Kai and the Divine Medallion
Chapter 11: Zero's Rival
The following day, since Kai was feeling better, he and Hazel went outside of the hospital. Kai saw that the whole town was rebuilding what he and Tsubasa had destroyed. Zero, Serena, and Toad were helping as well. With everyone helping, they were almost done.
"Whoa," Kai said.
Zero, Serena, and Toad saw that Kai was finally out of the hospital. They ran up to Kai and Hazel.
"It's a good thing you're finally out," Serena said. "We've got a new mission."
"That fast?!" Kai exclaimed.
"Even if the main building was halfway demolished, the guild is still running," Toad said. "We got a new mission while you were in the hospital. We told the client that we'd meet them as soon as you were well."
"What's the mission?" Kai asked.
"We don't know yet," Zero answered. "Our client said that he'd tell us when we met him."
"We're meeting him just outside of town," Serena said. "Let's hurry."
The five of them then headed towards the entrance of town. Just outside of town, they met with a young man with short, blonde hair and blue eyes. He wore a brown cloak and brown boots. He was about Kai's age.
"I'm glad you could make it," the man said. "My name's Hal."
"Hey," Kai said. "What's the mission?"
"Here's the story," Hal said. "Years ago, before I was born, my father was a treasure hunter. He was an expert at his profession. In fact, he is said to have found more treasure than anyone else in the world. This, of course, led to people wanted to steal his gains. So he hid the treasure in a deep cavern in a mountain.
"My sister, Holly, and I found the cavern. I suggested that we should get proper equipment before we went in, but she thought that we should get the treasure as soon as possible. So she went in ahead of me. She's been in there for two weeks. I'm afraid that something has happened to her.
"That's where you come in. I'm hiring you to find my sister. I'll pay you anything that you request."
"We'll take a share of that treasure if we find it," Serena said greedily.
"Anything!" Hal exclaimed. "Anything you want! It's yours!"
"SWEET!" Serena happily shouted. "What are we waiting for?! Let's go!"
So Hal told Kai's group about where the cavern was located. Meanwhile, Mel and Mammoth were listening to them.
"Are you sure we should be spying on them?" Mel asked. "What if they find out? Kai beat that assassin we hired."
"Shut up," Mammoth said. "We just have to get that treasure while they are distracted with little miss lost."
"What if they find the treasure before they find the girl?" Mel asked.
"We just have to get to the mountain first," Mammoth said. "Now that we know where it is, we can hurry there while they're getting supplies."
"What about our supplies?" Mel asked.
"Already prepared," Mammoth said. "Now, let's hurry and get that treasure!"
Mammoth and Mel rushed to the location of the mountain. Sure enough, Kai and his friends first got their supplies. They then started their journey to the mountain.
They finally reached their location, Mt. Diablo. There were many caves all along the mountainside.
"How the hell are we supposed to find one treasure in a dozen caves?!" Serena shouted.
"Don't you mean one girl?" Toad asked.
"That too," Serena said.
"We'll just have to go in them one at a time until we find her," Kai said.
"You'll get lost doing that," a voice said from behind them.
They turned around. Behind them was a girl with short, black hair. She wore a blue shirt, a blue skirt, black stockings, and blue shoes. On her waist was a weapon-pouch. Her eyes were green. On her right arm was a ninja-headband.
"Hey," the girl said.
"Who are you?" Kai asked.
"The name's Erika," the girl answered. "I'm just your wandering kunoichi."
"A what?" Kai asked.
"Do I have to explain again?" Hazel asked. "A kunoichi is a female ninja."
"I get it," Kai said.
"What do you mean 'we'll get lost doing that'?" Toad asked.
"Each of those caverns are extremely deep and filled with labyrinths," Erika explained. "Unless you know where you're going, you'll be lost forever."
"That's probably what happened to our client's sister," Zero said.
"I just happen to know which cave she went in," Erika said.
"Which one?!" Toad demanded.
"You couldn't get in, even if you wanted to," Erika said. "Follow me."
Erika led the group up the mountain. They stopped in front of a cave blocked off by a large pile of rocks.
"There was a rockslide recently," Erika said. "You won't be getting in there anytime soon."
"Now what?" Kai asked.
"I happen to know of four other openings that lead to the same place," Erika said.
She then pulled out two maps. She handed one to Kai. Kai looked at it. It showed a map of the outside of the mountain and all of the caves.
"Whoa," Kai said.
"Here, here, here, and here," Erika said as she pointed out four caves. "Those are the four caves that lead to the same place as this one. They also happen to lead to a treasure, according to my information."
"You seem to know a lot," Kai said.
"Anyway, how about a competition," Erika said. "I've heard about you five, and I wanted to play a little game. The first one to get to the girl and save her gets the reward that your client was going to give you."
"That's not fair!" Serena shouted. "We'll either lose something or gain only what we were promised at the beginning!"
"Fine," Erika said. "I'll also give you some useful information if you win. Do we have a deal?"
She held out her hand in front of Kai.
"Deal," Kai said after thinking for a moment.
He and Erika shook hands.
"I assure you that all of those caves definitely lead to your girl," Erika said. "But I don't know which one is shortest or least dangerous. That's the fun part. Pick your cave. I'll pick from the remaining."
Kai then picked one of the caves. Erika picked another.
"I'll meet you at the center," Erika said. "Good luck."
Erika then pulled out a smoke bomb. She threw it onto the ground, and covered the air with smoke. When the smoke cleared, she was gone.
"SHE GOT A HEADSTART!!!" Serena shouted. "We have to win!"
Serena then rushed to the cave that Kai picked. The rest of the group followed her. They soon found themselves deep within the cave they picked. They walked through the cave for several hours.
"I think we picked a long one," Toad complained.
"No worries," Kai said. "As long as we keep moving, we'll get there eventu…"
They suddenly reached a five-way fork in the path.
"What?!" Hazel exclaimed.
Zero picked up five stones. He threw one down each path and listened for the echoes. When he was finished examining, he turned to face his friends.
"They are all around the same length, as far as I can tell," Zero said.
"What should we do?" Hazel asked.
Toad then dug into his pockets and pulled out five, black disks with red buttons on them.
"They're signals," Toad said. "If you find the treasure or Holly, just press the button."
"Ok," Kai said.
Toad then distributed the disks. After taking one each, the five of them picked a path to walk into. They then followed their particular path.
Zero continued deeper and deeper down his path until he found a door.
"This might be it," Zero said.
Zero opened the door and stepped through. He found himself in a large, nearly empty room. There were skeletons all over the place. Each of the skeletons held a weapon and/or wore armor.
"What the…" Zero began.
"This particular room was once an arena for warriors," a familiar voice said.
Zero looked in the direction where the voice came from. Erika was standing on a barrel.
"Swordsmen, mages, shinobi, and others battled here for different reasons," Erika continued. "It's kinda funny, isn't it. Some of these people fought just because they were bored."
"Alright, is this going anywhere?" Zero asked.
"Yes," Erika said as she pulled out a kunai knife.
She then threw it towards Zero. Zero just jumped back to dodge. He then saw that there was a paper-bomb tied around the grip.
"A bomb!" Zero exclaimed.
The bomb exploded in front of Zero. Zero was blown back towards a wall.
"Damn it," Zero thought.
Erika then ran right past him. Zero felt that she had taken something. Zero looked for what she took. Erika then revealed what she had stolen. It was the signal that Toad had given him.
"I can't let you call your friends," Erika said. "I was hoping for a one-on-one duel between shinobi."
Erika then smashed the device that she had stolen. Zero merely smiled.
"Did you really think I was going to call them?" Zero laughed. "I can take you on my own."
Zero had started forming hand-signs as he said this.
"Fire-Style: FIREBALL JUTSU!" Zero shouted as he brought his right hand up to his mouth.
He then breathed a fireball toward Erika. Erika jumped out of the way. She then threw three shuriken towards Zero. Zero pulled out a kunai knife and knocked the shuriken out of the air. He then caught them as they fell and threw them back.
Erika formed some hand-signs as the shuriken shot towards her. The shuriken hit her as she finished. Suddenly, in a cloud of smoke, she was replaced by a log.
"A substitution!" Zero thought.
Erika reappeared behind him. She began to form some hand-signs.
"Slime Jutsu!" Erika shouted.
Suddenly, she spat out green slime that stuck to Zero's feet. Zero struggled to get the stuff off, but he couldn't move.
"What the?!" Zero shouted. "What is this goop?!"
"You won't be getting out of that," Erika said. "That stuff's like instant glue, but it's nearly unbreakable. It'd take the force of a demon to break out of that stuff."
"She's right," Zero thought. "I could summon a dragon below me, but this room's too small for a dragon big enough to get me out."
"Now for the fun part," Erika said. "That stuff on your feet is extremely explosive. Just one spark, and that stuff will light up faster than a pine tree on Christmas."
"Shit!" Zero thought. "I have to get this stuff off as soon as possible! Zero, keep your cool. Remember that a shinobi must keep his head at all times. Clear your mind and find a way to escape."
"This is it!" Erika shouted.
She pulled out a matchbox and lit a match. She then tossed it towards Zero. Zero began to concentrate his energy. Suddenly, he released the chakra seal. The force of the chakra was powerful enough to blow the stuff away. The flame on the match was also blown out.
"What the?!" Erika exclaimed.
"I forgot to mention this," Zero said. "That was my Chakra Release. I store up a large amount of chakra into a single point on my body and release it whenever I need it. Now for some fun."
Zero bit his thumb and formed some hand-signs.
"Ninja Art: Summoning Jutsu!" Zero shouted.
He slammed his right hand onto the ground. Suddenly, a cloud of smoke appeared where his fist hit the ground. When the smoke cleared, three small dragons were standing there. Each one was a different color: red, blue, and yellow.
"What do you need, boss?" the red dragon asked.
"It's time for a combination attack," Zero said.
"Yay!" the blue dragon happily exclaimed.
"So you can use the summoning jutsu as well," Erika said.
Erika then bit her own thumb. She then formed different hand-signs.
"Summoning Jutsu!" Erika shouted as she slammed her right hand onto the ground.
Suddenly, a cloud of smoke appeared where her hand hit the ground. When the smoke cleared, Zero and his dragons were surprised by what they saw. The creatures Erika had summoned were kinda…stupid looking.
Her creatures were three, blue slime drops with goofy smiles.
"Slime Shady, Smiles, Tori," Erika said.
"Hey there, ma'am," one of the slimes said.
"What the heck are those?" Zero asked.
"Slimes," Erika answered. "These three happen to be my favorites. So it's four-on-four now, isn't it."
"Not for long," Zero said. "Dragon, combination!"
"Yes sir!" the three dragons said.
The dragons surrounded Zero. Zero formed a hand-sign.
"Combined Transformation!" the four of them said together.
Suddenly, in a cloud of smoke, the four of them was replaced by about Zero's height.
"Ultima Dragon," the dragon said in Zero's voice.
"Whoa," Erika said sarcastically. "I'm sorry, but that's not very impressive. My slimes can do practically the same thing. Guys, time for slime combo!"
The three slimes then got close to each other. Suddenly, they formed together into a much larger slime with a crown on its head.
"Ultrus, the Ultra Slime!" the slime said in the voices of the three slimes from earlier.
"He's still as goofy-looking as before," Zero said.
"That doesn't mean he can't beat you," Erika said. "Ultrus, he's all yours."
Zero, the Ultima Dragon, and Ultrus stood face-to-face, prepared for the ultimate battle.