I OWN NOTHING
A guest reviewer has some good points, but sadly doesn't give any suggestions. Rather than tell me what's wrong, tell me ways to fix it.
-0-
"Alright, Horde soldiers, hands up! And we won't put a dozen arrows in you!"
A young male voice spoke, getting a bit of a voice crack at the very end when Naruto looked into the light shining at him. A few of the people arranged around the bow holders had blazing torches, and if he looked carefully, he could recognize one or two.
Blinking, he sheathed his wooden sword with a clonk, then pointed at one of the figures, a deer woman who waved at him, "You're one of Perfuma's subjects. What are you doing here?"
He got out of the hole he and Adora had been in...and quickly took her sword from her while she was distracted.
"Crap...!" the blonde girl exclaimed, hating herself for leaving her guard that open.
"Oh! Forest Gale, good to see you're alright! It's alright, my friends, it's alright! He's with us!" The deer woman said cheerfully as Perfuma herself stepped out of the darkness!
Looking at the young hero, her face bloomed into a beauteous smile, "Glory to you, Forest Gale! You're looking...in immediate need of medical assistance!" She told him genuinely, her irradiant smile shining a little brighter when she saw him changing into a shocked expression. "May someone please tend to him!?"
Two of her subjects raced forward to do as told while he examined the new face. The one next to her couldn't be a more marked contrast to Naruto. He was a lanky dark-skinned youth with a crew-cut in a flamboyant outfit. It was a white breastplate armor with a red heart and an exposed section showing off his abs. He had a quiver full of high-tech arrows and a pair of short bows attached to each hip on top of his larger bow which was still pointing the business end of an arrow shaft at him.
"Are you sure it's him?" the archer asked while Naruto sat down and opened his robe to reveal the hole on his torso. "He's... not as buff as I pictured him."
"I'm stronger than I look!" Naruto exclaimed offended while being tended to.
Perfuma pushed the archer's arm down, the young man none the less gave Naruto a confused look, "I wholeheartedly trust him, he's beyond odd but far more reliable." Walking past him without a second glance, Naruto focused most of his attention on Perfuma who was following him intently. "What happened to you?"
"A lot of problems I need your help with." Naruto admitted with a growl of disappointment at himself, "Let me get patched up and I'll tell you the whole thing."
"Fair enough," Perfuma knew he needed help, but as he was attended, she felt the silence was too uncomfortable to let it continue. Thus, she tried to make conversation as his abdomen was wrapped, attempting to not stare at his defined chest for too long, "So, did you enjoy your time in Mermista's domain, Forest Gale?"
He rubbed the back of his head with a sigh, looking at her, then at the bow wielder, "She was quite moody, but I got a new sword style from the whole mess, so I can't really complain. Who is Ab-Boy?"
The youth with Perfuma looked surprised by that statement, especially as Naruto had fired it off without malice or awareness that it could be an insult.
Perfuma interrupted him speaking with her usual level of exuberance, "This is Bow! He's an up and coming folk hero, Forest Gale! I'm showing him the ropes so he can one day be someone the rebellion can call a hero, too!"
Tilting his head to the side, Naruto had to bite back the need to comment on the name, then looked back. Perfuma and her entourage froze when they saw his companion. Walking into the light, Adora held a hand in front of her face and then gulped when everyone pointed their weapons at her. It was obvious she gave up, not wanting to get impaled by a dozen archers in a narrow corridor and no way to go but down into the abyss. Perfuma held out both hands, vines wrapping around them several times until she held a bizarre weapon in hand. It was a corded vein that had a large round end akin to a rope with a heavy knot at the end.
Naruto could tell already it was Perfuma's personal method of using the Whispering Mystic Arts in close range combat, "Wait... Let me talk with you."
The bow-wielder pointed his bow right back up at him and Adora, "Perfuma! That's a Horde soldier!"
Gritting his teeth, the swordsman spoke with a little bit more rudeness than he might have normally used, "And she's who can help me get back Glimmer, the princess I'm protecting! Don't do anything to her!"
Naruto wasn't usually that harsh, but he had a shitty day and the deer folk wrapped his bandages too tight.
Perfuma put two and two together and got something that remotely resembled four, "They captured Glimmy!?"
"I- Glimmy?!" Naruto blinked, privately marking down that nickname with a chuckle to himself. "Remembering that one, but yes, they have her and Entrapta. I have this Horde soldier, Adora, as my own hostage so I can get them back."
Bow grew worried at the statement, "Oh no, if they have Princess Glimmer...they could use her as a bargaining chip with the queen."
"Thus, I need your help to get them back." Naruto sighed in relief once his wound was temporarily dealt with.
It didn't make the pain go away, but the bleeding had been stopped.
"And is she the reason you're...in need of new clothes?" Bow asked as politely as he could, not wanting to anger the other boy.
Grunting while getting up, Naruto nodded and handed them Adora's sword, "She only got me because I let her do so... That, and I was pissed off enough to want to get stabbed just to headbutt her and try to force her friends to give me back Glimmy..."
He chortled a little saying that name.
Turning to the princess, Bow asked in shock, "Does he always do stuff this crazy?"
Perfuma replied as honestly as she could with a baffled expression, "It's the first time I hear of such a... masochistic side of him."
"So, what's your story?" Naruto asked while Adora was apprehended, "Don't tell me you really needed to replace me all of a sudden, Princess."
"No, dude, you're like... an inspiration!" Bow argued, surprising Naruto. "Everyone's talking about how a young boy who has faced entire platoons and hundreds of Horde soldiers on his own! How you've cut down their tanks, sneaked into bases they made close to our homes, and tipped the scales! Many people, me included, want to join in!"
"Wait, really?" Naruto asked in shock.
"Yes, really! You're a true hero to all of us!" Bow beamed.
Snickering with a large grin, Naruto crossed his arms in pride, "Well, I aim to be the world's greatest swordsman, after all. No goal but being the best fits me."
Perfuma giggled with a hand to her cheek, "I see you've got your goal set. Enviable in a way."
"Thanks...but keep an eye on Adora." Naruto told her warily, "In a couple days she's managed to learn two Sword Arts without much trouble. Either she's really talented and prodigious or something's up with her." He rubbed his chin, "She followed us into the Leviathan Libraries. Spinnerella thought it was because the Sea-Gate was getting too weak, but... I'm not so sure."
"Do you think she's using some sort of Princess magic?" Bow asked in interest.
"I don't know, all I know is that there's a reason she nearly caught up to me with swordplay." Naruto then smirked, "Still, I have experience and a lot more firepower."
"At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if..." Perfuma paused, swallowing nervously. "The Horde came from another world. Who knows what experiments they could have done to her."
Naruto grunted, "If she was created since birth to be a sword master with ease, I'm gonna be pissed. What am I saying? I'm gonna be pissed regardless at the reason a total newbie's so natural with a blade. It feels cheap... I learnt all the katas until sword fighting became natural."
Adora couldn't help it, "Ah, so you admit I am better than you and will surpass you."
Her grin really irked Naruto, "Perfuma, can you gag her?"
"Hey-hmph!" Adora tried to shout but a vine was tightly coiled around her mouth.
A worried hippie princess turned to the whiskered swordsman, "Don't let her words get to you, pride is a weakness."
Naruto argued with his arms angrily crossed, "Yeah, but she needs a boot to the ass, and this doesn't hurt my hostage."
"Fair point, if questionable," Bow replied, putting some distance between him and the other boy.
"Listen, no matter what, I am getting Glimmer back," Naruto said with burning willpower in his chest.
Bow started, "We do have a plan, but if you are as good as people say..." he smirked, "We can skip a couple steps if you do us a favor."
No hesitation, "If it means seeing Pinky again, I'm game." Naruto said with a smile and his hand gripping his sword's handle tighter. Then he looked at his outfit with a deep frown, "Also, can I get some new clothes? Preferably a shirt which doesn't show my abs."
"Why? They're quite comfy." Bow asked.
"Hey, my cool swordsman look is something I want history books to get right." Naruto argued.
Adora rolled her eyes, asking herself if she really lost to such a guy.
-0-
Inside the mines where the Horde used their equipment to cause landslides, Adora's allies and their prisoners stood beside one of the giant drills. Soldiers kept their distance as everyone tensed up. Kyle hated being the voice of reason at times, mostly when facing an angry Catra despite having Lonnie and Rogelio beside him. However, he knew when he had to say the truth. So, he took a deep breath as he and the others stood between their cat classmate and one of the gigantic drills.
Of course, Catra was not amused, but neither were the others, "Please, Catra, you're not a captain and we should use this opportunity! She's Queen Angella's daughter, we could end this war peacefully if we bargain a surrender in exchange for her return!"
Scorpia had the pink princess and the tiny engineer under her arms, careful not to poke them with her spikes, "I hate to say it, but she's super promotion material... No offense."
"A fair amount taken..." Glimmer groaned as a special pair of handcuffs kept her magic in check, sparkling around her wrists with red energy.
Entrapta was on cloud nine, though, "Fascinating, a device using a special energy manufactured from something natural to counter magic... If only it wasn't tied to my wrists, I'd love to take notes and dismantle-"
Her joy was cut short when Catra's claws sliced the rock walls.
"I know that bastard of the Forest Gale's still kicking, and he'll come back for Pinkie here!" Catra snarled, grabbing a growling Glimmer by the collar of her cape.
"I've got a name, and he will!" the plump princess glared right back. "Just wait and-"
Catra slapped her, hard.
"Hey, stop it!" Scorpia shouted, using her tail to push her back.
"Put a gag in her hole, then!" the feline warrior sneered, "If any sound comes from her and that blond pest comes here, I want her to look as bad as anything he's done to Adora, but tenfold!" and then she walked around the group to get to the drill. Lonnie stood in her way, "Move."
"No, you're not thinking straight." Rogelio agreed with the braided girl as he gave a hiss, which she nodded at, "That's right, that slap was uncalled for. We've practically won the war."
"How about we split up?" Kyle said to try to reassure her, "She and the other princess go to the Fright Zone, and you can stay here with some soldiers to look for Captain Ad-"
"Pinkie's our only way to ensure Adora's safe and sound!" Catra snapped, grabbing him by the lapels.
Rogelio and Lonnie grabbed her arms, as did a pleading Kyle, "Please l-listen to us!"
"Let go, I have to save-" Catra shook, her eyes turned into fierce slits while her world crumbled around her.
And that was when the munchkin trio decided to do something harsh but reasonable.
"Scorpia, do it!" Lonnie said.
Catra turned to an apologetic scorpion woman, "Sorry, I mean it..."
In a swift stab, her tail stung Catra and she was down and limp on the other teens' arms.
Entrapta just had to ask, "Is that like a paralyzing or numbing agent which your tail secretes?"
"Please be quiet..." Scorpia asked politely with a pout, "I don't like doing this to my friends, at all."
"You...you idiots..." Catra tried not to let her tears well up when Kyle and Rogelio carried her off to the infirmary.
It was also then that their pink-haired hostage spoke, hoping to get under their nerves, "You're now doing our job for us. How sweet of you."
"Zip it!" Lonnie snarled, aiming a finger at her, "We lost our friend thanks to your boyfriend, so be quiet as we mail you to Shadow Weaver to prepare you to see your mom."
Not liking to obey any form of tyrannical forces, Glimmer defied her, "And yet you know you'll see him."
Lonnie grew mad, "That idiot got stabbed in the gut and was buried under tons of rock, so don't keep your hopes up!"
Bright Moon's princess smirked, "He's the idiot that has bested you, outsmarted you, and keeps getting stronger to stop you!"
"Why y-" Lonnie was about to slap her, too, but Scorpia stopped her. She winced upon smacking the scorpion woman's shoulder with her palm, "Ow!"
"Sorry!" Scorpia panicked, nearly dropping the princesses.
"Grr, let's get them to a ship!" Lonnie yelled, holding back the tears while she nursed her hand. "Put her to the first one to HQ and shove a sock in her for good measure, ideally both in either order."
Lonnie turned to Rogelio for him to treat her hand, not noticing that Glimmer smiled and curled into Scorpia's arm.
Said white-haired Amazon sighed, "Do you have to push her buttons like that? Please, we can end this fight. Hordak's not that bad a boss... Sure, ruthless, but-"
"He killed my father," Glimmer said, not letting go of her hug on the beefy woman's limb. "And all of this machinery... You've used it for the landslides, didn't you?"
"What...?" Entrapta asked in surprise, her mask flipping up from her turning to face the girl on Scorpia's other arm.
"You didn't see it, but those drills aren't for mining..." Glimmer started.
Scorpia looked both sad and hurt at those words, "Listen, I'm not trying to hurt any random stranger. We just want them to stop fighting back."
"You could've killed hundreds of people with that!" Glimmer snapped.
"Well, we never saw you princesses treat my family and my kin fairly." Scorpia replied slightly heated and yet not mad at all, like a child wanting to defend someone they looked up to.
Glimmer looked up at her, "I'm not those princesses, you-"
Scorpia's eyes locked onto something in her hands, "Is that an anti-magic baton!?"
Glimmer looked from the buff woman to the item in her hands, a baton she had snatched from Lonnie, and then back at Scorpia, "Yes!"
She shut her eyes and zapped Scorpia! The poor scorpion woman let out a pained yelp before flopping down on her face. Both princesses crashed beside her and quickly turned to each other, Glimmer handing Entrapta the baton.
"When did you get it!?" the pigtailed girl asked in surprise.
"When I got slapped a second time, I snatched it from that girl, now use it to fry this thing." she said and lifted her handcuffs, closing her eyes, "Hurry, the soldiers come!"
"Got it!"
-0-
As the two princesses made their daring escape, Naruto walked to the entrance of the Horde mines with Bow behind him. After a quick change, the blond wore his ankle-length black pants and slip-on shoes, and a dark orange robe. His trusty wooden sword was kept secured on his waist with a yellow sash. One could see that his left sleeve flapped loosely for he had his arm hanging inside the robe like a sling for a broken arm. Due to his wound, he did so to hide the bandages. He looked more like a samurai, but still liked having only one sleeve. It just looked cool to the boy.
"Is that it?" the blond asked and got a nod before the archer stopped walking.
"Yeah, you know what to do, just... be careful!" the other boy said and ran off while Naruto kept moving forward, letting himself get spotted.
"Is that...?" a Horde soldier guarding the large tunnel into the cave said, "Oh shit, the Forest Gale's alive and he's here!"
Blaring the alarm, the soldier and his peers got ready for battle.
"Alright, come at me with all you've got." Naruto smirked at the soldiers as thirty got out, all aiming their rifles at him. Aiming his wooden blade at them singlehandedly, he tilted his head to the side with the mother of all shit-eating grins, "You're going to need a lot more people to actually keep me away from Glimmer!"
One soldier stepped forward, aiming his rifle at him, "Don't fool yourself, Forest Gale! Even you can't deal with this army and what we have in store all on your own!"
"Let me guess, you think that without knowing what I'm capable of when I am not holding back?" Naruto retorted with a wider smile.
"Don't bluff, you-" the soldier snapped, but Naruto just ran at him.
"Who says I am!?" he gripped his sword with his only hand, dragging it on the floor.
"Fire, dammit, fire at will!" another soldier screamed before all the Horde members let loose a barrage of crimson laser.
Dashing left and right in a zigzag pattern, the boy closed the distance without losing or loosening his smile. Flipping from one side to the other, cartwheeling even, he let the soldiers try to get as close to him as it'd be believably possible for them. Playing them for fools, he got within a couple yards from the armed minions before his next trick. He vanished right before their eyes!
None could believe their eyes, having trouble to process a large tree sprouting from where he stood half a second ago, "Up here!" Naruto shouted after getting airborne with a smiling Perfuma giggling to herself at the other side, behind a rock. "Ora!" he cheered out in hot-blooded joy as he cut the first rifle in two, also leaving a deep gash across his opponent's torso, "Ora, ora, ora!"
Keeping up his battle cry and his charge, he swung his sword around seemingly wildly and randomly, but to the trained eye they could see he was disarming and incapacitating his foes!
"Someone, send he-" cried a soldier as he tried to run away, only to get used as a step by Naruto, sending his face to the rocky floor.
Airborne again, Naruto held his blade sky-high, "Howling Sword: Descending Whirlpool!"
And with a chakra coated stab, he shook the ground and created a large whirlpool-shaped crater where ten men sunk into!
"Get out! We need to find better ground, re-" one of the commanders shouted at his men, only to gasp when he saw Naruto swing his sword.
The boy slammed the wooden blade all the way into the ground to bounce atop it by balancing his entire upper body over it, creating three distinct stabs in the ground surrounding each other.
"Howling Sword: Charybdis Eyes!" the small holes expanded outwards, forming three distinct glowing orbs trapped in the ground. Tapping them with his sword, they detonated, waves of dirt and mud sloshing forward and steamrolling the men around him!
"What the...what is going on!?" one of the soldiers shrieked as he and the others were flung into the air like ragdolls.
Awash in the swamp mire he created, Naruto sheathed his sword again, energy gathering in his grip as he thought of how fast Adora's progress was coming. She may have the raw potential, but there was something he had that she could never compare to. Even with all her ability, the one thing that would always surpass her abilities reaching his was this.
Words from his sensei stuck with him, "The will to win can best be said to be a hungry one. Those who have everything given to them through birthright and natural power will never understand this will. They will never know the hunger of having lost and gained something. They cannot fathom the drive that those like us, men and women without anything to call their own, possess. In that regard, no matter if they're a princess or even Hordak, if they lack this hunger of having nothing and wanting everything, then they cannot beat us."
Those words were a reminder that without the will to keep surpassing himself and never being satisfied, he'd never be able to exceed himself. Hunger. A hungry will. That was what he had. The drive and ambition to keep going, pushing past every limit those around him had set for him and themselves. No matter what power or how insane Adora's progress was, she'd never overgrow someone like him.
"I will become the greatest swordsman in the entire world! Whispering Sword: Twelve-fold Great Sequoia!"
His sword spun around his body when he pulled it out of his sheath. An eruption of charka emerged akin to twelve great pillars of pure light. They all spread tendrils out from the bottom and then consumed the entire area in his power. Every fold technique was an improvement upon the last. Gradually emerging from basic sword trickery and techniques to grander more elaborate moves. He fell to one knee, catching his breath quickly while the Horde soldiers were caught up in the aftermath of his destructive outburst.
The soldiers thought they had their chance, "He's tired, get him-GAH!"
Perfuma held both hands together, her voice whispering a soft murmur as the ground exploded into a flurry of flailing vines and roots that entangled the men, "Whispering Spell Arts: Nature's Prelude!" The hippie princess' spell was but a set-up for the real spell which she was working towards. Exhaling softly whilst closing her eyes, she took a deep breath inwards and let all the air into her chest gather along with her courage and determination, when her eyes opened up they were glowing a powerful and unflinching green, "Whispering Spellarts: Winding Roots Breaking Mountain!"
She lifted one hand up, palm facing down, and smashed it into the ground. The entire ground erupted even further, vines as big as people lashing out and bringing untold pain and fear to the soldiers. Naruto shakily got back up onto his feet, breathing out a cloud of mist from his mouth, both eyes flashed blue when she gave him a thumbs up, grinning at him.
"Having people I can trust isn't so bad after all!" he clenched his fist around his sword and ran forward, the Horde Soldiers being thrown into a panic.
-0-
Meanwhile, while Naruto served as one massive distraction, Bow and the remaining soldiers with him were creeping through the area, the archer pausing to instruct a few to turn a corner.
"Be at the ready, there could be a whole group of Horde mooks around any corner! We have to save Princess Entrapta and Glimmer!"
"Save us from what? We're already free!" An energetic voice startled them all, the men sent around the corner walked back as confused as he was when they saw Glimmer and Entrapta walk to them. Glimmer looked out and saw Naruto and Perfuma fighting.
"Princess?" Bow asked dumbfounded.
"Hello, what's the matter?" Entrapta asked the plump ruler of Bright Moon.
Ignoring the tinge of jealousy that hit her, Glimmer looked at her fellow monarch and the rebel, "You help her escape, I'm going to join Naruto in combat! He needs me, especially now more than ever!" She went to help them, but groaned when realizing her powers were weakened from the handcuffs... "Ugh...not now..."
"Hey, I know you want to help, but that guy will kill me if we don't get you to safety, princess." Bow told her with a polite bow. "Please, come over here and we can use a nearby tunnel to-"
"Wait, you have tunnels here!?" Glimmer exclaimed in surprise.
"Yes, we do, that was how we tried to get intel on the Horde until...well, this mess and-"
Bow's explanation was cut short when Scorpia arrived, knocking five of the men under his command out, "Found you!" and she was as cheerful as ever. She smiled, Glimmer knowing it was the universe's cutest threat, "I'll say, nicely done shocking me... Too bad for you, I do learn quickly from my mistakes. I mean, really, am I supposed to repeat the same mistake and let you walk away twice?"
"So...uh, who's she?" Bow asked and readied an arrow.
Glimmer, still holding the stun baton, readied herself for battle and answered, "Scorpia, Force Captain, insanely physically strong and durable... Also fond of my bodyguard for some odd reason."
Scorpia looked embarrassed, shamed by another girl, and with a blush she tried to argue, "I can't help it with those whiskers of his... He's adorable!"
Glimmer tried to regain sanity, but when she opened her mouth with a finger up she positioned the palm into her face, "I...I'm painfully in agreement."
Digging one pincer into the ground, Scorpia beamed adorably, "See? That's why I'm so sorry doing this and making him sad, but you got to..." she casually lifted a boulder with a single arm, "GO!" and threw it right at the party. Bow, however, had an arrow ready as did the squad of deer men behind him, "Alright, Super Serious Scorpion Style: Fake Out Toss!"
"Fake..." Bow started as he and the other archers fired explosive arrows, blowing the huge chunk of stone into smithereens...and leaving themselves opened for Scorpia's next attack, "Oh crud!"
The archer cried as he used his namesake weapon to try to parry a punch from her. He got sent flying back straight into a wall while his troops received a wide backhanded strike from that same pincer.
"Got you now!" Glimmer said and teleported right next to Scorpia, placing her palms on her back, "Brilliant Mystic Arts: Soundless Two Palms!" shotgun-blasting Scorpia into a wall took a lot of the energy she was having trouble keeping. Scorpia yelped on her way into the rocky surface, a burn mark on her clothes while Glimmer's knees wobbled, "Oh...oh no..."
Entrapta was quick to catch her with one of her long pigtails, "Hey there, what's this?" she examined the girl, "Those handcuffs... Negating magic like this. No, they drained it, so that bit of magic..." her eyes grew as wide as saucers while Glimmer gave her a tiny smile. "You're running on fumes and still used magic. Such recklessness, why?"
"I...I can't let Naruto do all the work, you know? He...is counting on me. Only that knucklehead would believe in what I've said, so I want to be as great as he says I can be."
"Ah, I knew it, you do like him!" Scorpia ruined the moment, clapping her pincers happily, "Oh, I just thought you two looked so cute together when I first saw you! Yes, score one for Scorpia knowing a good pair when she sees it!" She pumped up her arm in victory as she made her way to them, "Now, I better knock you out. Don't worry, I'll see if we can get you and him a cell together."
Embarrassed, Glimmer lowered her head, "I...I think I'd rather get knocked out now."
"Heads up!" Bow shouted as he fired upwards, into a set of stalactites.
"Whoa nelly!" Scorpia yelped, having an unpleasant flashback to the last time she was trapped in a cave.
As rock-spikes fell towards her like massive spears, she thought fast. Ripping her claws into the ground, she quickly burrowed deep within the dirt and rock, her claws digging through it at a speed that couldn't be matched. Within the span of only a few seconds, she was tunneling underground. Nervously, the group begun to look around for her, trying to figure out just where she'd strike and when. The tip of a stinger poked out of the ground behind Bow, the archer stepping around slowly and carefully.
Entrapta noticed it first, her head tilting inquisitively, "Hey, isn't that her tail?"
Bow's entire body couldn't turn fast enough, "Uh-oh."
Scorpia burst out of the ground in an explosion of rock and stone, "Super Serious Scorpion Style: The World Revolving!"
She grabbed Bow's body with both pinchers, and then spun him around like a top. Her tail aided her spinning and tripped him up. Thoroughly dazed and unable to make heads or tails of the world, the archer was out of it long enough for Scorpia's body to bulge with muscle. A quick inhale and then an exhale made her already Amazonian body positively bulge with power, muscle, and bulk. One arm was more beefy and powerful looking than Glimmer's thighs put together.
Entrapta was giddy with scientific excitement, "Oh, the scorpion folk fascinating muscle tissue lives up to its fame!"
Scorpia took it in stride, "Don't mind me, but I'm tired of fighting in this cramped space, let's clear it up a bit! Super Serious Scorpion Style: Cracking the Oyster!"
Her eyes turned pure white without their pupils. Her version of what had become the Princess Shine. Every fighter and warrior whose eyes glowed or shone when fighting was in essence channeling their warrior's spirit into a visible reference. A way to indicate their will to fight and win more than anything. Naruto was the first non-princess in his generation to be able to use that technique, a hint of his own determination and ambition to keep pushing past his limits.
When Scorpia punched the ground with her claw, an entire earthquake brought the group to their feet. Rocks exploded all around her, the stalactites fell and broke upon the ground, a crater formed underneath their feet and formed an arena, and stalagmites simply ceased to exist. With unrelenting strength, Scorpia had cleared the entire area around her, letting her fight to her full potential and speed.
"We're in trouble, aren't we?" Bow groaned after the shaking stopped.
"Yup." Glimmer said dizzily.
Breathing out a sigh, Scorpia wiped some sweat from her body, her supremely buff form shrinking back down to its usual if also very toned frame, "Whew! That might be my family's only real 'magical' technique. But it's just us using air, our own muscles, and concentration to push it to the limit! You know, walking down a razor's edge? Anyway, let's go hog wild! The Forest Gale will probably forgive me as long as I just knock you all down and out, right?"
Glimmer couldn't help but sigh at Scorpia's genuine kindness and cheer, "Why does fighting you feel like we're kicking a puppy?'
Smiling behind her mask, Entrapta couldn't help but ask without warning, "Oh! Scorpia, you'd be perfect for the Naruto Uzumaki breeding project I have in mind! What would a child with Chakra and genes inherited from your overwhelmingly physically strong family look like?"
Blinking, everyone couldn't help but collapse from Entrapta's sudden question, Glimmer sprang up first her cheeks set in a massive blush, "ARE YOU K-KIDDING ME!? SERIOUSLY ENTRAPTA, ST-"
Scorpia blushed with a dreamy, silly smile as she rubbed the back of her head with one claw, "A kid with the Forest Gale? Well, I do fancy him! He's got such lovely cute cheeks and such soft blond hair... I suppose there's worse guys to have kids with! Sure, I'll participate after we win the war and stuff! I can really grow to love a cute guy like him!"
Glimmer didn't hesitate, both hands were placed in front of her body and she threw a magic missile right at Scorpia's head, knocking her into the wall, "Hey, head out of...that mindset!" Her left eye twitched rapidly from barely restrained anger until she suddenly came back to reality due to the exhaustion of the last of her magic, "I...I... made a mistake..."
Scorpia got out of the Scorpia-shaped hole she had been knocked into, shaking her head to get dirt and dust off it and out of her ears, "Okay then! I see someone's just a jelly-welly pants!"
She didn't let the jealousy put her in a bad mood, every day Scorpia went through her daily affirmations. Number one. Each day would be better than the last. Number two. Catra, Adora and the Forest Gale were all super cute. Number three. The blond boy and she would make a cute couple if she could get past his prickly attitude. Number four. You don't need magic to be cool! And on it went.
"Interesting, it seems you've got some hidden potential in you..." Entrapta said, "Did that anger trigger something? Do you feel anything special? Can you-"
"Hey, let's focus on fighting for our lives!" Bow said as Scorpia marched up to them. Pulling the string back with three arrows, he looked around, "Hey, Princess, if you can use that magic boost to get my troops out I'd be more than willing to stay behind."
"You can't fight her on your own!" Glimmer retorted, then looked at the people who followed Bow, "Besides, we can't leave these guys here..."
With that bit of news, Scorpia grinned and pulled out her walkie-talkie, "Hey, guys, the princesses and some guy are here with plenty of unconscious hostages. Can you give me a hand?"
Kyle answered, "Um, yeah, but...uh, we have a situation."
Lonnie took the walkie-talkie from him and explained, "Catra... We tried locking her in a cell but... she's gone."
"Not her..." Glimmer growled, "Keep your eyes peeled."
"No need, I know where she must be if what Naruto said is true." Bow said and took aim, "Let's focus on getting everyone out first."
"Agreed, Entrapta, you..." Glimmer said as she got ready to use her fists if needed, but found a problem, "Where is she!?"
"Hey! Can you believe how strong these things are!?" no one had noticed until too late that the tiny engineer had been busy.
-0-
As for the Forest Gale himself, as he got up from his crouch, he heard the sound of claws scraping against rock.
"Hey, Catra." He said with a cocky tone, the aforementioned cat-girl stepping into view.
Her mismatched eyes narrowed into a sharp and even glare, both of her pupils were laser-focused on him with pure rage.
She had another reason to be mad at him, "Don't you dare use my catchphrase!"
He only shook his head in response, "Wait, your catchphrase is literally just... Hey, Adora? Wow. You really did need to dip into the creativity bowl for a new one."
Her eye twitched - namely the gold one - and her tail went jagged in frustration, "SHUT THE HELL UP!"
When she tried a sucker punch, or really a sucker claw, he intercepted her arm with his sheathed sword, knocking it to the side and then ramming it hilt-first into her stomach. Armed with only one arm, Naruto had to make his every move count and not let up while his other arm held his gut. He lashed his sheathed blade to bash her in the face, reeling her in to punch her until she made a swipe at his stomach which he dodged.
"You're pretty good at dealing with caster-type foes, but when you're up against someone with the same emphasis on close range as you, you come up short. Don't you? Whoops!" he dodged a thrown handful of sand and whipped her across the face with his sheathed sword again, Catra yowling painfully as he broke flesh with that blow.
Holding a hand to her bleeding cheek, she flicked the blood away, clenching one fist as he placed a hand over the tip of his sheath as if he was going to draw his sword in an iaido stance, "You bastard…! Where's Adora!?"
She roared out and got on all fours, ready to pounce and ignoring the wound.
Rubbing his cheek in thought, he smirked, "I'll tell you if you give me Entrapta and Glimmer back."
Her eyes flashed gold and blue, twin points of light to match his glowing blue, "Like that'll happen!"
Naruto nodded and replied with determination, "I didn't expect you to change."
Sliding forward on the ground, his sword impacted both her claws which had swung forward in an X-pattern! As the world shook from their combined force, he leaned forward and pressed his forehead against hers.
Catra snarled furiously at his face, "You'll never stop me, Adora, or the Horde! You'll fall, right here, right now! Like the rest of the peons beneath my feet!"
He drew his head back as did she, when they headbutt each other, the ground exploded into fragments. Dazed but not dizzy, they bashed heads together again, clonking each other brutally against the noggins. Smirking at her, he felt himself get fired up.
"Keep telling yourself that, because there's only one way to show who is right!"
Two equally matched wills, two equally ambitious people, and two equally capable close-range fighters. Clawing their way to the top, hungering for bigger and better things, in another life, another time. Catra and him would've been the best of friends. As they were, they simply saw in each other what the other would be without what they valued most.
Tied up behind a rock, bound and gagged by vines, Adora was struggling to loosen herself with as much vigor and irritation as she could possibly muster, "Please, do not resist." Perfuma told her, then sighed, "I wish we had a better plan than this." She turned to the two fighters as they shoved each other back and got to fight again, "Alright, here it goes!"
Adora yelped when vines shot up and lifted her into the air, dangling her upside down!
And it caught Catra's attention, "What the!? ADORA!"
She cried in horror, eyes bugging out while her friend swung by the vine coiled around her ankles.
Thus, Naruto had the perfect chance to sucker punch her, "Alright, listen to me, kitty..." Naruto said with a ragged breath, "As you can see, all your troops are eating dirt, I got your friend, and I'm in no mood for any crazy scheme you have planned." Pointing a finger at Catra, he snarled, "Tell me where Glimmer and Entrapta are, bring them here, and she's yours."
"That's your plan!?" Catra snapped, nearly laughing bitterly and amusedly, "How much of an idiot can you be!?"
"Let's see...I outsmarted and outdone you guys like three times since I joined Glimmer..." he smirked, hoping to infuriate Catra further, but the real plan was in motion. Pissing Catra off was his priority, "I can and I will keep on making a fool out of you."
"You little shit..." she growled through bared teeth and glared daggers at him, "Get a single scratch on Adora's face and that princess of yours will be ground beef!"
"Don't think I'm an idiot!" Naruto shot back with a serious expression, taking a traditional kendo stance. "If you kill her, Hordak will do worse to you, won't he?"
Clenching her teeth and balling her hands into fists so tightly she cut her palms, the feline warrior snapped, "Like I care what he says or does! You do anything to her, I kill you! It's as simple as that!" Her teeth then grew, becoming sharper as her mane of hair stood on end as did her tail fur. Dropping on all fours, she charged, "Wait for me, Adora!"
Finally, Adora bit through the vine in her mouth to shout, "Attack his left!" Naruto was briefly distracted by the telling of his current weak point and far more surprised when Catra instinctively followed Adora's command to go for his unguarded side. "He's still injured!"
"Oh no!" Perfuma exclaimed and moved out of her hiding spot to see Naruto dodge a claw swipe which ripped off his new robe's empty sleeve.
However, he didn't back down, "Howling Sword: Tempest Splitter!"
Spinning around the cat girl, he jabbed the tip of his blade straight into his target. Everyone stared dully at what he just did. Perfuma had a red face with wide eyes. Adora's right eyebrow twitched while a massive blush covered her face. Catra on the other hand could only bite her bottom lip as tears welled in her eyes and her hair and fur stood up higher and frizzier. Naruto hit a sensitive pink ring.
Catra's knees clapped thrice before she fell face down, rump high in the air as she wheezed for breath, "You...you ass...hole..."
She collapsed while Naruto sheathed his sword.
Once she summoned vines to wrap around Catra, Perfuma could only gape, "Was that really...in the teachings of Mermista's style?"
"I saw a similar one in the Whispering Swor,." Naruto replied dull-faced when twirling his weapon to then sheathe it. "It works mostly on men and makes me glad my sword is made of wood." Looking away, he gained a red hue on his cheeks, "I... I really don't like using it."
"Oh..." Perfuma said with a blush, "Yeah, that is, um, fortunate."
"Let's get Glimmy..." Naruto said and turned to the cave, "Hopefully Bow will have her out and everything under control."
"THIS IS NOT UNDER CONTROL!" Bow cried with tears in his eyes as he, followed a couple yards by Kyle, Lonnie and Scorpia, ran out of the cave as if chased by the devil with tears in their eyes, "Naruto, Princess Perfuma, run for dear life!"
He let them have half a second to hear him before he ran past them while Glimmer was busy.
"Get off!" she ordered Rogelio as the two stood on a giant drill which just made the mine's entrance bigger.
Sitting behind the wheel of a tiny cart-shaped compartment to control the drill was none other than the cause of the mess, "Utterly astonishing technology! Oh, if only you Horde soldiers didn't use this to cause a dangerous set of landslides, I would've loved to meet your engineers and-"
"Grr!" Rogelio cut her off as he caught a wrench Glimmer used to try to hit him...and then hissed when she stomped on his toe, "Hassssaaah!"
He yelped and held his hurt foot, hopping in place. Glimmer had quite some weight and put all of it on her heel. Just as she readied another swing with the wrench after freeing it from Rogelio's scaled hands, Glimmer saw her guardian.
"I said, get- Naruto!?" the pink princess exclaimed once out in the sunlight while the mine behind her collapsed.
Many of the Horde miners and soldiers were quick to follow the drill and try to outrun it, everyone screaming for their lives.
"Every man and woman for himself!" yelled a soldier while everyone ran off.
"Glimmer, Entrapta, what did you do!?" the blond asked while gripped his sheathed sword, unsure of what to do as the drill kept advancing.
"Run, just run!" Kyle said as he zipped past him.
"Wait, Catra... and Adora!?" Scorpia halted her escape, quickly gripping Kyle and Lonnie by their collars.
"Oh, for crying out..." Lonnie groaned, looking at the two captured girls. "Ugh, Kyle, help me get Catra! Captain Scorpia, you can get Adora, right?"
"You should hurry." Entrapta said nonchalantly as she hopped off the drill along a tired Glimmer, "The whole mountaintop is about to collapse into itself, like a deflating balloon."
"WHAT!?" all Horde soldiers and Princess Alliance members yelled in shock.
Entrapta blinked, not seeing a problem with her logic, "I'm a member of the rebellion, so I figured I'd destroy any manner the Horde could use landslides against its opposition and destroy their equipment in one motion. A shame, what I could've done with that technology." She sighed and crossed her arms, a finger tapping her chin at the possibilities... Then shrugged, "Oh well, I can dig it out and restore it later. There's a lot of fun in excavation I just discovered. Anyway, Princess Perfuma, I see. Can you help with the injured in the driving compartment?"
Suddenly, the ground shook and sunk a few inches, making them sweat in fear.
"How much time do we have!?" Naruto exclaimed.
"Um...ten minutes." Entrapta said, then the ground shook again, "Um, make that seven."
"You're kidding me..." the blond felt his eye twitch-
He looked at Kyle and Lonnie attempt to free the downed Catra while Scorpia did her best to climb up the vine Adora was on. Ruffling his hair, he turned to Glimmer with a conflicted look which Perfuma shared, biting her lower lip. Perfuma had done as asked and the Horde opposers were held in vines as makeshift stretchers.
"I...am so going to regret this." Glimmer looked down, shut her eyes, and gave the order, "We may be enemies, but we all live in this world..."
Perfuma nodded and with a wave of her hand Adora was lowered and Catra freed. The latter needed help from her two friends to get up, the two holding one of her arms each around their shoulders. Adora was numb from being tied up, so Scorpia carefully cradled her.
"You..." Catra growled, glaring at Naruto.
Narrowing his eyes, he spoke firmly, "Thank Glimmer! Now run!"
"Right!" Kyle said as he and Lonnie hurried with Adora, Rogelio chasing after them.
Scorpia waited for a moment, looked at Adora, and then at Glimmer with a genuine smile, "Thank you..."
"Now let's-" Naruto started to tell Glimmer, only to pause when his wound stung, "Oh crap..."
He grunted and clutched his side, noticing too late that his fight Catra loosened his bandages. It in turn made his large wound widen, causing him immense pain adrenaline couldn't help him much with.
"Naruto, what did you..." Glimmer started, then looked him in the eye, "Did you...do this for-"
And the ground sunk again!
"Five minutes to run!" Entrapta shrieked with actual fear.
Kicking her shapely and plump rear, Glimmer forced Naruto to lean on her, "Hold on!" she said and turned to Entrapta, then asked while helping Naruto into the vehicle. "Perfuma, bring the injured to that machine! Entrapta, can we lose the drill part!?"
"What are you... Oh!" Entrapta clasped her hands, "Great idea!"
"What am I missing!?" Perfuma begged to know.
"Do it!" Glimmer snapped as she sat Naruto in and she stood behind the wheel, "I think Entrapta did something with..."
"Three minutes, so step on the foot-sized pedal below the wheel!" the pigtailed inventor told her upon finishing her side of the job.
Gripping the wheel and shutting her eyes tight, Glimmer did as Entrapta told her, but slammed her foot on the pedal hard. The result was what one would expect. All three members of the alliance plus the unconscious archers rocketed off, driving at high speeds!
Naruto had to be blunt as he gripped the panel for support, "Do you know what you're doing!?"
Glimmer had the best response, "I'm out of magic, so let's do like you tend to and wing it!"
Racing down the mountain path, they drove straight into the Horde soldiers, "Ah, there they are!" Perfuma exclaimed, "Should we...let them on?"
Closing her eyes again, Glimmer groaned but gave in to her kindness, "Why not..." increasing her volume, she called at them, "Hey, you, get in!"
"Wha-" Adora asked, still in Scorpia's arm, only to see the vehicle run at them, and then yelled when Scorpia was fast enough to jump in. "WHOA!"
"Hup... hey, what's up?" the buff woman asked with a cheery smile.
"Can't you slow down!?" Lonnie asked upon gripping a bar, getting herself, Kyle and Catra on while Rogelio merely jumped and latched onto a door.
Kyle was more to the point, "Do you even have any idea how to drive!?"
"Do you want to take the wheel!?" Glimmer snapped.
Rogelio shut his eyes and prayed, mental images of his blue wife and their five beautiful kids running around crossing his mind mid-hissing.
Catra hissed, too, eyes focused as angry slits on Naruto, "Forest Gale, if we die because of your woman... Do me a favor and make sure to lose your life in front of me before I go."
"I'll be sure to disappoint," Naruto replied with a smirk.
"Here, let me stir." Adora said as she held the wheel with Glimmer, "Hey, isn't that?"
"Guys!?" Bow yelped.
"Hop in!" Naruto barked, waving his right arm while his left held his wound.
Bow did as told and clung to Rogelio's back, the lizard man hissing at his face, "Sorry! Hey, aren't you-"
"Yes, we are, so shut it!" Catra snarled.
A new tremor, shook the vehicle, making it hard to stir and causing it to bounce.
"Oh..." Entrapta started, blinking, "Seems my calculations were off... The mountain will collapse now."
Just as she said that, the road behind them started to sink into the mountain, proving her analogy of making it deflate wasn't inaccurate. Of course, it made everyone panic as Glimmer put the pedal to the metal.
"Can't this thing go any faster!" the plump princess cried upon turning back to see the rocky path collapse inside the mountain.
"You know, I'm actually surprised you got everything to collapse like this without landslides, how did you do it?" Scorpia started with mild-amusement and interest.
Pride swelled in the small pigtailed girl's heart, "Oh, I made a couple tunnels and devices to stop your landslides, giving me a rough idea on how to-"
"Save the nerd talk for later!" Catra roared while Adora and Glimmer kept fumbling with the wheel, "And can't you drive faster!?"
"It's my first time driving one of these!" both girls shouted as one.
"Oh...crud..." Kyle's pupils shrunk into dots, "We're out of road."
"What do you mean we're..." Perfuma asked, then looked forward when he pointed at their path, which had collapsed.
"We're dead! What do we do!?" Bow panicked, clutching his head.
"Floor it!" Naruto stomped his foot near Glimmer's, kicking the pedal into the machine and forcing it into overdrive.
For a few seconds, everyone flew...to a rough landing on the mountainside!
"What a great idea, make us go faster to our deaths!" Catra snarled.
"I didn't hear any bright ideas from y-"
"Forest!" Adora yelled.
"Hey, my name's Naru-"
"Not you, the forest!" Kyle shouted, aiming a finger forward.
Seconds later, the cart crashed into an unceremonious heap. Trees shook from the force from their forced stop and the wheels finally gave out. The vehicle collapsed under its weight, the wheels falling off while everyone let out exhausted sighs after their close encounter with death. Behind them the mountain had lost a third of its height, said part had fully sunk in. All seemed well without much problems in their future...until they recalled who they were.
"Nobody move!" Catra shouted and moved to claw Naruto, but he swiftly drew his sword and put it at Adora's neck.
Scorpia tried to fight back but Perfuma held her with vines from the nearby forest. Kyle had his gun out and stared at Bow who an arrow for the skinny boy along his friends at his side.
Glimmer let out a sigh, "Um, can we not...? It's been a rough day and we all..." she stopped talking when Adora took her in a headlock. "Of course not."
Her dull expression and response didn't alleviate the tension, "Listen, you owe her." Naruto reminded Adora, then locked eyes with Catra. "Don't you?"
Looking at them, then at her childhood friend, Catra ground her teeth and lowered her hands, "Fine."
Everyone didn't like the idea, but after what they went through it was silently accorded to make as if it hadn't happened.
At least they were alive, even if the Horde soldiers knew their boss would be unhappy.
Suddenly, death didn't seem quite bad.
-0-
And that's my rap!
I had a lot of fun with the escape scene. I hope you do, too. And if you have criticisms, please send suggestions to fix things and discuss things in a civilized way. Otherwise I'll just keep doing what I do because I'm having a ball.
Swordslinger out!
