Disclaimer: First Chapter
Story Start!
"It has to be around here." Kali spoke as she smelled the air around them. She had led them into the forest, where no doubt the first opponent would be waiting for them with the first piece of the map. Kali knew that they had to be close, not only was the smell stronger than before, but the dirt had recently been moved, and there were signs of people having roughly come through the forest. "So, who are these... Tits exactly?" Kali asked, wanting a little more detail now that they were so very close.
She had been so focused on tracking, that she hadn't been in the mood to talk to anyone, but now that the opponents were close, it was time for her to get that information.
"Tits stands for "The Idiots Trying Stuff"... they are... they were incompetent when we met them the first time. They've been growing more dangerous though." Naruto explained the simples of it. At first, the only two dangers of the evil squad were Mogar and Edgar the Cow Spirit. Mogar was just a dangerous opponent, Yang had to outsmart him in order to beat him the first time, and it took the combined efforts of Iron, Pyrrha, and Yang to beat him the second time, and even then they barely beat him without taking heavy beatings themselves.
Edgar the Cow Spirit was dangerous, simply because he always moved from Grimm body to Grimm body. When you killed the grimm once, it would become stronger and more knowledgable the next time you fought it. It would adapt to how you fought, and with Lil'J giving it weapons and armor, the grimm was even more of a danger, not even counting the Aura it had.
"I'll fight Gabin." Ruby didn't ask, she stated it.
Out of all of them, she was the only one with Speed as her Semblence. Her Speed allowed her to counter his Slow Semblence. If he slowed down the world, she would move faster so that she could counter him slowing her down. The others didn't have that advantage that she had, so she was the only choice to fight him.
"You are the best suited to fight him, just like I'm the best suited for fighting Mogar. You understand why." Iron pointed out to Naruto, and Naruto looked at his arm.
He hadn't gotten used to fighting with his robot arm all the way yet. He couldn't risk fighting to his fullest. If he were to beat Mogar, he would have to fight at his utmost full power. He was afraid he would break his arm apart if he did that. He didn't know the limits of his arm, and until he knew them, it was best not to take the chance.
"We're getting closer." Kali smelled the air while glancing at the ground.
"Can you beat Mogar?" Ruby asked Iron with concern for her friend very clear. Iron was one of her closest friends now. She would hate to see him... no longer among the living. Mogar was the most ruthless in how he fought, she had seen the state he put Yang in. He would gladly murder people if he was angry enough, or even not angry.
Ruby would love to fight by his side... but they couldn't.
If they joined in on any of the fights, then Yang and Blake would have their lives ended. At least, that much was implied to them if they didn't follow the rules. The point of what they were doing was to save those two, so it was either play by the rules, or be the reason their friends and family died.
"... I've been working on something." Iron mentioned with a wince. "I'm strong enough to push my Semblence up to x10 now." Iron mentioned to Ruby casually.
Naruto looked at the ground sadly.
"Lets hope it doesn't come to that." Naruto muttered. Only Kali heard him, but she didn't question it. She could guess what Naruto meant by the sound of his voice, and the way his ears lowered.
x9 was the limit to Hot Soul.
There was no ifs, ands, or buts about it. If you went passed x9 and went to x10, you didn't survive. Once you reached x10, instead of stopping at x10... Hot Soul would continue to increase itself further and further. The user would trade away their lifeforce itself to fuel their Semblence, and it would increase further, and further, and continiously further... unless their body could no longer handle the stress, and they died.
The User traded their life for power.
"So, what can you do in battle Miss Belladonna?" Ruby asked, and Kali blinked, before she smiled awkwardly.
"I'm... not really very good at fighting anymore. I hung up my weapon when I have birth, and haven't picked it up since. Somebody is nearby." Kali pointed out, and her eyes narrowed when they walked into a clearing.
In the clearing was a crater, and standing in the middle of the crater was Mogar, in his hand a section of the map that would lead them to their next map location. He had his arms crossed, a scowl on his face, and a machine wrapped around his neck, wrists, and forehead that had a blinking red dot on them.
"Mogar doesn't like this anymore than you do." Mogar stated as he scowled deeply. These mind games, and literal games, that Albus was playing, grated on his nerves. He would just prefer to settle all of this with a simple fight to the death... which was what his game was. "Two enter the crater... one leaves with the map. Select your fighter." Mogar stated simply.
He wanted this over with.
"Why do we have to kill each other?" Ruby asked with her eyes looking down at the ground with sadness. Even her enemy had a life they deserved to live... she didn't want one of their friends to be murdered, or become a murderer. Naruto placed his hand on her shoulder, and he prepared to step forward.
He couldn't ask his friends to murder, and have that weigh on them.
Iron placed a hand in front of him.
"No, we agreed I would do this. Don't worry, I'll get that piece of the map. Mogar, what are the rules of this battle?" Iron questioned as he walked down the side of the crater. Naruto didn't fight Iron's decision, if the man wanted to fight then Naruto would have faith in him to do it. They had originally planned on him fighting Mogar anyway.
Out of everyone, Iron was the most well-matched to taking on Mogar, and had the best chances of making it out not only alive, but in somewhat fighting condition.
"Rules... No crotch shots. No teammates. No weapons. No clothes. Fists only." Mogar stated as he took his hands off his sides, and he pound them together. His muscles visibly bulging underneath his scaled skin.
He still remembered how Gabin was missing a nut thanks to these people, so he wanted to restrict those low blows. He wanted a good, fair fight to the death. He hated everyone in front of him, but at the same time, he wanted to have a duel of honor with the bulk mountain in front of him.
...
Naruto went behind Ruby and covered her eyes when Mogar started to strip out of his clothes, tossing them to the ground next to him.
"Oh come on, I'm 15, and I've seen you and Iron butt naked before when Yang and me peeped at you showering. My friend is fighting, I want to cheer him on for real." Ruby complained to Naruto. Nudity didn't even really bother her. Beacon had a freaking uni-sex changing room, along with a uni-sex locker room for people that didn't care about it. Naruto raised an eyebrow at her words. He took his hands off of her eyes though, and she looked at him for a moment, and she nodded her head.
Naruto gave her an odd look.
"When... You know what, not important right now." Naruto shook off his question. There were more important things to worry about.
"Underwear is fine." Mogar pointed out when he saw Iron going for his underwear as well. He waved his hand, and gestured towards his own boxers. The no clothes were to make sure that both of them were not hiding any hidden weapons. It was unlikely either of them were hiding weapons in their underwear.
"Thank you, seeing as ladies are present, modesty should be kept." Iron spoke politely, and Mogar grunted in annoyance.
"Mogar doesn't care about modesty, Mogar doesn't want to see your dick. Small girl, come and take the piece of map. If Mogar wins, give it back." Mogar stated to Ruby as he held out the map. The people in front of him were good guys, and if they didn't give the map back after losing, then they would be very wary of the punishments for such actions. After all, you could usually trust a hero to follow the rules of a game.
Ruby started to run into the crater, until she took the map fragment from Mogar, and stared him in his eyes.
"Iron's going to whoop your butt, and we are saving Yang and Blake." Ruby gave Mogar a look of utter belief in Iron, and the group they had formed to rescue those they had lost. Mogar looked down at Ruby as she put the fragment of map in her skirt pocket. "Kick his butt Iron!" Ruby shouted to Iron as she turned tail and started to run back to the edge of the crater where Naruto and Kali were.
"Can Iron win?" Kali whispered to Naruto.
Naruto nodded.
"He has to. Our friend's lives are in danger. I'm just afraid... what price will he have to pay for victory. Will his hands become stained with blood... or..." Naruto stopped, not allowing himself to think about the other option for Iron to win. The option that was looking to be more than likely seeing as who his opponent was, and what the rules for the battle were. "Mogar, are all of these games fights?" Naruto asked, before the fighting would begin.
Out of all of Tits, Mogar was the least likely to lie to them.
"Mogar doesn't know. Albus gave each of us free reign to decide what we do when you found us. You won't be getting passed Mogar, so those games do not matter." Mogar affirmed what he knew to be true. Iron wasn't strong enough to beat him. The last time they had fought, Iron would have soundly lost to him in a one on one fight.
"You can do it Iron!" Kali encouraged Iron as she waved at him.
"Beat him black and blue!" Ruby cheered on their friendly giant as well. She made herself known to Iron, who nodded back to them with a giant smile. He looked at Naruto, and he could see Naruto's eyes.
Naruto didn't say a word.
'Don't die.' Naruto thought to Iron, and his eyes conveyed that.
'Our friends are at stake... I make no promises.' Iron puncuated his thoughts by slamming his thumb to his chest, above his heart. He would die for his friends, he had learned that from Naruto. Iron turned to face Mogar, and he raised his hands up to begin the battle. He glanced back at Naruto.
He flashed back to the day he first met Naruto.
See how strong I've become!
Chapter End!
Please Leave Me Lots Of Nice Long Reviews, But No Flames Please!
