[Opening: Nujabes - Battlecry]
FusionFall Infinite
Season 3
Chapter 16: Pushing Ahead
[Neo Bayview]
"You sold the brothel? What drove you to do that?" Pearl asked as Ryker held their weekly team meetings.
"Well for one, a bit of a moral reason. Anti-hero I may be, but I want to emphasize on hero." Ryker remarked.
"That and you nearly got busted for having it." Peridot remarked. "A raid had happened on an underground brothel in the Inner City. Besides, it's more a risk at this point."
"So, who you sold the business to?" Steven asked. "And are we even going to see Blue and Yellow again?"
Ryker groaned before confessing to who he sold it to.
"Hypocrite, much?" Pink remarked.
"You bought from them, I sold to them. While I admit that's a thin line. I did not exactly sell them weapons." Ryker remarked thinking on the Hidden Ghetto Village. "Besides, I should not really be running such a place considering well…my rep and my son."
"At least, you're doing…well the mostly right thing." Garnet remarked. "But what about Rei?"
"Oh her? Well, about her. I didn't sell her because she's a warper, and she still lives in the barn for now. She's basically an independent prostitute now." Ryker said with a shrug.
"Either way, we have other problems." Pink said referring to Spinel. "What are we going to do?"
"For now, nothing." Ryker said much to Pink's ire. "Oh, don't give me that shit. Spinel's royalty and we can't just go in an attempt to up and kill her."
"If she does attack us, then we can strike back. Until then, we continue to train." Jasper said firmly.
"And until Spinel is dealt with, I'm putting my foot down on leaving CN-Zen Kuro. That goes for all of you." Ryker said taking this seriously.
"What about Lars and his group?" Connie asked.
"They're actually keeping an eye on Joshinari. Lars and his team managed to settle in an island village not far from it. Isle de la Rau. An island nation in the middle of a lake that leads to ocean. The Ghetto version of Wave. Ironically enough, they were going to send out a scouting party to call on the Hidden Ghetto Village for help, but Lars intercepted. Now we have a foothold and we can keep an eye on things." Ryker explained.
"You know when the president finds out, she's going to be on your case." Priyanka remarked.
"Not when I know she's muddied her hands to." Ryker mused. "And Steven, Connie, get going. You'll be late for school."
-FFI-
[Inner City Core]
"Another day teaching at this school." Maylene said under her breath as she pulled up into the parking lot. "I miss those UA guys already."
She parked and got out while trudging into the building right as Steven and Connie gracefully landed on the ground behind her.
"I'm pretty sure you missed a class. It's about what…9:30." Maylene said with a dry look.
Maylene went ahead to get to work as the others went off to class. Battle Academy went about as normal as classes went on. Came lunchtime, the junior members of Fusion Force were all having lunch in Maylene's classroom.
"So, how was class?" Maylene asked.
"The norm." Shinji remarked.
"Honestly, I'm just glad that people aren't really giving us shit for our family ties." Mifune said as Elsa Lynn continued to eat. "Any word on Taeko?"
"He got his eight badge and he's been camping out around Victory Road for close to a front. I heard Marie and Crusher are hanging on Hoenn setting up some secret base." Maylene said thinking wistfully. "But man, Joshinari's been here the entire."
"Freaky, isn't it?" Mifune said. "Three of the Blackthorns are hanging around the same planet? Add Kaze, and you got a big concentration of warper energy. It's a warper's paradise."
"Easy for new warpers with even the most minimal of training to rise up the ranks quickly and so much that you can build up your reserves." Elsa Lynn said recalling her mother's words. "That's why cost of living is going up…even in Vice. And that place is still in the dumps."
"What do you think the Hidden Ghetto Village is like?" Kirby asked as Julie was slurping.
"Well, we'll know after my mom and dad get back from there." Maylene said worriedly. "I just hope they are not causing too much of an issue."
-FFI-
[Hidden Ghetto Village]
[Cues: Madvillain – Raid]
SMASH! CRASH! A body went flying through the window of the bar as it tumbled into the ground. Never said that messing with a married woman when her husband's near was a good idea.
"You're lucky, it was me who punched you." Mandy said cracking her knuckles.
Mandy and Saki had managed to get into the village, going incognito as traveling samurai looking the part. Looking around, they took in the sights and were at a bar having an early drink where a Chunin decided to attempt to get handsy with Mandy.
"You're a feisty one." Said Chunin said getting to his feet. "Make a nigga want another hit."
Mandy rolled her eyes and was tempted to continue only for an ANBU to get in the way. Machual, with his new porcelain Greninja-themed mask, gracefully made his entrance before drawing out several kunai within his hands.
"Is there an issue, here?" Machual asked ready to fight.
"Yeah, Greninja. This bitch playing hard to get." The Chunin said as Mandy facepalmed.
Not even dignifying that with a response, Saki and Mandy turned to leave only for Machual to focus to take on Mandy for a few seconds.
"Wait a second, what's a pair of samurai doing in a ninja village?" Machual said sternly.
"What's it to you?" Saki said glaring back.
"Yeah, I'm going to need you both to come with me. Now. Something about you two seems familiar…" Machual said only to get smoke bombed. "Ack! What the hell?!"
Saki and Mandy took off down the street as Machual called for backup. The pair found themselves in the midst of being hunted. It may have been overreaction, but Saki did not want to take any chances.
"We'll have to disguise ourselves, fast." Saki said as they hid in an alley.
Both got to their Omnitrix before priming to transform. Mandy got lucky and got Nanomech, but Saki got an Appoplexian.
"Are you…Let me tell you something, you fucking watch? Royd did not ask to be turned into Rath…Royd mean…gah, screw it!" Saki ranted.
[Cues: Cowboy Bebop OST – Rush]
"There they are!" The ninjas screamed advancing on them.
"Split up!" Mandy said buzzing away as Saki had to scale the building to the roof.
"Glass Style: Broken Bottle Rain!"
In came a rapid rush of shards of bottles that Saki had to evade. Saki hissed as a few nicked and cut him before he turned to face the ninja.
"Let Royd return the favor." Saki snarled as he tore off a satellite dish using to deflect the shards right back. "Returning fire!"
When one ninja came up from behind, Saki clubbed them with it before leaping off the roof. He returned to his normal human form making a mental note to take time to see exactly how many aliens he had.
"You currently have 25 aliens available to you."
"I should smack myself for not bothering to just ask the fuc-" Saki said as a kunai nearly took out his eye. "Shit!"
Mandy was doing a lot better being practically easy made it difficult for the ninja to see her, but they could still sense.
"Where the hell this white bitch be?"
"Nigga, I ain't psychic! I can sense her ass, but I can see her."
"Maybe she invisible like Sue Storm."
"We can't make Marvel references."
"Why not?"
"Because we live in DC turf, that's why nigga!"
"Man, fuck you!"
"SHUT THE HELL UP!" Mandy said returning to normal size and blasting them both with bio-electricity.
[Music Ends]
The two ninjas fell off the roof as Mandy flew away managed to slip in through a small crack in the window before returning to her human form.
"I really need to check how many aliens I can us…Oh 25…" Mandy said looking down at the watch that was now bothering to explain itself.
Much to Mandy's ire, it seemed that their tinkering was not completely perfect and had randomized what aliens the two of them had. At least, they still had the Saiyan DNA, but this was still an issue. For now, Mandy needed to figure where she was, and entered the room. A look around had her realized she was in a brothel, much to her further annoyance.
"Wait, aren't those the same whores Ryker had working for him?" Mandy thought looking downstairs to see Blue and Yellow Diamond sitting around on with the other workers.
Not wanting to find out, she shuffled around her trying to find a backdoor. It had not helped she ran into one of them, Kali. Before the cat faunus could speak, Mandy used a tiny amount of Warper's Will to render her unconscious. Stepping over her, Mandy found the backdoor and sprinted out hoping no one sensed them. She was not so lucky. Mandy and Saki reunited only to find themselves surrounded by ninja.
"That's enough."
Saki paled to see that the source of that voice was Delia Blackthorn, herself.
"Now you've given our ninja a good workout, but it's time to stop and surrender." Delia said as the veins on her arms throbbed. "Trust me, you don't want none of me."
"Yeah, I'd rather not Joshinari's seconds." Mandy snarked as several of the ninjas dropped their jaws.
"OOHHH SHIT!/Nigga, you got roasted!/OH DAMN!"
Many of the civilians and ninjas cried this out as Delia's cheeks went red as she was fuming. Delia would have spoken a retort, but instead let her new powers speak for her as muscle fiber tore out from the skin of her arms wrapped around them as she bulked up. Her chest also did this leaving nothing but pink under her shirt.
"Yup, didn't expect me to have this new power up. It's a Quirk, nifty little ability that augments my muscles. I didn't have to go about making myself pink, but I wanted to define how fucked you were." Delia said deviously laughing. "So, Mandy? Got any quips, bitch?"
"I do." Saki said getting something out of his samurai robes. "Classic Lemonade Bomb!"
He threw the worn Fusion weapon out only for it to clatter and roll at Delia's feet seemingly a dud.
"Pfft…Ha! It's a dud, just like your husband, Mandy." Delia said as the ninja laughed with her.
"Oh no, I'm a grower not a shower." Saki said firing a Death Beam into the bomb getting to explode spraying them with pain and lemonade.
Delia screamed as the citrus juice burned her exposed muscle and the ninja cried out for their eyes.
"You're not going to leave here alive!" Delia said rubbing her eyes. "I..gah!"
The Solar Flare continued it's never growing usefulness as Saki and Mandy both used Instantaneous Movement to leave as Delia screamed bloody murder. However, the two did not get far only landing right outside of the village.
"Ok, we'll need something with speed." Saki said cycling through his Omnitrix.
"Wait, it's best we don't risk that. We don't know if they can be tracked." Mandy said stopping him. "What's the closest settlement from here."
Saki checked his phone looking at the map before saying, "There's a place. Isle de la Rau, an island not far off from the sea here. From the looks of things, they aren't allied with the ninjas here."
"Let's just go. For now, we need to get the hell away before the Kage comes out." Mandy said as they both took off. "Think you could just teleport there?"
"I could try, but I need a good distance away from there in case." Saki said as they kept moving.
A few miles away, Saki tapped into his Oracle powers to see if he could learn anything about Isle de la Rau. He sighed with relief with what he saw.
"Good news, that place is safe. Even better news, it seems the Squadron's got a foothold in the region." Saki said getting his phone call. "I'm making a call."
-FFI-
[Original County]
Another day at the Fitness Dojo, Carol spared with her students hoping to help them master Drunken Fist. Kaze leaned against the wall watching, admiring his wife's form. He was off-duty from hero duty, just wanting to enjoy the moment.
"You know, it's been real quiet lately. Haven't seen the Hue Troop around?" Gladys remarked.
"Yeah, they moved to Japan. Two of them wanted to follow their boyfriend there and the rest followed suit. Would you believe they're a popular pop idol band there?" Kaze said with a snigger. "Oh man, they're on the rage."
"Aren't they mostly singing covers to already existing songs?" Carol said catching Gertie's fist and flipping her over.
Kaze only smirked before his phone rang. He looked down at it to see it was Saki calling before going into Carol's office to take it.
"Saki, what's up?" Kaze asked.
"I got some information. Apparently, the Squadron's got a foothold near that ninja village." Saki said firmly.
"Speaking of which, where in Asia is it? I can't find the place on a map!" Kaze remarked as he could hear Saki sighing.
"If you must to, it's a land mass not far from China and Japan. Knockoff Elemental Nations and all that crap. Look, focus. Why the hell from Ryker have his people near his cousin?" Saki asked.
"Keeping an eye on him so he doesn't pull any surprises." Kaze said thinking things over. "Look, you thinking he's dealing with Joshinari?"
"Well Mandy ran into the women that Ryker used for his brother over there." Saki remarked.
Kaze took a seat leaning back in it, thinking things over once again.
"If I recall, there was a bust recently. Underground brothel or some shit of the like. I think Ryker got spooked, and just decided to pass it off to Joshinari. Makes sense." Kaze said putting two and two each other. "Besides, not like Kenji's hanging around there."
"He's been rather down lately. That Jerome guy…they had to pull the plug on him. Damn, he lost four teammates and he wasn't even in battle. I heard he's been gunning for revenge at Spinel for her hand in their deaths." Kaze said with concerned.
"Well, I just need you to let the others in the team know. I'll have to say in Rua for a while until the search me and Mandy goes down. Make sure that Maylene especially knows we're here." Saki said, "I have to go, later."
"Later." Kaze said hanging up.
Kaze promptly texted K.O. to deal with telling Maylene for him. He was a Junior Member of Fusion Force after all.
-FFI-
[Near the Space of the Spiral Empire]
Kenji sat at his command chair observing the planet below wanting nothing more than to storm it and burn it to the ground. Spinel had taken four of his friends. Jerome, he loved like a brother. At least now, he could join the women in his life. Knowing that did not stop the tears from spilling down his face. Megan could only put a hand on his should for comfort as the others looked beat up over it.
"I know you're angry, Kenji, but you go in there, gun-ho without a plan." Stewie said coming up. "Besides, we're in no stage to fight an army, yet at least."
Brian would have offered kind words, but he was busy humping his Jynx despite the glare Lana was giving him.
"Kenji, it would be best for you to settle in a place, clear your head, and then get back to training. There's no doubt that Spinel needs to die, but she can die another day." Jillian said gently.
At this point, they knew that she was not the idiot she was before, only faking idiocy went she had to. She was no genius, but she was not a moron either.
"Thanks, Jill. You're right. Set a course to leave." Kenji said getting up realizing the mess of beer cans he had around him. "Jeez, did I really spend a month drinking and glaring at a planet?"
(A/N: I wanted to keep building on this story, and I figure I should unveil a bit more of the ninja village and fate of Jerome. Sadly, he's gone and Kenji's down to a team of six. Now I'm torn, as I want to give Kenji a one-shot of him mourning his loss, but I don't have a series to put it under. I'll probably make it a bonus chapter here. Regardless, we're setting the stage for Spinel. I also got rid of Ryker's brothel as the joke ran its course, plus it was more fitting for Joshinari to corner the market on it.)
