The following characters and concepts found in this story belong to their respectful owners. This story is for entertainment purposes only so please do not hire mercenaries, hit men, or any other intimidating person(s) to make your points clear.
All Dark Tome entries are from the original author Demonabyss, minus any entry marked with a asterisk (*), those are custom made and not found in the original story. At the very least I don't remember finding them in it... (Secretly hires an army of mercenaries for protection)
Atum-Coma: The City Hidden in the Nexus - Monkey Tale
Chapter 12: What happens outside of Atum-Coma...
Nadeshiko outskirts, six days later, mid-morning
"ATTACK!"
Things... only went bad to worse when it was soon learned Hild had a daughter whom she insisted on bringing with them. It was nice at first, nice as it could be at least with a mildly sheltered, headstrong child of mixed ancestry practically challenging everything, albeit unintentionally in most cases, in the name of curiosity and slightly stubborn pride... but she had to say it. She had to call Son Goku a monkey. Not a Bijuu or something of some detestability, but a monkey pure and simple. Why? Mei-Ling and to a far lesser extent her sister could not fathom the reason... all they, i.e. she, could do was contain the damage when it became apparent that the daughter of Hild has crossed an unforgivable line...
In what free time she did have that hadn't been spent trying to stop those two from outright killing each other altogether for the sake of saving face, she could almost swear Hild deliberately planned such an event if that twinkle in her eye was an indicator... as well as ponder if those two even remembered what they were fighting about in the first place. In the latter regard, a part of her heavily suspected it was a distinct no when they somehow gotten their hands on child sized armor that resembled a warlord's ranking and turned what was once a pleasant meadow into a torn up battle ground... with crudely made forts, trenches, and impromptu 'machines of war' being manned by hundreds of doppelgangers, half of which screeching like monkeys, that continued to maul one another in their little war to boot.
"MAJOR! TAKE THE CENTRAL FIELD!"
" LIEUTENANT! REINFORCE THE LEFT FLANK!"
The fact they gave some of their clones ranks did not help matters. Neither did Hsien-Ko's laughter when she was awake. Or a particularly mischievous Hild when she was on break from her regular meetings for that matter.
"MEDIC!"
Nor the "field hospitals" hosting numerous bandaged clones laying in makeshift cots helped improve alleviate her embarrassment.
Had she not thought it would contain the harm this "war" would surely cause, she would surely say she absolutely regretted having taught Naruto the Shadow Clone technique to replace his Lava clone ability...
"I have to give them this much, they don't tire out easily despite being children."
The one and only benefit however that she could observe was that regardless of the... uncertainty, for lack of a better word, that arose from seeing the 'antics' from the feud, there was a growing amount of respect building up from the coordinated 'troop' movements, the level of power required to even create the sheer number of clones, let alone maintain, as well as the other jutsu that had been used to date...
"BRING IT ON, MONKEY BOY!"
"GET OVER HERE AND SAY THAT TO MY FACE!"
"GO EAT A BANANA!"
"NUTS TO YA!"
She could still live without it however...
XVX
Nadeshiko proper
"I guess we will have to call this another draw," Hild sighed with a pout dominating every aspect of her being. In its marginal playfulness though, it wasn't shared by the older woman sitting across from her who got up and left the room without so much as a blink in recognition.
"Would be so much easier if we weren't still trying to keep ourselves outside of the world's attention," she mused in a sigh as she stood up and rubbed her shoulders. "I'm not exactly a miracle worker after all," she pouted once more. "Ah well," a devilish smirk graced her lips as he bent herself back in a stretch, "anything without a challenge to it is just boring."
XVX
Outskirts
"Captain! CAPTAIN! NOOO! THOSE WITCHES!"
"AVENGE CAPTAIN EIGHTY-TWO!"
All around the crying Naruto clone, holding aloft the 'dead' captain, whose face was splattered with mud, eyes dazed, and his tongue sticking out for good measure, numerous other clones stormed out of their trench and bum rushed from cover to cover amongst the wreckage of the battlefield to avoid the heavy, unceasing hail of muddy balls being rained down upon them by those defending the makeshift outpost before them. What cover they found however never lasted long thanks to their opponent's duplicates and the magic they wielded...
Like their creator, she too held immense power within her to field her own army, though in a more natural way than the... 'borrowed' strength that was the general nature of a bijuu's host, thus she was able to match numbers with numbers... and throw a few curveballs in between. Often in a literal case electrified curveballs.
Such was the nature of Urd, Hild's one and only daughter who compensated her lack of strategy with sheer firepower. "Let them have it!"
"We cast the storm!"
Instantaneously a low hanging storm cloud hung over the site of the marginally obscured Naruto clones, no taller than a dozen feet from the top of the 'outpost's' walls, and easily blotted out the sun in its rumbling ostentatious glory.
"TAKE COVER!" To the warning clone's justified worry, it struck out at anyone and anything it could lash out in an onslaught of lightning bolts that drove the clones from their cover in a bid for greater safety from it. What cover they did find did not last though when it was their turn...
"The spell is holding them back, Lieutenant!"
"Haha!" An ornate blue fan snapped shut in conjunction with the cackle from one of the bronze skinned doppelgangers. "As if a lame attack like that could breach these walls!" In the company of another clone such as herself, the one of significance however wearing brilliant silver armlets, a breastplate, and a pointed circlet over her purple sundress and silvery hair respectively, she ascended the ladder to walk atop the parapets that was the 'outpost's' only means of defending itself to gaze upon the crazed horde that was trying to save itself from the united front of twelve Urds pooling their energies together. "Better luck next time you flea munchers!"
One of the fleeing Narutos turning about to angrily wave a bokken at her only to be zapped into oblivion did nothing to help their cause save for earning a giggle from the opposing double.
Splat!
"Hmm?" What was about to be a look in pure curiosity turned to one of panic when a Urd began to screech in the middle of the lieutenant's turn. What made the clone cry out as she did and go into a frantic rave of half intelligible mutterings the one in command could not tell, her attention was forced to focus on an infiltrating squad of Narutos barreling right at them like the thing the original carried with one arm sacrificed to carry a bokken or a staff held high to lash out when the opportunity arose. "Defend the-!"
SPLAT!
"Eck!" It took a mid-swipe of her hand to clear the gunk from her face when the smell hit her in full force, and the seemingly insane ramblings of a mind trying to comprehend what happened to it for her to realize what was thrown at her...
"Y-y-... YOU SICK BASTARDS!"
Whack! POOF!
"Ooh Ha!"
"They got the Lie-"
Splat!
"Wha-... OH MY GOD! THEY'RE-" GACK! "YOU SICKOS!"
It was long too late for so much as a shabby line to be formed to defend the casters, pooling their energies to save themselves from being dispelled on the spot by the draw of energy demanded of the storm spell they were casting, already half of them dispelled when the first couple came under attack and the remaining six were forced to defend themselves.
"FOR CAPTAIN EIGHTY-TWO!"
With no storm cloud to defend it, the 'outpost' was wide open to a assault from all fronts.
XVX
Grand Celestial
With the proper know how, immense energy, and an imagination, very little couldn't be accomplished with magic. Case and point, Urd's white wall fortress that continued to blind it enemies with its magnificence of pristine walls, three story towers keeping watch over the grand gate and the corner walls of her estate, and a keep to observe and even taunt her enemy when either need arose. It also served to hide her paling features on an otherwise bronzed skin of the original Urd whose own features were more ornate than the others, such as a capped battle crown encrusted with a sapphire sitting just above a blue upside-down triangle tinged with a hint of purple on her forehead alongside a face framing pair of guards that went just under her similarly tattooed cheeks to name one such decoration. "Oh that..." she quietly quailed. Immediately she marched out through a door and manned the very edge of a balcony overlooking the battlefield and a crudely built castle of Naruto's own making.
"POO, REALLY!?"
It was by then, when her anger was spent by her half rhetorical roar, that she noticed at least two things as fresher memories began to flood her mind at a nausea inducing pace from the sheer rush of them: An outpost the doppelganger army under her command wasn't the only one to fall victim to this new tactic those (that?) devious bastard(s?) had employed, and an army headed by the cackling blond himself, or at least a clone of himself if one excused the near uncountable copies right behind him, was barreling down on her now weakening defenses...
Standing before Grand Celestial was the Storm Front, named in 'honor' of her own favorite method of attack as well as the numerous monkey clones that stormed the walls of her elegantly built strongholds that held them at bay... till now. What was once pristine walls was now covered in that odious... filth that blond was... vile enough to employ en masse that in turn had her copies fleeing in terror lest they be covered in it as well...
Not that she blamed them for it...
Where was he getting all of his... "ammunition..." anyway? She shook her head fervently enough that it was a real enough threat that it would pop off while casting out what would surely be a disgusting revelation should it come up.
"Someone get the clothespins!"
XVX
Nadeshiko Battlements
"Well that would certainly explain why he had teams scouring the surrounding forest." The startled guard turned with a start, her hand on an undrawn katana resting on her hip, to face the undetected speaker in her midst. Though the hand never left the hilt, the blade still sheathed, she relaxed somewhat to find herself in the scowling presence of the foreign ambassador of a fledgling nation that kept to its shrouds. "Disgusting as it may be," she spoke up, her sight never leaving the 'battlefield' and the marching blond clones that readied new earthen fortifications for a siege on the more beautiful of the two castles, "the least expected tactics are often the most effective ones."
The guard continued to eye her warily, her hand slipping from its grasp only by a smidgeon. "It's such a shame too... I was hoping my daughter would last longer," she sighed before tapping her finger to her lips in contemplation. "Though," she mused, "I suppose if I was in her shoes then I would be just as lost in what to do to counter this..."
"Her finger drew away and joined her thumb in a unused snap. "Let's even the playing field, shall we?"
SNAP!
BOOM!
"NOOO! GET WATER DAMN IT! GET WATER!"
"SAVE THE AMMO!"
"DEPLOY WHAT'S LEFT BEFORE IT BURNS TOO! GIVE HER NO CHANCE TO RECUPERATE!"
The frantic cries of the blond clones fell upon deaf ears that worked in unison of the glazed eyes that blandly fell upon the smirking bronze skinned woman who brought her full attention onto the guard. "Well I'm sure it'll be interesting to see how long it'll take little Naru to beat my daughter now, do you mind if I ask you a few questions?"
When the guard spoke, what spirit that was in her was as dead as hewn wood left unattended in the wilderness. "What is it you would like to know?"
Hild's smile only grew a little bolder as she taken to relaxing herself with her back to the low wall. "I've noticed lately that your matriarch seems distracted as of late. Even in those few moments of seriousness between us, she looks to the door as if she was expecting someone bringing dreadful news that was sure to ruin her."
The guard tilted her head in muddled thought. "There have been talk of conspiracies as of late regarding her daughter..." Her head tilted the other way in a sudden tangent. "At least of her lover."
"Oh?" The ambassador leaned in with a slightly predatory grin gracing her as water would a leaf.
"It had been centuries old law that dictates that those either in charge of or heir of Nadeshiko to find a man outside its wall capable of defeating her. When such a man has been found, and has defeated her, she must bring him back to Nadeshiko to wed him. While it is not unheard of for a leader or a heir of the clan to fail in finding such a opponent, it is improper when even the latter flirts with the idea of being with someone who cannot even try to begin with, not to speak of lacking the potential of defeating her to begin with."
"Do tell me more..."
XVX
Grand Celestial
BAM! BAM! BAM!
It would seem the days of continuous 'warfare,' of a seemingly endless game of tug-of-war of the land had finally came to an end now that both leaders, both means of near limitless hordes of doubles, were effectively in close proximity to one another. For a brief moment it would seem that there was hope yet when Naruto's short lived strategy was met with a "grisly" fate thanks to... 'divine intervention,' but in her own, and by proxy her copies', panic to at least stave off the odor she cost herself the prime defense of her castle: Her wall was overrun by screeching, irritable, obnoxious monkey-samurai impersonators who have taken the liberty to rip off her flags, banners really of a diamond tip bearing royal purple cloth and angelic wings, and replaced them with some deep red flag bearing a rather ugly monkey's depiction snarling right back at her when she deigned to look at it.
The gate leading to the inner workings of her stronghold soon came with it unfortunately once they managed to open the outer wall's gate for a battering ram... from there it was absolute anarchy that demanded attrition...
"CHARGE!" A squad and a half of blond clones stormed their way to a awaiting squad of their silver haired enemies, half of whom were trying to hold back fairly vicious, impish grins. "Let them have it!"
SPLASH! By the time they came to a complete stop, they already fell victim to the after effect of what was tossed upon them. In other words, what few that didn't slide away in sudden confusion after kissing the ground fell atop the less fortunate ones of their number.
"What the- YOU'RE PINK!"
"YOU'RE PINK TOO!"
"WHERE THE HELL DID THIS PAINT COME FROM?!"
"I'M HAVING TROUBLE GETTING UP!"
"ATTACK!"
"DEFEND YOURS-" POOF!
Along the roof of one of the corner towers to Grand Celestial, a Naruto in a headless samurai outfit wheezed as he finally scaled the building, dove for the flag sitting at the pointed middle, and ripped it out in favor for a flag of Son Goku's banner.
"HA HAHA-"
ZAP! POOF!
"Damn dirty monkey," an armored Urd grumbled as she evilly eyed the flag from her own tower, through an open window... one open for an attack from another clone who had a likewise idea as his electrified friend.
"OOH HA!"
"DEAR GOD!" WHAP! POOF!
In the Dining Hall and kitchen... it was far closer to a food fight than an actual battle.
"EAT ASPARAGUS!"
"DIE! DIE! DIE!"
"TAKE TH- NO! NOT THE CAKE!"
"OH MY GOD! THEY KILLED THE CAKE!"
"THOSE BASTARDS!"
As for the real Urd, she and a squad of her copies had holed themselves inside the throne room with herself sitting upon the throne, a hand propping itself against her cheek which was a part of an irritated scowl aimed at the door. Her castle was being overrun by the oafish brutes that rampaged throughout her domain, and there was little she could do about it. Not now at least. Her normally extensive power reserve had been drained in favor of creating the numbers that now did their best to defend ward off the banana breath morons.
But conversely it crippled him as well. Be it before or after his assault on Grand Celestial, he had to conjure up the numbers needed to breach the castle proper when her forces manned its defenses. He was just as vulnerable as she was. In other words he had to resort to fighting his own battles much like herself if it came down to it for the time being.
BAM!
Wooden swords and staves were readied.
BAM!
"So he finally came..."
BAM!
Weather it was the real Naruto or not, there was a viable monkey based threat battering the throne room door down...
CRASH!
"ATTACK!" Probably designated the elite amongst Naruto's lot that was an army if appearances were to go by, several armored Naruto clones came barreling in with bokkens raised, staves bared, and war screeches voiced without regard of the opposition before them that retaliated in kind. And with magic of course as the bolts of lightning made apparent.
The great equalizer of their little war... there was only one real rule between them since this battle started: No lethality. Urd, thanks to her nature, was more than capable of toning down her more mythical attacks to at worst disable an opponent, which to a clone was just as bad as a lethal blow when their energies needed to maintain them have been sapped away as a result, but Naruto... between inexperience and lava he was forced to at best use his jutsu, outside of the clones, in a more defensive aspect when it was called upon.
Of course in the end game, it didn't really seem to matter much in regards of who can do what when a horde of fearless, battered blonds were making the final move with the leader in the thick of it.
Though dwindled somewhat by what spells that were cast, a few of which knocked down when blasted by a small gale, the force of Narutos met the defense of Urds head on like a wave of yellow, maroon, and wood crashing upon a wall of bronze, silver, and wood... with a little lightning in between.
"HAA!" Not all joined the fray however. Leaping over the line of Urds being overwhelmed by numbers and relative skill in weaponry, a shogun of a Naruto in slightly furred armor was catapulted above the battle line in an arc to land behind the battlefront to confront the real Urd.
"You're persistent, Monkey Breath, I'll give you that," Urd all but grouched as she rose up from her throne, a wooden sword in hand.
If Naruto had a response, he didn't give it. At least not a verbal one as he cracked his neck by distinctly tilting it to the far left.
"TAKE THIS!" an Urd clone screamed in a battle cry from behind, somehow escaping the conglomerate of clones with a wooden sword held high.
Bam! POOF!
Only to meet her end with a precise backhand without looking on Naruto's part, nor care as made known when he cracked his neck the other way whilst he readied the staff that was his weapon of choice.
In return, Urd did the same with her sword...
"Urd darling!" At a drop of a hat, everyone froze as they did a double take of Hild as she stuck her smiling face out from behind the throne. "It's time for bed!"
Jaws dropped, scowls were drawn, a few cries of "Not fair!" and "But mom!" were released, and one undignified pout was aimed at the older woman by her own daughter. "But it was getting to the good part!" she whined.
"Yeah! I was about to win here!"
"In your dreams Monkey Boy!"
"Bah!"
"That's my line, brat!"
"Tut-tut! It is close to noon young lady and you need your rest!" Hild remarked as she slipped past the throne and approached her kin, during which she placed her hands upon her hips in a reproachful manner. "Now you," her eyes flicked over to the equally scowling genin before her, "I have no issue with." Armed with a smug smile, she reached over and picked up her now crossed armed daughter by the back of her clothing in utter ease. "Come along now!" she chimed as she began to saunter away.
"Right... anyone else feel gypped?"
"Yep..."
"Uh-huh..."
"Can you get your stinkin' foot out of my face?"
"... You don't suppose there's still food in the kitchen, do you?"
"Right, midnight snack! Go! Go! Go!"
"Hey! Don't us behind!"
XVX
Dark Tome: Chakra
Chakra is the common form of energy used by [shinobi] to power their various jutsu. It is a mixture of the energy present in every cell of the body and the spiritual energy gained from exercise and experience. Once mixed, it can be channeled through the chakra circulatory system, which is to the chakra as the regular circulatory system is to blood, to any of the three hundred and sixty-one chakra points on the (human) body. Through various methods, the most common of which is hand seals, the chakra can then be manipulated to create an effect that would not be possible otherwise, such as walking on water.
Depending on the ratio in which physical and spiritual energy is mixed, different types of chakra can be formed. Elemental chakra is the most common product of this, and is used to perform elemental jutsu. The five elemental natures are earth, fire, lightning, water, and wind. Most [shinobi] have a natural affinity to one type of chakra, but have the capacity to create elemental chakra apart from their own affinity. Each element is both stronger and weaker to another. The order is fire, wind, lightning, earth, and water, with each being weaker and stronger than the next. Water loops back to fire. Additionally, elemental techniques can be countered by techniques of the same element, provided that the technique being countered is of equal or lesser power.
Darkstalkers however are much different than normal due to the fact that their bodies, spirits, and natural abilities are far different. Firstly, their chakra circulatory system is much different in that there is no standard for it. For example, catwomen in their humanoid form have circulatory systems similar to humans' but are much more elastic and have three hundred eighty-six chakra points instead of the three hundred sixty-one with the additional points being in their more inhuman parts; ten in their finger claws, ten in their toe claws, three in the tail, and one for each of their ears. Also, when catwomen shift to their feline form their system also changes to accommodate that form. Thus their system adjusts and their points rearrange and subtract, meaning they have a simpler system and less chakra points in a cat form then in a humanoid form. For darkstalkers like netherleafs, their system doesn't have chakra at all since they can shape shift into anything they want, thus their whole system acts like one big chakra point. For undead and experimental type darkstalkers, the system varies from individual to individual.
Another aspect of darkstalkers that makes their chakra hard to understand is the power of the Dark and the power of the Light. It is unknown what these forces are exactly or why they appear in individuals like they do. What is known is that the Dark and the Light are opposite forces that act both against and with each other. It is also known that those that use these forces all share a few similar traits. These traits are extremely subtle and can be overridden by the individual's normal nature. Users of the Dark tend to prefer night time to day. Also, they tend to be slightly more feral in nature, not a lot but enough that a difference can be noted. On the opposite side, users of the Light tend to prefer the day and tend to be more refined in nature. Again these traits are not obvious or drastic by any stretch, but are still there. Darkstalkers are able to access one or the other, in extremely rare cases both, in large quantities to augment their abilities and grant them extreme power. What these forces do to a user varies from individual to individual. Humans have the potential to access either of them given the right circumstances and training.
A key difference is the nature of their chakra. While human chakra is blank and can be molded into other forms through hand seals, darkstalker chakra is different. While human chakra can have an elemental affinity and thus make it easier to use a jutsu of the same affinity, darkstalkers take this a step further. Many types of darkstalkers have their chakra in a "ready to use" form of sorts. For example, a fire type darkstalker will be able to use a fire jutsu without hand seal and just chakra control because his chakra is literally made to become that element. On the other hand, if that same darkstalker tried to use a water jutsu, he'd have to use hand seals as well as exceptional control since his chakra was not made for that element, even more so since water is opposite of what his chakra was made to become. However, if he were to use a lightning jutsu he would still need to use hand seals but it would be incredibly easy for him since his chakra is suited for a similar element. For jutsu that have no elemental affinity, he would have to do the standard method of execution for that jutsu.
A minor difference between human and darkstalker chakras is color. Human's chakra is light blue when seen by those who can see chakra. Darkstalker chakra colors vary from type to type. Darkstalkers with no distinct elemental affinity such as a bestial and insect are dark blue, undead is purple, demonic is black, divine and holy are white, fire is red, water is blue green, earth is gold, air is light green, plant as well as forest is dark green, and lightning is light purple. There have been a few instances were hybrids' (to be defined in a later entry) chakra can be two or more colors/types but this is rare as usually they are dominated by one or the other. There has also been one recorded case of a person's chakra being kaleidoscopic multicolored showing traces of ALL of the types. How this happened or why is still being investigated and is under study until further notice.