Chapter 23
Metal Part 2 (or a glimpsing understanding)
Since we'll be checking in on the real world in the next chapter, let's have one last quick look at Zoro's group of 'students' and see if everything is going as planned.
(Towards the very end of the third month)
Togaru and Momonosuke stood in an open field, the two of them were slightly battle scarred and wearing a mixture of whatever clothes they were able to find.
Togaru had grown slightly taller, he had gained a cross shaped scar across his forehead, and his mohawk was thin and short, and appeared to missing small portions.
Momonosuke had also grown taller (he was about 4' tall now), he now had a full head of hair again, and he had it all pulled up into a knot at the back of his head, he also had his sword strapped to his back.
"Crap" they both exclaimed as they exhaled and inhaled heavily.
Opposing them was what looked like a normal human being, but from said beings arms a constant stream of metal flowed out and started to flood the immediate area.
"What the hell is that thing?" Togaru shouted as he and Momonosuke moved back slightly away from it.
The creature just leaned its' head in response to this, and then stopped the flow of its metal.
It instead started to walk towards Momonosuke and Togaru, "Sacrifice" it said as it got closer.
But instead of cowering, Togaru grabbed Momonosuke onto his back, and jumped into the sky, "We need some space" he shouted as the ascent slowed down.
And instead of falling, one of Momonosuke's clouds appeared beneath Togaru's feet, "Is that what you meant?" Momonosuke asked from behind.
"Nice work kid" Togaru said as they both peered over the cloud and down at the being (who was simply looking up at them with an expression that might've been confusion).
"If I can't truly fight yet, I might as well offer support to you" Momonosuke said as they continued to look down.
They both then noticed that the being was starting to jitter, and within a moment, a metal platform appeared beneath it, and it started to rise into the sky, "Guess we weren't going to get away from it" Momonosuke cynically exclaimed as they they both stood up.
He then climbed back up on Togaru's back (where four very blunt blades appeared, one for each of his hands and feet), "I think we're going to have to beat it!" he said, to which Togaru nodded.
And Togaru held his hands out as his hands were fully shown, and he appeared to have fingerless gloves on both of his hands, and in between his knuckles there appeared to be slits, and from each of said slits, a very sharp and serrated blade appeared.
"I think our three months are almost over, lets beat this thing, and be done with the beginning" Togaru said as jumped off of the cloud (with Momonosuke looking slightly worried) and shot downwards at the being.
.
At the end of a deep cave, shielded from the elements and warmed by a large fire, Bakugou sat against one of the cave walls, his expression was one of calmness and contemplation, and wearing what appeared to be a giant cloak.
His hair had looked to have been burned, leaving just a thin layer of very spiky hair, but there were still little sections that were longer than the others. He had a scar that appeared to start at the left side of his neck and reached over his cheek and the bridge of his nose, but just stopped short of his right eye, and he also had a couple of scars that went around his neck.
He sat at the fire and sighed, he then looked to his right, at a small, light-blue scaled dragon that was covered by a blanket (and also appeared to have a similar face scar, that is, in proportion to a dragon's snout) and was sleeping next to the fire.
"Well Deku, who the hell could've thought that this would happen" Bakugou quietly murmured as he looked away from the creature and back at the fire, "But at least I'm ready for the next part of this".
He then looked into the darkness of the cave as he pulled his cloak around him more and sat closer to the fire, "I still can't believe the shit I had to go through then…" he muttered as he fell asleep.
(A month prior, at exactly the moment the egg hatched)
"You've got to be kidding me" Bakugou huffed as he watched the parts of the shell break off and fall to the ground, and from the egg, emerged a small dragon, looking completely different from the one Bakugou had previously seen.
It was a deep blue colour and had golden eyes, it had two rows of black spikes going down its head, it had two light blue fluorescent wings that shimmered as it stretched them and it's arms ended in four golden coloured claws, it's underside was a colour similar to algae, and it's tail had three pointy ends, and on its forehead there was a white swirl.
"So I am the last" the newly hatched creature said as it looked up at Bakugou, who was looking down at it in complete confusion, "And I'm guessing you are my guardian".
Bakugou glared at the dragon, and the dragon bowed its head, "Greetings, father" it stated.
And this made Bakugou explode, "I AM NOT YOUR FATHER!" he screamed straight up to the sky.
"I do not think either of us have a choice in the matter" the dragon said with a confused glance, "but then explain how you ended up with my egg".
Bakugou just started to scream obscenities in response to this as he punched at the ground, "THAT BLODDY DRAGON, THAT BLOODY DRAGON, THAT BLOODY DRAGON" he screamed as he threw explosive fists into the ground, and at the same time melting the snow surrounding them.
The dragon just watched him in confused curiosity as Bakugou let his anger out, and after about half an hour, he had somewhat calmed down.
He then fell onto his butt as he sat down and seethed, "Seriously" he said through his teeth.
"Are you done now father" the dragon asked as it somewhat hobbled over to Bakugou and sat down next to him.
Bakugou snapped his head at the dragon, but before he could retort, the little creature laid down next to him and yawned, "I was only hatched recently, I still have to gain some energy" it said as it yawned again before lying down and falling asleep right next to Bakugou.
And Bakugou scowled as it happened, and then he just crossed his arms and huffed, "Fuck" he muttered.
The dragon's ears then started to twitch as it quickly shot up, and darted it's snout in various directions, "The ones who finished off my predecessor are coming to finish the job" it quickly exclaimed.
Bakugou shot up, and balled his fists up, "Well now it's gotten interesting" he said with a smirk as he looked to the directions that the dragon was pointing at.
"No traces" four voices said from around them, and four cracks appeared on the ground around them.
Small puddles of lava then leaked out of the cracks, and underneath them, it appeared that four humanoids were rising from under the magma and being covered in it, they then stood surrounding the duo.
A couple of beads of sweat fell down Bakugou's face as his head shot around and looked at the humanoids, "Heh heh" he scoffed.
"You both need to be destroyed" the creature in front of them then stated.
The dragon slightly shuddered at this statement, "Father" it said as it looked back to Bakugou, to which the young man replied with angered expression.
"Stop calling me that" Bakugou retorted as he kept his eyes on the creatures.
"There are many things to my species I don't have the time to explain at the moment, but for some reason I have an ability distinct to myself" it said as it jumped onto Bakugou's head, "And I think that it will be necessary to survive this".
"What the hell are you doing" Bakugou said as he broke away from looking at the creatures to focus on the draconic creature that had just jumped on top of his head, "GET OFF".
"The job needs to completed" the beings said as they started to walk closer to Bakugou and the dragon.
The dragon glared at all of them, before looking down at Bakugou, "I don't know what it is, but something is telling me I need to ask you for permission before I do what I'm about to do" it said with a concerned look.
Bakugou's eyebrows shot up as he seethed, "FUCK IT, WHATEVER, FINE, I'M GETTING SICK OF ALL OF THIS SHIT" he screamed.
And in that moment, a bright light enveloped the two of them, and causing the four magmatic humanoids to be pushed back a distance.
.
Walking through a deep patch of snow, and wearing a giant coat that covered his entire body, Zoro growled, "This has gotta be the the starting point" he said as he eyes darted around.
But since the area he was in was completely flat, he gritted his teeth and started to walk off in a completely random direction.
"How did the point change location, this world is weird" he stated as he slowly walked off, "I've been looking for it for the past week, and I still haven't found it".
And although he was wearing the giant coat, it was slightly evident that he had also had to improvise an outfit, he was wearing a pair of black combat gloves, his shirt looked to be somewhat stitched together, he had a bit of hair stubble on his chin and cheeks, he had somehow shaved off his hair leaving him with a thin layer of hair on his head, and upon closer inspection of his 'coat' it was clear that it still had bloody patches and had slash marks that had been stitched back together.
He continued to grumble as he walked, his boots allowing for no snow to get into them, and after another hour or two, he miraculously came upon four arching mountains that each pointed downwards to the ground.
"Well there it is" Zoro stoically said as he trudged through the snow to get into the inner part of the area.
And as he walked, the snow level got lower and lower until he made it into the area that was covered by the mountains, "This is the place, but I wonder what happened to all of the snow and storms" he wondered as he reached the exact middle of the area.
But before he could sit down and relax on the somewhat soft ground, he heard a screeching noise, which made him suddenly turn around and pull out one of his swords all in one quick motion.
SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEECH
SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEECH
SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEECH
Zoro's eye widened as he turned around and looked at the monster that the noises belonged to.
"WHAT THE ACTUAL HELL" he yelled as he looked at it.
The creature was something inhumane, it was crawling across the ground, it had a multitude of limbs jutting out all over its back, it appeared to be missing a lower half and as it crawled along the ground it's entrails shambled along the ground, and it's face was a horrible mess of flesh, bone and blood.
"SKRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA", it screamed as it continued to drag itself towards Zoro.
Zoro flinched at the appearance of it, "What the hell are you?!" he exclaimed.
"YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU AREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE PATHETICCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC" the creature exclaimed in a tone that displayed pain.
And almost immediately the creatures body was cut up instantly, only leaving it's horrible 'face'.
"AND YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE TALKED" Zoro exclaimed as he sheathed a sword.
The face then morphed itself to look up at him, "WE WILL BREAK ALL OF YOU, WHAT CHANCE DO YOU TRULY THINK YOU HAVE", it muttered.
"Heh heh" Zoro grinned as he slightly laughed.
"DID I SAY SOMETHING FUNNY?" the head questioned as it stared at Zoro, and various parts of it's disgusting complexion oozed off.
Zoro crossed his arms and sat down on the direct centre of the area and grinned manically at the head, "Yeah, you did" he said as he bared his teeth with a chuckle.
The head nervously looked at him, "Well, WHAT WAS IT"?!" it yelled at him.
"That woman sent you, and she thinks that she can scare us out of doing this" Zoro started to say as he pulled a sword out and lazily pointed it at the head.
"She has to be a complete moron to think that will work" he then said as he smirked.
The head was about to retort, but then it instantly fell to pieces, and squelched as the pieces hit the ground.
Zoro then raised an eyebrow as he eyed the pieces of the head (which were all starting to ooze into a weird liquid), "Luffy wanted us to do this, and nothing will stop us" he said as the head completely turned into a liquid and then dissipated into nothingness.
"Hmph" Zoro said with a shrug as he crossed his legs and started to meditate, "Some all-knowing being".
He then closed his eye and relaxed himself, "They've progressed, they didn't need me there for that, now for the actual training to begin" he said calmly as he slowly breathed in and out.
"Now to just wait for them to get here" he stated as he could faintly hear the winds that bellowed in the outside area.
.
Soooooooo, I planned to upload this chapter before the end of last year, but just after Christmas I got sick, and I've had to work a bit more than usual, so I honestly haven't had the time to properly finish this chapter.
But I am so sorry, I really am, but I guess my upload schedule will end up becoming as sporadic as I thought it would be.
Anyways, yeah, I skipped a large amount of time, and have left everything up to the imagination, and I only did this for Zoro's group, because there are certain things that I want to save until the end of this whole part of the story to reveal, but I won't be doing this with anybody else (maybe one other group, but that will in the future, so don't worry for now).
Comments and constructive criticism are always welcome.
And that's all,
Peace Out