Act 2 - The Lord
His metal boots connected with the cement floor making a sound that reverberated against the walls. He stopped in front of a door and two guards in metal suits moved aside for him to enter. He pushed the door open and walked into the room. His loyal underman Kabuto was currently dipping Gingy the gingerbread cookie into a glass of milk. His spluttering was the only sound in the room.
"That's enough, Kabuto." At once the silver-haired assistant put down the cookie on a metal tray. He moved aside and lowered the table to the Leader's height.
Lord Orochimaru picked up Gingy's legs that had previously been taken off and made them walk accross the table, "Run, run, while you still can. Or the gingerbread man will come get you!" He said with a maniacal laugh.
"I'm not telling you anything! Eat me you fool!" The gingerbread spat on the Lord's face.
"Alright then." Lord Orochimaru moved his hand to grab the gum drop button but stopped when Gingy spoke, "No! Not the gum drop button! Fine, I'll tell you!"
Lord Orochimaru smiled, "So, where are the other magical creatures hiding?"
He was torturing the gingerbread cookie for that. Lord Orochimaru was looking for the remaining creatures so that he could dump them in the swamp. He wanted to rid his kingdom of the pesky things. His kingdom would be freak-free. Freaks were not meant to have good lives, so he has always believed.
"Do you know the muffin man?" Gingy whispered.
"The muffin man? The one on dreary road? Is he hiding them?" He questionned the small creature.
"She married him."
"She married the muffin man?"
Kabuto watched the exchange and wasn't sure how Lord Orochimaru knew who he was talking about. Who was the 'she'? But before the two reached that point the door opened and one of the soldiers walked in.
Lord Orochimaru turned to look at the new arrival, "Do you have it Sakon?"
"Yes, Lord Orochimaru." He said, and Jirobo brought in a large item covered by a white sheet. Other soldiers came into the room to watch the unveilling of the item.
"Show it to me." Jirobo took off the sheet and put it against the wall. The item was a mirror. But not any mirror, a magic mirror.
"Mirror, mirror on the wall, isn't this the best kingdom of them all?" Lord Orochimaru walked towards the mirror calmly.
"Well it's not really a kingdom since you're not really a king." The face that had appeared in the mirror spoke.
"Ukon?" Lord Orochimaru said and the soldier pulled a small mirror out of his pocket. He punched the mirror and it broke, glass landing on the floor. It was meant to be a warning.
"I mean yet!" The mirror spoke quickly, "Before you can be king, you have to marry a princess."
Lord Orochimaru looked quite interested in this, "A princess hm?"
The mirror smiled, "Let me show you the three lucky bachelorettes!" He proceded to show Lord Orochimaru three choices. The first was Cinderella, the second Snow White, and the third was Princess Iris. "What will your choice be?"
The soldiers were saying different numbers. Some one, some two, and some three. Lord Orochimaru looked at the three different pictures that the mirror showed. He then turned his gaze upon his assistant Kabuto who was saying number three. Princess Iris was very pretty.
He lifted up his arm and rose three fingers, "I choose number three!"
The mirror zoomed in on the third Princess, "Princess Iris! Good choice! But I must tell you about the thing that happens after sunset." The mirror was told to shut up before he could warn him about the Princesse's little problem.
"Kabuto, assemble your best men. We will have a tournament and the winner is going to get my Princess."
"I'd walk a thousand miles if I could just see-" Naruto started singing again but was quickly interrupted by Neji, "Shut up. I've told you before, don't sing." He was getting more annoyed with the fox by the minute.
"Aw...Alright! I'll tell you a story then! When I was younger I was walking in the-"
"We've arrived." Neji interrupted him once more. Before their eyes was the tall towers of Daloq, Lord Orochimaru's kingdom. Neji's eyes drifted upwards and smirked at the height, "Do you think he's compensating for something?" He chuckled softly. Naruto looked at him confused and instead of explaining like the fox would have liked, Neji started walking towards the entrance.
A man near the ticket booth took one look at them and started to walk away, "Wait! Can you tell us where Lord Orochimaru is?" The man ignored them completely.
Neji walked up to him and turned him around. He glared at the man who still had the guts to look down at him, "Where are your owners? A slave this vicious should be on a leash." Naruto didn't have the time to tell the man he was an idiot before Neji knocked him out.
"We aren't getting anything out of him. Let's walk around." They walked further into the kingdom and noticed something was amiss right away, "It's quiet. Too quiet." Neji spoke slowly, looking around.
"Yeah. Let's check this out!" Naruto said running towards an information booth. He took a rope between his teeth and pulled, as the sign directed. Neji came up behind him and stared at the circular object and waited.
When it started to tick, Naruto hid behind Neji. The bottom started to spin and the ticking grew faster and louder. Suddenly, the door opened and little people inside of it started to sing. Their voices were high pitched and annoying. So thought Neji.
Naruto came out of hiding and looked amusedly at the singing people. They were singing about how great a place Daloq is. It came to a close not quite soon enough for Neji. Naruto jumped forward saying, "Let's play it again!" But Neji grabbed him, "Let's not!" He held the small fox that was Naruto under his arm and started to walk towards the center of the kingdom.
When they heard noise coming from a stadium, Neji let go of Naruto and started heading towards it followed by the fox.
"You will all fight until there is only one person standing. The winner will go and rescue the Princess. If that person doesn't succeed, the next person in line will go, and so on and so forth." Lord Orochimaru spoke.
The soldiers and the crowds cheering was interrupted when a brunette with The Symbol, and red-orange fox entered the arena. They walked towards him and ignored the booing from the crowd. Neji spoke, "Are you Lord Orochimaru?"
Said person ignored the question, "The challenge will be different!" He had an idea and it would help choose the champion, and rid the world of this pest, "The one to kill the slave will be the winner!" He said and the soldiers turned towards Neji. The brunette glared dangerously.
"Wait! I'm here to discuss something!" Neji tried to get them to listen but they ignored him. He walked backwards as the soldiers walked forward. His back hit something solid. He turned and saw a large barel he knew was full of liquor. Neji grabbed one of the full cups, "Why don't we have a pint instead?"
He wasn't really in the mood to fight, but he knew he must since nobody was listening to him. Neji drank from the pint and started the battle that was to come by smashing the cup against the tap of the large keg. It came off and the liquor sprayed the men, making a few of them fall to the ground.
"Alright! It's party time now!" Said the fox as he and Neji charged towards the soldiers. Neji faught with the soldiers and knocked many of them out. Naruto climbed onto the keg, and as more soldiers entered the arena, he walked on it to make it roll over them.
Neji went into a wrestling area followed by two soldiers. He smashed their heads together and took his fighting stance. Naruto had his front paws on one of the wires and watched as Neji knocked soldier after soldier out. The crowds' booing had become cheers.
The lavender-eyed male grabbed one of the soldiers, and hearing Naruto say, "Tag me! Tag me!" Brought him over to the fox who banged his head against the soldiers, efficiently knocking him out, but the fox stared on as if it was nothing. Neji wasn't surprised that Naruto had such a hard head.
When the last soldier fell, Neji got out of the ring and went to the center of the arena. He looked up at Lord Orochimaru with a smirk. 'Looks like the slave's a bit tougher then you originally thought, hm?' Neji thought smugly. The loud cheers coming from the crowd boosted his ego.
Lord Orochimaru looked shocked at first, then smiled, "It seems we have a winner! The two of you will embark on a quest!"
"But we're already on a quest! I came here to get my land back." Neji said.
"Your land?" Lord Orochimaru asked curiously.
"Yes. The land where you dumped all those magical creatures."
The shocked gasps from the crowd didn't faze Lord Orochimaru, "That's your land? Well let's make a deal. If you bring me the princess, I will give you your land back."
"Exactly the way it was before?" Neji asked not trusting this man.
"Down to the very last mud-covered weed." The Lord said with a sneer.
"Yay! Another Neji and Naru quest!" The fox chipped excitedly.
AN: Well...Here's the second chapter! I think this is my least favorite of the five parts. No matter, I hope you liked it! The third part should be out shortly!
Thanks for reading,
-MewMew