Get Up
Monday Morning, April 11, 20XX
Strange Castle Dungeon
Naruto looked across the small room at his opponent, a savage grin on his face. "Now, who wants to go first, here?" Naruto called out to the guards. "I haven't been able to fight like this for 6 freaking months, and I'm raring to go!" Kamoshida's form quivered with rage.
"Why? Why must you continue to defy me!" he roared.
"I already told you; I'm Naruto Uzumaki!" the blond shouted back. "I don't take orders from anyone around here, especially assholes like you." Kamoshida gritted his teeth.
"Fine; I didn't want to damage my trophy, but you leave me no choice Uzumaki. Guards, subdue him by any means!" The six knights wordlessly nodded. In unison, they all burst into inky pools. From the dark puddles, two more pumpkin-headed wizard ghouls as well as four small female fairy-looking sprites arose, cackling and giggling. Naruto grinned.
"So all of you at once, huh? I can live with that." Naruto moved his kunai into a reverse grip and charged forward, using his chakra to boost his speed. He reached the first pumpkin-head in an instant, surprising it. "Let's carve you a new face!" He said stabbing his blades deeply into the ghoul's orange skull just above its open mouth. He ripped the blade to the side of its mouth, lopping off some of the jagged teeth. With an agonizing cry, the ghoul exploded into black ashes and disappeared.
Naruto turned to the other pumpkin ghoul. "How about you; are you up for some cosmetic surgery?" he asked grinning. The ghoul backed away, its creepy chuckle now replaced with fearful whimpering. "I guess not," Naruto said with a shrug. "Oh well; I guess I'll have to try smashing you instead! You're up Kurama!" The ethereal fox grinned savagely.
"You've got it, kit!" Manipulating his tails, Kurama slammed them in unison on top of the jack-o-lantern monster, smashing it into the ground and causing the creature to shatter and dissolve. Immediately Naruto felt some of his vitality drain from him.
"Why the hell do I feel a lot more tired?" he asked in bewilderment.
"It seems materializing me to physically attack draws from your life force," Kurama explained. Suddenly Naruto heard Akira call out.
"Watch out!" Naruto turned, only to get hit by a bolt of electricity. The voltage in the attack surged through his body, causing him to cry out in surprise and pain.
"Argh!" Naruto saw the fairy sprites all giggling as they gathered more electricity to hit him with. "Damn it!" he thought. "I must still be a bit rusty if I allowed an enemy to hit me like that." Naruto attempted to move, but found the electricity had temporarily stunned him. He struggled to overcome the paralysis. "Come on…I gotta…move," he said through gritted teeth, willing his body to move to no avail. Just as one fairies was about to unleash another attack, it was consumed by black miasma.
"Eiha!" Akira called out his skill, watching the fairy cry out in pain before disintegrating. Naruto noticed the effectiveness of the dark matter on the sprite. Akira dove through the gap in the sprites' ranks to join the blond, his knife at the ready.
"Thanks for the save, Akira," the Uzumaki said gratefully. The masked boy nodded.
"I couldn't let you fight all by yourself," he replied. "I've got your back as well." Naruto nodded his thanks, feeling the paralysis fade from his body.
"Alright, let's not get hit by that again," he said shaking out his body. "Any ideas, Kurama?"
"Try using that dark energy stuff the curly haired person used," the fox replied. Naruto was taken back.
"Wait, you can do that?" he asked in surprise. "How?"
"I don't know!" Kurama snapped. "Just shout 'Maeiha!' Do it before you get zapped again!" Naruto shrugged and pointed his hand toward the sprites like he'd seen Akira do.
"Here goes nothing! Maeiha!" he shouted. Kurama roared as dark masses of energy sprouted on three of his tails, which he flicked towards the remaining enemies. The fairies shrieked as the black miasma swallowed them entirely, dispersing them into dark particles. Naruto felt a decent chunk of mental energy disappear upon using the skill. "So that technique is kinda like an elemental jutsu," he thought to himself. "Though it draws from my mental energy and uses a lot more than most of my jutsu." Akira walked over to Ryuji, who was staring at him and Naruto with wide eyes.
"Wha? How did you guys do that! What happened to you?" he exclaimed breathlessly. Naruto smirked.
"We became badasses, that's what!" he replied. Akira rolled his eyes. Kamoshida stomped up to them, a murderous look in his eyes.
"Why you little-" Suddenly Ryuji leapt to his feet and rushed the bastard before he could finish speaking, body-checking him into the side of the prison. The supposed king slumped against the wall, stunned by the surprise tackle.
"How'd you like that, asshole?" Ryuji said grinning. Naruto nodded his approval; the guy had it coming to him for sure. He spotted the keys on the floor left by one of the guards, immediately swiping them and looking at the others.
"Let's get out of this hell hole before more dudes show up!" Akira and Ryuji nodded and followed him out of the cell. Naruto slammed the door shut and used the key to lock Kamoshida in the cell, just as the man recovered from his daze and rushed to the door. Kamoshida banged on the bars with his fists, his cape opening to reveal his hairy arms and legs and disgusting pink thong.
"You insignificant little worms! How dare you treat a king this way!" he shouted with rage. Naruto slammed his fist through the bars into Kamoshida's face, sending him crashing into the wall.
"You are not our king, so just up already, you bastard!" he said irritably. Suddenly the Uzumaki felt the chakra humming beneath his skin retreat into the mask. With a flash of red energy, the mask vanished and his outfit reverted back to his Shujin attire. "Kurama?" he asked mentally, hoping for a response. He'd only just been reunited with his life-long partner; he couldn't be separated so soon. However, no response came, causing his heart to sink. He looked over at Akira and found he'd also returned to his original state. "It's probably tied to the whole mask thing," Naruto realized. He shook his head of the thoughts and focused on the task at hand. There was time to think about what had happened later. Ryuji stepped up to them still looking at the two with amazement.
"So…what WAS that? You guys just changed back all of all of a sudden." Akira shook his head.
"I'm honestly not sure what's going on here," he replied.
"We can worry about our cool powers of lack thereof later." Naruto cut in. "We need to find a way out of here before King Moron over there calls for back-up." He tossed the key ring into one of the locked cells. "Now let's get a move on!" The others nodded and followed Naruto down the dungeon corridor. Soon after they rounded the corner, they heard Kamoshida shout.
"GUARDS!!! The thieves have escaped! Find them at once!" Naruto and the others quickened their pace, navigating the stone passages of the dungeon. A number of prison cells lined the walls, most of them empty, though some strangely held volleyballs of all things. A torrent of water flowed through the dungeon floor, dividing it into narrow walkways. The trio crawled through tunnels and jumped over broken bridges, looking for a way out.
"Seriously, what the hell even is this place?" Ryuji asked.
"Beats me," Akira replied. "All I know is that I want out. I've had it with this dreary castle." Naruto didn't comment as he surveyed his surroundings, thinking about what had just occurred.
"What was that mask?" he pondered silently. "When I took it off, it felt like I had freed myself of a burden I never knew existed," Naruto continued to wonder about the occurrence. He was sure the mask and his missing chakra were related somehow. The trio eventually found a spiraling staircase.
"Think this will lead to a way out of this crazy place?" Ryuji said panting a bit. Naruto shrugged.
"It's better than getting caught, right? Let's just keep moving." They climbed the stairs until they reached the top, revealing yet another level of cells.
"Come on! Just how big is this place?" Ryuji exclaimed in frustration. Naruto clapped him on the back.
"Hey, at least we haven't been caught-"
Suddenly, his acute ears heard the sound of clanking footprints coming from behind them. Naruto pushed Akira and Ryuji down into the shadows of a side corridor and clamped his hands over their mouths. A few seconds later, a guard appeared in the entrance of the corridor, having emerged from the stairwell. Another guard came up to join it.
"Have you seen the thieves?" the first guard asked.
"They haven't been caught yet. Lord Kamoshida is furious right now," the other guard replied. "We must find those insolent thieves who dared to defy our Lord at once!" The first guard nodded.
"Agreed. They can't have gone too far." The two guards continued down the path. After a few moments, the sound of clanking faded. Naruto released the other two from his hold.
"We should probably avoid going out there for the time being," he whispered urgently. "Let's continue down this path and hope we get lucky," The others nodded. They continued down the corridor, following the waterway. Suddenly Ryuji yelled out.
"What the; look up there!" Naruto followed his gaze to see another prisoner stuck a tiny cage suspended above the water. He seemed to be garbed in a vaguely familiar red and white uniform.
"I can't go on; I've reached my limit," the guy moaned pitifully.
"So we aren't the only ones who've been trapped by that bastard." Ryuji slammed his fist against the wall. "This whole place is bullshit!" Akira didn't say anything, but Naruto could see his fists tighten as well. Naruto thoroughly agreed with the sentiment, but without whatever power Akira and him tapped into, he knew there wasn't much they could do at the moment.
"Damn it," he thought. "I really got to figure out what that whole mask thing was about." He sighed. "As much as I want to smash my fist into that asshole's face a few hundred more times," he finally said, "we aren't going to be much good to anyone if we get caught again. Let's just focus on trying to find a way out first." The other two looked at him for a moment. Ryuji took one more look at the prisoner before looking down and unclenching his fist.
"I guess you're right, Naruto," he finally agreed. "Let's just get out of this hellhole." The party continued to advance down the corridor, fortunately without running into any guards. A few of the cells they passed contained more prisoners, each one as pitiful looking as the first. Eventually the trio arrived at a dead-end. "Shoot, there's no way out from here," Ryuji turned to the others. "Should we go back and find another way?" Before Naruto could respond, a high-pitched child-like voice called out from one of the cells.
"Hey, Frizzy Hair, Blondie, Fox Face! Over here!" Naruto turned to see what looked like an upright black-and-white cat standing about two feet tall. It looked like it was wearing a cloth mask over the top half of his head, except his ears seamlessly stuck out of the top, showing the "mask" was actually his fur. A yellow scarf was tied around neck, giving the creature a strangely stylish flare. Big blue anime-style eyes stared pleadingly at the trio. "Hey, you guys aren't soldiers, right?" the cat-like creature asked. "Get me out of here! The key's over there."
"Whoa! What the hell are you?" Naruto said in bewilderment. He'd seen a lot of strange summon creatures, but this thing took the cake.
"Sorry, but we're trying to get out of here ourselves," Ryuji replied brusquely. "Besides, how do we know you're not one of them?"
"I seriously doubt they'd lock up one of their own," Akira pointed out. The creature smiled.
"Finally, at least someone's got a brain!" it said.
"Even if he does look like a strange cat," Akira continued. The creature's fur bristled.
"Hey, I'm NOT a cat," he hissed. "I'll make you regret it if you call me that again!"
"Well excuse us for not knowing who or what you are," Naruto replied. "We're kind of in a rush not getting caught by the guards." The sound of clanking footsteps echoed from the corridor where they'd just come from. Naruto grimaced. "And we're really don't have the time to argue that point." Ryuji checked his phone.
"Shit, still no service. We don't have any way to contact someone outside!" He looked grimly at the others. "How the hell are we gonna get out?"
"Hey, you three!" the cat creature called out. "If you let me out of here, I'll show you where the exit is." Naruto raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms.
"Really, you know where the exit is," he repeated skeptically.
"Somehow I find that hard to believe," Akira agreed.
"It's the truth! I'm not lying to you guys," the creature pleaded. Ryuji scowled.
"Forget it! We have enough trouble on our own as it is without having to rely on…whatever you are!" He began to turn away from the thing but froze as the sound of footsteps echoed through the corridor again, this time sounding much closer. The creature crossed his arms.
"Well, if you think you can get out of here without being caught by the guards and executed, then be my guest," he replied firmly. Ryuji looked at the others.
"So what are we going to do guys?" he asked. Naruto sighed.
"Unfortunately at the moment, we're out of options. We're going to have to trust it for now," he said. "Whatever this thing is, it doesn't seem like it's with the guards at least." he grabbed the key the cat-like thing indicated and unlocked the door. The creature walked out and stretched.
"Ahhh, it feels good to be free," he said, grinning like it ate a canary. Ryuji glared at the feline creature.
"Alright, we've got you out; now show us the way out, you monster cat!" The creature bristled again.
"I am NOT a cat! My name is Morgana," he said angrily.
"Well whatever you are, you're not going to be free much longer if we wait around here," Naruto said dryly. "So let's get a move on!" Morgana looked taken aback.
"Oh, right," he said sheepishly. "Follow me then, and stay quiet!" Naruto and the others silently followed the not-feline until they arrived at a raised drawbridge they had passed a bit earlier. Ghastly stone busts of Kamoshida framed the sides of the wooden walkway, sporting unnerving grins.
"So what are you trying to do here?" Ryuji asked. "I don't see any path we can take." Morgana rolled his eyes.
"I'm lowering the drawbridge using the hidden switch. What do you think I'm doing?" Ryuji did a double take.
"Wait, what?" Ryuji asked in surprise. Naruto walked up looked at the statue closely and noticed the bust was not one solid piece of stone.
"There's probably a pressure sensitive switch in the statue which will lower the bridge," he surmised. He'd seen set-ups like this before as a ninja, made by enthusiastic nobles who thought they could hide their secrets by putting them in plain sight. Not that it really ever worked. Morgana seemed to purr.
"At least Fox Face here is quick on the uptake." He jumped up and latched onto the jaw of the statue, which sank under his weight. A series of creaks and whirs as the drawbridge was lowered, creating a path across the waterway. Ryuji stared in shock.
"For real?" he asked in amazement. "How were we supposed to know that was there?!" The masked feline creature looked smugly at the delinquent.
"Amateur; let's just get going," Morgana replied. The group ran across the drawbridge. However, just as they finished crossing over the water, a guard appeared from another corridor.
"You, thieves!" it exclaimed, readying its spear." I thought I heard something coming from over here. Prepare to die!"
A burst of red energy surrounded Naruto as if in response to the guard's threat, causing his mask and his new outfit to re-appear. Naruto looked and found Akira had shifted into his white mask & snazzy black ensemble as well. Ryuji fell backwards, scrambling to get away from the knight.
"Oh shit! They found us!" he said fearfully. Morgana leaped onto the boy's head.
"Ugh, you're such a newbie!" He leapt off Ryuji and landed in between the boy and the knight. "Stay back, and watch and learn!" Morgana looked at Naruto and Akira. "You two look like you can fight, right?" Naruto grinned and cracked his knuckles. He could feel the chakra flowing through him again.
"Oh yeah, I'm raring to take these bastards down!" he yelled. Akira nodded as well, whipping out his knife. Morgana smirked.
"Alright, then; let's go!" The being narrowed his eyes and looked up. "Come…Zorro!" A massive column of blue light erupted from his diminutive frame, causing Ryuji to scream. From the light, a large black humanoid figure emerged. Wearing a large championship-style belt, a majestic cape which billowed behind him, and wielding a long shimmering rapier, the figure flicked his blade in a Z figure as it hovered impressively behind Morgana. Naruto looked appreciatively at the ethereal figure. He could feel the noble strength coming from the being.
"Sweet, so you've got one of these guys as well," he commented. Morgana nodded.
"Yep. Now let's shut them up at once!" The knight exploded into a pool of darkness like the others, out of which emerged another pumpkin-head and two new enemies, a pair of purple horned imps with black leathery wings, floating in the air in a seated position. Naruto pulled out two kunai.
"It's three-on-three; let's split up and take these weaklings down individually!" he called out to the others.
"Sounds good to me!" Morgana called out. "Zorro, Garu!" The masked specter whipped his sword in an arc, sending a wave of wind out which blasted the pumpkin-head. The ghoul went flying backwards with a squeal of agony. Akira nodded and rushed towards one of the imps, leaving the remaining one for Naruto. The Uzumaki smirked at the creature.
"So I get one of the little imps, huh? Nothing to be worried about." Mentally he reached out to his biju.
"Hey Kurama; you back?" The ghostly fox appeared behind Naruto.
"Yeah, brat," he replied. "Not sure what happened before. One moment I was talking to you, the next it was like that pedo snake had slapped on that damned Gogyo Fuin again." Naruto nodded.
"I'm pretty sure whatever's going on is tied to this weird mask," he said, "but right now, we're in another fight." The purple devil-looking monster sneered at Naruto and rushed towards him, his hand radiating a menacing black aura. Naruto ducked under the hand and dashed behind the demon. Whipping around, he brandished both kunai and stabbed through its wings, causing the imp to scream in pain. "I'm going to need to get some shuriken or something for all of these flying enemies," he muttered. "You're up again, Kurama!" The beast raised its paw and smashed down on the imp, finishing it off. Naruto watched with satisfaction as the creature exploded into the dark particles. "Well; that was easy," he said.
"What did you expect? It was just a baby demon," Kurama replied with a snort. Naruto looked over and saw Morgana and Akira had also finished their fights as well. They all walked back to Ryuji, who was staring at the trio in amazement.
"Wow, you two have pretty powerful Personas," Morgana said grinning. Ryuji scratched his head.
"So, that's what those things that came out all dramatic-like are called?" he asked. Morgana nodded.
"You saw how these two ripped off their mask to make it appear? Everyone has a mask like that to hide their other side. When they remove-" Suddenly both Naruto and Akira returned to their regular appearance. Naruto looked down at his Shujin academy outfit.
"Kami damn it!" he cursed. "Why does that mask keep disappearing?"
"Hm, normally that form shouldn't dissolve like that," Morgana said thoughtfully. "It looks like you two don't have full control of your abilities just yet."
"Masks? Other side? Form? Can you just cut the crap and make sense already?" Ryuji said in frustration.
"Hey; I can't help it if you're an idiot, Blondie," Morgana replied. Ryuji glared at the feline.
"I'm not an idiot," he growled. "And my name's Ryuji!" Morgana sighed and shook his head.
"Whatever. Anyway, there's no time for me to lecture you anyway. We still need to get out of here. We're not much farther from the exit." The group continued to follow Morgana through several more twists and turns. The not-cat seemed to know where he was going and moved through the shadows with ease. Naruto could appreciate its sense of stealth. At one point, they passed a cell with another prisoner who was sprawled out on the ground, moaning. Once again, Naruto got a weird sense of déjà vu upon seeing the red and white uniform. Ryuji stopped in front of the cage.
"Hold on a sec; we can't just leave this guy here!" he said.
"But we also can't get caught again, Ryuji," Naruto pointed out. He knew how the delinquent was feeling, but there were bigger issues at hand. He put a hand on his shoulder. "I want to help them too, but right now, we've got to help ourselves first. If we get caught again, there's no help for anyone." Ryuji looked back at prisoner for a few seconds before grabbing his head.
"Grr, fine. Seriously, this whole situation doesn't make sense!" They continued to follow Morgana up a flight of stairs, arriving at the main foyer. After checking to see if any guards were about, they rushed across the area and ducked into a small hallway tucked to the side.
"We made it!" Morgana said happily. Ryuji let out a sigh of relief.
"Finally! Now where's the exit?" He tried to open one of the doors in the hallway but found it to be locked. He turned around to look at the diminutive creature. "Hey, what's the deal? You said you'd get us out!"
"Hold your horses, Blondie," Morgana replied. He opened another door and led them into what looked like a storeroom. "Your way out's in here." Ryuji looked around.
"I don't see any way out," he said. Morgana rolled his eyes and sighed.
"Amateur; how much more basic can you get?" Naruto scanned the room carefully until his spotted something above one of the shelves. He grinned and climbed up the shelf next to a grate.
"Bingo!" he said grinning. Morgana nodded with a grin.
"It seems Fox Face got it." Akira stared carefully at where Naruto was.
"The ventilation shaft?" he said in realization. Naruto nodded.
"Yup. We should be small enough to climb through here. Now, let's get this thing off!" He began pulling at the grate covering the shaft, which creaked under the force he exerted. "Come…on," he said gritting his teeth. Suddenly, the grate just gave way, flying off the shaft entrance and landing on the floor with a bang. Naruto stumbled backwards and fell on the floor with a thud, still holding the grate. "Owww," he groaned. "I could have used a little warning that was loose." Ryuji offered a hand and helped Naruto on his feet.
"Well, at least you got it off," Morgana said with a chuckle. "Now get going before a guard comes in here!"
"Aren't you coming with us?" Akira asked in confusion. Morgana shook its head.
"No, I still have something I need to find. We'll be splitting up here." Naruto nodded.
"Good luck, little dude," he said.
"Thanks for helping," Akira added. Morgana smirked.
"Well at least some of you can be polite," he replied. Ryuji rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, yeah, now let's just get out of here." He climbed up onto the shelf and began climbing into the ventilation shaft. Akira quickly followed suit. Naruto didn't move for a moment. As insane as this place was, he was sure the mask's appearance had something to do with it. Despite the dangers, he was hesitant to leave.
"I'm going to have to come here back here," he realized wearily. Morgana looked at him curiously.
"Aren't you going to follow the others, Fox Face?" he asked tilting its head. Naruto nodded.
"Yeah, I am," he said with a sigh. He clambered up the shelf and looked over his shoulder. "I think I'll be seeing you soon…furball," he said cheekily. He ducked into the shaft, ignoring the angry ranting behind him.
Naruto's Shadow Guide Entry #1
Name: Wizard Jack-o-lanterns (Pyro Jack)
Description: A floating pumpkin headed ghoul with a pointy wizard's hat that belongs to a cosplay nerd. It carries a fiery lantern and cackles like an idiot.
Attacks: It launches fireballs from its lantern which don't do a whole lot of damage, but sting like a bitch. It's about as powerful as one of Sasuke-teme's fireballs as a genin, though far less angst-ridden.
How to beat: Get in close and carve the bastards up! If you can use a Wind attack, you can snuff out the flame and kill it from a distance. Now if only I could use my Rasenshuriken...
And…done. This was my first foray into adapting the combat and some limited dungeon exploration. The chapter was a bit shorter, with one of the minor scripted fights cut, but after beginning to play through the game again and slogging through watching someone else play the game, I realized if I don't pick up the pace, it's going to take me far too long to get going. I still have a ton to cover. I did add in the first entry of a long running omake series I plan to do where Naruto gives his own thoughts on the Shadows. If you guys want to see anything else in them, let me know.
Now I have some good news and bad news. The bad news is the next chapter is also going to be a bit on the shorter side as well as I'm trying to do a thing with these first few chapters (Kudos to anyone who recognizes what I'm doing.) The good news is, this chapter should be out before classes start next week, and the chapter after that will be another long chapter. Once again, I thank you all for all of the immense support you've given. The review, favorite, and follow count all doubled, which is honestly mind-boggling. You give me hope that maybe I have a knack for this after all. Please read and review! PMs are always welcome!
P.S. – I forgot to do this in the first chapter, but I need to give a special shout out to one of my best friends Dakota for recommending me Persona 5 when I asked for a good RPG. I did not expect to get sucked into the rabbit hole like I have.
