her that everything would be ok and it was." Coulson said. "It turned into something else eventually. I see her play whenever I'm in town, we'd go out, dinners at the Richmond."

"And you don't ever feel worried that because she knows what you do and that you're together puts a target on her back?" Naruto asked.

"Sometimes. But this type of life is hard. Having someone there for me helps me through it. And she's a reminder of why I do what I do." Coulson said as Naruto nodded.

"Even if what you do puts her in the crosshairs?" Naruto asked as Coulson looked at him.

"Never had that happen. I have the gift of anonymity." Coulson said as Naruto exhaled.

"Well, if I could go back that might have been something I would have changed. Don't get me wrong, I glad I don't have to hide who I am with her or anyone, god knows I'm not one to keep secrets but it wasn't without its consequences." Naruto said.

"You mean, the fact that it puts the people you care about in danger?" Coulson asked him.

"It didn't really occur to me until our encounter with Tombstone but fighting all these criminals and supervillains…it's puts a target on my back. And if people figure out I care about Linda, it puts a target on hers. I couldn't live with myself is she got hurt because of me." Naruto said.

"But what if you push her way and end up hurting her? People in our line of work aren't allowed normal lives but we do what we can. From what I saw, Ms. Park wants to be with you no matter what. Anything worthwhile has its risks." Coulson said as Naruto nodded. "I'm guessing you haven't spoken about this to anyone else, have you?"

"Well, I don't really have a lot of male role models with healthy relationship advice. Rhodey, maybe but Tony is someone I probably shouldn't ask for advice in this department. Hope that wasn't crossing a line." Naruto said.

"It's fine. Glad I could help." Coulson said as Naruto's phone began beeping. He pulled it out and activated the holographic display.

"It's Masters, he's on the move." Naruto said as his program began to triangulate his position. "I'm triangulating his position now."

"All agents, Masters is on the move. The buy is going down. Prepare to move." Coulson said over the comms as the agents prepped themselves and Naruto narrowed down Master's movement.

"I got it. He's on 46th and just passed 7th avenue. He's heading down Broadway." Naruto said over the comms.

"I think I got him." Barton said as he saw a police officer the same height and body build as Masters carrying a briefcase.

"Masters' has a briefcase; the drop is happening." Morse said.

"Everyone stay back, Masters will recognize any of us if we move in too close. Maintain 15-yard distance at all times." Coulson said as Naruto undid his seat belt. "Naruto, what are you doing?"

"I'm going after him." Naruto said.

"Masters will see you coming from a mile away." Coulson said.

"Trust me. He won't." Naruto said as he exited the car and moved to an alley. He walked down the alley and then crossed his figures and puffed in a cloud of smoke. He walked out of the smoke to reveal he wasn't Naruto, but Sasuke. He was wearing sneakers, dark blue jeans, a NYU sweatshirt, and a backpack.

"Ugh, never thought I'd do this. I'm gonna need a shower." Naruto said as walked to Broadway and took out his phone and put in his headphones to make it look like he was just a college student who was on his phone.

He made his way down Broadway and saw the man with the briefcase that Barton saw. Naruto or Sasuke looked at his phone and saw the signal from the circuits was about 5 yards ahead of him, the exact distance the man with the briefcase was. He kept following Masters down Broadway when he took a left towards 8th avenue and saw him head towards a building under construction. He slipped into the alley with no camera coverage and walked through the side door.

"Coulson, I followed Masters to the drop. Converge on me." Naruto said over the comms.

"We're coming in and we'll secure the perimeter. Be careful." Coulson said.

"Always." Naruto said as he turned off his comms and entered through the door Masters took.

He slowly walked through the door, using his ninja stealth skills he hasn't used in a while and decided to take a page out of Peter's book and crawled on the ceiling, using his chakra to stick. He slowly made his way through the building and used his phone's tracker to see that Masters was on the second floor so he quickly and quietly made his way up the staircase. He was about to open the door to the second floor when he heard voices. Naruto decided to go to the third floor and make his way down another way. Naruto slowly walked down the elevator shaft and activated his recorder and listened.

"I see you brought extra security." Masters said as he saw the 6 extra armed security guards standing with his client, a man in a business suit.

"My employer felt it was necessary given the potential benefits of the merchandise." The client spoke.

"Merchandise you're going to pay extra for." Masters said as he put the briefcase down on the ground next to him.

"That wasn't part of our original arrangement." The Client said.

"Well, the arrangement changed a bit when that Naruto kid got involved. He's been after his research and all that heat took some extra maneuvers to lose him. So, an extra surcharge. An extra $1,000,000 sounds fair." Masters said.

"I don't think you're in the position to be making demands of me and my employer." The client said as the security guards moved their jackets to reveal their holsters. "You can keep your original bounty price. Wouldn't want people to hear I'm unfair."

"Admirable but I don't think you'll be getting to use that information. Since its owner is here to get it back." Masters said as he pulled out two semtex grenades, armed them and threw them at the elevator doors, blowing them right off and knocked it and Naruto away.

Masters tossed another semtex grenade into the elevator shaft and took off running as the client and the guards grabbed the briefcase and ran the other way. They ran down the stairs and made their way out of the back entrance when they saw several black SUVs and men in suits with guns.

"Freeze, you're under arrest! Put the case down and your hands up!" Coulson shouted as the client exhaled. "Do it!"

The client put the briefcase down and his hands up and the security guards did as well. Coulson's men grabbed their weapons and arrested them as Coulson secured the briefcase. "Mockingbird, Hawkeye, find Taskmaster." Coulson said.

"You think he's still in there?" Hawkeye asked when the entire fourth floor windows were blown out like a bomb went off.

"Yeah, pretty sure. Go help Maelstrom." Coulson said as Hawkeye and Mockingbird made their way into the building.

Back inside the building, when the clients ran after grabbing the briefcase, Naruto jumped into the room after being blown up twice which left him annoyed. He heard Masters running and ran after him, going up to the fourth floor. Naruto bashed through the staircase door as Masters emptied a Glock-22 pistol at him but the bullets just bounced off. Naruto fired an energy blast but Masters just flipped away. Naruto kept firing but Masters was quick and agile and kept dodging and avoiding.

Masters then threw razor sharp shuriken but Naruto caught them in his hands. "Shuriken, nice." Naruto said as he threw them back with more force and speed. Masters was able to dodge but one nicked his right cheek.

"Not bad, kid. No on in years has managed to harm me." Masters said as he walked to the windows and Naruto followed.

"Thanks, although coming from you, the compliment makes me feel the need to take a shower. It's over, Masters. You're done." Naruto said as Masters chuckled.

"I don't think so, kid. There's a reason I'm called the Taskmaster, I never fail my task." Masters said as he pressed a button and pulled out special ear plugs to cover himself. The button activated four high powered sonic disruptors in the room and released super and sub-sonic waves that amplified off one another.

"ARGH!" Naruto shouted in pain as he covered his ears to try and block out the immense pain his ears were feeling. The windows on the entire floor exploded out as Naruto looked around and saw the four devices. He grits his teeth and made four glowing shuriken and threw them. They looped around the room and destroyed the four sonic disruptors. Masters then flipped forward and kicked Naruto in the face, knocking him back. He then let loose a flurry of punches and kicks from various forms of Martial Arts: Taekwondo, Wing Chun, Boxing and Krav Maga just to name a few. Masters then finished with right hook and spun, slapping a C4 charge to Naruto's chest. Masters rolled away and blew the charge, sending Naruto into the wall in an explosion of fire and smoke.

Masters smirked but then a blue energy beam shot out of the smoke and hit him in the chest, knocking him into a wall. Masters then flipped back to his feet and flipped out of the way of another energy beam. Naruto then ran forward and threw out a spinning kick that Masters ducked under. Masters threw out a flurry of punches as Naruto blocked them and kicked him in the chest and knocked him back. Naruto then threw out a jumping back kick as Masters blocked the kick but the force knocked him off his feet and onto the ground.

Masters rolled to the side as Naruto did a butterfly spin kick to the ground but Masters used his arm to get back to his feet and did a capoeira spin kick but Naruto caught his foot and threw him over his shoulder. Masters rolled on the ground and back to his feet and saw Naruto jumped forward and did a flying knee strike to his face. Masters would have dodged but Naruto was too fast and hit him right in the jaw and fell to the ground like a sack of potatoes.

Masters quickly threw out his leg to hit Naruto but Naruto managed to catch it and threw him across the floor. Masters rolled on the ground and got back to his feet and dodged a kick from Naruto. After taking that beating, Masters had recognized and analyzed Naruto's fighting pattern. Naruto followed up the kick with a spinning back fist but Masters dodged it which caused Naruto to throw out another punch. Masters dodged that, grabbed Naruto's arm and threw him over his shoulder but Naruto landed back on his feet and did a leg sweep but Masters flipped over Naruto. Naruto then used his hands as an anchor and did full body spin kick which nailed Masters in the chest and knocked him across the floor.

"Jesus that hurt like hell. This kid hits like a truck. But the job is going perfectly as planned. Time to sell it." Masters thought to himself as he got back to his feet.

"What the hell fighting style did you learn? I can analyze and predict any fighting style…except whatever the hell you're using." Masters said as Naruto smirked as he concentrated and threw some energy shuriken causing Masters to dodge. Masters then quickly dodged to the side to avoid and threw out a flurry of punches and kicks but Naruto blocked a few and the rest that hit didn't really do anything. Naruto caught the last punch that Masters threw and did a grapple and put him in an arm bar that Masters managed to maneuver out of but was open to a kick to the face. It had enough force to disorient him. Naruto spun from the kick and channeled charka into his hand and formed a ball of blue energy.

"Rasengan!" Naruto shouted as the orb hit Masters and tore through his stomach and sent him flying into a wall with enough force to smash through it. Naruto walked forward and saw Masters' shirt was torn apart to reveal Kevlar vest with the part that was covering the stomach destroyed and a large impact wound on his stomach.

"I'm unpredictable." Naruto said with a smirk.

Naruto then turned around and was ready to fire an energy blast as he heard movement but stopped as he saw it was Barton and Morse. Both were wearing their S.H.I.E.L.D tactical gear with Morse carrying two fighting sticks and Barton carrying a bow and a quiver of arrows.

"What took you guys?" Naruto asked as Morse ran up and slapped some cuffs on Masters.

"We made sure the buyer was secured. Besides, doesn't seem like you needed us." Barton said as Naruto smiled.

"He was good, I'll give him that. But I'm was known as an unpredictable, knuckle-head for a reason." Naruto said with a smile.

Naruto, Barton, and Morse walked out of the building with a knocked out and tied up Masters being carried on Naruto's shoulder. Naruto then put him down as S.H.I.E.L.D. agents took him into their custody and put him in a highly secured armored truck for transport to a S.H.I.E.L.D. facility. Naruto smiled as Coulson walked over to him and handed him the briefcase.

"Everything is in order. All your data files, blue prints, the flash drive containing all your data and the vials of the serum and your blood. Everything accounted for." Coulson said as Naruto took the briefcase, opened it, and looked around and double checked and everything was there.

"Thanks, Coulson. For this, for everything. It means a lot to me." Naruto said as he shook Coulson's hand and Coulson shook back with a smile.

"My pleasure, just doing my job." Coulson said.

"Well, if ever need anything, anything at all, don't hesitate to call. I'll be there." Naruto said as Coulson smiled.

"Likewise, we'll be keeping an eye out but if there is anything you need, you'll know how to reach us." Coulson said as he and the S.H.I.E.L.D. team grabbed their gear and left. Naruto smiled as he pat the briefcase and left, on his way to go see Linda.

Coulson got in the car as he and his team drove away to take Masters to a SHIELD facility. He pulled out his phone and dialed a blocked number. It ranged twice before it was answered.

"Line secured." A man's voice said.

"Connect to line: Tango-Bravo-Zulu-616." Coulson said.

"Connecting." The man said as the phone rang once before it connected to another line.

"Director Fury." Fury answered.

"Agent Coulson reporting." Coulson said.

"Coulson, give me an update." Fury asked.

"Masters is apprehended. We're on route to a transport for the Fridge. He'll be out for a while." Coulson said as he heard Fury hum in approval.

"Excellent. Masters arrival in New York for his job was excellent timing for us. Did Naruto intervene like we expected him to?" Fury asked.

"Yes, sir. Once he saw Masters break into his factory, he wanted onboard in the capture. He was well prepared for the task and his tech is the reason we were able to get a track on Masters." Coulson said.

"And his demeanor?" Fury asked.

"Calm. Agitated at first over what happened, but calm. Like he has done this before. He wasn't surprised or caught off guard by anything I said or the briefing about Masters. He expected things like this to happen in his line of work, I'm guessing." Coulson said as Fury hummed in approval.

"Would you say his calm demeanor was that of someone with a lot of experience?" Fury asked as Coulson thought for a moment.

"Enough experience so that something like this wasn't a shock. Not like Romanoff or Barton, but he wasn't an amateur. I looked in his eyes and saw the eyes of someone who has seen his fair share of action. And he trusts me, which is a big bonus." Coulson said as he could tell Fury waited a second before responded.

"Trusts SHIELD or trusts you?" Fury asked as Coulson wasn't sure.

"I think a little of both. Naruto seems like he still has some skepticism about SHIELD, which is understandable since he doesn't know a lot about us. He seems to like me and I've only spoken the truth to him. I think he knows that." Coulson said.

"And your opinion on how we move forward?" Fury asked.

"As we have, sir. With truth and sincerity. If we start to lie to him then he'll know and we'll have a situation. After seeing what he did to Masters, I don't think we can risk angering him. I would inform the World Security Council about that." Coulson said.

"I will. Besides, keeping him happy and trusting us is the only smart move we have with him. We don't even know the extent of his abilities or any weaknesses he might have. But he's less of a headache than Stark. And your opinion of Naruto for the Avenger Initiative?" Fury asked.

"Excellent. Showed impressive intelligence, strategy, and combat. He also had no problem working with others and didn't sit on the sidelines. Naruto would be a fine member for the Avenger Initiative." Coulson said with confidence.

"Noted. Return to the Triskelion as soon as Masters is locked away." Fury said.

"Yes, sir." Coulson said as he hung up.

Unbeknown to Naruto, was that the man who had ordered Taskmaster to steal all the intel from Naruto's lab had orchestrated all of this. He ordered Taskmaster to steal from Naruto's warehouse lab to steal and orchestrated the buy sight and had anticipated everything that happened. He had Taskmaster steal from Naruto's warehouse knowing that Naruto would managed to track down what was stolen and SHIELD would be right behind him. He had a patsy as a buyer for the stolen things to disguise a hidden objective he gave Masters. On the way to the fake buy that Naruto would likely stop, Masters had slipped a copy of all the information and samples of the vials taken at a point on the way for the benefactor to pick up after the fake buy. Taskmaster would be taken care of afterward as would the patsy.

Another man gathered the copy of the information and serum and took it to Veidt Industries building in Midtown. Veidt Industries was owned and run by Adrian Alexander Veidt, a self-made multi-millionaire with a company that dealt in weapons and technology. It was a good company but was 5th in the world's source of tech with Stark Industries as #1, followed by the Yashida corporation, Oscorp Industries, Hammer Industries and then Veidt. The man took the small bag of tech and information left by Masters and went up to Veidt's office on the top floor of the building. He walked in to see Veidt was looking out the large window overlooking New York City.

"Is everything taken care of?" Veidt asked.

"Taskmaster followed our instructions to the letter. Masters left what you asked him to while SHIELD and Naruto Uzumaki followed him as you predicted. Masters understands the next step and our inside men will keep an eye on him until he can be sprung. And the patsy's will be taken care of by the end of the day." The man said as he put the bag down on Veidt's desk. Veidt turned around and opened the bag and took out two small vials containing a liquid ounce of the mystery serum Naruto was working on and blood.

"Masters made sure none of this could lead back to us?" Veidt asked as the man nodded.

"Yes, sir. He made sure all ties to us were cut and used a dyed liquid to make it seem that the serum and the blood are as Naruto left it." The man said as Veidt smiled.

"Good. Copy the tech and blueprints and send a copy to Mr. Doom in Latveria. Inform him I'll send the serum once my engineers are able to replicate it. And remind him to uphold his end of the bargain once he gains control of that little country." Veidt said as the man nodded.

"Of course, sir." The man said as he left. Veidt turned around and looked out the window to the city of New York as he held the vial of blood. His eyes held the look of a man determined and Veidt was. He saw the world as broken and it would need someone to hit the reset button in order to save it…it would take a hero. The smartest man alive who understood that in order to save the world, it needed to be purged. People would think it would die but in order to save billions, millions might have to die. But, the people would only follow a hero and sometimes a hero needed to be the villain to do what was right. (1)

Line Break xxxxx

October 10th, 2010

It had been two days after the incident with Taskmaster and after Naruto had recovered everything, he took extra precautions with security and made sure that his employees were ok. Some were still shook-up and some of his security were in the hospitable but Naruto took care of their expenses and made sure that anyone who needed help got it. He spent time with Linda and decided to follow Coulson's advice and not lose her. With no probable way of getting home, he didn't want to lose his new one.

It was Tuesday and Naruto woke up in his hotel room after a long night of working on the regeneration serum. It was so close to working and if he could figure out the last part of it for use then he could start testing. He woke up, moving the covers off and walked into the bathroom to take a shower and get ready. He had some paper work to do and then wanted to stop by Stark Tower to double check on the floor layouts that were already complete. With his clones helping with the construction of the building, the first 10 floors of the eventual 90-story tower were complete and just needed to be furbished. With Naruto's clones, the construction went very quickly as he was able to work with the construction teams by getting the serious heavy work done with.

He hoped it would be done by the end of the year and operational by the end of January and things were going well in that direction. With the recent success of Naruto's projects, he hoped that once Stark Tower was operational, he could show that he was a serious player in the tech and business world and not just a superhero riding Tony's success. 85 floors of the building would be dedicated to research and development while the remaining 5 Naruto planned to keep for himself and Tony for personal space. A place to live and a place to move his superhero operation.

Naruto got out of the shower and dressed in some dark blue jeans, sneakers, a black button-up with a crimson t-shirt and a dark orange hoodie if he wanted. Naruto grabbed his wallet, keys and phone and walked to the door of his hotel room when someone knocked.

Naruto opened the door to see one of the hotel workers with a food cart and an item with a lid over it. "Good morning, sir." The worker said.

"Uh, morning. I didn't order food." Naruto said as the worker pulled out an envelope.

"A gift, sir." The man said as he pushed the cart in and left it before Naruto tipped him and he left.

Naruto opened the envelope and saw it was from Pepper and Tony, wishing him a happy 20th Birthday. It read: Happy Birthday to New York's best superhero. Naruto smiled as he lifted the lid to see a piping hot bowl of ramen with a tablet and a sealed manila envelope. Naruto's mouth watered as he took a big whiff of the ramen and felt his stomach rumble. He managed pull his head out of his stomach long enough to see the tablet had a note that said turn on.

Naruto picked up the tablet and turned it on to see it activate a video chat with Tony. "Hey, Tony." Naruto said with a smile as Tony smiled back.

"Hey, kid. Glad you got my birthday gift." Tony said as Naruto smiled.

"Yeah, thanks. So, how's it going? Last I heard you were taking care of business in Asia." Naruto said.

"Yeah, business here, show up in suit there, normal business. Although, I'd say you're the one having fun." Tony said as Naruto exhaled.

"Yeah, if your definition of fun is fighting crazy supervillains and trying to take down their mob boss." Naruto replied.

"Oh, I figured you'd have that set by now. Anyway, I managed to take a look at our quarterly earnings reports and they're higher than they have been in months. You're really doing good, kid. So good, in fact that it inspired my birthday gift to you. Open the envelope." Tony said as Naruto opened the envelope to see it was legal papers.

"Legal papers?" Naruto asked as he briefly read them and saw it was transfer of ownership of Stark Tower to Naruto Uzumaki. It stated that Naruto would be the owner of the tower, in charge of daily operations and maintenance but it also named him sole executive. Tony gave Naruto Stark Tower. "You're giving me Stark Tower?"

"Well, Stark Tower has been in your care all this time. You've overseen its construction and getting it off the ground with new tech and ideas. You've been increasing Stark Industries stocks and increasing our profitability without any hand holding from me or Pepper. I think Stark Tower is fine in your hands." Tony said with a smile as Naruto was shocked.

"I don't know what to say." Naruto said.

"Don't say anything. Just keep doing what you're doing. Who knows, maybe you'll make Stark Tower into your own business someday. Make me proud, kid." Tony said as he signed off.

"Wow." Naruto said to himself as he signed the papers. He ate his ramen and sent the papers to the lawyers to finish the transfer of ownership. He then made his way to Stark Tower to get a look at the work and to talk to the construction crew and the architect. He parked his car and walked to the construction sight to see a mob of tourists and pedestrians taking pictures of the structure and of him as he walked by. He walked into the construction yard and talked with the crew, the architect and the head of the construction companies that were building the tower and everything was proceeding on schedule, better even with Naruto's clone helping with the dangerous stuff.

Naruto looked as he saw cranes and heavy machinery bring up steel support beams for the levels of the building while his clones were hovering in the air, putting the tower's basic steel structure in place and were working on setting up floor 70. He took a walk around the fully built 10 floors of the tower and they came out great. He coordinated the layouts of the other floors with the builders so they would know what floors would need larger space for labs or work areas. He spent two hours at the tower before he moved to the warehouse to finish some designs and paperwork. It was around 4 o'clock when he got a message from Dr. Connors that they needed him at ESU.

Naruto parked in the ESU science lab parking lot and walked to the building, answering some emails on his phone. He walked into the lab when the lights turned on. "SURPRISE!" Naruto heard as he looked up and saw Linda, the Connors, Eddie, and Gwen.

"What's going on?" Naruto asked.

"Well, Linda told us it was your birthday so we thought we'd have a little surprise. Think of it as a thank you for everything you've done for us." Dr. Connors said as Naruto smiled.

"You didn't have to do this." Naruto said as Linda walked up to him and kissed him on the cheek.

"Yes, we did. You've been really busy but it's your birthday so you need to relax. Come on. Peter had his Aunt make a Banana Cream Pie. Gwen brought it over." Linda said as he smiled.

"That is good pie. All right." Naruto said as he enjoyed a nice little celebration with some friends. He enjoyed himself since his birthdays in the past were just him, Tony and Pepper while Linda was added later. Naruto kept it simple, since he never had big celebrations before he came to his new home.

He had drinks, some pie and cake and it was a nice little birthday celebration. He then left with Linda around dinner time for a little special Birthday surprise she had for him. They were walking down the street and made it to the NYU campus where Linda had set up a very romantic dinner on the roof of the library where the school garden was. It was nice and Naruto loved Linda for it and spent the night with her.

The next morning, Naruto was walking down the street when a black SUV parked across the street had been following him for days. The driver's side window rolled down to reveal a man with odd shaped head. He pulled out his phone and called a number.

"Yeah, it's Hammerhead. Tell the big man that I've got a dial on the Naruto kid. Yup, where he goes, who he works with and his special lady. Yeah, she's a student at NYU. Oh yeah. If he becomes a problem, we've got a way to make him back off." Hammerhead said as he hung up with a smile.

Line Break xxxxx

October 13th, 2010

It was Friday and nothing serious had occurred since Naruto took down Taskmaster. He still couldn't track down Green Goblin and had no clue who he really was. He was making some progress on Tombstone, using his access and some hacking skills to get a look at his reach and his pull in the city and it was vast. With the super villains that Tombstone was making to try and take him and Spider-man down, he had to have a pull in some bio-tech company and Naruto's first guess was Oscorp. But he would need proof.

Peter had a good week, he was doing well in school, managed to snag some good pictures for some expendable income and he and Aunt May were finally financially secure which was a great burden lifted. Today was an important day for Midtown High's football team as they had a game. Peter normally wouldn't go but Harry was playing so he wanted to be there to support him. Peter was in the stands watching the game go as Midtown was down by two. He saw Gwen cheering and then saw Mary Jane sitting with Gloria so he climbed down and sat next to her.

"Hey, Tiger. Did you just get here?" Mary Jane asked.

"Yeah. Uh, what are you doing here?" Peter asked.

"Flash invited me." Mary Jane replied.

"Flash?" Peter asked as they saw end of the game with Flash throwing a touchdown to Harry in the end zone. It honestly looked like Harry really stepped his game up. Harry was carried off the field by his team mates who were cheering as the crowd started to leave the stands.

"So, MJ. I thought that, uh, at the dance, we—""Whoa, slow down Tiger." MJ said. "It's not like we're going steady or something equally that primitive. We're friends, ok."

"Well sure, but—""I'm gonna congratulate Flash." MJ said as she left Peter. Peter sigh in defeat when Liz walked up to him.

"Uh, hey Petey." Liz greeted him.

"Oh, hi Liz." Peter replied.

"Did you hear? Everyone's going to Coney Island tomorrow. You know, to celebrate the win. You wanna come?" Liz asked as he saw Flash walked with MJ with his arm around her shoulder.

"Wouldn't miss it." Peter replied causing Liz to smile.

Peter finished with Liz then went on patrol, enjoying some rare peace and quiet. Guess the bad guys decided to take a break for the night. Naruto was on patrol on the other side of the city so he had this side to himself and he hoped that it would continue. Unfortunately, the city had other plans as he saw a huge flash of light and the sounds of an explosion in the distance.

"Whoa, that doesn't look too good. Wait, that's Oscorp. Oh man, Harry's dad could be hurt." Spider-man said as he used his new enhanced vision feature in his mask to check the type of explosion and it seemed to be caused from heat. "Even at web slinging speed, it'll take me a while to get there."

He got an idea and shot out two lines of web and made a slingshot. He got situated and kept backing up and when he felt the web was nice and taught, he kicked his feet up and shot through the air like a bullet. He soared through the air, over buildings and spanned enough distance to make it to Oscorp. He shot a web and swung onto the roof and slowly made his way through the ventilation system and managed to find the room where the explosion took place to see Harry's dad being slammed against a wall by a short man with four robotic tentacles.

"Otto! What are you doing?!" Osborn shouted.

"Silence, you imperious moron!" Octavius shouted as he was about to stab Osborn with another claw when a line of web stopped him.

"Whoa, there slinky! Mr. Osborn just saved your life!" Spider-man shouted.

"You!" Octavius shouted as a claw shot out and punched him across the face. Spider-man dropped through the air and shot a web line to swing away when another claw hit him and threw him into a wall with two of them latched on and keeping him from moving.

"For the record, I'm here to save your life too!" Spider-man said, pointing at him as Octavius used his last claw to pin his hand to the wall.

"Do not insult my intelligence, hero! You tracked me down and tried to destroy me as I knew you would!" Octavius said as Spider-man struggled to get free.

"Destroy you? Pal, I don't even know you!" Spider-man responded but that was ignored as Octavius didn't care.

"Oh, but I survived and more importantly, I've improved. I am now one with my arms! Oh you failed, Spider-man! And your failure has given me new life!" Octavius said as he dropped Osborn onto the ground.

"Otto, what are you doing?" Osborn asked.

"Otto Octavius was weak! Call me, Doctor Octopus!" Octavius shouted.

"Look, Doc. Have you thought this through? The next hero who would find you under a pile of debris might find this a cautionary tale." Spider-man replied.

"Glib, does not equate with clever, Spider-man!" Octavius shouted as he smashed Spider-man around the room and threw him into the ground.

"Yeah, well the ratio of arms to sanity hasn't been established either." Spider-man shot back.

"Do you ever shut up!" Octavius shouted as he threw him into the computers. Spider-man groaned in pain as he sat up.

"Sorry, no. I have a certain image to uphold and I would love to go on." Spider-man said as he began jumping around the room, dodging Octavius's claws as Osborn and his technicians quickly made their escape.

Spider-man began jumping around the room and running up and down the walls as Octavius used his arms to follow him, crawling up and down just like him. "You're slowing down, Arachnid. But my arms never tire. And soon they'll crush— [Alarm Beep]" Octavius stopped as his harness began beeping.

"Wow, and an alarm clock too. Those arms have everything!" Spider-man said as he dodged another claw strike.

"Sorry Spider-man but I have places to go and worlds to conquer. So, you're obituary will have to be written another time." Octavius said as one of his claws grabbed a small round disk off his work bench and another grabbed the desk and threw it at Spider-man, knocking him through the wall. Spider-man groaned in pain as he saw Octavius was gone and jumped through the hole in the roof.

"Paging, Dr. Octopus! Ugh, as if Goblin wasn't bad enough. Better tell Naruto about this." Spider-man said as he web-swinged away.

Naruto was on Madison avenue, stopping some thieves who were trying to rob an armored car of money. The drivers happily drove away and the thieves were tied up and restrained to a light pole for the police. Naruto finished with the thieves and flew in the air when he saw Peter swing over and land on the rooftop next to him so he flew down.

"Spider-man, something wrong?" Naruto asked as his mask came down.

"Yeah, you could say that. There was this explosion at Oscorp. No one was injured but there was an accident and now we've got another super villain to deal with." Spider-man told him.

"Was is Tombstone?" Naruto asked.

"No. I think it was an accident but the result gave us a guy with four deadly tentacles." Spider-man said as Naruto looked at him weird.

"I hope you mean, mechanical tentacles." Naruto replied.

"He had on some kind of metal harness. He could control the arms with his mind and he flipped out. He was attacking Osborn and then attacked me. Accused me of setting up the explosion, like I was after him." Spider-man said as Naruto nodded.

"Who is he?" Naruto asked.

"Octavius. Otto Octavius but he's calling himself Dr. Octopus now and he's not right in the head. I tried to stop him but he ran. For a guy with eight appendages, he moves really fast." Spider-man said as Naruto nodded and thought to himself. Why would Octavius blame Spider-man for whatever he was blaming him for? What was Octavius up to and could it deal with Tombstone?

"All right. Well, I'll have Jarvis keep an eye on any leads we can follow. I'm sure a guy with eight limbs is going to be easy to spot. Any idea what he wanted?" Naruto asked.

"No idea but the guy didn't seem stable. He definitely put the mad in mad scientist." Spider-man said as Naruto nodded.

"Right. We'll have to find him. Jarvis will contact you when we get an update." Naruto said as Spider-man swung away while Naruto flew in the opposite direction. 'Doctor Octopus, mental and gave himself a crappy name. Not a good sign.'

October 14th, 2010

Naruto spent most of his day in the lab, trying to finish the regeneration serum. He had 95% of the serum ready and he just needed to finish the last 5% to make something that was ready for testing. Once it got through that, going to the FDA, and get it through the process for use on a global scale. While he worked on that, Naruto had Jarvis track down this Dr. Octopus by running down any leads on where Dr. Octavius would go, known contacts, associates, and what he could possibly want.

Naruto was busy doing work when Jarvis gave him an alert. "Sir, I have managed to track down Dr. Octavius. Traffic cameras picked him up going past West 23rd Street." Jarvis said as Naruto moved to the computer.

"Are any of his known contacts or associates in that general area?" Naruto asked.

"Dr. Elijah Twaney is one of the head engineers of Tricorp and their building is 10 blocks from where Dr. Octavius was spotted." Jarvis said as Naruto nodded and grabbed his armor pack. He put it on, pressed the chest button and his armor folded out and covered his body.

"Peter said he would be a Coney Island, send him a message to meet me there." Naruto said as flew out of the warehouse to Coney Island at top speed and got there in a minute. He flew down the Tricorp building and saw Octavius had already broken in. He flew down and ran through the entrance and saw several security guards on the floor, knocked out and one scared scientist.

"Where's Dr. Octavius?" Naruto asked the scientist.

"R&D, Vault 8." Dr. Twaney told him.

"That's ironic." Naruto said as he ran to the vault to see the vault door was ripped off its hinges. He saw Dr. Octavius up in the air with two of the metal tentacles acting as legs, staring at something.

"Ah, like an old friend. How nice to see you, again." Dr. Octopus said as he used his tentacles to smash the security case and grab the item. Naruto jumped and ran on the ceiling and when he got above Octavius, he jumped down. He grabbed the small round device and back flipped away.

"Sorry Doc, but this doesn't belong to you." Naruto told him.

"STARK! I should have known the wall crawler would have gone to you for help!" Dr. Octavius growled in anger as Naruto smirked.

"What can I say? I'm a people person." Naruto said as Octavius tried to skewer him but Naruto back flipped and stuck to the wall with his chakra. "And for the record, my last name is Uzumaki. Just because Tony took me in doesn't me I have his last name. Don't worry, that's a common misconception about me."

Octavius sent two of his claws to skewer him but Naruto jumped from the wall and rolled to the side. He ducked and back flipped as one of Octavius's claws smashed through the ground. Naruto then spun through the air to avoid getting hit and rolled to the side.

"Hand over the device." Octavius said as one of his claws pinched.

"Sorry, can't do that." Naruto said.

"I should have known you would come after me. My incredible mind anticipated you would try and stop me and I have run through every single end to this fight and they all end in your death. Now, would you like it to be quick and painless or long and excoriating." Dr. Octopus asked as the tentacle claws began spinning like saw blades.

"Do we have a third option?" Naruto asked as he his hearing picked up the sound of a web shooter. He then jumped out of the way to avoid the spinning blades and landed near the entrance to the vault. "I'm guessing that's a no."

"Now it's time to kill you. Once I've settled down, I'll have a wonderful time figuring out how you work." Dr. Octopus said as his claws pinched. Naruto's hearing picked up the sound of something hitting the wall near the vault and smirked.

"Raincheck." Naruto said as he ducked and a huge glob of web hit Dr. Octopus and incased him in impact webbing as he struggled to get free. The webbing constricted his robotic arms as he struggled to get free. Naruto looked behind him and saw Peter arrive. "Nice timing."

"I know, I have a knack for that." Peter said as they left the vault and ran out of the building. "Any idea what Dr. Calamari wanted in there?"

"This. Jarvis, scan." Naruto said as Jarvis began scanning the device he took from Dr. Octopus. Naruto began reading the scans on the device. "It's a power source. Compact and holds a charge for years. More advance than anything on the market."

"Ah ha, so that's what the timer was. The Doc's arms are on borrowed time and he needs that or his tank will run on empty." Spider-man said as Naruto nodded.

"All right, how about a game of keep away." Naruto said as he flew out of the building and Spider-man followed him as Dr. Octopus came charging out of the building.

"SPIDER-MAN!" Dr. Octopus shouted as he saw Spider-man and Naruto making their escape. Spider-man shot a web line at Naruto's foot and held on as Naruto flew them away as Dr. Octopus was gaining on them.

"Wow, guess the Doc is faster than he looks." Spider-man said as he saw Dr. Octopus used his claws to jump to the roof of a building and was gaining on them. "Uh, little faster there, Naruto!"

"Hang on!" Naruto said as he flew down to street level. Pedestrians saw Naruto Uzumaki with Spider-man right behind him as they flew down the city streets while a man with four robotic tentacles chased after him. Spider-man looked back and saw Dr. Octopus change course and go straight towards Coney Island.

"Naruto, he's taken a detour!" Spider-man said as Naruto looked and saw him heading straight to civilians.

"He's drawing us out. Let's stop him quickly!" Naruto said as he turned around and headed towards Coney Island.

Dr. Octopus stomped through Coney Island as the visitors ran in terror and fright to avoid being stomped on or killed. The students from Midtown High who were celebrating their recent football win were running away, including Mary Jane and Gwen. Gwen tripped and fell to the ground and saw Harry just jump over her and keep running. MJ saw Gwen fall and went to help her as they saw Dr. Octopus about to stomp on them when Spider-man swung by and saved them.

Dr. Octopus growled as he chased after him but was blindsided from behind as Naruto bashed into him, knocking him into a food stand. Spider-man swung around the tilt-a-whirl ride and landed on the ground, dropping off Gwen and MJ with the others from Midtown High.

"Thanks for the company, love to stay but I've got a Doctor's appointment." Spider-man said as he turned to see Naruto flip and jump around to avoid getting hit by Dr. Octopus. Spider-man jumped onto one of the Ferris wheel carts as Naruto flipped in the air and tossed the battery to Spider-man. "Oh, and nice throw from rookie quarter back, Naruto Uzumaki."

Naruto then grabbed a claw that Dr. Octopus tried to impale him with and threw him through another food stand but he got right back up as Naruto kept dodging and ducking to make Octavius waist more power. "Hang on, guys! I'm here to help!" Naruto heard as he saw Flash Thompson try to play hero and charge at Octavius from behind so Naruto quickly flipped over and grabbed him just in time to avoid being skewered.

"Stay out of this Flash! You're gonna get yourself killed." Naruto said as Flash nodded and ran back to his group but Naruto was distracted which allowed Dr. Octopus to slam and knocked him through three food stands and grab Liz. Naruto moved the broken pieces of wood and beam off of him and saw Dr. Octopus holding Liz and bargaining her life for the battery so Spider-man threw it to the water.

Dr. Octopus went after it while Spider-man saved Liz. Naruto jumped in the air and saw Dr. Octopus managed to save the battery and was about to replace his old one. He held his arm out and focused his sight on the battery and fired a small beam of energy and managed to blast the battery in half.

"Bulls-eye." Naruto said as Dr. Octopus looked at Naruto in pure rage.

"YOU INSIGNIFICANT BRAT!" Dr. Octopus yelled in anger as he swung his claws at Naruto who ducked and dodged them. Spider-man then shot a line of webbing that managed to stick two tentacles together so Naruto capitalized on this. He quickly flipped to avoid being hit and grabbed onto the webbed claws and began spinning Dr. Octopus like a ragdoll and then slammed him into the tea-cups ride.

"Ugh…" Octavius groaned in pain as Naruto walked up to him, grabbed the mechanical arm ports in the back of the harness and pulled them off. He pulled with enough force to disconnect the four mechanical arms from the harness leaving Dr. Octopus into Dr. Otto Octavius once again, now with a mechanical harness and no arms.

Peter left and got dressed back to normal and began taking pictures for the Bugle as the police arrived with a special van and equipment to take Dr. Octavius to jail and his metal harnesses to police lockup. Naruto was talking with some of the officers and detectives on what happened and what Dr. Octavius wanted at Tricorp when he noticed some drama going on between Flash and Liz and didn't need to use his chakra-enhanced hearing to know a break up when he saw one. Poor Liz. But the focus was on Dr. Octavius and his possible connection to the Big Man. From his weird spouts at Peter and him before, he might have been working on something secret and ten bucks says that has to do with Tombstone. And Naruto was going to find out.

Line Break xxxxx

October 22nd, 2010

It's been nearly ten days since the showdown with Dr. Octopus and Naruto couldn't find a clear connection to Tombstone. Oscorp's lawyers went into full lockdown after Octavius turned into Dr. Octopus and his work at Oscorp was swept under the rug to prevent any media backlash or tie back after what happened at Chelsea Piers. Naruto expected this and because of it, finding a lead from Octavius to Tombstone was proving very difficult and was making Naruto a little agitated. He didn't expect taking down Tombstone and finding the Green Goblin to be this difficult.

Peter told him to relax and not to drive himself crazy. They'd find out everything and take down Tombstone, they just needed to wait for him to slip up and then it would be over. Naruto kept searching for a link while working on other projects and getting Stark Tower up and functional as soon as possible. It hit the papers that Naruto owns and operates Stark Towers, so he needed to make sure he did the best job to prove that Tony didn't give him the tower because of nepotism and that he was someone to be taken seriously.

Currently, he was taking a break and heading to NYU to spend some time with Linda who was working on something big for her journalism class and maybe the Bugle. He parked his orange 2009 Lamborghini Murcielago, another birthday gift from Tony in the parking lot and walked to Linda's dorm room. He knocked on her door and heard come in. He walked in to see her busy working on something on her laptop with papers and folders all over her side of the room.

"Wow, looks like you brought your Bugle work home with you." Naruto said.

"It's not official Bugle work. It's something that started as an assignment for my criminology class and kind of evolved." Linda said.

"Wait, since when were you taking criminology?" Naruto asked.

"I managed to get a last-minute transfer into the class. It's interesting." Linda said.

"Ok, so what's this story?" Naruto asked.

"I think the Maggia crime family is back in New York City." Linda said as she handed him a copy of the New York Times with the article that showed that Italian aristocrat and alleged Maggia head Count Luchino Nefaria arriving in New York City for a business meeting.

"You're kidding, Count Nefaria is here in the city?" Naruto asked.

"Yup, the alleged Maggia head is in the city for a business meeting and I think it has something to do with bringing the Maggia back to prominence in New York." Linda said.

"Right. The old crime boss, Silvio Manfredi was the head of the New York chapter but after the huge bust where he and his whole enterprise were arrested, the Maggia cut ties and went back to Europe. It's what allowed Tombstone to gain control of New York." Naruto said.

"Uh huh and I've been doing some digging and I think that Nefaria is trying to muscle his way in and retake New York for the Maggia. The amount of dock and mob-controlled resources have shot up in the last week. I think Nefaria is here in the city to try and make a power move." Linda said.

"How did you get access to this stuff?" Naruto asked as he looked at the files and saw that some of them had the STARK Industries logo. "You hacked into my database?"

"Ok, hacked is the wrong word. I know your password. It's ramen." Linda looked at him with an 'are you serious' look.

"Ok, but that's only for the obvious stuff. But still, some security upgrades might be in order. Ok, so have you contacted the police?" Naruto asked.

"I did and they say there isn't any evidence. Supposedly, Nefaria is here on a goodwill mission and without probable cause they can't do anything." Linda said. "But luckily I have a super-powered boyfriend who is doing a pretty good job keeping the city safe.

"Smooth transition. All right, let's see what we find and we'll go from there." Naruto said as he worked with Linda for hours until they went to bed.

October 26th, 2010

Naruto was back at his lab, working on stuff and was just about finished with a beta version of the regeneration serum and once he was finished they could begin testing. While Naruto was working in his lab, Peter was there as well finishing up some actual paperwork that Naruto was having him do. It wasn't anything serious, just some shipment orders, requests and contracts for other scientists, projected sales and patterns for the company and potential prototypes for designs and other things they could work on. That last list ranged from ideas to cancer and medical treatments to new technology to be used by law enforcement agencies like new body armor or possible recon drones to be used in their investigations.

Naruto was adjusting the chemical ration to the bonding agent of the serum when Peter spoke. "What's a new-dog?" Peter asked as he looked at one of the prototypes.

"It's some kind of self-cooking hot dog. Uses Nano-technology to cook it. Some weirdo from MIT submitted the idea." Naruto said as he adjusted the ratio to 10:4 on his serum.

"Something tells me that ingesting a tiny metal filled hot dog can't be healthy." Peter said as he put the folder down and rubbed his eyes. "I'm gonna get a cup of coffee, want anything?"

"No, I'm good." Naruto said as Peter stepped out to get a drink. Naruto typed some commands into his computer when his phone rang and he saw it was Linda. "Hey, Linda. What's up? Excited for date night?"

"Get off—let me—shut up!" Naruto heard as it sounded like Linda and someone else.

"Linda. Linda!" Naruto shouted as he quickly connected his phone to the computer. "Jarvis, track the call!"

"Tracking, sir." Jarvis replied as he began narrowing down the call's location using satellites and cell towers.

"Linda, what's wrong?! Who's with you?!" Naruto shouted.

"Shut her—piss off—Dammit!" He heard when the phone call cut off.

"Linda?! Linda!" Naruto shouted as he tried to call back but it went straight to voicemail.

"Tracking incomplete, sir. The phone call was interrupted and my sensors indicate the phone was destroyed. General location, Lower Manhattan." Jarvis said as Naruto ran his hands through his hair in worry.

"Shit!" Naruto said as he ran his hands through his hair. "Jarvis, run through the recording of the call. Every single megabyte of the call and analyze anything that could help you track where whoever was taking her."

"Yes, sir." Jarvis replied as Peter walked back into room and saw Naruto was upset.

"Whoa, Naruto what's wrong?" Peter asked.

"I don't know. I call a call from Linda and I heard her and someone else. I think two other guys and it sounded like they had grabbed her. I tried to track the call but nothing." Naruto said as he kicked over the chair in anger. "Dammit!"

"Whoa, Naruto calm down. Look, don't worry we'll find her together." Peter said as Naruto nodded. "Ok, so who would want to take Linda?"

"I don't know. I mean, my identity is well known, it could be a criminal who thought they could get to me through her." Naruto said.

"Someone who might use her as leverage for a blackmail scheme? I'm sorry, but the guy would have to be either incredibly cocky or brain dead to try and blackmail you." Peter said.

"It could be Tombstone. I swear, if he's done anything to her than I'll— "Naruto, calm down." Peter said, trying to get Naruto to stop thinking of the worst situation.

"Look, Linda needs you focused and ready, not panicking and jumble-minded. She's definitely alive because if they had wanted to kill her to get to you then she would already be dead so that means they want her alive." Peter said.

"Right. Sorry. Ok, Jarvis did your scan find anything?" Naruto asked.

"Yes, sir. Based on scans from the cellphone's path and echo location from the call I can deduce that Ms. Park was picked up somewhere on the corner of E. Broadway and Market street and proceeded to move in a western direction before the call cut out." Jarvis said as he brought up a map on the screens.

"Ok, this helps. What was Linda doing in Lower Manhattan?" Peter asked.

"I don't know. NYU's way too far away for Linda to have gone out for something and she rarely goes that far south and the Bugle is in the opposite direction." Naruto said.

"Ok, so she wasn't going there for school. Could she be writing a story and needed to be there?" Peter asked.

"I don't think so. The only thing we were…" Naruto said as he remembered what he and Linda worked on four days ago. "The Maggia."

"Uh, excuse me?" Peter asked.

"No, it was a story Linda was working on for her criminology class. One of the Maggia heads is in the city and Linda's been tracking a huge uptick in activity that suggests he's here to make a power grab." Naruto said as he brought up the research.

"And take on Tombstone for control of the city and in the process, start a city-wide gang war." Peter said as he looked at the information. "We've got to stop him to protect the city. I can't believe I just said that."

"And I think I know where they took her. Linda said there was an uptick in dock activity and mob-controlled resources. The issue is where?" Naruto asked as they looked over the information, the signal of where Linda was taken and where she might be going and any nearby docks.

"There. The docks by FDR Drive. Pier 16 is the closest active docks to where she was taken. We'll start there." Peter said as Naruto nodded.

"Jarvis, contact Captain Stacy and tell him everything." Naruto said as he grabbed his armor and Peter suited up.

Inside one of the private warehouses at the docks that was surrounded by dozens of black SUVs and armed men, the Maggia crime syndicate was moving goods and resources into a truck that had a red dragon symbol with the words Khan imports in the middle. They loaded it up and once it was done, they locked the doors.

"Sir, we've finished loading the truck." One of the Maggia men told his boss. His boss stepped into the light, wearing a white suit and blue tie. He was holding a gold and diamond studded cane, even though he had no need for it. (2)

Nefaria walked over to three men who were dressed in black facemasks, with black and gold armored with their shoulder pads studded with a symbol of ten rings and the face of dragon in the middle. A symbol of the Tong Crime Syndicate. "I was told the Mandarin would be here." Count Nefaria said.

"This land is not worthy of our Lord. We will suffice." One of the men said.

"Very well. The agreed upon merchandise is in the truck and all the necessary forged documents are prepared. Now, uphold your end of the bargain." Count Nefaria said as one of the masked men held out a metal briefcase and a manila folder.

"Your agreed upon payment and the information you requested." One of the Tong said as Count Nefaria took the folder. He opened it to see information on Tombstone, Hammerhead and all the new crime bosses who took over New York after Silvermane's arrest.

"Excellent. And if the Mandarin wishes to do business, the Maggia are willing to cooperate." Count Nefaria said as The Tong went to the truck and left. "Foolish zealots."

"Sir, why do business with the Tong?" One of Nefaria's men asked.

"Because as much as I despise competition, there is always good money to be made in our business." Count Nefaria said as they walked through the warehouse filled with stolen tech and weapons the Maggia would use to take down Tombstone and his enterprise. "For too long have the Maggia been absent for America, but soon we shall take back our rightful place."

"Let me go, you bastards!" Count Nefaria heard as he turned to see two of his men dragging a young woman through the warehouse.

"Count Nefaria, we found this girl staking out one of our drops and taking pictures." One of the Maggia said, holding up a broken cell phone and a digital camera. Nefaria took the camera and looked through the photos and saw they were off his men at one of the drops, picking up stolen merchandise.

"How did you know my men would be at this drop?" Count Nefaria asked.

"I'm good at being a reporter." Linda said.

"Smart, and witty. Such a waste. Well, I'm afraid that I can't let you live." Count Nefaria said as he pulled out a high-tech pistol he stole from a shipment from Tricorp. "Any last words?"

Linda was worried but then looked to warehouse exit and saw a shadow swing by and smirked. "Yeah, you're going to wish you never came back to New York." Linda said when something crashed through the ceiling, making a small hole and taking the ceiling supports with it. The figure smashed through and landed on the ground in front of Linda and pushed Count Nefaria away and into three of his goons.

The Maggia looked and saw it was Maelstrom, decked out in his armor as he looked at them and you could tell he was pissed even from the blue glow of his mask. "You guys are in big trouble." Maelstrom said as he then kicked the guard holding Linda through the air and into the wall, leaving a large crack.

"Kill them! Kill them both!" Count Nefaria shouted as some of his men helped him up.

He grabbed Linda and ran for cover behind some crates as the Maggia pulled out their guns and fired at them. Naruto's armor gave him protection but with Linda, there was a chance a bullet would deflect or bounce off and hit her so he wanted to get her to safety while he took care of business. He and Linda took cover behind a crate as bullets flew overhead.

"It seems I'm always saving your ass." Naruto said as he covered her from bullets.

"It is an ass worth saving." Linda said as she saw Count Nefaria making his way to a car. "He's going to get away."

"No, he won't." Naruto said as a huge gob of web hit Count Nefaria, sticking him to the side of the car.

Count Nefaria looked and saw Spider-man swing down and land on the car. "You're not going anywhere Count beardo. Now stick around until we deal with your little gang." Spider-man said as he back flipped off the car to avoid a hail of bullets. As he flipped, he fired a barrage of web bullets and hit the three Maggia men who tried to kill him.

Spider-man landed on the ground, shot a web line at the legs of the guy on the right and then flipped to the side, pulling the line. When he pulled, the Maggia man was pulled with him, knocking over the other two. Spider-man then jumped forward and double kicked a Maggia goon through the air and into a crate. He flipped through the air to avoid bullets before firing web lines and yanking two men through the air and slammed them against the wall before webbing sticking them.

Naruto jumped over the crate and close-lined one of the Maggia men who grabbed Linda. He then grabbed the guy's leg and threw him into a crate, smashing it into splinters. Naruto then charged energy through his right arm, the energy coursed through the power conduits throughout his suit and lit up. The energy collected to the energy port on the back of his right fist, he then focused and a small energy blade shot out. Naruto jumped forward and kicked one of the goons across the room and then swiped with the energy blade and sliced the assault rifle a Maggia goon was holding cleanly in half. He then punched the goon in the face and knocked him through the air. (3)

Naruto saw the Maggia goons open a crate holding RPG's so he aimed his right fist at the crate and the energy blade shot out like a bullet and hit the crate, causing it to explode and knocked the Maggia goons back. Naruto now made two small energy blades, one on each fist and went back to fighting. He was slicing guns, knives and metal pipes in half and cutting certain tendons to render the Maggia goons he fought limp and incapable of fighting. Naruto headbutted another guy, then threw him over his shoulder and broke his arm. Naruto then spin kicked another Maggia goon before blocking a swing from a metal pipe.

"Spidey!" Naruto shouted as he kicked the guy away as Spider-man jumped over him, grabbed his shoulders and then front flipped, using the momentum to throw him through the air.

"Nice double team!" Spider-man shouted as he flipped through the air and punched another goon while Naruto grabbed a Maggia goon and did a suplex. Spider-man then kicked the goon he was fighting away, fired a web line to pull him back and then close-lined him. He then jumped in the air to avoid a hail of bullets before webbing an empty crate and throwing it at the Maggia goons. He landed in a flip before jumping over a Maggia goon and kicked him towards Naruto. "Coming your way!"

Naruto turned and then close-lined the Maggia goon hard, knocking out some teeth. Spider-man landed near Naruto as they saw the last guy had grabbed Linda and was holding her a gun point. "And then there was one." Spider-man said.

"Now, here's how this is going to work! I'm taking her and getting out of here." The guy said as he pointed his gun at Naruto.

"Not going to happen." Naruto replied.

"Yeah, what he said." Linda said as she stomped on his right foot, causing him to let her go. She then turned around and punched him across the face and kicked him in the nuts as the guy squealed like a pig.

"Oh, shot below the belt." Spider-man said as the guy that was holding Linda dropped to the ground like a sack of potatoes.

"Nice shot." Naruto said as his mask deactivated. Linda ran over and hugged him as the police arrived with SWAT units and surrounded the entire warehouse and docks. "And the cavalry's here."

"Yeah, a little late to the party." Spider-man said as they saw Captain Stacy, along with SWAT members and officers came into the warehouse and began arresting the Maggia men that Naruto and Spider-man took down along with securing the contraband.

"We came as soon as the call came in. Although, it seems you two had it all handled." Captain Stacy said as he looked at all the beaten Maggia goons.

"Eh, it was easy." Spider-man said as Naruto nodded. "Although with the boys in blue here, we can make sure this stuff gets back to its rightful owners."

"And the cherry on top." Naruto said as he walked over to Count Nefaria and ripped him free of the webbing. "Captain Stacy, may I present to you Count Nefaria, head of the Maggia crime syndicate and the one responsible for all this."

"And I got it all on tape." Linda said as she took off her shoe and moved to sole to reveal a high-tech recording device. "It'll go great with my pictures."

"Nicely done." Spider-man said as Captain Stacy had two of his officers come over.

"Nice job, Spider-man. You too, Naruto. [Sigh] Now, I'm going to have to ask you to release Mr. Nefaria." Captain Stacy told him.

"What?!" Linda shouted.

"Whoa, Captain. Did you not here anything about the smuggling, kidnapping and attempted murder?" Spider-man asked.

"I heard but as a foreign national in our country, Count Nefaria cannot be arrested or tried for any crime he commits on our soil. Even murder." Captain Stacy said as Count Nefaria chuckled.

"Diplomatic immunity." Count Nefaria said with a smirk.

"I'm sorry but I can't touch him." Captain Stacy said.

"But I can." Naruto said as he kneed Count Nefaria in the nuts, sending him to his knees as he shouted in pain. Naruto then grabbed his shoulder and pulled him close. "If I get even a whiff that you're back in the country, diplomatic immunity won't save you then."

Naruto then hoisted him up and pushed him as two police officers would escort Count Nefaria to the Italian Embassy. "Sorry, kids. But there are people in this world that even you can't touch." Captain Stacy said.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that. Something tells me a story's about to come out that will ruin Count Nefaria's reputation." Linda said with a chuckle.

Line Break xxxxx

October 31st, 2010

Thanks to the combined efforts of Spider-man, Naruto, and the police, all the Maggia goons were arrested and the FBI Organized Crime division would take over authority and use the information to combat other Maggia operations in the US and send the relevant information to Interpol. Count Nefaria was driven to the Italian Consulate where he then caught a plane back to Italy within a few hours. The Italian Consulate refused to comment on his illegal activities but they were soon hit with a huge backlash.

The day after Linda was taken, she wrote a hell of an expose on Count Nefaria and the Maggia crime family. Jameson initially wanted to twist the story so that Spider-man was working with the Maggia but the police and FBI would then be on his case for printing the wrong information so he relented. The paper read, Count Nefaria outed as Maggia Head: Showdown in New York City. The expose detailed Count Nefaria's criminal exploits in the city, his smuggling of merchandise for the Maggia, and his kidnapping and attempted murder of Linda Park until he was foiled by Naruto Uzumaki and Spider-man. The police busted all the Maggia goons and the merchandise was recovered but Nefaria was let free.

Suffice it to say, that Interpol now had Nefaria on their watchlist and the rumor was that the Italian government was going to revoke his diplomatic immunity and charge him with his crimes. All in all, it was a solid win for the good guys and gave Linda some publicity for her article.

Currently, Naruto was in his headquarters watching the breaking news about a NASA shuttle that was damaged by some debris. The ship and its crew were supposed to land tonight on Halloween but with the damage it suffered, the chances of the shuttle surviving any longer in space or even land safety were getting slimmer by the second.

"Jarvis, is there anything we can do about the shuttle?" Naruto asked.

"I'm afraid no, sir. It would take too long for another shuttle to reach them and even if you could fly into the atmosphere to do repairs, your oxygen suit wouldn't survive the flight." Jarvis said as Naruto sighed.

[Beep—beep] Naruto's heard an alert go off and rolled over to check what happened.

"Sensor's picked up something moving at the speed of sound within the city limits. It's the Goblin." Naruto said as he walked over to his armor, suited up and flew over to where the sensor last picked up the supersonic signature.

Naruto floated in the air above where the sensor picked up the supersonic signature and saw a trashed limo and some recently made scorched marks and impact craters. "The Goblin for sure and he took someone. Someone important to do this in the afternoon." Naruto said to himself as he pulled out a mini-drone from his belt and it began doing a scan of the area.

'Still playing hero, child?' Naruto heard a voice he hadn't in a long time. Naruto then entered his mindscape to see the 9-tailed fox staring at him.

"Ah, furry butt. Haven't heard from you in a while. I honestly figured you died." Naruto said as the Kyubi scoffed.

'Please, I'm the mighty Kyubi. Nothing can kill me. Besides, I was sleeping.' The Kyubi said.

"For this long. Wow, you must really enjoy your cat naps. So why speak to me now?" Naruto asked.

'Because it's amusing to watch you play hero. Like my own movie in your head. Watching the bumbling adventures of the brat who is trying to play hero.' Kyubi said.

"Hey, I'm not playing hero, I am a hero. I'm keeping this city safe." Naruto told him as the Kyubi chuckled.

'Please the people of this city are so pathetic that they even need a hero. And why be one. In this world, no one could stop you…or us. We could rule this world and get everything we ever wanted.' The Kyubi said as Naruto looked at him.

"Since when was this a we situation. You'd kill me the first chance you get." Naruto said as the Kyubi smirked.

'And I still would but it would be enjoyable. Watching the people of this world scramble at my feet, begging for mercy. And no shinobi to stop me. Nothing in this new world could stop me.' Kyubi said.

"Except I can. I'm your jailor and your furry butt isn't getting out. Even over my dead body." Naruto told him.

'That can be arranged.' The Kyubi said, eager.

"Not in this lifetime, plushie." Naruto said as the Kyubi tried to impale Naruto with his claws but the cage stopped him.

'Don't you dare call me that.' The Kyubi growled.

"Oh…scary. Well, let me know if the plushie wants a magazine or a TV or something." Naruto said as he exited his mindscape.

Naruto refocused on getting any evidence he could when he got an incoming call from Peter's spider-suit communicator. "Spider-man, what's up?" Naruto asked.

"Naruto, I think I know who the Green Goblin is." Peter told him over the communication line.

"All right, meet me at armory." Naruto said as he flew back.

"Wait, back up a sec." Naruto said as he had just finished listening to Peter tell him what he found out. "You think that the Green Goblin, the green mutated menace that we fought weeks ago is Norman Osborn."

"It's a hunch but a solid one. I ran into Goblin swinging through the city and he had a lot to say and he's definitely gotten stronger. But he said that he's got a drive of every illegal thing Tombstone's been doing. Enough to put him away for good and tear down his whole enterprise. He said he'll make a signal of where he has it." Peter told him.

"Most likely a trap. But that might explain the Goblin wreckage I saw earlier. Ok, that part's clear, now about the part of him being Norman Osborn?" Naruto asked.

"I saw the Goblin fly near Harry's penthouse so I got a little suspicious to see if he was targeting Mr. Osborn when seconds later he walked out of a secret entrance I've never seen before." Peter said.

"It's possible. Whatever the Goblin is using to mutate himself could be controlled and believe me, part of me thinks you're right. But don't you think it could be a coincidence?" Naruto asked.

"Maybe, but think about everything else. Goblin has a jump drive with all of Tombstone's illegal activities, most likely super villain related." Peter said as Naruto followed.

"People who were changed by a high-tech company, like Oscorp. Osborn would have kept something to have an edge over Tombstone should he want to. And he probably can do it without implicating himself." Naruto said.

"And Dr. Octavius's accident and the robberies at Oscorp." Peter said.

"Were a way to throw off suspicion it was him. Ok, we'll need to prove it." Naruto said.

"Something tells me we'll have the chance later tonight if Osborn keeps his word about the signal to." Peter said.

"And when he does, we'll be ready. Pete, you'll probably going to want to talk to Harry." Naruto said as Peter nodded.

"Oh, yeah. Hey Harry, your dad is the sociopathic Green Goblin that my boss has been after for a while. That'll be a fun discussion. I'm meeting him at the Bleaker Street Carnival." Peter said as Naruto nodded.

"All right. Tonight, we end this." Naruto said as Peter nodded and left.

The sun was setting as the city was in full swing for the festivities of Halloween as parties and parades went off across the city. Peter was on his way to the Bugle to hand in some photos for Jameson and then head to the Bleaker Street Carnival to see Harry while Naruto stuck around to monitor any new activity.

At Oscorp, the late shift was in full swing as new guards were attentive at every little thing they could see. The guards at the front desk were shocked to see Norman Osborn walk in when he left hours ago.

"Mr. Osborn. Didn't think to see you here at this hour." The guard said.

"If you want to rule the world, you don't punch time clocks." Osborn said as he walked into the building when he heard the sound of a creepy cackle and the building shook.

Osborn ran down the hall as the guards all ran to the disturbance with the alarm blaring throughout the building.

"Mr. Osborn, he took it. Stole it!" One of the scientists shouted.

"A thief, here? What did he steal?" Osborn asked.

"The disruptor proto-type!" The scientist told him.

"Freeze dirt bag!" One of the guards shouted but was then blasted through a concrete pillar by a green plasma blast. The Green Goblin then flew around on his glider as he held a high-tech glowing battle rifle and cackled like a mad man.

"AH HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" The Goblin shouted as his glider fired a rocket at the ceiling, making a hole for him to escape.

Peter was swinging across town and had just arrived in the alley near the carnival when his phone rang. "Hey, Gwen." Peter said as he deactivated his voice disguiser.

"Oh, Peter, finally. I've been calling. What's up with Harry?" Gwen asked.

"Oh, well he's meeting me at the Carnival. I'm already here." Peter said as he jumped off a wall and landed on the ground. "Where are you?"

Peter looked to his left and saw Gwen right there. "Pete?" Gwen asked as Peter took off the mask.

"Nice costume, huh? I worked on it for weeks." Peter told he and Gwen joined MJ and Liz as they watched the football team, dressed in cheerleader outfits form a pyramid.

"I'm gonna cream, Osborn. Where the hell is he? He's supposed to be the top of our pyramid." Flash said as he struggled with the weight of his team when he saw Peter in his costume. "[Laughs] Look! It's the spectacular Spider-geek!"

Flash laughed but he lost his grip and the entire pyramid came tumbling down with his team mates falling on top of him. MJ and Liz looked and saw Peter in his costume and were impressed.

"I've got to say, Tiger. You fill out that costume quite nicely." MJ said as she touched his shoulder and felt the material.

"Very nicely. You can web me up anytime, Petey." Liz said as Peter blushed while Gwen huffed.

"Puny Parker?! He looks nothing like Spidey! I should've been Spider-man!" Flash said as he walked towards them.

"Don't worry, Flash. You fill out your costume nicely too." Peter said as Flash put him in a headlock but stopped as the fireworks started.

The fireworks lit up the sky in shower of sparks and colors when a lone green firework shot high into the air and exploded to form a scary jack o'lantern face. 'Goblin.' Peter thought as he heard the roar of something flying. He and his friends looked up and saw Maelstrom fly past them with his blue flight trail streaking behind.

"Whoa, wonder what's got your boss in such a hurry, Tiger." MJ said to Peter.

"Peter, we really should find Harry. Pete?" Gwen called out as she and MJ noticed Peter was gone.

More jack o'lantern fireworks went off as Naruto flew towards their location when he noticed Peter swing by them. Naruto nodded to Peter and he nodded back as they found themselves at the old steel smelting factory. Naruto landed on the ground as Peter swung right down next to him.

"This is it. Why can't the bad guys ever pick a nice hotel or park to do meetings?" Spider-man asked.

"Probably because Green Goblin wants an advantage. The heat from this place is messing with my scanner. I can't get a clear read out here." Naruto said as Peter sighed.

"Well, if it's a trap, let's spring it. Race you inside." Spider-man said as he jumped through an open window and landed inside while Naruto kicked open the door. "Always so dramatic."

"He knows we're coming." Naruto said as he looked around and saw Hammerhead, Tombstone's second in command dangling from a chain above a smoldering hot vat of molten metal ore.

"This is so embarrassing." Hammerhead said as he saw Spider-man and Naruto arrive to save him. "First taken by a green freak and now being saved by two punks."

"Happy to see you too, flathead." Spider-man said.

"Now, where is the Goblin?" Naruto asked as he tried to use his scanners to find Goblin but the intense heat in the factory was messing with his equipment.

"Ok, Hammy? Where's the jump drive you have on Tombstone?" Spider-man asked as Hammerhead struggled to get free.

"There is no jump drive on Mr. Lincoln. You think I'm stupid enough to keep evidence against him. He'd find out and make me disappear. There is no incriminating evidence." Hammerhead said.

"Goblin said that he was going to blackmail Tombstone with your jump drive." Spider-man said.

"It was all a set up." Naruto said as they heard the Goblin's mad cackle.

"Yes, yes, I'm a big fat liar!" The Goblin shouted as several pumpkin bombs hit the railing Naruto and Spider-man were on. "I think we all know this is a trap."

Another pumpkin bomb hit one of the containers holding the molten ore. The impact caused the container to spill towards Naruto and Spider-man who jumped out of the way. Naruto jumped to the ground as the ore began to flow near him so he jumped onto another railing as Spider-man swung by when a pumpkin blade sliced his web so he landed on the railing Naruto was on.

"Welcome to Goblin's house of horrors! Or should I say, refinery of revulsion!" Goblin shouted as he appeared in front of them. His hands glowed green as he fired his green energy blasts and his glider began firing multiple pumpkin bombs. Spider-man shot a web to the ceiling and pulled himself away as Naruto backflipped away and landed on the adjacent railing.

The Goblin's glider kept firing at Naruto as he ran along the platform with the Goblin right on his tail a barrage of pumpkin bombs and green energy blasts. Spider-man then swung by to hit the Goblin but was blasted by a green energy blast and knocked back into a pipe.

Naruto jumped in the air to avoid a pumpkin bomb, turned mid-air, and fired an energy blast at the Goblin. Goblin fired one of his own and the two met in the air and cancelled each other out with an explosion that knocked them both back. Naruto spun his body and stuck his feet to one of the huge steam tankers as he saw the chain holding up Hammerhead about to break. He flew over just as the chain broke and grabbed it before Hammerhead took a bath in molten ore but lost one of his shoes. Naruto landed on the ground and put Hammerhead down and saw Spider-man get zapped in the back and smack into a pipe.

The Goblin flew at him with the blade on his glider ready to spear Spider-man so Naruto fired an energy blast that knocked him off course.

"Thanks!" Spider-man shouted as the Goblin set his sights on Naruto who jumped away but Goblin hit him with an energy blast and smashed him into a wall.

Naruto hit the wall hard as that energy blast felt a lot stronger than the last fight with the Goblin. Goblin's glider fired a barrage of pumpkin bombs and missiles at Naruto. Naruto held his hands out, creating a blue chakra shield as the bombs and missiles collided, creating green and red explosions. Naruto grit his teeth as the force of the explosions was stronger than anything he had faced before and soon the shield broke. The remaining bombs and missiles knocked Naruto through the wall and into the ground outside of the factory.

Naruto groaned in pain as he felt concussed from the explosions. He got back up and shook his head, readjusting himself as he heard more explosions going off in the factory so Naruto jumped back in through the hole he made. He saw Spider-man swinging and dodging his best but the Goblin got him from the side with an energy blast and knocked him into one of the molten ore containers.

Spider-man quickly backflipped and jumped away as the Goblin chased after him. The Goblin pressed a button on his gauntlet and the bottom of the glider opened up to reveal a high-tech energy gun. The gun powered up and locked onto Spider-man when Naruto flew forward and created an energy shield. The gun fired a purple energy blast that managed to tear through Naruto's shield and blast him through the air and through one of the molten ore containers. Naruto jumped out of the molten ore with only the smell of melted metal and some singes on his hair.

"Whew, thank you, durability." Naruto said as he powered up but saw that his powers weren't working right away. His blue charka aura was fritzing like it was being disrupted. "What the hell is going on?"

"Sir, it would appear the Goblin hit you with a plasma disruptor. The plasma energy disrupted the chakra pathways through your body and your powers. However, the effects are only temporary." Jarvis said as Naruto clenched his fists and they glowed blue. "Oh, and incoming, sir."

"What?" Naruto asked as he was blindsided by the Goblin's glider and dragged through the factory before the plasma disruptor blasted him again and was smashed into the wall of the factory.

"Dammit!" Naruto said as he shook his head free and saw the Goblin heading straight for him.

The Goblin was about to hit Naruto again when Spider-man swung by and managed to kick him off his glider and onto a pipe. Naruto pulled himself out of the wall and saw Spider-man web Goblin to the pipe, thinking that was it. Naruto took out some electronic binders and threw them at the Goblin's legs, keeping them stuck together.

"Your party manners suck, Gobby. If you want guests to have fun, you should offer out snacks and not try to kill them." Spider-man said as Naruto flew up next to him.

"Oh, tsk tsk, how rude of me. But at least I brought party favors!" The Goblin shouted as his glider fired a pumpkin blade at the ceiling. The ceiling then opened up to reveal hundreds of falling pumpkin bombs.

"Scatter!" Naruto shouted as he and Spider-man jumped and made their way to an exit. Naruto ran as fast as he could with his charka cloak absorbing damage but a combined explosion knocked him through the front door of the factory and outside. Spider-man swung away, jumping, and trying to avoid getting hit but got the tail end of a pumpkin bomb, knocking him through the air and ripping up his suit.

The Goblin grabbed Spider-man by the neck as he flew outside the factory. "Oh, why don't you just give up!" The Goblin shouted as he punched Spider-man into a smoke stack. Spider-man got back to his feet and jumped to avoid two pumpkin bombs as he shot some webs to trap the Goblin.

"Because I know your secret! I know who you are under that mutated face or mask or whatever! I know your real face!" Spider-man said.

"Oh, what is real? Which is real? The one that hides your face, or the one that is your face?" The Goblin said, as he threw some pumpkin blades and sliced up Spider-man's suit.

"I know you're Norman Osborn! We do! And we'll take you down for all the bad things you've done!" Spider-man said as he swung to another platform outside the factory and fired some impact webbing at the Goblin who blasted it with his energy blast.

"Oh, impressive webbing. Now try mine!" The Goblin shouted as the mouth of his glider opened up to reveal another cannon. It began fired green balls of muck that instantly hardened after it impacted something. Spider-man began swinging away as the Goblin chased after him, trying to nail him with the green muck.

Spider-man swung up as Naruto flew by and grabbed him by the arm and they flew away as the Goblin flew after him. He kept shooting the green muck as Spider-man jumped on Naruto's back like he was a surfboard. Naruto flew around a smoking tower as the Goblin launched six pumpkin bombs but Spider-man webbed them and whipped them around back at the Goblin.

They exploded once they hit the Goblin, creating a huge explosion of green smoke as the Goblin and his glider crashed into the roof of the adjacent processing mill. Naruto floated in the air with Spider-man on his back as they saw the Goblin get up, hurt from the explosion. They saw him wince in pain and grab his ankle as he managed to stand up.

"I guess he can be hurt under that mutated skin of his." Spider-man said.

"Let's finish this." Naruto said as Spider-man shot his web shooters but they were dry.

He quickly reloaded his web shooters as Naruto flew forward ready to stop the goblin when the goblin fired an energy blast at them. Naruto created a shield that blocked the blast but the Goblin's glider got back up and fired a plasma disruptor ray and smashed Naruto and Spider-man through the air and into a smoke stack. The blast had enough force that they were sent through the smoke stack and the concrete structure collapsed on them.

The concrete rubble shifts and tumbled off of one another as the massive pile began to move. The top of the pile was about 30 feet high and it was 40 feet wide but soon it came tumbling to the side as Naruto rose out from the rubble, pushing the concrete off him and Spider-man.

"Whew, we were almost pancakes. Thanks." Spider-man said.

"No problem. Thank you, super strength." Naruto said as pushed the 800lb pile of rubble off of them. He looked around and saw the Goblin was gone. "The Goblin's gone."

"We know where he's going. Let's go." Spider-man said as he swung away and Naruto flew with him. They flew through the city to Manhattan where Osborn's penthouse apartment was located.

They landed on the patio and saw the lights were on and the patio door was open. They walked in and saw the Goblin's armor was scattered in a line leading to the couch. They walked closer and expected to see Norman Osborn but instead saw Harry, Norman's son and Peter's best friend laying next to the couch unconscious. He was wearing the Goblin's chest armor on his body along with parts of what looked like a body suit.

"Harry?!" Spider-man shouted as Harry began to wake up and saw he was wearing some high-tech armor and that Spider-man and Naruto Uzumaki were standing over him. "You're the Green Goblin?!"

"No. This isn't my costume. I'm a cheerleader—Argh!" Harry shouted as he tried to stand but fell back down as he grabbed his leg in pain.

"What's going on here?" They heard as Norman Osborn walked in. Naruto looked down and saw an empty vial with traces of a green colored liquid. "Why's Harry wearing that ridiculous outfit?"

"You're not limping." Spider-man said.

"Why would I be limping?" Norman asked as he saw the vial Naruto was holding. "Give me that. Where did this come from?"

"Dad, I can explain!" Harry said.

"What is it?" Naruto asked.

"Globulin Oz, an early stage experimental Super soldier serum. Highly unstable, mutagenic, and addictive! You stole it from Oscorp, didn't you?!" Norman shouted as he grabbed Harry by the arm and hoisted him up. "Why would you do something so dangerous?! So STUPID!"

Harry's eyes narrowed as he got a psychotic look on his face. He grabbed his dad's hand and twisted it with incredible strength. "FOR YOU!" Harry shouted as he threw his dad across the room at the wall. Norman hit the wall and dropped to the floor as Harry held the vial of Oz. "You told me to man up! So, I took Oz to be the son you always wanted me to be. To become a man…like you."

Naruto and Spider-man could hear the anger and psychotic nature from the Goblin in Harry's voice. Harry then dropped to the floor as Spider-man rushed over to him. Harry opened his eyes, feeling exhausted from the episode he just had at his father.

"I must have blacked out, again. I don't remember anything. But I can't be the Goblin. Can I?" Harry looked at the vial and threw it at the wall in frustration. "I never should have taken it! I ruined everything. I'm sorry…so, so sorry."

Harry collapsed on the couch as he managed to remove the armor and was sitting there in the body suit. "This makes no sense. If Har—if this kid is the Goblin, why go after Tombstone? Why attack Oscorp?" Spider-man asked.

"I've had dealing with Tombstone, but when I tried to extricate myself I was threatened by his stooge." Norman told them.

"Hammerhead." Harry said.

"Harry must have overheard. Under the influence of the Oz, his subconscious created a persona, someone who could take Tombstone down. Now, as to why he came after me?" Norman asked.

"Maybe I've still got some anger issues!" Harry said as he began to laugh psychotically.

"And the mutation?" Naruto asked.

"Globulin Oz is unstable and while it does grant its user with super-human strength and abilities, the mutation it creates results in the hulking figure known as the Green Goblin. However, the mutation is unstable and not permanent. I'm guessing that the more Harry has been ingesting the Oz, the more frequent these changes came." Norman told them.

"And the weapons and armor?" Spider-man asked.

"Stolen from Oscorp from our secured weapons vault." Norman said as he looked at the state Harry was in. "I will not allow this to continue. I'll say that I was the Goblin. I created the formula."

"No, he needs you. What good are you to him if you're locked in a cell for a crime you didn't commit." Spider-man said.

"Didn't I? This is all my fault. I drove Harry to do this. I will get Harry help…if you'll let me." Norman said.

"Me?" Spider-man asked.

"If you turn him in, if Tombstone finds out that Harry was the Goblin, he wouldn't survive the night. Please. He's my only child." Norman begged them as Spider-man looked at Harry.

'And my best friend.' Peter thought.

"The Goblin disappears after tonight. He remains a mystery that's never to be solved." Naruto said as he grabbed all the armor and he and Spider-man left.

Line Break xxxxx

November 1st, 2010

The next morning, Jameson was in his office as Robbie showed him the front page of the Daily Globe which showed Naruto and Spider-man fighting the Green Goblin. "And why should I care what the Globe puts on it's front page?" Jameson asked.

"Because their Spider-man and Goblin story and Parker's pictures of it slaughtered our space shuttle coverage at the news stand." Robbie told him as Jameson crumbled the up the paper in anger.

"The people have spoken. Get that traitor Parker here and lock him into an exclusive deal. If they want heroes, we'll give them heroes. Here's tomorrow's front page headline, Spider-man: Threat or Menace?!"

Peter went to school while Naruto was in his lab, locking all the adamantium armor in his lab so he could analyze it later. He sat down in front of his computer looking at the file he had on the Green Goblin with the last passage he wrote about what happened last night.

Naruto looked at the screen and the passage that was written about the Goblin's identity as Harry Osborn. Naruto wasn't sure about how this ended. Something in the pit of his stomach felt that it was too easy and that somethings didn't add up.

"Sir, shall I close the file and assign it as complete?" Jarvis asked as Naruto looked at the picture of the Goblin.

"No, Jarvis. Leave it as open for now." Naruto said.

"Of course, sir." Jarvis replied. "Should we inform Agent Coulson of our discovery?"

"No, not yet, Jarvis. For now, I'll keep this to myself." Naruto said as Jarvis acknowledged his request and set the file back in his private database. Naruto thought that this was the biggest concern he had to deal with, unaware that something had hitched a ride on the space shuttle and soon it would wreak havoc for Naruto and Peter.

End of Chapter 5

1). Veidt is a character from the Watchmen graphic novel, he plays Ozymandias. A hero/villain in the comic. I know it's a DC property but when I watched the Watchmen movie and the graphic novel, I loved the character and thought it'd be a perfect villain for Naruto and the avengers. Maybe even have him be a part of the Masters of Evil in the future. Also, that was a reference to Dr. Doom. I do plan to implement him and the Fantastic Four in Phase 2. Taskmaster will also be back in later chapters.

(2) Count Nefaria from Iron Man: Armored Adventures.

(3) Think of Naruto's energy construct ability like when he unlocks his 9-tailed cloak. He can use them without the suit, but the suit's built in energy channel pathways and conduits make them completely stable and glow similarly to wrist band Taser's Black Widow used in the first Avengers movie. The small blade he made is like the small psychic blade Psylocke uses.

I hoped you guys liked chapter 5. We got to introduce Taskmaster, who will show up again in later chapters to fight Captain America and the Avengers. I hoped you guys liked Naruto working with Coulson as he'll come back in later chapters and their relationship will develop. Count Nefaria and the Maggia will return in later chapters as will the Tong when the Mandarin comes into play. And I'm not using the Mandarin from the Iron Man movie.

Next Chapter, an unexpected hitchhiker leads to an amazing discovery and some unfortunate consequences that Naruto and Peter find themselves at the mercy of. Their lives change and they fight their first group of super villains.

Naruto's Abilities

Alter Ego Name: Maelstrom

Abilities: Enhance speed. Enhance strength. Accelerated healing. Superior intelligence. Enhance senses. Excellent fighting skills and combat adaptability. Chakra system and Jutsu's from home world. Superhuman durability and resistance to stimuli. Chakra aura cloak, which increases strength, speed, durability and reflexes. Energy projection blasts, capable of stunning and destroying. Capable of aura constructs. Capable of absorbing energy. Capable of Flight.

Weaknesses: Concentrated plasma weapons create a unique radiation, thermal energy and kinetic energy combination that disrupts Naruto's cellular makeup and charka path and temporarily disrupts his powers which can make him vulnerable to damage.

Magic: An unknown form of energy and mysterious elements that can distort his chakra pathways and his body's electrical and cellular makeup.

Total Potential unlocked: 25%

Marvel Phase 1: Story Arcs: Just to let you guys know what I have mapped our for Phase 1 and what Naruto will have a hand in and who he will meet. Leave a review or message if you have any questions. I

Iron Man

Spider-man and New York

Iron Man 2

Incredible Hulk

Super Soldier Program resurface and an unknown organization

Thor

X-men

Captain America

Blade

Ghost Rider

Captain Marvel/Ms. Marvel

Subplot: Attack on the White House

Avengers

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any Marvel properties. Both belong to their respective owners, I'm just a big fan.