And here it is, the final chapter of the first round, Naruto vs. Sonic X.
Disclaimer: I don't own either anime, just the fact that they've been pitted against each other.
Battle 3-Fast and Furious
Things were starting to look the same wherever Sonic looked. They had seen no life forms other than each other. Soon he heard something overhead. He looked up to see Rouge coming down.
"Did you guys find anything, or anyone?" Sonic asked.
"Nothing," she answered. "As far as I know, there's nobody within two miles of here."
"Then I say we just hike for four more miles and check again," Sonic said, trying to add a bit of humor to liven everyone's spirits.
Suddenly, just as they were about to leave, they heard something in the bushes behind them. "What's that?" Amy asked nervously. Everyone looked back very slightly and saw a mysterious figure cloaked in the shadow of the canopy.
"But I checked everywhere," Rouge whispered. "There shouldn't be anyone here."
"Then what do you call that?" Sonic asked rhetorically.
"What do we do, Sonic?" Amy asked.
"For now," Sonic said, "we'll just wait until it decides to make a move. If not, then we'll…"
"How about we just stop talking about it," Knuckles said quietly at first, "and bring the fight to it!" he shouted as he jumped toward the figure. He brought his fist forward ready to connect. He caught a quick glimpse of his target: he wore what looked like an orange jumpsuit and a headband with a strange design. If he had more time, he could have figured out what it was.
Knuckles' fist made contact with the stranger, but at that same second, he disappeared in a puff of smoke. The echidna continued flying, however, right into a tree, where his spiked knuckles dug in deep.
"Hey!" he yelled. "Could someone give me a hand here?" Sonic ran through the bushes to see if his friend and rival was alright.
When he saw Knuckles stuck in the tree, he laughed out loud, saying, "Well, what do you know? It looks like Knuckles is 'stuckles.'"
"Quit your yapping and help me out, okay?" Knuckles said angrily.
"Alright, you big crybaby," Sonic said after he regained composure, "just give me a second." He went to Knuckles' front end, grabbed his abdomen, and moved his legs at high speed, which eventually broke him free and got him back to the others.
Sonic made a sudden stop at the group. Amy was the first to speak. "So what happened, Knuckles?"
"I managed to hit him, but he disappeared all of a sudden and I got stuck in that tree back there."
"Do you think it was an illusion?" Shadow asked.
"No way, it was way too solid," Knuckles answered. "To a point," he added in a whisper.
Sonic said to the group, "Whatever happened, it's a safe bet that they know we're here, so let's just wait here until they come back."
Naruto looked around for any sign of life. So far, the whole reconnaissance effort was turning out to be fruitless. Nobody had found anything, even with Sasuke and Kakashi's sharingans combined. Of course, since Kakashi could only use his for so short a time, that might have added to their hampering progress.
Sakura spoke up. "We're not getting anywhere with this. Master, I suggest we rest a bit."
"We're not going to find anyone just staying in one place, Sakura," Ino said annoyed.
Rock came to Sakura's defense. "She has a point, though. Walking around like this will only waste our energy. We will need to expend little energy as is possible if we want to be at our most effective."
Kakashi replaced his face mask as he said, "I agree with Sakura on this one, Ino. Besides, there may a slight chance that our opponents will find us."
Sasuke turned and said, "That's usually a bad thing, isn't it?"
"True," Kakashi answered, "but at least these fights will be on somewhat friendlier terms." No one, not even Ino, had any objections to his statement.
Everyone had just gotten comfortable when Naruto felt something. "Guys, I think I might have found something," he said without warning. Everyone looked around to see if they could find what Naruto thought he found. Everyone except Kakashi.
"I believe Naruto is referring to one of his Shadow Clone surveyors," he said to the confused trainees. When everyone settled down, Kakashi asked, "How far are they, Naruto?"
"I'd say less than a mile from here," Naruto answered. Everyone stood up and followed him as he led them through the forest. Naruto followed a series of marks his clone left in trees as a path. A good idea, since everything looked the same wherever they went.
Soon they came upon a group of what they best described as anthropomorphic creatures. "Master," Sakura asked, "what are those things?"
"Never have I seen creatures even close to these beings," Kakashi admitted. He noticed Sasuke climbing up a nearby tree. "Sasuke, what are you doing?"
"Just letting them know we're here," his student answered.
It had been only a few minutes since the incident with the very mysterious figure (as they were calling it now), and Knuckles was already getting impatient. Everyone could tell that it was because he couldn't wait to sink his fists into whatever he tried to hit earlier, this time with more success.
Suddenly, they heard something land almost right next them. Shadow went to examine it. The object looked like a knife with the blade stuck into the ground. Shadow pulled it out and looked at it. "A kunai."
"A kunai?" Amy asked. "Those are suppose to be used by ninjas, right?"
Shadow looked around. He saw nothing, but the kunai in his hand told him a different story. "They're here," he said solemnly.
Right when he finished speaking, five people walked out of the bushes while one jumped down from a nearby tree (No doubt the one who threw that thing, Sonic thought). One of them looked like the only adult in the group while the rest seemed to be no older than teenagers. Knuckles immediately jumped at the sight of one of them, but before he could speak, the adult, who had a mask covering most of his face except for one eye, held up his hand, stopping him.
"My name is Kakashi Hatake," he said, "and these are my students: Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, and Sakura Haruno. The other two are Rock Lee an Ino Yamanaka. Who might you be?"
Sonic stepped forward. "Call me Sonic. This is Knuckles, Amy, Rouge, and Shadow."
Right when Sonic finished, Knuckles pushed him out of the way and confronted Naruto. "And you're the one who disappeared on me!" ("Would saying 'excuse me' kill you?" Sonic asked rhetorically.)
Naruto looked at Knuckles for a bit and said, "You must be the one who took out my Shadow Clone." Knuckles simply growled in anger.
"Not to change the subject," Rock said, trying to keep Knuckles from harming Naruto before the battle, "but what exactly are you?"
Naruto immediately said, "I'm just going to make a guess and say maybe magical creatures, perhaps."
"Hey!" Rouge said. "The only magic involved here is probably my charms." She posed as if to show of her good looks.
"She has a point, Naruto," Kakashi said. "Not about the looks," he added when he saw Rouge's eyes sparkle. "Remember, these beings are from another world entirely. What may seem strange to us may be the norm for them."
Sonic explained, "Really, we're just your basic hedgehogs, bat, and echidna."
"You sure don't look like an echidna to me," Ino said.
"That's because I'm a hedgehog," Sonic returned darkly.
"I don't mean to sound pushy here, but you're also our opponents," Sasuke said. "Isn't it about time we started the battle already?"
"Sasuke has a point," Naruto said, "the sooner we get started the sooner we can take down Atrocity." He clenched his hand into a fist and brought it to the other hand.
"Well put, young ninja," Master said suddenly. "Time is indeed of the essence. The pairs of opponents are as follows: Sonic and Rock Lee, Knuckles and Naruto, Rouge and Sakura, and Shadow and Kakashi." The opponents each took a different position in the forest. The three remaining spectators stayed in the small clearing that Sonic and the others were found in.
"Three…" The ninjas assumed a battle stance. "Two…" The Mobians did the same. "One… start the battle!"
Rock immediately charged at Sonic. He held his hand in front of him, ready to strike. Just as he was next to the blue hedgehog, he swung his hand down. Sonic jumped out of the way, but Rock came back with another attack. For every strike Sonic dodged, Rock had another one coming, whether it be a chop, a punch, or even a kick if he was in the right position.
"You know, you're pretty fast," Sonic said, "and that's coming from someone who wrote the book on fast."
"Well, you know how to avoid my hits, but that hardly counts as 'fast,'" Rock returned.
"Really?" Sonic waited until he could get the right footing. Then when he found the opportunity, he ran as fast as his legs could carry him, which Rock found to be very fast. Sonic was weaving through the trees as though time had slowed down for him. Rock stood amazed at how easily Sonic was able to stop in front of him. Even more amazing was the fact that Sonic didn't even get a scratch.
"How is that possible?" he asked incredulously. "No ordinary being could move that fast through a place as this and come out undamaged."
"Then consider me extra-ordinary." Sonic ran around a few more times before finally laying a punch on Rock. He did this a few more times before Rock decide to try something.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a few shuriken. Dividing them between both hands, he threw them out so that they flew in all directions. Most of them hit the nearby tree trunks while some lodged themselves in the ground. Luckily for Rock, one of them managed to stop Sonic. He saw the shuriken coming and grinded to a halt before it landed in the tree.
"You gotta watch where you throw those things," Sonic said comically. "They could easily hit somebody."
"This time, you are not going anywhere." Rock once again had his hand out, ready to strike Sonic. Suddenly, Sonic folded his body inwards and started spinning at an incredibly fast rate. Before Rock knew what happened, Sonic was once again on the move.
The blue ball that was Sonic charged at Rock and knocked him back and even rolled across him. Before Rock could stand up, Sonic came around for another attack. He knocked the young ninja into the air. Rock grabbed a nearby tree branch and swung on top of it to avoid any more attacks. He knew he couldn't stay up there for long, as did Sonic. He'd have to come up with a plan, and fast.
"Go, Sonic, go!" Amy shouted. She was still in the clearing with Ino and Sasuke. All four battles were taking place all around them, but Amy was more focused on Sonic's battle than the others.
Ino was right next to Amy when she cheered. "Are you his biggest fan or something?"
"More like his love interest," Amy answered. She then whispered, "He just doesn't want to admit it yet."
Ino simply smiled and said, "I know what you mean. I've been trying to get Sasuke to notice me for a long time now."
Amy looked over at Sasuke. He just stood there with his arms crossed, staring intently at the battles around him. Seeing this started to unnerve Amy. Simply looking at him gave her a creepy feeling about him. She turned to Ino. "No offense, but you might want to check your taste in guys."
Ino looked over at Sonic. She couldn't understand him at all. He seemed like he was enjoying the fight, making wisecracks at Rock every so often. "If that's true," Ino returned, "then I'm not the only one who needs to."
Knuckles didn't waste any time attacking Naruto first. As he ran, he quickly picked up a small rock and threw it at him. The rock bounced off Naruto's face. "Ow! What was that for?" he demanded.
"Just to make sure you won't disappear on me again," Knuckles said. He jumped and lowered one of his spiked fists. Naruto quickly moved to the side to avoid the blow. Knuckles growled. "Come on, I just want to punch you to make up for your vanishing act."
"Want me to show you how I did it?" Naruto asked. He made a cross-like gesture with his hands before shouting, "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" There was a puff of smoke and Knuckles saw a disturbing sight: There were Narutos all around him.
"What kind of cheap trick is this?" Knuckles said.
"'Cheap trick?'" one of them said. "This is just your average Shadow Clone technique," another continued. "Or you could call it body splitting," said yet another.
Yeah, well, right now, the only thing that's splitting now is my head, Knuckles thought, having to hear more of you guys than just one.
Knuckles didn't have time to think it out. The real Naruto could be anywhere, and if he hesitated, the battle could be over in mere minutes. Instead, he ran to one of the Narutos and punched, but he disappeared. "Wrong one," one of them said. Knuckles ran over and hit him too, with the same result. "Missed again." To make matters worse, all the Narutos started moving around, not only dodging his attacks, but landing a few of their own.
"It's not possible," Knuckles said to himself. "There's no way you can make that many clones and be able to control them."
"'Control' isn't the point." "We're all the same Naruto…" "…And we're all distinct at the same time." "So we can attack separately…" "…Or together!" With that, everyone jumped up and fell towards the exhausted Knuckles. They all landed without even giving him a chance to move. Everyone stood to see an exhausted Knuckles struggling to get up.
"Nice, huh?" "We call that little move…" "…the Naruto Uzumaki Barrage."
"Would you please stop finishing each others' sentences?" Knuckles asked. "It's hurting my head more than your hands are."
Sakura ran toward Rouge with her hand out. Rouge, however, simply stood there. If she's not going to even run away, this will be an easy victory, Sakura thought. She was inches away from the bat when she brought her hand down. But she didn't hit anything. In fact, Rouge had disappeared from view.
Sakura looked around to see where she might have gone. "Hey, up here," a voice said. Sakura looked up and saw Rouge flying out of reach.
"That's totally unfair," Sakura said to herself.
Apparently, Rouge heard her, because she said, "Call it what you want, but this is just going to be one of many moves and techniques your opponents will probably use."
Sakura tried jumping to get to her, without success, as she asked, "What are you talking about?"
"Don't forget," Rouge answered, "I'm not going to be the only one you'll be fighting. You're going to meet up with other people who have a lot of abilities, and they won't be afraid to use them. This one will just seem like the best of those 'unfair' moves." Just then, Rouge flipped, lowering her foot toward Sakura.
Sakura managed to avoid the kick, but Rouge made another attempt. The only thing Sakura could do was retreat and come up with a new strategy. She quickly ran into a bush trying to avoid her. But she could only hide for so long.
Rouge actually did see Sakura jump into the bush. "How pathetic can you get? And here I thought ninjas-in-training put up a better fight than this." She heard a rustling in the bush and then she saw Sakura attempting to run. "That pathetic."
Rouge flew after the running girl until she was practically on top her. She flipped once more into a kick. She struck Sakura, but something was odd; the kick seemed to go right through her and she vanished instantly. Rouge landed and checked the surrounding area, but Sakura was nowhere to be found. Was this what happened to Knuckles? No, he said it was too solid. Even stranger, there were no footprints leading to this point. But she did hear footsteps behind her.
She quickly roundhoused and blocked Sakura's arm from coming down on her. Sakura kept pushing her arm down, but Rouge kept her leg up, preventing her from doing so.
Sakura smiled. "Not bad."
"Government agent by day…" Rouge quickly lowered her leg and lifted her other one, kicking Sakura in the face, knocking her back. "…Jewel thief by night." She approached the fallen Sakura. "Looks like you're no better than your opponents: using tactics that they deem 'unfair.'"
"If you're allowed to use them," Sakura said, "then so am I." Suddenly, she moved swiftly to lay her first punch on Rouge. The bat was blown back and landed flat on her back. "In case you're wondering," Sakura said as she got up, "what you saw was a simple Cloning Jutsu. Not as good as the Shadow Clone Jutsu your friend experienced, but it gets the job done. Really, it's just an illusion."
Rouge stood up and brushed herself. "Okay, little girl, you've just earned the right to get smacked… hard."
"Shadow, I have to ask," Kakashi said to Shadow before Master started the countdown, "you didn't seem to talk at all since we arrived. Care to explain why?"
"Silence allows me to focus on what I'm doing," Shadow simply said.
Kakashi looked at him for a few seconds, almost as though he thought there was something more to his answer. But he simply shrugged and said, "Okay, that works for me."
But unknown to Kakashi, there was another reason. Despite his resolve to participate in these battles to save their world, Shadow's so-called "failure" still haunted him. And though his companions weren't even thinking such, to Shadow, they thought him a failure as well. I need something to prove to them, and me, that I am as powerful as I have always been, maybe more.
With this in mind, Shadow made the first move at Master's signal. He immediately moved in with a spin attack. Kakashi simply stood there. Soon Shadow was coming in for the first hit, but as he moved in on Kakashi's location, he found that he only hit empty air. He broke his spin and searched around. The ninja master was merely a few feet away.
Enraged, Shadow tried again. With the short distance between the two combined with his speed, there was no hope for Kakashi. Or so Shadow thought. Once again, Shadow closed in on Kakashi, and once again, he just missed him.
"Not to sound offensive," Kakashi said, "but is that really the best you can do?"
Unfortunately, Shadow did take offense. This time, he ran at him with his fist ready to strike as he passed, but even this was unsuccessful. No matter what Shadow did, Kakashi seemed to be able to dodge at the last possible moment.
Kakashi yawned and said, in between failed strikes, "You know… I wish… I had… something to read… But… I left my… book back… in my world."
An infuriated Shadow said loudly in between punches, "Do… you… ever… shut... up?"
"I think talking makes the battle more interesting," Kakashi said. "Besides, you learn more about your opponent that way."
"Yeah, well what I'm learning is that you never seem to take anything seriously."
"You should have met me when I did."
"That's almost hard to believe."
"Now what I'm learning about you is that you're obviously troubled by something," Kakashi thought aloud. Shadow took extreme offense now.
Shadow charged in on Kakashi again, and this time, Kakashi wasn't going to run. Instead, he performed a series of hand signals almost as fast as Shadow could run. "Water Vortex Jutsu!" Shadow was blocked by a tower of water. The black hedgehog attempted to run past it, but the cyclone succeeded in enveloping him.
Shadow was tossed and turned by the circling waves. He could see the vortex digging into the ground. This caused something to dislodge itself from the ground up into the vortex. Shadow looked up to see it sparkle as it came hurtling down.
Rock looked down at Sonic, spinning around the tree like a shark around a raft waiting for its prey to fall overboard. Suddenly, the hedgehog stopped right in front of him. "You know, maybe you'd have a better chance of winning if you came down from there. Not a favorable chance, but still…" Rock knew Sonic was right. But if he was going to come down, he'd have to figure out a way to deal with Sonic's speed.
Just then, he heard a creak beside him. He looked to find the branch starting to bend. Looks like this thing will not take my weight any longer. At the minute the word "weight" came into his head, he stopped and thought, "Weight." I think I have an idea!
"You coming down or not?" Sonic yelled, breaking Rock's daydream.
"I am coming down. But first, I need to get rid of something." Rock reached down to the cuffs of his pant legs and pulled them up to reveal his ankle weights to Sonic.
"What are those things for?" Sonic asked.
"You will see," Rock said vaguely. He unfastened them and said, "Ordinarily, I would not take these off without my master's instruction. But since he is not here, I will have to judge when it is the appropriate time."
"I doubt it would help much," Sonic said. "After all, they can't be that heavy." But Sonic spoke too soon. Rock held the weights out and dropped them. They both landed on the ground with a thud and dirt flew everywhere upon impact. When the dust settled, Sonic saw that only the top half of each weight was visible; the rest was lodged into the ground.
Now Sonic started to worry; if these weights were that heavy, one could only imagine how strong Rock's legs were. Instead of wanting to find out, Sonic immediately unleashed a spin attack and rammed into the tree. The impact caused Rock to fall. Luckily, he landed on his feet, but Sonic wanted to make sure that his luck ran out by charging full force.
But it was Sonic's luck that ran out. He stopped where Rock was standing, only to find he wasn't there. Sonic immediately cancelled his spin mode and looked around. He didn't need to look far though.
"Up here!" Sonic heard Rock calling from above. He looked up to find Rock plummeting down with his fist in front of him. The fist immediately connected and Sonic flew into a nearby stone. "From one rock," Rock said, "to another." The blue hedgehog suffered a lot of damage.
I can see how he got up there, Sonic thought to himself. With those weights off, his legs are pretty strong, allowing him to jump that high. But without me noticing? It's got to be a trick. That's when Sonic had an idea. He stood up and walked toward Rock. "I have to say, that was pretty impressive. But it would've been more impressive if it was done without using your little ninja tricks, like you used on Knuckles." Sonic hoped to catch him off guard, allowing the fight to work in his favor.
Instead, however, Rock smiled. "Sorry, no tricks here. Unlike the others, I specialize in taijutsu, where everything is as real as that rock you just hit." Rock attempted to prove his point by running toward Sonic with an outstretched hand. Sonic had a hard time believing that his opponent was moving almost as fast, if not faster, than him. Rock continued to run into Sonic multiple times, sending him into the air with each strike before stopping his assault to catch his breath.
Strong and fast, Sonic thought. And he was pretty fast before he took those things off.
How do I fight when I can't even tell which of these imposters is my opponent? Knuckles thought to himself. The echidna finally stood up and faced all the Narutos looking at him. Some of them pulled out some shuriken and threw them at Knuckles. He managed to dodge every one of them, but it was out of the frying pan and into the fire as more look-alikes came up beside him and struck hard. Knuckles crashed onto a large stone.
He sat up and held his head in pain. "Fine place to put a rock," he said to himself. "Why couldn't those guys bash their heads on this thing?" When he finished speaking a thought came into his head. He remembered what he did to Naruto when the battle began: he threw a rock at him to see if he was real. If the principle still applied…
Knuckles lifted the large rock behind him with all his strength. "Very nice," one of the Narutos said. "Is that supposed to scare us?"
"Not quite," Knuckles replied. He hoisted the rock up in the air and when it came down, he punched it. The rock shattered into smaller stones that lifted in the air for a bit. For Knuckles, it was long enough to jump and punch, kick, and slap each stone toward the crowd. The salvo of stones, to Knuckles' satisfaction, hit every last shadow clone with enough force to make them disappear. But only one remained: the real Naruto.
Naruto looked around to see if any of his shadow clones survived the onslaught. Unfortunately, none were found. "All right, plan B."
"And what might that be?" Knuckles asked rhetorically.
Naruto quickly performed three hand signs and smoke surrounded his form. Knuckles shielded himself and when it was over, he saw something very disturbing, even more so than seeing multiple opponents: himself!
"Like it?" Naruto said. Knuckles was surprised to hear his voice come out of his doppelganger's mouth. "Transformation jutsu. Named for obvious reasons."
"Not bad," Knuckles said, surprising Naruto, "but that's not really my best side. And if you're trying to confuse someone, I got news for you: I'm the only one here."
"Hey, relax," Naruto said, "I just think that your moves are great, so I thought I'd use them for a bit." Naruto charged at Knuckles, who was doing the same thing, both with their fists raised. They both punched and dodged every blow the other gave
This guy was right, Knuckles thought, he can use my own moves. After a few more rounds, though, he realized something. "You know," he said to his opponent, "you may have my strength, my power, and my moves…" he paused. "…but do you know how to use them?"
Knuckles managed to flip behind Naruto and immediately punched him with incredible force. Naruto flew forward and skidded along the forest floor to a halt. Almost instantly, smoke was released around Naruto's body, and his true form appeared when it lifted.
"Okay, Knuckles," Naruto said as he got up, "now it's time to take you down."
"Finally," Knuckles responded, "some action."
Rouge started advancing toward Sakura, kicking when she thought she had the opportunity. Unfortunately, Sakura seem to dodge every attempted blow.
It's no good, Rouge thought. It's almost as though she knows my every move. Of course she does, she's a ninja. They all have a sixth sense about these things.
Rouge noticed that a leaf had fallen between them as she continued her assault. Instinct caused her to look up toward the canopy. She noticed that she couldn't see anything beyond it, only a few specks of light shining through the leaves. That's it! she thought with a smile on her face.
She jumped up and flew into the thick cover of leaves and braches above her. "What's wrong?" Sakura asked tauntingly. "Giving up?"
"Oh no," Rouge answered through the leaves, "just getting brighter." For a while after she spoke, there was an eerie silence. Sakura formed a defensive stance, ready for whatever Rouge might plan.
Suddenly, Rouge dived out of the trees and came down on Sakura. But it all happened so fast, the female ninja didn't have enough time to counter it. Rouge kicked her off balance and sprang back into the treetops.
Sakura had just managed to get back on her feet when Rouge struck again, knocking her back down. But Sakura had only turned to face Rouge when she disappeared again. Sakura got up and quickly moved to one side to avoid the next strike. However, there was none.
Sakura didn't understand why Rouge didn't attack her that time. Not that I'm complaining. But she soon would be, as the bat came down once again, struck hard and swift, and vanished.
Sakura kept her eyes on the canopy above, looking for Rouge's next strike. For a while, nothing seemed to happen. Suddenly she was swept off her feet when something flew past her legs. She landed on her back and saw Rouge flying above her, once again headed for the canopy.
Now I get it, she thought. She strikes at random times in random ways, trying to keep me from getting a fix on her. So how do I combat that?
Shadow looked at the shining object falling toward him. It bounced off the walls of swirling water. Shadow caught it right before it hit him. He looked at it: it looked like a diamond in a familiar cut. But what really made Shadow suspicious was the feeling he was getting by just looking at it.
Without much chance to verify his theory, Shadow held it up and concentrated. Soon he felt the waves slow down around him to the point where he could finally touch the ground. He then started running at high speed in the opposite direction of the water. The vortex, met with wind that resisted its movement, collapsed around Shadow.
Kakashi watched in amazement as his Water Vortex Jutsu was being undone. He saw Shadow standing where the center of the cyclone would have been. He noticed he held something in his hand.
"What is that?" he asked.
"Just what I thought," Shadow said, almost as though he hadn't heard Kakashi. "I don't know how, but this will be the trump card in this fight." He held the object up triumphantly and it shone a brilliant light. "A Chaos Emerald!"
Kakashi backed up a bit with caution. "Chaos Emerald?"
"This powerful gem has within it the power to distort time and space," Shadow said. "That's how I stopped the cyclone. By slowing the flow of time around me, I was able to gain enough footing to run at a speed that would cancel it out." He moved the emerald toward Kakashi. "But that's not all I can do with it."
Shadow then released a powerful shockwave that flowed toward Kakashi. The range of this attack was too wide, so all he could do was brace himself and stand his ground. Unfortunately, "stand his ground" was not as easy as he thought. The waves pushed him back into a tree with incredible force.
Yes, Shadow thought, this will prove that I am no failure.
Meanwhile, Kakashi had his own thoughts. I have to get that jewel away from him. There's more to this fight than what the Master expected us to gain from it.
He stood up and held out his hand. Shadow noticed that it began to crackle with electricity. Kakashi than raced up to Shadow, who now was using a full force chaos blast.
Sonic was running out of options, and Rock was running all over the place. He started to run in a circle around the blue hedgehog. Sonic tried to see him through the dust he was kicking up, but so far nothing.
Rock's not going to wait much longer, Sonic thought. I just need to counterattack, and I'd better do it soon. Sonic's only problem was that he couldn't see his opponent. Rock was going too fast. Wait a minute, I bet I can use that to my advantage.
Sonic curled into a ball and started spinning in place until he was at his fastest. Then, without warning, he charged directly ahead. He crashed into Rock and continued forward. But he soon turned around and hit Rock again.
Rock was flung into the air, just like the first time. This time however, because of his new, lighter weight, he flew higher than the trees. Sonic came to a stop and looked up. "There we go, just like I planned it." He looked at Rock's discarded weights. A smile appeared on his face. "He'll need these," he said. He went to pick one of them up. He struggled with the weight as he held it in both hands. "On second thought, maybe only one will do."
He ran up one of the trees and jumped above the canopy. He saw Rock hitting the height of his ascension and just now coming down. Luckily for Sonic, he was able to meet Rock's height.
"What are you doing here?" Rock asked.
"Just giving you a good-bye present," Sonic returned and tossed the weight into Rock's hand. With the added weight, Rock fell at a faster rate than previously. "See you when you hit bottom!" Sonic called as Rock disappeared through the canopy.
Sonic decided to add insult to injury by curling up once again and streaking toward the forest floor. He crashed through the canopy and caught a quick glimpse of Rock, who was just recovering from the fall. Sonic landed on top of Rock and released a wave of dirt and dust upon impact. When the dust cleared, Sonic was standing on top of Rock, doing a sort of victory pose.
"Very well," Rock said through pants and breaths, "you win." Sonic leapt off of Rock's body and offered to help him up.
Rock stood up and went to fetch his other weight. "I do not understand it," he said. "How were you able to discern my location at that speed?"
"I didn't," Sonic answered, "but you were going so fast, I figured I would hit you anyway."
Rock smiled at Sonic as he attached his weights to his ankles. "Very clever of you," he said. "Not many people have used my own speed against me like that."
Knuckles and Naruto were exchanging blows one after the other. There weren't too many connections, however. Since they started punching each other, they were both dodging and blocking and not landing any real hits. Finally, the two combatants managed to put some space in between one another. Both of them were breathing hard.
He's not going to be able to take much more of this, Knuckles thought. Just have to land a hit.
On the other side, Naruto was thinking the same thing. If I don't finish it up now, chances are he might finish me. But how will I know one hit will take him out? He's already taken the full brunt my Naruto Uzumaki Barrage, and he's still standing. I can't risk it. I have to finish this with one powerful attack. And I know just the one.
Naruto held out his hand and concentrated. Soon, a mystic blue sphere formed in his hand.
"What the heck is that?" Knuckles asked.
"Just a little technique called… Rasengan!" Naruto answered. He held his hand so that it was behind his head, with the orb pointing toward Knuckles.
To prevent seeing what would happen him if the Rasengan hit, Knuckles ran at Naruto with his fist aimed at him. Naruto also started running toward Knuckles. When the two were within striking range, they both put their hands forward for the win.
Naruto tilted his head to prevent Knuckles' fist from landing. Knuckles, however, wasn't as lucky. The Rasengan made full contact with his body. Knuckles was immediately blasted backward by the impact. He landed with his back to a tree. Knuckles was too exhausted to continue fighting.
Naruto came up to Knuckles to inspect his handiwork. Knuckles lifted his head to Naruto.
"Not bad, kid," Knuckles said. "That was the first time I ever met my match in physical power." Knuckles tried to lift himself up, but his back was hurt pretty badly. Naruto offered to help him up, but Knuckles said, "No thanks. I've never asked for help when I'm down before, and I'm not about to start now."
Knuckles didn't realize it just yet, but at that point, his back was healed.
Sakura attempted to listen for Rouge, hoping to catch her before her next strike. But no matter how hard she tried, Rouge was able to land one blow after another. Sakura desperately tried to think of a way to at least avoid her long enough. Just then, an idea came to her. She waited for Rouge to strike.
When she was sure she heard a faint rustle, Sakura quickly moved her hands in five different positions. Just behind her, Rouge flew in for the strike. She hit her target and, for the first time since she started her hit-and-run tactic, stopped to look at Sakura. But in the place of what should have been Sakura was a log.
Rouge heard Sakura's voice. "Let's see you get out of an impossible situation the way I did." Suddenly, she was surrounded on all sides by Sakura and five of what must have been more energy clones.
"You see," all the Sakuras seemed to say, "I'm not one for some of the more stylish jutsu. I use my head to get me through a fight. Now as you can see, there are a bunch of clones surrounding you, but only one is real. Once you hit a clone, it will disappear. The problem is, you have only one chance; after that, the rest will charge in and the real me will attack. Not only that, but even if you do hit the right one, all the clones will prepare for a counterattack." At that moment, they all assumed a battle stance. "But you don't have time to think it out, because we could attack you at anytime. Now, pick your target."
Rouge smiled. "I already have." The clones relaxed their stance and gave her a curious look. "There's no sense in trying to fool a bat, missy." Suddenly, she leaped up and kicked into the branches near her. Sakura, the real Sakura, was forced out and fell to the ground. When she landed, all her clones disappeared; she had little energy left to keep them stable.
Rouge landed softly and looked at her fallen opponent. "I will say, it was a good try, though." She held out her hand and pulled Sakura up.
"How did you…?" Sakura asked dumbfounded.
"If you're as smart as you claim, than you should know that bats have exceptional hearing. You couldn't fool me."
Sakura smiled and said, "Well, I guess you got me there." But her inside voice said, No way! I had everything planned out! That shouldn't have happened! Her thoughts were interrupted when they heard a loud noise. "That sounds like a Chidori," Sakura said to herself.
Kakashi put the lightning blade directly in front of him, shielding him from Shadow's blast. But this defense only worked so well; he could still feel the impact when the attacks made contact. Kakashi moved his legs with every amount of effort he could muster. With each step, Shadow tried to increase the power of his attack, making each step more of a challenge than the last.
Finally, after what seemed like a long time, Kakashi stopped right in front of Shadow. He pushed his Chidori forward against the beam and struck the Chaos Emerald. The emerald flew out of Shadow's hand at an incredible distance. Shadow was also forced back by the impact.
However, beaten and bruised, Shadow still wasn't done yet. "No," he grunted, "I won't lose this." He advanced angrily toward Kakashi, but his composure was less than convincing. He was staggering, hunched over and holding his side. Each step was about as slow as Kakashi's were when he was facing the chaos blast.
"Forget it," Kakashi said to Shadow.
Shadow stopped. "What?" he said in disbelief.
"I do not wish to fight an opponent whose mind is not in the battle."
Shadow grunted and said, "What does that mean?"
"My sharingan eye can only see things in the physical plane," Kakashi said, holding his hand above the part of his mask that covered his eye, "not read minds. But I don't need it to tell that something is weighing heavily on you; something that has hurt your spirit and is causing you to vent your anger toward me."
"Is this some psychological attack?" Shadow said defiantly.
"Whether or not you choose to tell me what is bothering you is your decision alone. I will not force you."
Shadow paused for a few seconds, then spoke. "Before we were brought here, I had failed to stop a power-hungry would-be dictator from unleashing his new power on my teammates, and I haven't been able to forget it for even one second." He paused. "I was just trying to prove to them, and me, that I'm not the failure I was back in our world."
Just then, a new voice from behind said, "Is that what's been bugging you, Shadow?" Shadow turned to find Sonic, the other Mobians, and the ninja trainees approaching them. "Shadow, take it from someone who almost got his head handed to him because of you: there are many words I could use to describe you. 'Weak' is not one of them."
Kakashi then spoke his piece. "Many times in life, you'll find it's not what others think of you, but what you think of yourself. Sometimes, though, you'll find the opposite to be true as well." There was a pause between everyone. "I suggest that you should refrain from battling," Kakashi said, "until you are sure of yourself. With this in mind, I think we should call this battle a draw."
"Maybe you're right," Shadow said, "but know this." He smiled mischievously as he said, "Even if I wasn't concerned with failure, you would have gone down anyway."
"I highly doubt that," Kakashi returned.
"Well done, warriors," Master's voice boomed in their heads. "It is this fighting spirit and attitude I shall come to expect when you battle against the Atrocity."
"Guess that's our cue to leave," Sonic said. "We'll be seeing you." He and his friends walked away, leaving the ninjas.
"You know, Naruto," Sasuke said, "that Sonic character reminds me of you." Naruto smiled confidently before Sasuke continued. "Brash, overconfident, sometimes acts without thinking through things…" Naruto bowed his head in disappointment.
Kakashi spoke up. "But still full of potential nonetheless. You could all learn a few things from this group."
That wraps it up here, but everyone still has four battles to go. Be here next week, when we bring you the ultimate card game.
(One more thing: anyone who can guess what this chapter's deus ex machina is gets a standard, Marvel- approved No-Prize! [mini-disclaimer: I don't own that either])