KrossoverXKing presents Chapter 2 of:
The Memoir of Tali'Zorah vas Yoko
a Mass Effect and Naruto crossover
Enjoy!
Forgot this, but the song for this story(the whole story) is "This Will Be The Day" by Jeff Williams, feat. Casey Williams.
-X-
He watched with a morbid fascination as the now-bipedal Protheans dominated the Galaxy after the Zha'til attacked.
The Metacon War solidified their hold on the other races. It was like watching the history of the Leviathans; he could imagine them starting out like this… Protecting the other races, and then never releasing control.
Or maybe not… Maybe they were always assholes who enforced their will on others simply because they could.
The intelligent warrior race, whose dual set of eyes allowed for both depth perception and panoramic vision, was a predator through and through. With three pairs of nostrils, it allowed them enhanced smell not available to other races with forward-facing eyes. Their G-quadruplex DNA also granted them enhanced regeneration and some protection from radiation by "shedding" irradiated cells, an evolution due to the fact that Syided was constantly bombarded with solar flares.
Another feature unique to them was a technique similar to the Yamanaka mind-walk technique, but it only took a touch and a single second to learn all their target did, learning complex ideas such as a new language or brand new skill-set. Such power granted them the ability to spawn an army from a civilian neighborhood, though having knowledge and experience created a gap in skill which still necessitated a standing military, composed solely of pure-blooded Protheans.
The Protheans also were the second-quickest Cycle, after those affected by the Inhibitors' machinations, to achieve spaceflight. They were quick to tear apart the Inusannon's ruins and surviving technology, and repurposed it for war, such as Kinetic Barriers and Particle Rifles.
And when they discovered the Geranium, it was Naruto who had to stop them from attacking the Inusannon out of principle. The Protheans subjugated the other races due to a philosophy they dubbed the "Cosmic Imperative". It stated that as they were stronger than the other races, it was their duty to protect them, and the easiest way to do so was to make them slaves and control their lives. Should another race resist, the Protheans replied with force.
If that race could defeat the Protheans, they would take the mantle of protecting the weaker races, Protheans included. This assimilation granted the Protheans a galaxy-wide empire with access to intelligence brought by other races.
The Metacon War had scared all the organic races, even those too prideful to admit it.
Naruto also knew the Yamanaka techniques, but the focus needed to enhance his Thalamus, Amygdala, Hippocampus, and Nervous System to use them meant he didn't use it in the middle of a fight.
As he stood, facing the Prothean explorers defended by a small fireteam, he unfolded Crimson Striker. He knew they listened to nothing short of brute force.
He held just forward of the ejector on a collapsible black and red CheyTac Intervention which fired .408 rounds. It was equipped with a four-foot barrel and a segmented five-foot-long scythe replacing the more common muzzle brake, while the blade was protected by a black and red guard to match the rifle.
His outfit was black Segmented Enhancement Armor, powered by Kurama's untainted biju chakra, causing it show the marking that were usually black on his Chakra Cloak were golden trails of flame on his armor. His mask had two slits for each eye, while overlapping plates were on his cheeks, ears, and nose, the latter granting a horn that curved towards the back. Golden tribal markings were scrawled with the penmanship of a calligrapher over the entirety of the mask, matching the main suit body. His sapphire irises could be seen through the lower slits.
On his back was a three-foot-long, one-foot-wide gunmetal grey barrel, while blades of multiple colors could be seen in gaps near the top. Over his shoulder, only a thick sword handle with two triggers could be seen, with a black ribbon connecting the handle to the barrel.
And though the thin segmented plates seemed rusted, the helmet, Crimson Striker, and the barrel were gleaming in the artificial light, but it all seemed as strong, if not more so, compared to the Protheans' own armor.
Slowly, very slowly… Naruto lifted his hand from his weapon as if in surrender, and the warriors advanced, their Particle Rifles trained on him. When the first lifted his weapon to hit the blonde in the head, Naruto struck first.
He grasped the buttstock of his own weapon, dislodging it from the ground, and swung so it struck his first adversary on the side with the top of his weapon, sending the unfortunate Prothean slamming into the wall.
The other three members recovered, the green beams narrowly avoided by Naruto as he twisted in the air. Quickly stabbing his weapon into the ground so the barrel pointed to them, Naruto pulled a lever on the left side of the rifle, and a triangular transparisteel shield sprung out from the scythe, stopping the shots from the now-advancing members of the fire team from getting close to him.
Naruto fired a single .408 round, hitting the Prothean on his left in his right shoulder, tearing through the shield, armor, body, and the other side of the armor as if none of it was there. The deafening crack of the shot rung in the hallway, followed quickly by a second that hit the one on his right in his left shoulder.
As Naruto ejected the smoking cartridge and aimed for the center mass target of the lone Prothean, the alien quickly dropped his weapon in surrender. Naruto smirked.
The entire exchange, from the first strike, had lasted less than ten seconds.
Quickly folding Crimson Striker up, Naruto knocked the two shot Protheans before stalking towards the lone still-conscious Prothean, the more scientific-oriented members having not moved.
When Naruto was but a step from the lone conscious member of the Prothean fire team, the alien lifted his hands quickly up and to his left, before sweeping them to his right.
Though it was closed and hidden, the former tri-dojutsu combination of Kaguya Ootsutsuki was not hampered by an eyelid and processed Uzushionium. The chakra the Prothean used as a crude form of space magic, thanks to the Inusannon, rushed at Naruto from his right side.
Naruto lifted his hand towards the attack, and the Rinnegan's ability of chakra absorbtion negated the attack.
Slowly, purposefully, Naruto reached over his shoulder, grasping the sword handle there. A barely audible click was heard as he pulled one of the triggers, before showing the fact that the sword handle had a gun barrel built in so it faced the same way a sword's blade would. The click had been Naruto unlocking the blade.
The Prothean now stilled completely, thoughts of another counter-attack dashed from his mind as the small gun's barrel was pressed between his forward-facing eyes. He fearfully fell to his knees, the barrel still trained on him.
Then, faster than any of the Protheans could blink, Naruto brought the weapon down on the carapace atop the alien's head, a very different crack from the two that had echoed through the hallway earlier signaling his trip to unconsciousness.
Replacing the handle, Naruto walked towards the closest scientist with one hand raised and the other held forward, having made a show of taking his left glove off.
The scientist seemed petrified, most likely with the ferocity and speed at which their protection detail had fallen. Or maybe because of the visible haze around him due to his vast amount of chakra. But luckily for Naruto, a female scientist was brave enough to step forward.
Unluckily for Naruto, her fellow scientists were so scared they were hampering progress.
Luckily for Naruto, she seemed adamant to follow through with Prothean/Chakran First Contact.
Contact that didn't involve combat, at least…
-X-
"Let go of me, Beheeyem," the female growled at her green-eyed co-worker.
"No, Deoxys," the modified Prothean said. His carapace actually curved upwards as opposed to being flat, having been changed due to his artificially larger brain size. Problem was, he was only marginally smarter and tired much more easily. He thought he was smarter than her. He was descendant of Clefairy, the first Prothean to make first contact with an alien species.
"He's trying to initiate first contact," Deoxys said irritably, her unique blue and red biotics – as that was what they called it – flaring slightly. Her biotics granted her Variable Orientation Armor, which could enhance her defense, physical strength, speed, or a slight boost in all three simultaneously.
"I'm pretty sure first contact goes to Cobalion," Mime, ever the comedian, said dryly. Everyone glanced to their downed protector indented into the wall.
"He either knows about our Psychometry, or has it himself," she continued, as if she hadn't been interrupted. "Whichever one it is, with one touch, we'd know all we needed to about him," she rationalized.
With no one else stepping up, Deoxys finally turned to the alien in front of her. The hand was covered with a slightly tan membrane that was apparently not rigid, ending in four fingers of differentiating length, while a fifth was connected perpendicularly near the bottom. Each finger had at least one joint along the length of it, and each was capped with a nail that seemed to serve no purpose.
Deoxys removed both her gloves.
-X-
"Huh..." Naruto said with a small note of detached surprise. The Prothean scientist had two different hands. The left was a normal Prothean hand, with three fingers, thumb included. It was covered with overlapping plates, and the fingers were slightly pointed as a result. The right, however, had five fingers like his, but that was where the similarities ended.
The arm was a blue tendril and red tendril wrapped around each other like a strand of DNA. The red tendril branched off into three smaller tendrils which pantomimed his first three fingers, while the blue one branched off into two smaller tendrils to act like the last two fingers.
It had to be either a mutation or a modification, he wasn't sure which.
As a courtesy, Naruto removed his other glove, revealing that his right hand was made of wood, with the rings being made of golden light as opposed to darker wood. Above it, the blue-violet skeletal hand of Sasuke's Susano'o rested perfectly above where a normal skeletal structure would be.
As if by unspoken agreement, they each presented their right hands, their fingertips touching the other's palm.
-X-
"Oh… Oh, wow..." Deoxys muttered. Though Naruto hadn't shown her all the Harvests, he showed her the Chakrans' and the Inusannons'.
It had been enough.
"You okay, Deoxys?" her fellow female scientist, Mew, asked. The uniquely magenta-colored Prothean was an oddity in the sense that she had been born with the ancestral memory of her direct descendants, but couldn't perform Psychometry.
"Mm-hmm. Yeah," Deoxys muttered after a second. She stood up – when had she fallen on the floor? - and watched the armored alien in front of her. She swallowed thickly.
"C-Can you understand me?"
He nodded once, before removing his helmet.
The first thing they saw was his hair. The color of a main sequence star, shoulder-length, and as defiant of gravity as the Ditakur were of peace, it was like nothing they had ever seen. His skin was the same tan of his hand, and was made of the same stretchy membrane as well. Curved tufts of hair were over his two forward-facing eyes, which were a deep sapphire and had only one pupil. A ridge between them led to a dual-nostril nose, which lay above his single-split mouth. Both of his cheeks had three dark lines each.
"Yo," he said, waving to the other scientists. Tentatively, they waved back. It wasn't rude to piss off someone with his power.
He rubbed the back of his neck nervously, a tic he inherited from his father. "So… Take me to your leader?" He asked jokingly.
Deoxys nodded. This colossal citadel wasn't going anywhere. What Naruto had shown her needed to be seen by the Legendary Council. "Yes. We can always study this later." She turned to leave, but turned back to him just as quickly. "Can you resuscitate our comrades first?"
"Hmm?" He asked, a clueless expression on his face. Deoxys motioned behind him, and a glint of recognition appeared in his eyes as he turned around to see the four unconscious Protheans still as such.
"Sure," he said, palms glowing green. He placed his hand on the carapace of the first, and cracks sounded as it mended under the blonde's Iryojutsu. A quick smack to the cheek woke him up.
The next two took a mite longer to heal their gunshot wounds, but were still completely healed. The downside to Crimson Striker's high velocity(nine percent of lightspeed) meant that there was rarely any shrapnel damage unless he specifically made the rounds to shatter on impact. Though he guessed he was lucky this time that it was like that.
The last man was as easy to heal as the first, though included a few cracked ribs and some bent armor. Luckily it was magnetic, so he could use magnet release to fix it. He also woke up after a quick slap to the face.
After Deoxys gave a brief summary on what she saw, it was back to Syided, to meet with the so-called 'Legendary Council' so they could prepare for the invasion.
-X-
It took a day and a half to reach the second planet in the Hercules System, but another six hours to get from the landing pad to the chamber which held the Protheans' government.
Naruto knew it was an understandable precaution, what with an alien who took down four of their best guardians in about ten seconds, without a surprise attack.
But see them he did. The main one had a carapace that extended past his head a good two feet and was painted pure white. A gold circlet was on it with eighteen points, each with a different colored stone. His armor was a decorative grey and white combination.
Below him were a blue-painted one with silver armor, a pink-painted one with white armor, another white-painted one with blue armor, a gold-painted one with red armor, a white-painted one with white armor, and a black-painted one with black armor.
Even more were below them. One was blue with blue armor, the next was green with green armor, and a third was red with red armor. Beside them was another blue one with blue armor, a yellow one with yellow armor, and a red one with orange armor. Even further over was one who had blue and black armor with a gold eight-pointed circlet, one with red and black armor with a white fur collar, and one who had green and black armor with a five-pointed black circlet.
Even the four he attacked had seats, though they apparently weren't as important as the ones who were in the center.
"All hail Emperor Arceus," the one with green armor and a green-painted carapace said clearly as he stood, placing his right fist over his left pectoral with his wrist facing upwards.
Everyone in the room, sans Naruto and the most important-looking one, pantomimed the green-themed Prothean.
"Many thanks, Archduke Rayquaza," the one with the very pointy crown said, with his fist on his chest as well. "Now, I believe Lady Deoxys has something she wishes to share with the Council…" He turned to said Prothean who stood beside and slightly ahead of Naruto. "That is why you requested our presence, is it not? Something important?"
Deoxys knew that it was not simply because she requested their presence that the Legendaries were convening. It was because the Alien they found took out the Guardian Barons that her request was even entertained.
"Yes, Emperor," she said instead. It wouldn't do to be disrespectful. "Using Psychometry, I have learned of an existential threat that has plagued this galaxy for innumerable years."
"Oh? And yet we have no proof of their existence. One does not simply disappear, Deoxys… Someone knows what happens to them," said the one with the fur collar.
Ignoring the slight of him not using her title, Deoxys motioned to Naruto. "He does, Duke Yvetal. His race was the first to be exterminated."
Naruto stepped forward, inclining his head. He now wore clothing similar to the final transformation of his Kurama Cooperation Cloak. The cloak was a knee-length white number, while the fake flames that had decorated his armor now danced along the edge of the cloak. The sleeves went all the way to his wrist, while black armor covered the top of his hands. The collar was tall enough to cover his mouth if it was closed, while nine different-colored magtama were along the edge. On the back of the cloak was nine black magtama in a square formation underneath a depiction of the Rinnegan.
A black shirt with a zipper on the front was worn under the cloak, while it was topped by a simple grey chestplate that had nine different colored magtama etched along the top edge and the seal that used to house Kurama carved on the bottom. His pants were tan, the weapon pouch in its customary place on his right thigh. His shinobi sandals were replaced with black combat boots with red laces.
"My name is Namikaze-Uzumaki Naruto, first name last. Everything Deoxys said is true… A race of sentient machines known as Reapers have cleaned this gala-wait… Rea-per..." And then his mouth moved silently for two syllables. He honestly looked perplexed beyond reason. "...alright. This is embarrasing. I'm stuck on your language." He shook his head.
"Anyways, every 50,000 years or so they return and destroy any space-fairing race, leaving any still planet-bound alone. I'm assuming they don't want AI to be created, since the Zha'til were only the third time a machine race has been created, but they weren't completely artificial… Each time it's happened has been because the race before was further advanced than 50,000 years would allude to."
"And how have you survived this long?" The one with the eight-pointed circlet asked. "What you are speaking of is analogous to immortality, which is impossible for all intents and purposes."
"Duchess Xerneas has a point, Stranger Naruto," Arceus replied. "I realize you may wish not to divulge some secrets, but a brief synopsis would suffice."
"Of course," Naruto said. "The first factor is my heritage. My family on my mother's side always had longevity and a strong life force, while my father's family had cellular processes that functioned at near-lightspeed, granting them quick reflexes and longer lives, due to the fact that the closer to lightspeed something operates, the slower it ages.
"The day of my birth, a demon made of pure life energy was sealed inside of me by my parents, and it was the strongest of nine. During my teen years, a war erupted, and the other eight were sealed inside of me after the man trying to control the world unleashed them on the battlefield. I was the only one capable of holding them, due to the fact that they either had to be sealed into babies or descendants of my mother's family.
"Also unleashed during that time was a literal goddess, evident by her beauty and power. She transferred her divinity to me to defeat the descendant of her older son. The potency of the life energy she bestowed on me is the only reason I don't look my age.
"And during my race's own fight against the Reapers…, my brother gave me his eyes, one ability of which was a limited suspension from reality. In this case, I cannot die due to age or illness, nor can I get sick."
"He speaks the truth," the all white one said, his Psychometry not needing touch but only being able to read surface thoughts.
Arceus nodded. "Thank you, Reshiram." He turned to the blonde. "Tell me, Naruto… What is your relation to these...Reapers?"
"I created them," Naruto stated simply. He saw no reason to lie.
"You did WHAT!?" That came from behind him. A red-painted Prothean with blue armor and a blue-painted one with red one had yelled in unison.
"Latios, Latias… Please?"
"Yes, Emperor Arceus," the two said, again in unison.
"But they do raise a good point," Rayquaza stated respectfully; he didn't want to make it seem like he was second-guessing his Emperor's reprimand.
"That they do," Arceus said, nodding. He glanced around the room, and noticed the green-and-black themed Prothean trying to subtly get his attention. "Question, Zygarde?"
"For the alien, my Emperor, if I may?" With Arceus' nod, he continued. "You are obviously powerful, Stranger Naruto… My question is two-fold: Why are they programmed to do as they do, and why have you not stopped them?"
Naruto's exhale was quite audible when he heard those questions. "The Reapers… are pro-were programmed with the sole directive of protecting my race, the Life Energy Wielders… really?" He coughed. "Anyways, I designed the Reapers… to look like our enemy, granting us an element of surprise. The war lasted thousands of years, but our civilian population never saw our enemies or the Reapers… When the war was over, I decided to reveal them to our civilians. The civilians were terrified; my partner during the war, one known as Harbinger, meaning to foreshadow the coming of another. He was the first Reaper… He was also the largest, at roughly eight-hundred feet when standing. The civilians were terrified.
"When they attacked, the other Reapers… came out of nowhere. They defended the one who, for all intents and purposes, was their father… Their main weapon is a magnetic linear accelerator the length of their body. It fires a stream of liquid Tungsten, Uranium, and Whirlpool Metal at 48 percent the speed of light.
"The city they attacked held something like twenty-eight million people, and they razed it to the ground… The Uranium ensured that no one would live there any time in the future… The funny thing is the city was called Land of Harmony…
"When I asked Harbinger why, he told me we were an inherently aggressive species, which was true. There hadn't been a period of peace longer than thirty years for the last millennium. He said they were saving us...from ourselves. That we had to reap what we had sown, and that they would be our final Harvest…
"I was the next to attack them… I didn't even use any of my abilities. I just cried, and yelled, and punched him until my knuckles bled… Then he threw me through a half dozen buildings and left… I've been fighting them ever since."
"And, knowing what you know now, would you have destroyed this Harbinger when you had the chance?"
To Naruto's left was three balls of energy, one yellow, one pink, and one blue. The yellow one had been pulsating, so he assumed it was the one that had spoke.
"The past is the past, Uxie," the blue ball of energy vocalized next. "This one's fortitude is without question. To have survived, for millions of years...watching quadrillions, no doubt, perish from the constructs he admits to crea-"
"How are you?" the pink one asked, thankfully cutting the blue one off. Arceus seemed content to let this play out. "Azelf's disrespect aside, such trauma or isolation is not without consequences...and you have suffered both… How is your mental stability?"
"And you talk of disrespect, Mespirit?" an orange sphere he hadn't seen spoke up. "My name is Victini, Stranger Naruto. I have spoke simply because you did not answer Archduke Zygarde's second question, which was the one I held the most anticipation for."
"Why have you not attacked these Reapers and destroyed them, already? You are obviously powerful." That was the one known as Uxie, again.
"I fight them every cycle," Naruto said. "I destroy dozens of their most powerful ships every time… But when they retreat past the edge of the galaxy, I cannot follow them. The dark between galaxies is one man was never meant to cross..."
He shuddered visibly.
"As for why I haven't destroyed them; I can, of that there is no doubt. But I do not wish to do so alone… I wish for the races of a cycle, all of them, to fight alongside me. If they are going to colonize a galaxy with impunity, I want them to be ready and willing to fight for it.
"I cannot die, I know that… I fought tooth and nail, even when my own men were turned against me, even when the closest thing I had to children tried to kill me, even when my wife died in my arms… I refuse to let a race that did not suffer hardship live when my own gave everything and has only myself to show for it.
"I created the Reapers... yes, and I payed the ultimate price: having to watch all of those I love die and having to live with the grief and the fact that it is no one's fault but my own. But you must fight for what you have achieved, or you will squander it… Over twenty million years, four-hundred and three cycles have lost to the monsters that exist only in a Lovecraftian horror…
"Believe me or not, but the only way you will survive is if you all, and your subjugated races, join me when the time comes. Technology of my race, and that of other cycles, can be found across the galaxy. I give you permission to use it… But the Geranium and the Maledicta are not to be touched.
"I will be where you found me. If you decide either that you can fight the Reapers…without me, or do not believe me for some reason, send an even number ships. If you send an odd number of ships, I will assist you when the time comes."
And with that, Naruto left. He told them more or less everything. Deoxys had two Harvests in her mind, which she could pass on to the others. It was up to them – Arceus, really – if they had a fighting chance or not.
He could do nothing but wait for their response.
He hoped they chose quickly. He felt a planet where the inhabitants were more in tune with Senjutsu than the Galvans, and they had been toads!
He took off with his Susano'o-enhanced Kyuubi Cloak, heading towards the Geranium.
-X-
VOILA! Chapter 3. A 4.6k word doozie
BTW: All of you, my cute little Gen-*cough* My awesome little Readers, are amazing. 3,294 views, 133 follows, 94 faves, and 14 reviews. That's gotta beat some sorta record… Maybe a personal one?
Also, tiny little plug(just a two-prong, I swear). If you like Poke'mon games, I'm doing a novelization of HeartGold called Hart of Gold: The Tale of Amber Lynn. It's what I'm updating next, actually.
But seriously, everyone, thank you. Seeing my inbox fill with all the notifications from FanFiction is one of the best feelings I've ever felt(beat out by that one time I had sex and tied with the unconditional loyalty of my Pomeranian, Chewokka FlokkaFlame JackDaniels… or Chewie for short.
Okay, a few discrepancies. I thought the Protheans would be done this chapter, but the next will be, even if I have to go over 5k.
Apparently, with 2mil years, there are only 40 harvests, which isn't enough. So I figured I'd bump it up to 20mil years(400 harvests), but when I was reading up for the "magnetohydrodynamic cannon", I skimmed over the Leviathan of Dis, a Reaper, which is apparently around a BILLION years old, which equates to 20,000 harvests. Okay, first of all, BioWare, that's insane. (RANT AHEAD)
The GALAXY is 13.8 billion years old. Solar Nebula(what would one day become solar systems) started forming 4.6 Billion years ago. Accretion Disks(future planets) formed 4.54 billion years ago. You know what was happening a billion years ago? Nothing. Single celled organisms were all that existed. Dinosaurs appeared roughly 320mil years ago. If they had said it was 200mil years old, I'd believe it. It would just require a smart race to be the apex predator in the first place. The only reason Humans took so long is because the Dinosaurs, so mammals couldn't leave their holes and evolve.
(RANT OVER)
Also, should I call them Shinigami or Reapers? It doesn't really matter, and I can do either. Just let me know which you prefer.