Here is a new story for the GrimmFall universe~! :3
Lord Maximus: I hope you will like this next chapter. XD
nightmaster000: Trust me, I plan to do it slowly. I am showing the physical attraction right now, because I mean, who wouldn't at that age? Penelope is in her late teens, and Minato is in his early 20s, so in that age group, physical attraction is common. But that will fade and they will slowly get to know each other. And I do have plans for the Claw to take advantage of Minato's PTSD~! ;3 And as for Minato's 'past', trust me, it is only something Penelope assumes for the time being and Minato is kinda coming up with it off the top of his head, so of course it doesn't make sense. ^^' She will learn of his real past soon enough though, don't worry about that. :3
merendinoemiliano: Thank you. :3
Titanic X: Glad you did! XD
1800009trumbullpsnet: Thanks. :3
GCD: Haven't heard from you in a while. XD Yes, Minato will teach Penelope some moves to defend herself. :3
Note: If any reader has an account, please use that to review. If you do not wish to sign in to review, please at least put your account name so I can tell who you are. If you do not have an account, then please at least use a consistent name instead of 'Guest', as that makes the reviews seem impersonal to me.
Hovering over his Tablet, the Hooded Claw looked contemplative as he observed the scene in the Pitstop family library earlier in the week. He could see the young man he had hired to protect Penelope beginning to panic, and it was clear as day what it was; a panic attack brought on by something. "But what? What brought it on?" The Hooded Claw wondered to himself. It was clear this was something he could use to his advantage, but until he knew what triggered it, he could not exploit it.
"Maybe it was triggered by you, Claw." The oldest of the Bully Brothers, Stu Bully, noted.
"Yeah." Gu Bully, his younger twin brother, agreed.
"No, it was not." The Hooded Claw replied. "But it's clear he has some issues with PTSD, or at least a form of a panic disorder. It is only a matter of time until I figure it out though, and then, even he will fall to me." An evil cackle escaped the Hooded Claw as he turned away from the Tablet.
Pitstop Estate
Minato was in the library with Penelope, looking over his Tablet and what information he could find on the SkyWeb, which Penelope had explained was the main communications feature as well as finding information on in this world. He was looking over information on who this Hooded Claw was, but there was very little to go on; all that was revealed was his personality, his tricks, and the fact that the evil man wore a purple mask, a green hat and green cloak, but the Hooded Claw had been noted recently to have updated his wardrobe to a purple hat and cloak as well.
Sharp blue eyes narrowed as his genius mind read over the limited information on the Hooded Claw's known traps against Penelope. 'So the Hooded Claw has tried a runaway train, trying to turn her into... yeah, that one is too weird... tried to kill her with a torpedo, pit of croc...croc...crocodiles...? Is that how that is pronounced?' Minato furrowed his eyebrows at the word before he shook his head. 'Damn it... don't get confused, Minato! This is to find out what the Hooded Claw has done so far! Don't get distracted with words you can't pronounce yet!'
Minato returned his gaze and thoughts back to the screen of his Tablet. 'Okay... the first recorded attempt on Penelope's life was noted to be a few days after her seventh birthday, by the Hooded Claw. That's when it all started. A few years after that, her parents and family hired Sylvester Sneekly to be her guardian and be in control of the family fortune for her until she turns 18... Hmmm... The Hooded Claw's motives are not listed here, but if Penelope is wealthy, it stands to reason someone would want her family's wealth.' Minato noted with some interest. 'If so, that could be one reason why the Hooded Claw wants her out of the picture, but even if that is the case, why does he want her dead? Why not just hold her for ransom and demand the entire fortune for her safe release? It doesn't make any sense.' Minato's eyes furrowed in thought again.
His keen mind was already noting some oddities with the Hooded Claw, which told him there had to be a connection between Penelope dying and the Pitstop fortune, and somehow Sylvester Sneekly was involved as well. 'But how...?' Minato wondered. 'How is Sneekly involved in this? What is his connection to the Hooded Claw?'
A sigh escaped the former Hokage as he set down his Tablet and stood up, stretching as he did so.
Just as he finished stretching, Minato looked back, only to see Penelope was putting her own book down. She looked at him with a smile.
Minato blinked before he turned away and put his hands into his pockets. "I'm going to take a walk. I need to get up and moving." He said to her.
"Well then, mind if I join you?" Penelope asked as Minato felt his eyes widen unexpectedly at hearing her words.
He looked back at her, blue eyes wide with surprise. Realizing he was staring, Minato's gaze averted as he then turned away again. "No... It's... It's fine. I'm just going down the hall. I will be right back." He assured her.
Penelope nodded with a smile. "Very well. I will wait here until you return, Minato."
Minato sighed to himself before he made for the door to the library room. He grabbed the handle before opening the door and leaving. Upon leaving the room, Minato shut the door behind him, but as soon as he did so, he concentrated on one of his seals, and, much to his relief, found he was able to place a Hiraishin marker on the door itself. As soon as the seal was placed, Minato then turned and went to the next room. He put a hand on the door and once more, a marker was placed. Minato then opened the door, revealing it was some kind of guest room. The former Hokage looked around the room, taking note of places where he could place his marker seals. He went to work, placing the seals on the windows before he made his way back to the door. Looking carefully at the door to the hallway, Minato then put his hand out again and this time a locking seal was placed, which would seal the door shut to buy time if an attacker entered through the windows.
Satisfied the room had some sort of defenses, Minato then left to find another room to reinforce with his seals.
Hooded Claw's Lair
The Hooded Claw observed Penelope reading in the library, with no sign of her bodyguard nearby. He smirked to himself. It seemed he really did hire the most incompetent bodyguard if Penelope had been left alone for him to kidnap. "Alright Bully Brothers, you know what to do." He instructed over a radio system to the two Bull Faunus brothers. "Grab Penelope Pitstop before her bodyguard can return."
"Right Claw." The two twins said as one before the line went dead. The Hooded Claw sneered as he turned to watch the show that was about to unfold.
Pitstop Estate
Minato was making his way back from the most recent room he had placed some of his seals in when he heard a familiar feminine scream cut through the air. At once, his blood had a chill rush through it as he realized the one who had screamed was Penelope. He ran as fast as he could back to the library room, but as he did, he checked his chakra levels, and much to his dismay, found they were still alarmingly low, too low for him to use his Hiraishin. Despite his low chakra levels, Minato knew he had to get to Penelope as fast as he could, so he picked up his running speed and was at the library room in a few minutes. The doors had been thrown open and the place was a mess with some books thrown on the ground, chairs overturned, and a table smashed against the wall. Much to his dismay, there was no sign of Penelope, meaning someone had kidnapped her. 'Again no less...' Minato thought grimly, no pun intended. Looking around for any sort of clues as to who took Penelope, Minato's sharp eyes caught sight of something on the ground. Kneeling down, he could see it was dirt, which meant her kidnappers had come in from the outside. Standing back up, Minato turned and ran down the hall, following trail of dirt that was on the floor.
As he raced down the hall and followed the trail of dirt, Minato's hand flew into his shuriken pouch and he pulled out a few shuriken between his fingers of his right hand. Minato perked up when he saw where the trail was leading; it was headed to where the pool room was. Minato picked up his speed again and reached the very hallway where Penelope and her kidnappers were.
Minato rounded the corner and saw the trio right away. It was those two horned-humans, Faunus if he remembered right from his lessons with Penelope, and both of them had Penelope in their grasp. Wasting no time, Minato threw his shuriken at the two Faunus men, catching one of them in the arm with the pointed star weapon and making him yelp in pain.
Both turned to face Minato, just as he drew out three more shuriken held in between his fingers, this time of his left hand. "Let her go... Now!" Minato hissed as his blue eyes flashed in anger. He let loose a bit of killer intent to try and psych out the two Faunus men, and it seemed to work, as they backed up a bit, but didn't release Penelope, much to the former Hokage's frustration.
Instead of doing as he ordered, the Faunus man he had not injured handed Penelope, who was bound up with rope around her wrists that tied her hands behind her back and her ankles together, off to the Faunus that Minato had injured. "Get her to the Hooded Claw." The Faunus man said as he then faced the blonde shinobi.
"Right." The injured Faunus said as he turned and ran, leaving his companion to face down the former Hokage.
Minato growled, realizing that he had very little chakra to create a shadow clone, which meant he could not chase after the Faunus who was escaping. He would have to deal with this Faunus first before chasing down the one who had Penelope in his grasp. Facing down the first Faunus, Minato fell into a fighting stance as he held up his shuriken. The two stared each other down before the Faunus man ran at the blonde shinobi. Minato, seeing this, jumped up before throwing his shuriken from his hand. The Faunus flared a dark brown Aura, deflecting the shuriken away from his body, which threw Minato for a loop.
However, he didn't let that stop him as he landed and pushed off the ground, pulling out a regular kunai knife in his left hand as he raced towards the Faunus man, blue eyes hard and the intent to kill shining in them. The Faunus man pulled out what looked like a short sword from behind his back, just as Minato thrust his kunai forwards. The Faunus man sneered as metal blade met metal blade, the two men facing each other down and trying to overpower the other. The Faunus had greater strength than the shinobi did, and began to push back against Minato's weapon, which pushed the former Hokage back step by step, slowly but surely. Seeing this, Minato felt his mind racing, trying to come up with a plan. Thinking fast, he ducked down and kicked out one of his legs in a low sweep kick, knocking the Faunus man's feet out from under him. As soon as the Faunus man hit the floor, Minato was quick to jump on top of him, kunai held back for the final blow to slit his throat. But before he could finish the Faunus off, the other man punched Minato in the chest, sending the air from his lungs with the force of the blow. A cough escaped Minato as pain lanced through his chest; the shinobi was fairly certain he had at least two fractured ribs, or possibly at least one that was broken. Minato landed on the ground, his free hand moving to feel his chest as he panted, one eye shut in pain as he watched the Faunus man get to his feet. The Faunus man had a smug look on his face, knowing he had just overpowered the blonde-haired human in front of him easily.
"So much for Penelope's new bodyguard." The Faunus man said smugly before turning and walking away. Minato lay there panting for a moment before he pushed himself to his feet and ran at the Faunus man again, a scream of anger escaping his throat as he did so. The Faunus man turned and shook his head before he readied for another blow to the heiress's bodyguard. Minato gritted his teeth as he thrust his left hand forwards, trying to grab the Faunus man's arm. As soon as he got close, the Faunus man threw another punch in his direction, but Minato was faster, catching the Faunus's right arm in his left hand. He squeezed down on the Faunus's arm, feeling a familiar sensation escaping his left hand; it was one of his signature seals. But the other man then punched Minato in the face, making the blonde stumble back as blood ran down from the right side of his mouth; this caused Minato to release the Faunus's arm. The Faunus man then gave Minato another punch to the face and readied a third blow, but Minato blocked the third one before throwing a punch of his own. His fist broke the Faunus man's nose, making the darker-haired man stagger back, blood running down from his nose now.
The two men faced each other down again, panting slightly. Minato could feel exhaustion beginning to creep up on him, but he wasn't about to back down, not while Penelope was being taken away from him! The former Hokage ran at the Faunus man again, this time holding up his kunai in his right hand. The Faunus man took out his short sword again, this time swinging it at the kunai. The blade met the kunai's pointed end, and much to Minato's shock, cut through it with ease. He saw the blade coming at him, and with mere seconds left to react, he pulled out one of his signature kunai with his left hand, the tri-pronged weapon making contact with the sword blade. The Faunus man tried to cut through the tri-pronged kunai, but thanks to Minato's unique seals on the hilt, it was pretty much impossible to cut through or even destroy; that was the only thing that saved Minato from getting his head cut into.
Minato kicked out with his left foot, landing a blow to the Faunus's gut that made the other man stagger back. Minato landed in a fighting stance, holding his signature kunai in his left hand to defend himself. Both combatants were staring each other down again before the Faunus man lowered his head and charged at Minato, making his blue eyes widen in shock before he dodged to the left, just barely missing getting impaled through the gut. At that realization, Minato felt his chest getting tight again and it became harder to breathe once more. However, as the Faunus got back into a straight stance and ran at him again with the short sword held back for a fatal blow, Minato was forced to return his focus to the fight and he dodged again, landing on his stomach as he hit the floor hard; the force of the impact made Minato grunt in pain as he hit the floor. The former Hokage did another low sweep kick, kicking out the Faunus man's left leg and making him fall to the floor on his stomach, earning the shinobi a grunt of pain from the Faunus man at impact.
The Faunus man and Minato got back to their feet, weapons now laying on the floor. Minato watched and waited for the Faunus man to make a move. His patience was rewarded when the Faunus man ran at him again, his right fist drawn back for another punch. Minato fell into his stance again before he blocked the punch with his left forearm and hit the Faunus man in the face with a punch from his right hand, followed up by a left front kick to the stomach, which was then followed by a roundhouse kick to the head from Minato's right foot. That was then followed by a back kick from the shinobi's left foot almost as quickly, landing a hit to the Faunus man's chin. Minato went for another roundhouse with his right foot, but the Faunus man blocked that kick with his left forearm, grabbing Minato's foot once the move was blocked. Then, the Faunus man twisted Minato's foot in his grasp, making the shinobi cry out in pain before he was thrown back against the wall. The Faunus man grinned evilly as he walked towards the downed blonde, who looked back up at him with one eye shut in pain as he panted heavily. The Faunus picked up his short sword again and held the blade above Minato, who shut his eyes tightly as he tensed, preparing for what he was sure was the end of his life. But before the blow could be delivered, a gunshot rang out and struck the Faunus man in the leg. Minato's eyes snapped open as he looked up and over in the direction of where the shot had been fired from. There, in the distance, was Pockets, who was armed with a long-barrel shotgun.
Pockets cocked the gun again, making the Faunus man gulp; Pockets wasn't a member of the Anthill Mob for nothing, as his weapons skills showed. "Step back from him, or you will not get another warning shot." Pockets ordered, his tone like steel.
The Faunus man did as he was instructed. Then he raised a hand to his ear and grinned, despite facing down an armed member of the Anthill Mob. "Consider yourselves lucky this time, Anthill Mob member Pockets, Blondie." The Faunus man said before he turned and ran from the scene of the fight. Minato watched as the Faunus fled before reaching for his signature kunai and grabbing it. He put it back into his kunai holster, just as Pockets lowered his gun and walked over to Minato. "Are you okay?" He asked as Minato looked down at the floor. Seeing the male blonde's somber look, Pockets had an inkling of what had happened, but he decided to ask anyway. "Where's Penelope?"
"She... was kidnapped..." Minato finally admitted. "I... I was just out for a quick walk when I heard her scream. I left her side when I wasn't supposed to and she got captured because of it!" Minato was mentally berating himself for what he had done and what it had led to. "If I had just remained at her side, maybe this could have been prevented! If I hadn't left, I could have done something to help her! If I-" He was cut off by Pockets placing his hands on his shoulders firmly.
"There is no use in worrying about 'what if's, not when it already happened. As it stand, Penelope needs us to find and save her." Pockets said firmly.
Minato looked down again. "But I..."
"Get a hold of yourself! Penelope needs you, so stay focused on the goal!" Pockets insisted as he shook Minato's shoulders gently. "You might have been unable to stop her from being taken, but that doesn't meant you can't save her!"
Hearing Pockets' words, Minato realized the Anthill Mob member was right. "You're right. We need to find her."
Pockets nodded. "And I have a fairly good idea where she may have been taken." The Anthill Mob member said as Minato looked at him in confusion.
"How can you know that already?" He asked as Pockets knelt down and reached into his Pockets, taking out his own Tablet that had a map of the area.
"It's simple. The Hooded Claw has a pattern that he follows when he kidnaps Penelope; he will always go for abandoned areas that no one knows about." Pockets explained as he tapped on the screen of his Tablet. Several abandoned areas came up as flashing dots on the screen, each having the date of abandonment listed as well as what company and industry used it. "There are three areas that match the criteria in question; the old KillMoose factory, the abandoned Hogmates mansion, and the deserted Hangman's Pothouse."
Minato's blue eyes narrowed slightly as he took in the locations. "And no one knows of these abandoned places?" He asked as he looked at Pockets.
"All confirmed as abandoned and forgotten." Pockets replied. "The only reason I know about them is because the Hooded Claw uses such facilities and buildings to his advantage; before the explosion, if we, and I mean the Anthill Mob, knew about these places, we could come up with a rescue plan for when Penelope gets captured."
Minato looked down again at the screen before him. "So we have three possible locations. Which one is most likely to be used is the big question though." He noted as Pockets nodded.
"That is a simple narrowing down process. The Hooded Claw will not use abandoned areas close to populated areas, and he will certainly avoid areas that get lots of tourists." Pockets said as he tapped on two of the dots on the screen. "That rules out the old KillMoose factory and the Hangman's Pothouse."
"So Hogmates mansion is the most likely location where he would take Penelope." Minato mused.
Pockets gave a nod to the blonde shinobi. "That's right."
Hangman's Pothouse
Penelope was brought before the Hooded Claw, who was grinning at her evilly. "Ah, now I have you, my dear Pitstop!" The sinister man purred.
"You mean old man!" Penelope cursed.
"Why, thank you, my dear~!" The Hooded Claw snickered. He then took her from the Bully Brothers, who had managed to regroup. The Hooded Claw looked his two minions over, noting that Stu had signs of being in a physical fight on him while Gu had a gash on his arm from a shuriken. "And as for you two, you had better get cleaned up and those wounds treated. I will not have my two main minions running around injured."
"Right Claw." The two Bull Faunus replied before turning and heading to where there was medical supplies.
While that was going on, the Hooded Claw carried Penelope into an old pot-making area. He laughed evilly as he tied her to a pole in the middle of the room and then a rope to the pole's top. Penelope had the rope tying her to the pole winding around her waist and wrists, binding her hands behind the pole, and her ankles were tied together with the same rope. She even had a gag on her mouth, the center of the gag tied into a knot and stuffed into her mouth with the ends being tied together behind her head.
The Hooded Claw turned to face the gagged Penelope and grinned at her as he waggled his eyebrows. "Ah, how nice it is to see you unable to call for help~!" He teased.
Penelope could only let out muffled grunts at the Hooded Claw's comment. "Aw, what was that, my dear?" The Hooded Claw taunted, placing a hand near his ear as if having a hard time hearing her words.
More muffled grunts were all that he heard, which made the Hooded Claw smile with glee. "Ah, music to my ears~!" He laughed before he turned sinister again. "Now my dear, if you'll pay attention, this rope is tied to the top of the pole you are tied to. And above that, I have a weighted pot. I have a mouse that will gnaw through the rope holding up the pot to get at the cheese glued to the underside of the rope. The moment the weighted pot falls down, it will pull the rope through the pulleys, and that in turn will yank the pole you are tied to into that pile of pottery clay, and then that clay will be baked at 1100 degrees into a new pot, with you in the center of it!" He laughed evilly.
The Hooded Claw then turned and set the mouse on the rope. The mouse, upon seeing the cheese, began to run up the rope to reach it. With the deed done, the Hooded Claw turned and left the room, leaving poor Penelope unable to escape, or even call for help.
Pockets drove the car down to the old Hogmates mansion, sure it was where Penelope was. Minato was with him, despite his prior injuries in his fight with one of the Bully Brothers; Pockets had explained to him who those Faunus men were during the drive.
Despite Pockets being fairly certain the Hogmates mansion was where Penelope was being held, Minato was getting a feeling something was off. He knew he had marked one of the Bully Brothers with one of his Hiraishin seals, but when he tried to focus in on the seal, it was nowhere near the old mansion.
As the car pulled into the estate, Pockets took note of Minato's troubled look. He came to a stop and looked at the shinobi. "Is something wrong?" Pockets asked him.
Minato looked down at his signature kunai, which he had been fiddling with ever since they had left the Pitstop Estate. "I... don't know how to explain this exactly but... I... don't think this is where Penelope is being held." He said cautiously.
Pockets blinked. "And how can you be so certain of that?" He asked as he looked at Minato directly.
"I... just... have a feeling..." Minato said, trying to keep his reasons vague. He then held up his kunai. "You see this marker?" He asked. At Pockets nodding his head, Minato continued. "I... placed one on the Bully Brother I fought during our fight. You see, I can sense where these markers are, and right now, I'm not sensing the one I placed on the Bully Brother I fought in the area."
Pockets then realized something. "And the Hooded Claw always has his two minions with him... so if you're not... picking up that marker... then Penelope is not here!"
Minato nodded. "Yeah..." He agreed.
Taking that as his cue, Pockets put the car back into drive and drove away from the Hogmates mansion and back towards town. "So where are you sensing your marker from?" Pockets asked. Minato closed his eyes, homing in on his Hiraishin tag. He could feel his body aching with the pulse of his low chakra levels, but he pushed through it; he wasn't trying to use his signature technique, he was only trying to sense where the marker was. Minato then opened his eyes, having a good idea of where the tag was. "Turn left here." He said as he looked in the direction he wanted to go. "Then take a right at the next intersection."
Pockets did just that, following Minato's directions. He turned left then kept going until the next intersection came up. While he was doing that, Minato brought up the area on Pockets' Tablet before pressing the dot they were getting close to. "Okay, once we turn right, keep going straight until we go through two intersections. The third one we turn left at, and then go through two more before the location is on the left; it's Hangman's Pothouse."
Upon hearing this, Pockets knew where they were headed. "You got it!" He exclaimed as he pressed down on the gas, increasing their speed to get there before something went wrong for poor Penelope.
In the pothouse, Stu was cleaning up his face, unaware of the black seal tag on his lower right arm. He finished cleaning up his wounds, just as Gu came in. "Claw wants us to keep an eye out for the Anthill Mob member that survived and Penelope's new bodyguard." He said as Stu grunted.
"Coming, Gu." He said as he left the area where the medical supplies was stored.
The silver-colored car sat in the store parking lot across the street, all locked up for what was supposed to be a shopping trip, but such a trip it was not. No, for Pockets and Minato, it was a rescue mission. The two men crept around the old Hangman's Pothouse grounds, Pockets with his shotgun out and Minato holding one of his regular kunai in his grasp.
"Can you sense your marker?" Pockets asked as Minato closed his eyes before he opened them again upon picking up his tag.
"Yeah, and the source is above us, right off to the left a bit, two windows from the one I am looking into." Minato replied.
Pockets looked up, and sure enough, he could see the glint of binoculars looking out and around; he and Minato were very close to the outer walls of the building itself, so they would not be seen so easily.
The two of them had to find a way in without alerting their observers to the fact they were there in the first place. Minato glanced around, trying to find any way he could get inside without having to resort to using his chakra; if he tried to use any of his ninja training or techniques now, he would possibly die from chakra exhaustion. As he swept his sharp blue gaze around, his keen mind began to formulate a plan of sorts. He could see where there was an old door that was hanging open, and there were even pieces of plywood that were laying in the ground, having fallen off of the windows that they covered. The shinobi took note of the door's precarious position and figured if he could hit it with an exploding tag, the force would make the door an excellent projectile of sorts.
Pockets crept forwards towards the door Minato had seen, his gun in hand. Minato followed him, his kunai in his grip. The two men peered inside, but there was no sign of Penelope in the main entrance. Pockets frowned as he saw no sign of the heiress. "Where could Penelope be?" Pockets wondered as Minato looked around the vast entrance.
"I don't know." Minato said grimly, no pun intended. "But I am sensing my tag a few floors above us."
"Then we should go after the tag." Pockets said. "If what you said is true, we should find the Bully Brothers there, and perhaps we can get information from them when we do."
Minato nodded, realizing the plan was a sound one, not to mention the only one they had at the moment.
Taking that as his cue, Pockets let Minato go ahead of him. The blonde shinobi ran forwards, following the familiar feeling of his tag being nearby. Minato ran to a stairwell that was open and began to make his way up the stairs to the third floor, which was where he was sensing the Hiraishin tag he had placed on one of the Bully Brothers. Pockets was right behind Minato, keeping the shinobi in his sights. Minato opened the door to the third floor and peered out. He could see abandoned offices and other rooms, with wires hanging down from the ceiling that was rotting, and there was dust and dirt everywhere. Carefully, Minato exited the stairwell and made his way down the hall, only to come to a stop outside one of the rooms; his tag he had placed was very close now, the source coming from inside the room itself.
Minato held up a hand, making Pockets come to a stop beside him. Seeing the blonde's blue eyes narrow slightly, the Anthill Mob member caught on to what Minato was trying to say; they were close to the Bully Brothers.
Pockets held up his gun; it was already cocked and loaded. Minato and Pockets then looked at each other before both gave each other a single nod. Then they busted into the room, Pockets going first and aiming his gun at the two startled Bully Brothers. "Alright, freeze!" Pockets snapped, his tone hard. Beside him, Minato held his kunai at the ready to throw.
"You two had better be ready to talk." Minato hissed. "Because I will not go easy on you."
Stu and Gu Bully were freaking out how. "How did you find us?!" Gu demanded. "I thought for sure we left you in the dust!"
Minato gave a mysterious smirk. "A shinobi never reveals his secrets." He said before his smirk faded as he ran at Stu and Gu. Stu got out his sword again while Gu picked up a metal chair to use as a club. Gu threw the chair at Pockets, who was missed thanks to his short stature. Pockets just aimed his shotgun again and fired it, sending grapeshot at Gu. Gu flared his Aura and deflected the shot with ease while Stu and Minato went at it again. Minato threw his kunai knife at Stu, who deflected it with ease. But that didn't deter Minato, as he just drew out one of his signature kunai again and held it in front of himself to throw Stu off. Stu knew at once what Minato's tri-pronged kunai meant for him; it meant a weapon that was difficult to destroy.
Stu raised up his short sword and tried to stab Minato in the chest with it, but the shinobi was fast, faster than Stu had seen any human move naturally, dodging to the right and skidding to a stop before he pushed off the ground towards Stu again. Stu saw the incoming blonde and grunted as he held up his sword to block the kunai, which caught the blade between the center and left prongs. Minato twisted his left hand, which was holding his kunai, which yanked the blade out from Stu's hand and away from the Bull Faunus. The sword landed on the ground with a loud CLANG. Stu, seeing that he had been disarmed of his weapon, looked back up at Minato with a glare on his face.
Taking no chances, Minato slipped his signature kunai back into the holster on his left leg before slipping into his fighting stance. The two combatants faced each other down again before Stu ran at Minato with intent to kill. Minato saw the incoming punch and turned his body to the right so the punch missed his face. Minato kept his gaze fixed on Stu's face, lashing out with a left side kick right at Stu's gut. The blow landed, sending Stu stumbling back with pain showing on his face. But before Stu could consider himself safe, Minato then let loose with a roundhouse kick from his right foot, nailing Stu right in the side of the head. The blow knocked Stu out cold for a few seconds, just enough time for Gu to turn and rush at Minato in anger. But Pockets was quick to react, firing off his shotgun at Gu again and hitting him in the shoulder with a glancing blow from the bullet that was launched at the Faunus man.
Minato faced down the wounded Gu, who was looking at him in anger and worry for his brother. "Where is Penelope?" Minato asked in a hard tone. "If you tell us, we may let you go with your lives."
Gu looked at Pockets, who was aiming the shotgun at him again before glancing at his unconscious brother, his gaze then returning to meet Minato's blue eyes. Gu swallowed nervously. "M-main manufacturing floor... main level. Y-you can't miss it."
Pockets removed his shotgun from Gu's direction as Minato's gaze softened. "Thanks." He said before he looked to Pockets. "Let's go."
The two men turned and ran from the room, leaving Gu with the unconscious form of Stu.
Now left alone, Gu raised up a hand to his ear, tapping the ear piece he was wearing. "The two are headed your way, Claw." He said, earning evil laughter from the other end.
"Excellent. You did well." The Hooded Claw purred before the link went dead.
Minato and Pockets made their way to the main manufacturing room just as the Bully Brothers had instructed. Slowly, the two men entered the room, only to see their target in the center of the room tied to a pole.
Pockets pointed in the direction ahead of them. "There! There's Penelope, and she's tied to that pole!"
Minato's eyes widened as he saw that. However, instead of staying focused on Penelope like Pockets was, Minato's gaze was drawn to the rope at the top of the pole. He could see where the rope was tied to the pole, and that rope went through some pulleys. The rope was tied to what looked like a weighted pot that was held in place by another rope, with some cheese glued to the underside. There was also a mouse that was gnawing on the rope to get at the cheese. Glancing to the right of the pole, Minato saw a large pile of what looked like clay that was on a conveyer belt, and then the plan came together for the blonde shinobi. He growled to himself before he ran forwards, pulling out one of his regular kunai again, but before he could reach Penelope, a sudden loud bang made Minato come to a halt as smoke was thrown up in his face.
The former Hokage found himself coughing to keep the smoke out of his lungs, which felt irritated by the smoke. When the smoke cleared, Minato saw he was staring at the form of a man wearing a purple hat, purple mask, purple cloak, and green suit. His glasses sat on his pointed nose as he sneered at the blonde shinobi and Anthill Mob member in front of him. "Well, well. What do we have here? Miss Pitstop's diminutive shrimp and the airhead of a bodyguard? How quaint." He sneered at the two.
Pockets aimed his shotgun at the man in front of them. "It's the Hooded Claw!" He exclaimed as Minato felt his body tense.
"That's the Hooded Claw?" Minato asked, his blue eyes analyzing the man before them. 'This man doesn't look that threatening, at least from first glance. However, if this is indeed the person who has been after Penelope for the last ten years, I can't let my guard down, nor underestimate him.' Minato thought to himself as he hefted his kunai in front of his face. The three men began to circle each other, each intending on getting past the others. Minato kept his guard up, watching the Hooded Claw as well as keeping an eye on Pockets; he would provide the distraction so Pockets could get to Penelope and free her before that mouse cut the rope and triggered the trap.
The Hooded Claw laughed as he drew out a knife that looked familiar to Minato; it was a kunai, just like the regular one he himself was holding. Minato's eyes narrowed as he saw that. He tensed before throwing his own kunai at the Hooded Claw. The cloak-wearing man just threw his own kunai at Minato's, countering his throw. As the two kunai clanged in the air against each other, Minato rushed forwards before he threw a punch from his right hand at the Hooded Claw's pointed nose.
Seeing this, the Hooded Claw sneered before he blocked the punch with his left forearm and tried to grab Minato's wrist. Minato was faster though, yanking his arm back and lashing out with a roundhouse kick from his left foot before throwing his weight into a back kick from his right leg. The two kicks hit the Hooded Claw in the face in quick succession, the last one breaking his pointed nose and sending blood flying from the impact site. Minato then let the Hooded Claw have another punch to the face, knocking his glasses off his face as well. But before Minato could unleash another punch, he felt a kick impact his stomach, making him cough in pain. His ribs ached from the blow, and he was sure at least one was clearly broken now.
Minato staggered back, holding his stomach area with his right hand. He reached into his shuriken pouch on his right hip with his left hand and pulled out four shuriken before throwing them at the Hooded Claw. The Hooded Claw saw the incoming shuriken and laughed before he jumped up and over them. Minato looked up before he removed his hand from his stomach and ran forwards as the Hooded Claw landed. The two men turned to face each other again as Minato stood in front of Penelope now, determined to keep this crazy man from her. The two then raced towards each other once more, Minato drawing out an exploding kunai with his left hand before he threw it. The Hooded Claw drew out a cane and knocked the kunai away from him, causing it to land and then explode. Minato didn't waste any time trying to draw on his limited chakra reserves, but much to his dismay, he didn't have enough chakra to even summon the second of his signature techniques. Instead of trying to force his chakra to form it, he looked around quickly, trying to find any means of defending himself instead of wasting his ninja weapons. His eyes landed on a pipe piece not that far away from him and Minato's right hand reached out, grabbing it as he ran by; he had no experience in fighting with a staff, but there was no way he was going to waste his kunai and shuriken on this man if he could help it. The Hooded Claw saw Minato's choice of weapon and gave an evil chuckle as he drew out his cane again.
A swing of the cane was countered by the pipe staff Minato now wielded. The two combatants went at each other, their weapons clashing. Minato had to use the pipe staff to block the Hooded Claw's cane's blows from landing on his chest, which would have aggravated his already injured ribs. The Hooded Claw seemed to be getting a sickening sense of joy from the battle, as he was smiling and spinning around from time to time, blocking and parrying each of Minato's strikes before trying to land some blows of his own. Minato could feel his body aching with the effort of trying to parry and block the blows from the Hooded Claw. However, before Minato could make another strike, the Hooded Claw thrust his cane under the pipe staff the shinobi was using and flipped it out of Minato's grasp. Minato realized he was now disarmed and fell back to his shinobi training, pulling out one of his signature kunai.
The whole time Minato was fighting the Hooded Claw, Pockets was creeping up to the pole Penelope was tied to. He nudged her. "Penelope!" At hearing his voice, Penelope looked down and saw Pockets at her side. "I'm here to get you out of this trap."
Penelope gave a nod as Pockets took out a pocketknife from his Pockets and flicked the blade out before cutting through the ropes holding her to the pole. The heiress felt the ropes fall away and she removed her own gag before smiling at Pockets. "Thank you. You saved little ol' me again!"
Pockets nodded. "We're not out of danger yet, Penelope. Come on." He said as he grabbed her hand and began to lead her to safety.
Minato kept his mind on the fight with the Hooded Claw, but it wasn't so easy now because he was getting tired from the fight and its intensity. His ribs were also aching, and his right ankle was beginning to feel funny as well as throb with pain. He knew he had to find a way to distract the Hooded Claw so he could escape, but without access to his jutsu and his low chakra reserves, he had to do so with just his intelligence. Already his mind was racing to come up with a plan. He glanced around, taking in the area and the fact the trap was not triggered yet. That gave him an idea. Acting quickly, Minato ran forwards and picked up the pipe staff he had dropped. Then, turning around, Minato threw it at the weighted pot. As soon as that was done, the shinobi was running right for the exit doors, where he could see Pockets was waving and had Penelope by his side.
The Hooded Claw saw his opponent was running, and sneered before he realized Penelope was with Pockets, who had somehow freed her. The Hooded Claw glared. "You won't get away with Pitstop!" He shouted as he ran after Minato, only for a loud CLANG to echo in the big room. The Hooded Claw turned, only to see the weighted pot was swinging back and forth, the pipe staff lodged in its handle; on the handle of the pipe staff was a tag that looked very familiar. The Hooded Claw gulped when he saw the tag ignite. "This guy's good." He muttered before the tag exploded, sending the weighted pot falling towards the Hooded Claw with a loud CRASH.
Minato didn't even look back, just running out of the old Pothouse and reaching the car where Pockets and Penelope were waiting for him. He scrambled inside and shut the door before he finally felt exhaustion kick in. Minato laid sprawled out on the back seat, panting heavily as he held his chest where his ribs were aching. His right ankle throbbed in pain, making him wince as well. He could feel blood running down from his right lip, and the shinobi was sure he looked pale from being in fights despite his injuries. He felt dizzy, a groan escaping him as he shut his eyes tightly to try and make it go away.
"Hang in there, Minato." Pockets said as he kept driving away from the Hangman's Pothouse. "We'll be back at the estate soon."
"Great..." Minato panted out, his chest heaving somewhat heavily.
Penelope looked back at the male blonde, seeing how bad he looked for the first time. Minato's face was pale like chalk and slicked with sweat, with the red blood running down from the right side of his mouth standing out against his pale coloring. His chest was heaving and the way he was holding it indicated he had some kind of injury to the area. His right ankle looked swollen and red as well. "Should we have the family doctor come and help him?" Penelope asked Pockets, who actually gave a nod.
"We probably should." Pockets agreed. "Not only for him, but to check you out as well." He added as he glanced at her with one of his eyes, not taking his gaze off the road fully. Pockets had seen how the Hooded Claw loved to tie up Penelope, and frankly, he was disturbed by how often it happened. He remembered how Clyde had told him about his suspicions that the Hooded Claw had... a fetish for it, and if Pockets was honest with himself, it seemed his boss had been right on the money.
Penelope nodded before glancing back at Minato's form again. The shinobi was still panting somewhat, but he seemed to have regained a bit of color to his cheeks, as he didn't look as pale as he did before. Minato then made to sit up with a grunt, but he winced at the pain in his chest, which kept him down on the back seat.
For Minato, upon realizing he wasn't going to be moving for a while, he sighed and just settled for laying down on the seat instead of sitting up. 'Heh... guess I really pushed myself too hard...' Minato thought with a bit of a chuckle. 'But at least Penelope is safe...' That was the last thought that crossed his mind before he fell unconscious.
In the Hangman's Pothouse, the weighted pot moved before it rolled off of the Hooded Claw. He grunted as he brushed off his cloak, standing up as he did so; he was lucky there had been an opening in the floor for him to escape through, otherwise he would have been smashed into a pancake. "Well, that bodyguard of Penelope's is quite clever; I wasn't expecting that exploding tag trick he pulled." 'But it makes me wonder if he has some ninja training. If the weapons he used are any indication, he probably does.' The Hooded Claw thought before he felt his eyes widen. If this bodyguard he had hired did indeed have ninja training, then this would be harder than he thought. Albeit, probably not that much harder since he doesn't seem to know any ninja tricks like I do.'
But he had no idea how wrong he was...
Pitstop Estate
The first thing he felt when he regained consciousness was the feeling of his chest and ankle aching. Minato groaned as he turned his head slightly before his sharp blue eyes opened to see Pockets and Penelope gathered around him. The former Hokage felt cushions under him, meaning he was probably lying sprawled out on the couch.
"Minato, are you okay?" Pockets asked him as Minato nodded his head.
"Yeah... I think so..." Minato replied before he gasped in pain and gripped at his chest. His blue eyes were shut tightly in pain as he panted, trying to force himself through the pain.
"You should take it easy; you have two fractured ribs and one broken rib, not to mention a twisted right ankle." Pockets instructed as he put a hand on Minato's right shoulder, pressing the male blonde back down gently.
"What... what about Penelope? Is she okay...?" Minato rasped out between pants as he looked at Pockets.
"She's fine. She has no injuries. You were the worst off." Pockets reassured the shinobi.
At hearing his words, Minato felt himself relax. "Good..." He sighed with relief.
"You saved little ol' me again." Penelope said as Minato looked back at her. "I can't thank you enough."
Minato gave a grunt of confirmation, but didn't say anything else. Pockets then held something out to Minato. "Here. I found this near the pool room; it looks like this is one of yours, but it needs repairs because it was cut in half." In Pockets' hands was one of Minato's kunai, the very one that had been cut in half by the Bully Brother he had marked with his Hiraishin tag. Seeing the weapon, Minato's eyes went wide as he remembered the fight, and how he had almost been impaled in the stomach by his opponent. Remembering that caused Minato's chest to feel tight again and it became harder to breathe. Sweat began to run down his face as his eyes widened in fear. Minato clutched at his stomach and chest with his left hand as his right hand gripped the couch cushion's edges in a death-grip vice. He was hyperventilating, looking paler and paler the more his chest heaved to try and get air into his burning lungs. He couldn't hear Penelope or Pockets calling out to him due to the thudding of his heartbeat in his ears being louder than their voices.
The next thing Minato knew, he was on the floor again, feeling his heart racing rapidly. Penelope and Pockets were each at his side, both of them looking concerned.
"Minato, if you can hear me, please focus on me." Pockets instructed calmly. "Once you do that, focus on breathing in sync with me."
The shinobi did as Pockets instructed, the motions helping Minato to calm down slowly but surely. Eventually, Minato wasn't looking as pale or as freaked out, and he felt his heart no longer racing. He gave Pockets a smile of gratitude, which Pockets returned with a nod of acknowledgement.
Feeling he was no longer in danger of another panic attack, Pockets helped Minato to sit up; the shinobi winced at the pain in his chest, but he knew he would be fine as long as he let himself heal.
"Are you okay?" Penelope asked as she looked at her bodyguard. "This is the second time you had a panic attack."
"Yeah... I'm fine..." Minato replied, not really wanting to go into the topic. He pushed the incident aside as best he could as Penelope knelt down beside him. "I'll be fine..."
"Are you sure? You looked pretty freaked out for a moment there." Penelope noted. "I've never seen anyone look so spooked before."
Minato nodded, trying to get her to drop the subject already. "I said I'll be fine." He said, not really caring if he sounded a bit snappy towards her; he just wanted the topic to be dropped.
Penelope wanted to press for more information, but Pockets stopped her from asking. "I don't think he wants to talk about it." He said to her gently.
A pout was on Penelope's face, making her look somewhat cute, but Minato didn't notice, he had too much of a haunted look in his eyes. He instead was trying to shove the memories of the fight from his mind so he didn't suffer another attack like that. A hand on his shoulder made Minato look back to see Pockets looking at him. "I think you should just get some rest. You're already badly hurt, and we don't want you to have your injuries heal improperly."
Minato gave a solemn nod of agreement before Pockets helped him to his feet, with Penelope slipping one of Minato's arms over her shoulders. "Can you take him to his room, Penelope?" Pockets asked the heiress.
Penelope gave a nod. "Of course I can." She replied before she looked at Minato. "C'mon on then, let's get you to you room so you can rest."
Minato remained silent as Penelope was guiding him to his room; he was clearly still shaken up from his panic attack. He was limping due to his injured ankle, which was why he needed Penelope's help to get to his room. Minato kept his gaze fixed on the floor, not even looking up to see where he was being led to. His mind was muddled so he couldn't focus on anything except what he was staring at, which just so happened to be the floor. He felt Penelope come to a stop as he heard a door being opened. That caused him to finally look up, seeing his room before him. Minato finally turned his head to meet Penelope's gaze; black eyes meeting glazed over blue.
Penelope led the shinobi into his room and helped him to his bed. "You just get some rest, Minato." She said before she turned and left, leaving Minato alone in his room. She made sure to shut off the light so he could get some sleep before she left the room completely however. Once the light was off, Penelope shut the door so her injured bodyguard could get some much needed sleep and rest.
Now left alone in his room, Minato lay on his bed, staring up at the ceiling. He blinked a few times before reaching up to his face, feeling something wet running down from his eyes. It was then the former Hokage realized he was crying, but he didn't know why. Tears were running down his cheeks for a reason unknown to him. He felt his chest begin to heave with unshed sobs, and he rolled over onto his side, curling up into a ball, clutching his hands close to his chest; his heart felt like it was aching for something, longing for something that was just on the fringes of his memories, but he couldn't recall what it was for the life of him. It felt like he should know what it was, knew what it was, but he couldn't recall anything important to him like that. The tears kept running down his cheeks as he closed his blue eyes tightly, his breathing hitching slightly as his chest hiccuped; oh how he wished he could understand why he was crying like this. Minato remained curled into a ball, crying to himself before it finally died off; the shinobi had cried himself to sleep, but tears remained running down his cheeks, even as he slept.
Minato has his first rescue mission of Penelope, and while he succeeds in rescuing her, thanks to the aid of Pockets, he is injured in the process and has a panic attack after the mission is over. But now that the Hooded Claw knows Minato has some shinobi training, what will happen in the next plans to come? Read on to find out and review :3 Well, enjoy~! :3