Turning Points.
By
Josh Price (a.k.a. Spyke the Hedgehog)
Megalopolis Abandoned Subway lines (Spyke's POV)
When I broke the news to my team that we where going on another mission right after the New France campaign, well they didn't take it so well. In fact Snaps ended up trying to slam his tail into me, with little success. We had a little time for visiting family when we got to Megalopolis so we all jumped at the opportunity. When I got home I saw that Kat had tried dying her quills pink. Needless to say she looked kind of silly. We spent a day together since that was all that was allowed by our orders.
Corporal Stewarts was the first to arrive after myself. Slowly but surely everyone arrived before the mission was undergone. We checked our gear in the alleyway next to our entrance, a manhole, into the enemy's domain. Snaps had his signature shotgun strapped to his back and an assault rifle in hand. Stewarts, Cranes, and Suza-na all had a 22-caliber rifle for their primary weapons and 9mm birettas as there secondary. Captain Thomas had her sniper rifle with a silencer (lot of good that'll do). And Comrades had his trademark portable laptop, for his hacking skills and all, and a 9mm biretta. Me, I have my two throwing knives, two 9mm birettas, and a 22-caliber rifle. Though I probably wouldn't need to use any of my gear short of the 22-cal, I thought I better bring the rest, just in case. We all sported black stealth gear so as to blend in with the shadows better.
As we entered the sewer, we noticed one thing, it was pitch black dark in the tunnel, despite the light that was shinning in from the street. I knew it was that maniac's doing but thought better of telling my comrades, 'they wouldn't understand anyways' I thought. We pressed on through the darkness using some infrared goggles that Comrades had seen fit to bring with him. Thankfully the goggles worked in the deep darkness, without them my teammates may not have been able to keep up with me. We pressed on for what seemed like days, which was in fact only about an hour, until we came across a lighted tunnel.
In front of us stood a vast tunnel that looked to be an old track changing station. In the center of the room stood seven of Orochimaru's most powerful bodyguards. They all stood there hooded, their facial features completely hidden from view. Leading the lot of them was none other than Kabuto. He stood there with a sly grin on his smug face. I growled inwardly but Snaps growled out loud.
"You may not advance!" he yelled. I looked at him with nothing but contempt.
"Who says!" snaps replied.
"My master Orochimaru-sama, has bid you all to stay here with the exception of Spyke-kun here," he directed his gaze toward me. " The others will stay here with us so we may see their skills for ourselves."
My team looked at me and I at them. They seemed to sense my hesitancy but looked ready to defy fate itself. I walked to where Kabuto directed me but before I went down that long dark tunnel I took one last look at my team, cause it might be the last time I see them.
Deeper in the Tunnel (authors POV)
It was dark down the tunnel to Orochimaru, but nothing was there to test Spyke, at least not until he reached his destination. 'Orochimaru, you've been a thorn in my side ever since I left home,' he thought as he trudged the darkness. This dark vaulted corridor didn't turn or twist it just kept going in a straight line. Already he could hear screams and gunfire from behind him where his comrades were engaging the enemy's elite soldiers. He hoped that his friends, comrades would be all right through this or could at least hold out until he could defeat Orochimaru then he would come back to save them. But the hedgehog soldier knew all too well that the task ahead was more than just an easy capture or assassination mission. This was something that was sure to claim his life if he were to succeed.
The noises in the background began to fade as he went along. This could be either good or bad. Which, he could not tell.
A light shone in the distance. He quarry was just within reach so he quickened his pace. The light at the end of the tunnel grew brighter as he neared it and a feeling of dread began to creep its way into the back of his mind. "This is it, my final battle with that monster," he said as he ran at full speed.
As he entered what he thought to be the next room he discovered that he was no longer inside the old subway/sewer systems, but rather an open area. The night sky was dark and the atmosphere, ominous. This area looked a lot like a training field that he had practiced a lot in as a young hedgehog. The training logs with multiple scratches and gouges all over them were on the southeast side of the plot. A large obstacle course stood in the direct center of the entire field and on top of one of the boulders in the center of the course stood him.
The man known as Orochimaru, the giant snake stood menacingly on a large boulder. 'Something is different. I cant put my finger on it but something is definitely different about him,' Spyke thought. The navy-blue hedgehog approached the tall, pale man standing on the rock.
"So Spyke-kun, you finally so up. After all these years, you've finally come out of hiding. I was beginning to think that your were done in by some hunter-nin."
"One, don't you ever call me that! You don't deserve to call me that? And two, I would never be done in by some ordinary hunter-nin, even if they sent one after me, which they didn't buy the way."
"Touchy aren't we?" Orochimaru replied calmly with just a hint of amusement. "Now that the formalities are out of the way let us dance."
Both combatants raced forward, intent on spilling the blood of the other. Spyke reached for his knives, and Orochimaru drew an old fashioned kunai. The blades clashed several times, neither showing any weakness in their stances. Spyke glared at the one called "the giant snake" with contempt, something that anyone who knew him would never have recognized on his face. He ran at his enemy once more, flipping over the pale-faced sennin, landing in a perfect crouch he swept his right foot out in an attempt to trip Orochimaru. The snake-man saw the kick coming and leapt over it, countering with a slash of his kunai downward toward Spyke's head. Spyke saw this and blocked with his own knives in a crossed fashion.
It was then Spyke realized what seem to be different about his opponent; there was some kind of illusion around him. Spyke backed off a few yards and rose to his full height of 4'8". "You can't be Orochimaru! You're using some sort of illusion to hide who you really are so you can't be him! Who are you?"
"Very observant as always Spyke-kun. I am the real Orochimaru but I no longer have a human body," he said with a sadistic smile that could make a murderer's skin crawl. "You see, the first time I saw your bloodline limit Spyke-kun I immediately knew I had to have you as my next vessel. But you aren't as easy a prey as poor Sasuke-kun was. So after I did some digging I found out that your clan is in fact still around. I then proceeded to befriend the hedgehogs and search for my next vessel. No sooner had I found the clan then I met an individual that was not unlike our poor Sasuke-kun." He said, all the while grinning with shear delight in watching his prey squirm at the thought of him being an Anthromorph like himself. "I then left my mark on him and moved him into these facilities so that I could have him ready for our final confrontation Spyke-kun."
It took everything that Spyke had to keep from flying off the deep end of his mental stability. He had to calm himself other wise he might end up killing himself instead of the traitor. "Then reveal yourself snake! I want to see your face before I kill you!" Spyke said angrily to his opponent.
"Very well Spyke-kun, but you might not like what you see," Orochimaru answered with his trademark serpentine smirk. He released his illusion with a puff of smoke and there, standing before Spyke was a black hedgehog. This new hedgehog form of Orochimaru was a jet-black hedgehog with a large tan patch of fur covering his stomach area. The quills on his back were pulled back in much the same way as many hedgehogs' quills were but the thing that stood out the most to Spyke was the golden serpentine eyes that Orochimaru was famous for having. "What do you think Spyke-kun? I know you have something on your mind," he said with steady anticipation.
"What do I think? What do I think! I think I want to kill you all the more!" Spyke said enraged at this new development. 'At least he hasn't figured out how to activate the bloodline limit yet, I hope.'
"Well Spyke-kun, lets do something that I have always wanted to do since I first saw your bloodline, lets go super," with that Orochimaru went into a crouching stance with his hand fisted and his arms locked at his sides. Orochimaru let out a cry that sounded as if his body were about to explode on him. And with a bright flash of light the snake-man was transformed. His quills and fur no longer black but a dark shade of gray. His golden snake-like eyes still visible with absolutely no change to them at all.
At seeing this Spyke thought to himself, 'ah crud!' this was something he had mastered since before he first came to Megalopolis several years back. And this monstrosity had managed to do it in no time flat. Spyke's rage built up inside of him, he had never been more infuriated over anything in his entire life. This rage continued to build until, in much the same way as Orochimaru did; he erupted in a bright flash of light and power. His golden aura plowing a large crater in the ground beneath him as he yelled at the object of his rage, "Orochimaru! One of us will not walk away from this battle!" he bellowed, "I will not let you continue to ruin the lives of others!"
"Big words Spyke-kun but can you back them up?" And with that they charged each other yet again. They did not bother performing hand seals as is normally needed with ninjutsu's. Instead they just uttered the names of the jutsu that they wanted to use.
"KATON, GOUGAKYU NO JUTSU! (Fire Type - Empowered Fireball Skill)" Spyke cried as a humongous fireball raced from his mouth destroying every thing in its path.
But the old snake was not so easily done in; he leapt over it and countered with his own move. Orochimaru opened his mouth to summon his sword and out of his throat came a snake; the snake in turn opened its mouth and out flew a sword. With its task done the snake returned to its master's belly to wait until it was summoned again. Orochimaru grabbed the sword and tried to plow it into Spyke but to no avail.
Spyke saw the sword coming and danced around it quickly and skillfully while countering with his own weapons. The snake-sennin blocked the counter attack with his sword across his chest and retaliated with his own downward strike.
This went on, one attacking the other blocking and countering, for what to them seemed like hours was only a mere two minutes. Neither combatant gaining or losing an inch of strength or gaining an advantage strategically over the other. The giant snake seeing this decided to use his words to cause his opponent to slip up so that he could gain the advantage over his enemy. "You know you can't beat me Spyke-kun. I'm a Sennin, a master of the ninja arts and you're a just a lowly jounin, a soldier." This obviously wasn't intimidating Spyke so he decided to hit a little closer to home as they clashed blades yet again. "I hear you have a wife know Spyke-kun? She will make a fine slave when your dead." This hit a nerve in Spyke, and to Orochimaru's surprise it was a rather large one.
"YOU WILL NOT TOUCH HER!" he cried out after the gray hedgehog. He took of after Orochimaru in a rage but it was not quite what the snake-sennin was looking for. He wanted to make Spyke fly off the deep end so that he could quickly end this battle and claim his revenge. And his mind came up with the perfect one, even if it wasn't true how would Spyke know he hadn't been to his home village in so long he wouldn't know anything.
"Such a shame," he said while running from his opponent to gain some room. "You look just like Naruto-kun before I ended his life. Pity he wont be able to see you know in full mastery of your kekki genkai." That was it that was what sent him off the deep end. However, yet again it had a reaction that Orochimaru hadn't calculated on happening.
The eyes of his enemy went from the squinted, enraged look to that of something snapping inside his head. Spyke cocked his head back and let out a yell, which sounded more like a roar from a large beast about to kill an adversary. Spyke's body erupted with violet and crimson energy so bright that it almost blinded Orochimaru and so powerful that it cut a crater the size of a football field. As the light show died down what stood before Orochimaru, was not the same person he had been facing a second ago. This new Spyke had jet-black quills, the whites of his eyes were blood red and his happy-go-lucky attitude and demeanor replaced by a bloodlust in his eyes that could only have been rivaled by one other. The hopelessness of his situation hit him hard, harder than even one of Tsunade's super-human punches.
End of Chapter 3A/N: (laughs maniacally) I finally got to annoy people with cliffhangers! Hey guys hope you enjoyed this next chapter. I just realized that my battle scenes suck. So I'm going to try and revise this one and repost it when I post the next chapter. As always please read and review. And I've made a few changes to this chapter so that it makes sense now.