Story Challenge: Free to good home! A group of the X-Men and "specials" from Heroes are sucked into the the Elemental Nations, where they find a deadly world full of mutant and non-mutant ninja. All rights belong to their respective authors.
"My name is Hatake Kakashi, shinobi of Konoha," the man with all of his lower face covered by a mask said calmly, as he stood with a kunai at the throat of Scott Summers. "And I would like you to explain to me why you have been following us."
Scott, also known as the mutant hero Cyclops, stood perfectly still. He didn't understand what the man with the knife to his throat was saying, as it was in Japanese, and Scott's command of the language was not very well developed. He caught what he thought was the man's name and something about ninja, but other than that, it was too much for him to understand. The knife at his throat, though, that was perfectly clear.
But Scott wasn't worried. He wasn't alone.
'Mr. Hatake,' a voice spoke to Kakashi within his mind. 'We mean you no harm. Please take your knife away from my friend so that we can discuss this reasonably. We are lost travelers, trying to find out where we are.'
Kakashi could not see the person who was speaking, but he felt the intrusion of energy within his mind. Along with the message came a suggestion, mild and subtle, but it was there. Someone was invading his mind.
"Come out so we can see you then," Kakashi retorted aloud. "If you mean us no harm, why follow us, and why hide?" The fact that he could not detect the genjutsu or mind control technique user worried him. Either their mind control technique was formidable, or their ability at stealth was.
'Oh, don't worry about why you can't detect me, Mr. Hatake. That is neither a form of mind control nor a matter of my ability to hide.' Kakashi could almost hear an amused chuckle within his mind. 'It is simply the fact that I am quite far away from you at the moment. However, one of my colleagues will be joining you in just a few seconds.'
No sooner than the thought completed than a man Kakashi had just registered on his senses leapt out from the trees to land nimbly on the ground, several yards away. "Seems you caught Slim there dead to rights," the newcomer said with a smirk, and with perfectly inflected Japanese. "As much as I'd love to watch ole' Scott sweat a bit more, I'd appreciate it if you'd lower your weapon and we can have ourselves a pleasant little chat."
The newcomer standing a short distance away, not close enough to be immediately threatening, was short and somewhat stocky. His body was clearly muscular and his face was weathered and hardened from obvious experience. Despite the ruggedness of his features, Kakashi noted that the man's appearance could be considered handsome. Framed by a thick brown beard and sideburns that went all the way up to a wild hairstyle reminiscent of someone from the Inuzuka clan, his face was seemed at once controlled and feral. The ninja could tell from the man's skill earlier movements that he was very well trained, but he wore nothing to mark him as a ninja from any village.
Kakashi released the man he had gotten the drop on and stepped back quickly. While holding an enemy with a knife to the throat had certain advantages, it also left one open to attack and prevented the use of hand-signs. The Copy-Ninja was giving up an advantage, but he did have hope that whatever these people wanted, it would not require an unnecessary battle.
"I've released your friend," the ninja stated evenly, "now you tell me who you are and why you have been tracking us."
The man known as Logan to many people looked over at his teammate, who was now cautiously stepping back to join him. They hadn't planned on revealing that they were mutants to these people yet, not knowing how mutants were viewed wherever or whenever it was that they were, but since they had been discovered and the Professor had obviously been in mental contact with the ninja there, perhaps it was best to just get it out in the open.
"Well, I'm not sure what Chuck already told you," Logan began. "But we're not following you to try and hurt you. We were hoping you would lead us to more people like yourselves. Or," Logan looked towards a spot in the trees, "rather like one of those in your group."
Kakashi noted the direction of the stranger's look. He had obviously spotted the other members of his team. With a shrug, Kakashi lifted two fingers in the air. If their positions were compromised there was no point keeping the rest of his team so far away. Quickly, three figures jumped down from the trees. Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura soon joined him, standing slightly spread out behind him, ready to back him up if the need arose.
The jounin leader was puzzled as to the subtle meaning of the man's words. Obviously, he didn't mean "ninja" when he said "like yourselves" because he wouldn't have added "like one of those" to the end. Could he perhaps mean Naruto? Could they sense the jinchuriki's chakra? Kakashi needed to know if that was what they were after. "What do you mean, 'like one of us'? And where are the rest of your companions?"
"You'll have to give them a minute to catch up, they're not quite as fast as us. You guys can move pretty fast," Logan said, giving a nod to the kids. And they were exactly that, just kids. The leader in front of him looked to be just in his twenties while the two younger ones were barely teenagers, if that old. He had to admit he was impressed by how they moved. The man, also known as Wolverine, had lived over a century by now, but found himself smiling when he saw the cocky grin that broke out on the face of the blond haired boy at his praise. Other than that one smile, the foursome in front of him had serious, wary expressions. "If you'll wait another minute, I think the Professor would explain what we're doing."
Kakashi prepared himself, as did his genin team. While it was possible that the pair meant them no harm, it was also possible that they were stalling for reinforcements. Still, as there was no cause to attack at the moment, they waited for the rest of group that had been pursuing Team 7. At the least, they would get a better idea of who was following them. Kakashi whispered instructions to his team while the pair that had been tracking them conversed in a language Kakashi had never heard before.
A noise from the forest behind them drew the attention of the group. Kakashi prepared to be attacked from another direction. No noise that loud and—
A wheelchair, crudely made and put together out of what appeared to be just deadwood from the forest, rolled into the clearing. The noise hadn't been a diversion after all. There was a man in a wheelchair, completely bald and wearing a worn-looking suit. Behind him was a dark skinned woman with flowing white hair. Kakashi did not let his guard down yet, though. While the man did not look like he would be much of a threat, it could be a disguise. And the woman clearly looked athletic enough to be a kunoichi.
'Hello, my name is Charles Xavier,' the voice inside his mind returned.
Fearing an attack, Kakashi immediately tried to dispel the foreign chakra inside his mind.
'My apologies for the use of my mental abilities to communicate with you; but, unfortunately, Logan is the only one of us fully fluent in your language. This is the clearest way for us to communicate. I can read the ideas within your mind despite our language difference and clearly explain my meaning the same way. This is not an attack.'
'You see, we are lost travelers from a distant land. We have been stranded here for some time and have had some…difficult interactions. We chose to follow you because we believe you might lead us to a place where we can find help.'
Kakashi was impressed by this man's ability to pass thoughts to him. Only extremely advanced sensory ninja possessed ability similar to this, and even then they needed to connect together with specialized equipment or use a special technique to initiate such mental contact.
"And why is it that you believe we can lead you somewhere you can find help?" Kakashi replied. The three genin behind him appeared puzzled, not hearing the previous part of the conversation.
'Because one of you is different. Like us.' Professor X explained mentally. 'I'm not sure how to explain this in a delicate way, but one of those with you has a…unique gift. It is related to his parentage.'
Kakashi's mind immediately flashed to Sasuke. "You mean, because of his kekkei genkai?"
As soon as the thoughts flashed through Kakashi's mind, Professor Charles Xavier did something he knew to be unethical. He reached further into Kakashi's mind. What he found excited him. Immediately, he turned to the other two.
"Scott, Logan, Storm," he said eagerly, using Storms X-Men codename rather than her given one as it was the one he used with her most frequently. "These people are from a village that is accepting of mutants. In fact, they greatly value mutants for their powers and integrate them into their society. I'm certain that we will be welcomed by these people."
Kakashi felt a slight alteration to the mental communication, but it lasted for just a moment. And then he heard the excited conversation in that language he was unfamiliar with. After a few moments, he realized what the issue was. The group of travelers all possessed unique kekkei genkai, bloodline limit traits that offered them ways of using their chakra pathways that those without their bloodlines could not duplicate. Priceless treasures for a ninja village.
Getting them all back to Konoha was now a critical mission.
Peter Petrelli sat together with his niece, Claire Bennett. They had been locked together with more than a dozen other, but one by one they had been taken. Now it was just the two of them left.
He cursed to himself. "If only Hiro had been put in with us, I could have gotten us out of here!"
Claire shook her head, "If Hiro had been put in here with us, he could have gotten us all out."
Just a few weeks ago, he could have blasted down the prison doors, used telekinesis to subdue any guards. Barring that he could have turned invisible and simply slipped out. But now he could only use one power at a time. And for now that was regeneration. Just like Claire. For all the good it did them stuck in there.
They were stuck in a hell hole filled with all kinds of poor souls. Poor souls, monsters, and demons. People tortured and experimented on until they weren't human any more. Those were the monsters. The demons were the ones who did the torturing and experimentation.
It had all been because of a mission for the Company. Some "special" was being tagged and bagged when suddenly, everything went sidewise. Quite literally.
Initially, it had been him accompanying Claire's father to see the man, just to talk and tell them about the specials and Dr. Suresh's research. But then there appeared another group. A bald man in a wheelchair and half a dozen others with him. Something about a school for the gifted. They had used the word "mutants."
And then Hiro just popped up. Just like that, with some kind of strange message from the future. Something about "Beware of Mazda." But then Sylar appeared and things got messy real fast, and before anyone knew anything, the man they had gone to see opened some kind of vortex. And they were all sucked into it.
Next thing he knew, he was in the middle of feudal Japan, apparently, with only him and Claire in the middle of some village. Of course, that lasted just long enough for NINJA to appear out of nowhere and just round everyone up and throw them into this dark dungeon.
"We've got to get out of here," Peter said the hundredth time.
Claire sighed, leaning back against the wall without a shred of hope. "Yeah, like we can."
Peter glared at the door. He was not about to give up. He'd get out. He'd get him and Claire both out. And then when he did, he'd come back with help and see to it that everyone got out.
If he ever found out where he was.
Just down the hall, the named Gabriel Gray stood quietly in his cell. This was a place of darkness, he knew. The screams of the terrified, the doomed echoed in the halls. The place was not pleasant. Not by any stretch of the imagination. Any sane person would want to leave as soon as possible.
But not Gabriel Gray. Or rather, not Sylar.
For not only was this a place of nightmares. It was also a place of dreams. Dreams of power.
Sylar had seen the pathetic prisoners they had kept. Most were malnourished and weak. Like he used to be. Before he became special. But others, others had amazing abilities. Sure, they were horrid monsters, but they were horrid monsters with powers. Powers that Sylar wanted to know how worked.
So, he would wait a bit more. Oh, he would be escaping, and take a pound of flesh from that freaky snake-like bastard who was doing all this. But first, there would be a feast.
Challenge Details:
1. You may choose to use only X-Men or only Heroes characters. Or both. It really doesn't matter. I like the idea of combining all three.
2. At least one group of heroes go to Konoha and are accepted there. I would suggest ninja training. You can have as many other different groups as you like, and reveal them when you wish. I would suggest limiting the number to only 3 or 4 separate groups or locations, although you can always reserve the right to bring in another group for a surprise.
3. Kekkei genkai are mutations. Mutants (and specials), however, have special mutations (X-factor gene) that do not pass on their abilities stably. Orochimaru may have an answer for that.
4. Mutant abilities are chakra manifestations. All heroes and specials have the potential to mold chakra and learn ninjutsu, although they will have affinities for specific kinds of chakra manipulation.
5. Ninja training is superior to X-Men training, which would be superior to the untrained Heroes. Wolverine, trained by Ogun, would be about low jounin level at best in terms of taijutsu. His special ops training makes him around genin skill in stealth, but his mutant senses are better than an Inuzuka's. (if you use him) Cyclops would be around genin level taijutsu.
6. Psionics are equivalent to genjutsu and the mind techniques of the Yamanaka clan. X-Men and Heroes psionics are superior to anything in the ninja world short of Tsukuyomi. Xavier, for example, would be special S-ranked based on his ability to freeze an entire village in place. However, strong ninja, and especially genjutsu experts, can break his hold.
