Disclaimer: "My lord, he's being attacked by a giant disclaimer!"
"What are we to do?"
"I don't know"
"Okay"
"Who does own Naruto and World of Warcraft?"
"That's a question I leave to the philosophers."
Here's the next installment of The Legend of Uzumaki Naruto!
As soon as Mekkatorque had finished his speech, they pulled on the remaining portion of the suit, the mask. It was a typical gas mask, much like the ones that Naruto had seen on the Rain ninja that had constantly spouted the word "lucky" during the second portion of the Chuunin exam. He strapped it on along with the other gnomes, and though it did feel a bit strange, Naruto knew it wouldn't hamper him in a fight.
When they had finished, Knurlig led them into the gaping hole in the earth, which was alight with small, green glowing lanterns. On both sides of the freshly dug cavern walls were wooden supports that kept the earth and rock from coming down on top of them. In front of him, the cavern was angled downwards into the earth, and thought it wasn't particularly steep, Naruto focused a bit of his chakra into his feet, giving him a bit of added traction so that he didn't slip and break a support.
Even from behind the gas mask, which smelt of rubber, Naruto could smell the earthy smell of the freshly dug tunnel, and could even detect a hint of the putrid radioactive sludge that had pervaded the field above. He could hear the whirrs and clinks of the strange machinery that he would no doubt see in a few minutes. The sounds reverberated through the earth, and it hampered Naruto's ability to hear anything else.
Knurlig led them down at a steady pace, which Naruto found slightly irritating, as he was never one to wait. They walked in silence for the entire duration, each to their own thoughts. Naruto could see that Rurizzle, who stood just in front of the blonde, was shaking slightly. He was nervous, and Naruto didn't particularly blame him. In the front of the group, Mekkatorque strode forwards with light, confident steps. Naruto, however, was no stranger to emotional masks, having used one for the majority of his childhood, and could tell that Mekkatorque was just as nervous, if not more so.
As for Naruto, he felt a variety of things. The excitement of battle was the most prominent, and he found it slightly strange that he was so, for lack of a better word, pumped to fight. He usually got eager when facing an opponent he had never face before, but this wasn't the same.
Naruto felt energized, he felt better than he had previously in other fights, and he found himself picturing what he would do in the battle, rather than what he would do after, as he usually had. He wanted to fight, badly. It excited him to no end.
Have I always felt this? He thought, a little shocked at his eagerness. From the deeper corners of his mind, Naruto could hear the soft laughter of the demon fox. Kyuubi didn't say anything, which irritated Naruto, and the creature seemed to enjoy that fact. It was as if the creature knew something he didn't.
Care to share, fox? He asked.
IT SEEMS YOU AND I ARE MORE ALIKE THAN I HAD PREVIOUSLY THOUGHT.
Naruto was jolted by the creature's words, and though the feeling of joy for the upcoming battle didn't die, he sobered slightly.
What did you mean by that? He didn't want to even think like that. The Kyuubi was a monster, a demon that had killed thousands of people and took great pride in doing so. The thought that he was even remotely like that creature was horrifying indeed. The Kyuubi didn't respond, merely emitting another, vicious laugh, before it's presence departed from his mind. He shivered slightly.
I am not like you, he thought firmly. He could even imagine that he could ever become like the creature that had made his existence hell from day one.
Though, he thought, I bet Sasuke didn't either.
He shivered again.
His thoughts were interrupted when they entered a larger, circular cavern, which had been dug out more than the tunnel that had led them down. At the far end, right across from the entrance, the dirt had been cleared away, showing a large, metal wall. The DiGMaster 300x was positioned right in front of the wall, the drill mere inches away from it. Knurlig hurried across to the machine, leaping atop it in several jumps, before turning to speak to the gathered group.
"That wall, made from normal steel, is the only wall that separates us from the troggs. You will be arriving on the fourth underground level, out of the finished five, in one of the mess halls for miners and engineers. If Thermaplugg has made any progress against the troggs, he wouldn't have pushed them down any farther than this. From there, you will no doubt have to fight your way upwards, using either the elevator, assuming it hasn't been shut down, or the stairways. Go up four levels, up to the 1st ground floor and there you will break up into your prospective groups. One will remain on the floor, and head towards the Central Venting System, while the other will head up to the 3rd floor above the underground, the industrial and control zone. That is where the Main Control Room lies, as your majesty knows, and where the activation and control for the entire city lies. If either group fails…" He left the words unsaid, and Mekkatorque nodded solemnly. He turned to the group of gnomes, searching their eyes as if to gauge whether or not they were truly ready. He must have decided yes, because he turned and gave a curt nod to Knurlig.
"Let's go then." Mekkatorque said calmly, his voice distorted into an airy muffled noise by the mask. Knurlig nodded once, then jumped down into the seat, pulled on his own mask, and then fiddled with the controls again. The drill started up once more, and rolled forwards a few inches.
Immediately the entire cavern was filled with the shriek of metal grinding into metal, as sparks began flying from the point where the drill had struck the wall. Naruto had to cover his ears slightly, the noise almost deafening to his sensitive ears.
Maybe I should've taken off the earring, he thought.
The screeching continued as the drill slowly advanced into the wall. It gradually dug inwards, distorting the metal, and periodically sending chunks flying off in every direction. Sparks flew in similar arcs, ricocheting off the clear plastic shield that protected Knurlig from being struck by said sparks or metal pieces.
Finally, Knurlig bellowed over the din, "Get ready, only a few inches left!"
Naruto's hole body became tense, and he felt similar motions occur on the gnomes on either side of him. He grit his teeth, clenched his fists, and grinned beneath the mask.
Bring it on, bastards.
And so they did.
The wall was torn outwards as the drill burst through. Immediately, Knurlig backed the DiGMaster up, and a cloud of poisonous green smoke suddenly filled the room. With the breathing masks on, not a soul felt suffered from the coughing fits that the smoke brought. Mekkatorque immediately rushed towards the hole, the others following swiftly. Mekkatorque jumped through first, then Linkizzle, Quidneer, Renikle, a bunch of gnomes whose names Naruto didn't know, and finally Rurizzle and himself. After they had gone, Knurlig plugged the hole with his drill once more, likely to prevent any troggs from escaping.
As soon as he entered the room, Naruto's vision was obscured by clouds of green, but slowly adjusted to it. His eyes widened considerably at what he saw.
The room was gigantic, twice as big as the entrance hall in Ironforge. It was a dull, metallic color, that once might have suited it, but now almost every seam in the walls oozed a greenish liquid, which Naruto guessed was the telltale waste that was responsible for most of this mess. The floor cluttered with debris such as tables, benches, and various eating utensils. To their right, a large opening in the wall revealed where the gnomes would likely get food and drink, as Naruto could see a stove in the back and kitchen utensils hanging from racks on the ceiling. A line the front was probably where the gnomes put their trays in order to pick up the food that was being served.
"Stay alert." The command jolted Naruto from his wonderment, and he saw Mekkatorque staring at him. Naruto flushed a little beneath his mask, annoyed that he had been distracted so easily.
Mekkatorque continued, "We cannot afford to be caught off guard. You must be alert at all times if we are to-" He was cut off when a sudden shout from one of the unnamed gnomes caught his attention.
A sudden flash of movement was all it took.
Out from behind one of the overturned tables, a dark shaped shot, and moving straight at a gnome at the front of the group. His shout alerted everyone else, but he couldn't pull out his weapon in time, and the shape bowled him over, driving a crude looking knife into his stomach. The gnome cried out in agony, but that too was cut off when the creature brutally snapped his neck, killing him instantly.
When it stood up, Naruto got his first look at a trogg.
It wasn't much bigger than a gnome, maybe the size of a small dwarf, and possessed dark blue skin, tinged slightly green, and wild, yellow eyes. It was muscular, but no overly so. Its face was vaguely human, though it was more ape-like than most, with a squashed nose and tangled, greenish hair sprouting from its chin and cheeks. Its disgusting, rotten teeth were bared in a feral snarl, and it waved the bloodied knife that it had retrieved from the gnome's body threateningly, emitting a throaty growl as it did.
Without a second thought, Mekkatorque removed his blade from its sheath, and without breaking stride, removed the trogg's head with a single, deft stroke.
Dark blood erupted from the trogg's neck, and it dropped to the floor instantly, clearly dead. Every other gnome drew their weapons, and Naruto unsheathed Magni's Pride, his eyes flickering to spot any other potential dangers.
Of which, he noted dimly, there were many.
Troggs began to emerge from hiding spots, from beneath tables, behind benches, and from other nooks that Naruto hadn't noticed before. Some were much larger than the first, others clearly smaller. All began letting out roars of fury, some shouted in what Naruto guessed was some unintelligible language, while others emitted no sound at all, simply rushing the party with frightening speed.
Mekkatorque left head began forming half-seals, pointing his sword at an approaching trogg.
"Magnetic Mark" A blue beam of light shot from the tip of the sword, striking the creature in the middle of its torso. It had no apparent affect, though a glowing blue mark appeared on the point where the beam had struck. Then a nearby trogg's knife was pulled forcibly from its hand, flying 6 feet through space into the marked trogg's chest. At the same time, fallen forks, knives, even spoons rose up and shot at the trogg as well, while an unseen force dragged metal tables and chairs towards it. The trogg died quickly, its chest full of metal utensils.
Mekkatorque, by this time, had already marked a dozen or so more, not appearing tired in the slightest.
Naruto was amazed by the jutsu, but pushed his awe to the back of his mind as he engaged his first trogg. The creature, burly looking and a darker shade of green than the first trogg, leapt at Naruto with a large kitchen knife, snarling as it did. The blonde parried the blow with his kodachi, then hauled off and kicked the creature in the chest, hard. It flew backwards, crashing into a table, and Naruto summoned a clone, which appeared right next to the trogg, slashing its throat.
He quickly moved on, creating several more clones to assist the gnomes. He cut down two more troggs with his kodachi, drawing a kunai as he did, using it to attack while he parried with the kodachi. He impaled another in the eye with his kodachi as it attacked him, and dodged another's clumsy attempted at a sneak attack. He kicked it in the chest and buried a kunai in its throat. His clones, meanwhile, assisted every gnome possible, save Mekkatorque. The Gnome King's power and skill was more than Naruto had imagined, using a combination of his strange jutsu and his sword to harm his opponents.
The blonde seeing the number of troggs dwindling, quickly, he formed a seal for Kage Bunshin, and as he did, focused as much as he could on the positions behind the remaining troggs. He felt a large portion of chakra disappear, both due to the strength of the attack, and the control needed to send chakra through the air and give it form much longer distance away from his body.
It a series of pops, clones appeared behind the remaining troggs, and Naruto bellowed,
"Naruto Fukuzei (Ambush)!" Then, in one consecutive motion, every clone present ended the life of the trogg behind them, slashing their throats clean through, decapitating the majority.
The gnomes watched in astonishment at Naruto's attack, watching as the remaining troggs fell, gushing blood, to the ground. Naruto grinned slightly, feeling the depleted chakra come back quickly. Mekkatorque stared at the boy, amazed.
"Useful trick, child. Can you do it again?" Naruto turned and looked at the gnome, a feral grin on his face.
"Sure can, probably a coupla' more times, depending on the size." Mekkatorque matched his grin, and then turned.
"Good. Let's go."
They quickly ran from the room, leaving their departed friend along with the corpses of more than two dozen troggs.
He wouldn't have died in vain.
Upon leaving the dining hall, they ran down a corridor, turned left, and then ran down another. They emerged into an even bigger room. This room was circular, and possessed a set of stairs, attached the sides, which spiraled upwards several hundred feet. Naruto saw many other entrances littering the walls where the staircase stood. Mekkatorque nodded slightly, then pointed.
"This staircase leads up to the 1st basement floor, where we will then cross to the elevator." He pointed into the pit, saying, "There was also a freight elevator here, but it has no doubt been destroyed. I suspect there will be many of those blasted beasts on the way up, so get ready." He turned, and made his way towards the where the staircase began. The others followed swiftly, and as he did, Naruto glanced over the side of the railing. His eyes bulged at the sight.
Beneath them, dozens, nay, hundreds of troggs were fighting, snapping and chattering, foraging, or even bathing in the noxious green ooze. He saw some were sitting atop a large, metal platform that was elevated slightly above everything else. It must have been the elevator. A destroyed metal panel near the edge of it confirmed Mekkatorque's suspicions about elevator's fate.
He also saw several troggs subduing what appeared to be a mass of living ooze, which seemed to be putting up a hell of a fight. They beat it into the ground, dispersing it with large clubs, or even their own hands.
And the smell. To Naruto, it smelt as if someone had left rip one loose right in his face, and he was suddenly sympathetic of what he had done to Kiba. He was also very glad that he was wearing a mask, as the smell would have likely been unbearable if he hadn't been wearing it.
He questioned Mekkatorque on the noxious ooze monster.
"Most likely it is an amalgamate of parasites mutated by the radiation, and have adapted qualities similar to it. But I cannot say."
Naruto's attention was suddenly diverted when a pair of troggs came charging down the stairs, both brandishing metal pipes. Linkizzle and Rurizzle rushed forwards, blocking the attacks as Mekkatorque shot forward, hid sword blurring and slicing both troggs in half. Blood and intestines spilt from their cleaved torsos, and both halves dropped to the floor, twitching in their last seconds of life.
Thankfully, the troggs below where either too busy, or too stupid to see the exchange.
They hurried upwards, successfully thwarting three more trogg ambushes of about six each. They by passed the 3rd basement level, and then the second, destroying any troggs that they saw. By the time they reached the top, Naruto's orange suit was covered in trogg's blood, and there were several rips and tears in the suit, which Rurizzle quickly repaired with a jutsu called Mend Fabric. His excitement had yet to dwindle, and the mocking laughter of the Kyuubi filled his thoughts once more. He flinched slightly at that, trying to quell the thrill he was getting.
They reached the top, appearing right next to a large outcropping on the ledge overlooking the entire room. A metal panel on the edge identified it as the place where the elevator rose up to.
Mekkatorque looked around, calculating eyes beneath his gas mask and goggles searching for the way out. He spotted it, pointing to a closed door across the room which had a number of strange markings above it, which Naruto recognized as Gnomish, having seen them on the maps and blueprints back in the camp.
"There, that will lead us in the direction of the elevator. We'd best hurry or els-" He was cut off when a menacing cry pierced the air, silencing the chattering and grunts of the troggs below.
The group of gnomes and one human froze.
From the darkness of the other corridors, a large group of troggs emerged. But it was one in particular that caught Naruto's attention, one that was a great deal bigger than the rest.
It stood out in front, more than a head taller than the other troggs. It was a deep green, and Naruto swore that he could see the radioactive smoke rising from its body, signifying that it had likely taken far more radiation than the others, and that fact was also evident in the second pair of stubby, weak-looking arms growing out from beneath the first. Its head was huge, with sparse outcroppings of pale hair sticking out from various places. It's eyes were a luminous yellow-green, and it's mouth was filled numerous dagger-sharp, brown teeth. It clutched no weapon, but the first set of arms, which bulged with muscles, looked more than enough to replace that.
It stopped several yards away from the group, watching them curiously. It let out a low rumbling sound, which to Naruto was reminiscent of a dog's growl. It bellowed once, and the troggs below answered in earnest, shouting and crying things that Naruto didn't understand.
When it had finished this, it charged.
It moved with surprising speed, charging straight at one of the unnamed gnomes to Naruto's right. The gnome ran forward, meeting the huge, mutant trogg halfway. He struck out with his sword, but the creature avoided the blow with surprising deftness, and then grabbed the gnome by the head.
And promptly crushed it, as if it were a rotten fruit.
The other troggs ran forward as well, and pushed the group of gnomes back towards the ledge. Naruto didn't draw his kodachi, instead ran through a motion of seals, and shouted,
"Hyouton (Ice Element): Toukanboruto (Frost Bolt) no jutsu!"
From Naruto's mouth, a huge blast of icy chakra erupted, convalescing into a large ball as it flew farther away from the blonde's mouth. It struck the middle of the pack of trogg's and almost instantly ice enveloped three of them, freezing them completely over as well as a good portion of the floor beneath them. Several of the trogg's leapt back in shock at this, but quickly reformed, moving around the frozen group as they did.
The gnomes had engaged the group of troggs, using their strange jutsu to attack and thin the numbers. Naruto had drawn his kodachi, and summoned a group of clones to aid him. The blonde's attacks, combinations of sword strikes and physical blows had separated the group of troggs, leaving the blonde to deal with a group alone, while the gnomes fended off the others.
Mekkatorque was dealing with the mutant trogg, whose speed was an apparent match for the Gnome Kings. Each time he struck out at the creature, it danced away, cackling, and occasionally swung its massive arm at the smaller creature, hoping to knock him off balance.
Luckily it wasn't able to.
Fed up with fight, Mekkatorque blazed through a set of half-seals, shouting "Magnetic Point" which caused his sword to glow electric blue. Holding the blade as far away as possible from his body, he pointed it at the creature, and curiously, the mutant trogg was dragged towards it, pulled by forces that it could not comprehend. Mekkatorque grunted a little, feeling an immense pain in his arm, as even the smallest particles of metal, even the tiny molecules of iron within his blood, was drawn to the glowing blade. Through his many experiments with troggs, Mekkatorque had discovered that they had a rather peculiar, yet useful trait. They possessed far more iron within their blood than most creatures, most likely as a result of their living conditions for the past several thousand years. This meant that they were far more susceptible to powerful magnetic forces.
Which meant, in essence, that the glowing magnetic chakra that had been focused into his blade was attracting those iron particles, which was present in every part of the creature's body that blood flowed to.
Of course, being so close to such a strong, focused magnetic force was dangerous for him as well, as it was drawing the iron and blood from the veins in his hand. The focused magnet wouldn't attract anything that Mekkatorque didn't want it to attract, but he wasn't skilled enough to keep it from affecting him as well.
When the trogg was in range, Mekkatorque hammered the blade into the creature's guts, and then pulled it to the side until it exploded out from the trogg's side, spraying black blood across the floor. The mutant trogg howled in pain, but instead of disengaging Mekkatorque, it grabbed him by his head, and squeezed.
Pain erupted from Mekkatorque's temple as the creature's incredible strength attempted to do what it had done to its first victim, mere moments earlier. He tried vainly to pull away, to stop the creature's attack. He stabbed his blade at anything in front, hoping to kill it before it reduced his head to a pile of blood, brains and bone.
His began to crack, and he felt himself growing light-headed, his strength was disappearing.
I cannot let this happen! He thought urgently. He had come too far, he couldn't fail now, he couldn't die, he couldn't-
The creature's painful grip suddenly slackened slightly, and the pressure began to disappear. It didn't let go, but Mekkatorque knew that it was no longer squeezing. Suddenly, he found himself toppling over backwards with the weight of the trogg's arm pushing him down. Between the trogg's fingers he could see the reason for it.
Uzumaki Naruto had arrived with but a second to spare, severing the trogg's arm from the rest of its body. The mutant was howling in pain, clutching the gushing arm with one hand as Naruto moved in front of Gnome King.
"Oi, old man, you okay?"
Mekkatorque pulled the creature's arm off his face, having to sever several of its fingers before he could. He looked up at the boy, surprised, but the blonde wasn't looking at him. He looked past the blonde to where Naruto should have been occupied with the trogg's, his eyes widening when he saw the majority headless on the ground. The blonde snickered.
"Told I could use it again, old man."
Mekkatorque offered him a rare smile, though it was obscured beneath his mask.
He spoke,
"So you did…deal with this beast while I fix my mask, child." The boy grinned, crouching low in preparation for attack.
"Heh, you got it." The blonde shot forward, bringing his blade back behind him. The mutant looked up from attending to its arm, growled and attacked. Naruto's kodachi flashed up, slicing cleanly through the other arm as the creature made to hit the boy. He dodged to the side, and without a second's pause buried the kodachi up to the hilt the creature's chest, then forcing all of his strength into the thrust, slammed the trogg onto the ground, driving the last of its life from its body.
Naruto stood up straight, leaving the kodachi within the mutant's body. He was standing quite close to the edge, the mutant's body laying near the control panel for the elevator. He turned towards the High Tinker, who suddenly shouted,
"Look out, boy!"
Naruto whipped around as fast as he could, only to have a trogg bowl him over, pushing him backwards with incredible strength. Naruto, already dangerously close to the edge of the platform, had nowhere else to go.
But down.
Both he had the trogg dropped like stones, and while the trogg was screeching in fear, Naruto was trying desperately to find something to stop his fall.
Anything.
But here was nothing. He looked down, the mass of troggs below was approaching at an incredible speed, and he knew that even if he survived the fall, they would likely tear him to shreds.
He suddenly had a peculiar sense of déjà vu.
Déjà vu? When have I ever been-oh…right. I knew you were good for something Ero-sennin.
He drew some of the blood, using his thumb, from one of the many cuts on his arm. He blazed through some seals, and with a loud shout bellowed:
"KUCHIYOSE NO JUTSU!"
There was a flash of blue, and then a huge explosion of smoke enshrouded Naruto's view. He felt himself land on the soft, rubbery skin of the greatest of the Toads, Gamabunta, and then heard a very peculiar sound.
- SPLAT-
Mekkatorque looked over the edge, searching for any sign of the blonde human. His eyes widened considerably when he found that sign.
Naruto was standing atop the biggest toad Mekkatorque had ever seen in his life. The toad was a dull brown, was dressed in a blue robe, had a short-sword sheathed at its side, and was smoking a pipe.
Mekkatorque couldn't believe it. The boy could summon, and even had a contract with a species that Mekkatorque hadn't even realized possessed a contract.
He also, with a sudden jolt, realized where the toad was standing. He winced slightly, not sure if he should feel bad for the toad, or the troggs beneath it.
Naruto gulped slightly as Gamabunta rolled one of its huge eyes toward him.
"I'VE GOT A FEW QUESTION, KID. ONE, WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN, TWO, WHERE THE HELL ARE WE, AND THREE, WHAT THE HELL AM I SITTING ON?"
Naruto fidgeted a little, trying not to look afraid.
"Uhm….long story, boss."
"That was amazing Naruto, I had no idea that toads could even be used as mounts! You even called one big enough to crush all of those troggs, well done!"
Linkizzle was sitting next to the blonde shinobi in a small, abandoned house in the residential section of the first basement floor. They had spent almost an hour traversing it, and they were only halfway across.
Naruto sweat dropped, rubbing the back of his hand as he did.
"Hehe, yeah. He didn't seem too happy tho'. He's not the type you piss off either. Hopefully he isn't too mad."
After Naruto had summoned the infamous Toad Boss, he had spent several minutes explaining to the creature what he been doing, where he was, and what now covered Gamabunta's posterior. He promised that he'd give a better explanation later, when he wasn't so pressed for time, or in so much danger. The Toad Boss would hold him to his word, so he hoped that he'd be able to remember to call one of the toads after he got out of Gnomeregan, and had more time to explain.
Afterwards, they had left the stairway room, and had entered the residential section. They hadn't met any more troggs, though they had heard them as they crossed the deserted area. Mekkatorque had suggested that they knew that Naruto had killed one of their strongest, and were keeping away from him until they either forgot about it, or Naruto stopped reeking like a trogg.
Half-way across the trip, they decided to stop for a quick rest, where Mekkatorque and Quidneer, a rather pudgy gnome with a jolly smile and blue hair, and one of the unnamed gnomes, whose name turned out to be Rekkalize, set up a "bubble" that protected all within from radiation. In order to set up the bubble, they stood around the group, about 4 yards away from them. After a few hand seals, they inscribed a few runes on the floor, and immediately the noxious smoke that still pervaded the area vanished.
With his mask off, and his clothes being mended by Rurizzle, Naruto was enjoying a small back of the most disgusting bread he had ever tasted. It was hard and crunchy, and the flavor was horrible. Linkizzle called it a "Gnome Power WaferTM".
"It gives you energy, and I think it tastes great!" Said Linkizzle, smirking as Naruto bit down on another piece, grimacing as he did.
"I'd rather drink spoiled milk." Naruto muttered. He was about to say more when he felt a presence behind him. He turned, and saw that Mekkatorque was standing behind him, frowning slightly.
"You need something, pops?" Naruto asked bluntly, causing several of the gnomes to glare at him for insulting their king. Mekkatorque stiffened a little, but didn't retaliate. Instead he said,
"Thank you…for what you did back there, boy." Obviously, it had taken him some preparation in order to say that, and Naruto decided to respect that.
"No problem pops. I always help out friends." He turned back to his horrible wafer, not noticing the slight look of surprise cross the gnome's face, before he too turned and went back to his spot near the edge of the bubble.
Rurizzle and Linkizzle watched the exchange, both smiling slightly.
Looks like their king wasn't completely gone after all.
"Here it is."
It was Mekkatorque's first utterance since he they had left the bubble in the residential sector. Now, the group stood at the entrance to an extensive hallway, at the end of which was the elevator they desired. There was however, a slight problem.
Rather than troggs inhabiting the hallway, which would have been easy, the hallway was filled with a variety of strange little machines. The first a most prominent were the small ones, who had flashing red lights mounted on the top of their pathetically small bodies, and two horns which stuck out on either side.
In addition to them, large, bird-like machines stalked the hallway, generally stopping every so often to look around. They vaguely resembled ostriches, with no wings, long feet, and strange, metallic plumage on their backsides. They were painted red, and had glowing green lights for eyes. Atop them small, red, gnome-shaped machines sat, never moving their heads, just looking forward.
Mekkatorque hissed as he saw them.
"Mobile Alert systems…and Mechanized Sentries. They are the dominant security force that once patrolled our hallways. They are, however, much different than I remember. They did not possess the riders atop them, and they are built differently. Considering Sicco was a genius of weapons technology, it is obvious that they are a great deal more dangerous than before. The fact that they have been able to hold off trogg attacks is also testament to their newfound abilities. This poses a problem. I could short them out, but that would risk shorting any chance of us being able to use the elevator. All other ways are sealed off, no doubt. We cannot simply charge in, for that would likely be suicide, as we don't know their capabilities." He turned to the gnomes, "Any ideas?"
Surprisingly, Linkizzle and Rurizzle stepped forwards, twin grins alighting their faces.
"We do. Dismantling is our specialty, as you know, your majesty. We were the prime dismantlers back in Ironforge, it was our business, after all."
Naruto blinked and asked,
"I thought you guys built things, not dismantled them." They grinned at him as well.
"That's our brother's job." They walked forwards, and the two began to form seals, each using the others hand in order to complete the seal. Naruto remembered Ero-Sennin telling him that some suicide techniques did that, but they couldn't possibly be doing that, so what…?
His answer came in the form of a flash of light, when both brothers rammed their hands into the ground. It was as if the ground was alive as a pulse of light shot through, moving down the hallway at a mind-boggling speed. It ended inches before it struck the elevator, and the hall was dead silent for a time.
Then, as if a huge gust of wind had blown through the hallway, every machine present was blasted apart, there pieces flying in every direction, every part almost completely intact. Naruto watched, amazed, as the security system was wiped out in a single attack.
Linkizzle and Rurizzle collapsed at the end, both saying aloud,
"Rizzle Dismantling Wave."
Mekkatorque's eyebrows rose beneath his mask, and he said out loud,
"I have never met anybody so good at destroying things. You must have been terrors as children."
Everyone present blinked at the joke, and Naruto snickered. Both gnomes grinned from their positions on the floor.
"Right you are, your highness."
Mekkatorque advanced down the hallway, while Naruto and the others helped the brothers to their feet. He reached the end, and without a word, kicked open the panel on the right of the massive golden elevator. The rest of the group walked through at a much slower pace, glancing down at the destroyed security machines as they did.
Mekkatorque clicked his tongue in annoyance.
Leave it to Sicco to create such a difficult system to crack, but I can do it. He thought. He quickly began tearing wires away, reconnecting others, and doing a number of other things that neither you nor me could ever hope to understand. As he did, the group arrived behind him, though something was nagging at the back of Naruto's mind.
He cast another glance back at the hallway of ruined robots, and suddenly noticed that several pieces were moving.
They were sliding together, moving at a quickening pace back towards each other. Naruto's eyes bulged when he saw that some of the smaller, Mobile Alert Systems were repairing themselves already, and the larger machines were not far behind.
Shit…
"Uh, guys? You think you could try that thing again, only you know, this time make it work?"
The two brothers frowned, turning to look back at Naruto and ask him why he said that, when they caught sight of the rapidly repairing robots.
"By the seven hells, how are they doing that?" Mekkatorque turned quickly from his tinkering, spotting the now almost fully repaired robotic legion. His eyes widened when he caught sight of a small, blinking blue light in the middle of one of the Mechanized Sentry's chests.
His eyes glazed over as he remembered what it was.
Flashback
Mekkatorque peered over his friend, Sicco Thermaplugg's shoulder, watching the gnome do some calculations on a piece of paper, muttering something under his breath as he did.
"What are you doing, Sicco? A new invention, perchance?" Thermaplugg looked up from his work, frowning over his shoulder at his friend.
"That is most bothersome, Gelbin. But yes, I am working on something new." He turned back to his work, and ignored the presence of the chipper gnome. Mekkatorque rolled his eyes, and said,
"What is it? Will you tell me? Please? Your inventions are so exciting!" The other gnome glared at him again, and said smoothly.
"Your conduct is unbecoming of a High Tinker, Gelbin. Grow up, why don't you?" Mekkatorque grinned again, looking hopeful, and so Thermaplugg conceded.
"I have noticed that if our Mechanostriders are shot down in battle, we have little chance of escaping a large battle, considering our small stature. I am designing a way for us to repair a Mechanostrider without having to use time-consuming tools and expend more resources. My idea is to create a unit that we would place within every model, which would have small, magnetic plates built into every part. That way, when a Mechanostrider is damaged, it will automatically repair itself, allowing for a quick repair job that can allow one to escape or continue to partake in a battle. Ingenious, isn't it?"
"The idea is that this small unit would emit electromagnetic pulses that would be on a slightly different frequency than normal ones, that would allow them to safely be emitted, without fear of destroying the computers within. I am still working on how to do that part, but I will find it eventually."
Looking very much like a kid who just heard that Christmas would come every day, Mekkatorque said happily,
"Amazing, my friend, simply amazing! This will be a great addition to our arsenal! You truly are a genius!"
End Flashback.
So that's what is happening. He has applied the same technology to his security system.
Mekkatorque shouted a warning,
"Back away, if you must fight, make sure to destroy the main body completely, they have special devices within that allow them to repair themselves automatically!" Naruto nodded, drawing two kunai and wrapping explosive notes around them.
"Just keep doing whatever you're doing, old man! We'll handle these things!" The other gnomes nodded, moving to the front to protect Mekkatorque's back while he worked.
"Take the out in one go, so they can't attack." Naruto said to Linkizzle and Rurizzle, who stood on both sides of him, clutching their swords. They nodded, drawing from their belts small, black spheres.
Naruto hurled one kunai instantly, and it buried itself in the head of one the Mechanized Sentry's riders. The other kunai struck the ground a few yards in front of the first, while the gnomes hurtled their small spheres into the fray. They struck the ground, opened up, emanating a flashing red light as they did. Seconds later.
THOOOOM!
The hallway exploded and instantly two gnomes rushed to the front, driving their blades into the ground in front as they formed seals. A bluish haze of chakra formed a dome around the group, so the explosion didn't damage anything within.
As the smoke began to clear, however, it was clear that not everything had been destroyed. In a flash, two beams of greenish light pierced the barrier, striking the two gnomes in the chest. The beams burned through them instantly, and they fell, dead to the ground.
From the smoke, two Sentries emerged, their eyes glowing green.
Naruto tore towards them, unsheathing his kodachi as he did.
He slashed one cleanly in half, but the other had already turned its head towards him, and from the glowing eyes twin beams of light shot. Naruto tried to dodge, but one of the beams struck him in the left shoulder, and it exploded in pain as the beam passed through. His left arm went completely numb, but he ignored it, and ducked beneath the beams again, slashing the robot's head off, then driving the blade through its midsection. Electricity crackled and sparks flew as Naruto then slammed his chakra-engulfed hand into the body obliterating whatever was still functioning within.
He removed his kodachi, and turned back to the group of gnomes, who had already rushed to his side. Linkizzle frowned in concern at Naruto's arm.
"Are you going to be alright?" Naruto nodded slightly, panting as he did.
"Yeah, just give me a minute…"He mumbled. He stood shakily to his feet, and as he did, a humming sound filled his ears. He looked up, and saw Mekkatorque standing on the elevator, watching them.
"You can have a minute up hear, boy. Let's go, we can't wait any longer." Naruto glared at him, but nodded.
When they were all on the elevator, Mekkatorque hit a series of buttons on panel on the platform, and the elevator slowly rose upwards.
There was truly no turning back at this point.
Whew, another chapter under the belt.
This was fun to write as well, but I realized that, having only been to Gnomeregan once in my life, it was hard to explain and describe. So I made most of this up, as you may have noticed. I hope that doesn't bother you.
Now, onto viewer mail!
Slimeman- I hope you like the brief cameo of Gamabunta. I know I did. As for the pairing, you'll see.
No 1 You Know- The small base is dead and gone, Thermaplugg would have never allowed them to live. The toxic elementals are explained in this chapter, and you'll see about the bombs, and who needs key cards when you've got the King of The Gnomes?
PersonaJXT- No pally spells, sorry, I hate pallys. Naruto is going to have other traits from other classes, but he's mostly a rogue, as are all ninja.
TankerMDK- Well, I do love explosions, but I think that a large ball of fire would exploded upon contact with something, if only slightly. I'm not sure what you're talking about when you say the exploding clone used by Itachi, I don't think that was an exploding clone, if anything. Thanks for your advice, anyways.
Druss the Legend- Whew, longest review yet, I think. To answer some questions:
Kira will join him on his quest, near the end of the next arc, in fact.
The Scarlet Crusade is an actual faction, and they will be playing a large role.
All races will be considered. The Orcs aren't bad or good, they're just Orcs. Sylvanas will play a large role as well, He will come across the burning legion, and the Naga and Blood Elves will come into play.
I will consider your blademaster advice, truly I will, since I think I might be able to have him learn it soon. I don't know how I can give you an idea of what he will learn without giving away the plot, sorry. All valid points about Naruto's fighting style as well. I don't think that Naruto will find a tome, that wouldn't be fair, sorry again.
The Ravenholdt Assassins will show up later. They are pretty strong, but by the time Naruto gets to them, he'll be stronger.
Now, I have been asked by some to give a brief description of classes, so I will do so.
Rogue- Stealthy, backstabbing, poisoning, pickpocketing people who cause a great deal of annoyance to all other classes.
Paladin- Buff, strong, overpowered class that has several invincibility shields, and never plays fair ever.
Shaman- Elemental masters of water, fire, earth and wind. Use totems to help party, heal, resurrect, the works.
Mage- Main caster class, uses fire and ice as main weapons, very powerful and effective.
Druid- Masters of plants and animals, can shapeshift into bear, seal, cat.
Warrior- Do I need to explain? Strong and no magic.
Hunter- Ranged fire, have pets, can set traps, very fun.
Warlock- Summon demon pets, steal life, cause pain for other classes.
Priest- Healers, have mind magic, nuff said.
Okay, that's all for now, 'till next time!
General Grievous
Next time, The group divides and conquers, with Mekkatorque and his group are getting closer to Thermaplugg.
Spellbook
Magnetic Mark- Marks a target with a powerful magnetic force, attracts objects made of metal to damage marked one.
Naruto Fukuzei- Naruto summons a group of Kage Bunshin behind his opponents, and has them simultaneously slit the enemy's throats.
Mend Fabric- Self explanatory.
Magnetic Point- Focuses chakra into weapon, changes into electromagnetic energy, which is still regulated by chakra, so that it only attracts the metal that the user wants, can also be used against troggs very effectively, due to their high blood-iron content.
Rizzle Dismantling Wave- Sends an impulse of chakra, disabling and dismantling any machine it strikes. Requires two people in order to use.
Bestiary:
Caverndeep Pillagers, Reavers, Invaders, Ambushers, Looters (Humanoid)(Elite)- Caverndeep troggs are one of the reasons that Gnomeregan has been lost. They once lived deep within the earth, and only through the gnomes' continued building and drilling were they freed. They are vicious, strong, and brutally effective.
Grubbis (Mutant Humanoid) (Elite)- A heavily mutated Caverndeep trogg, very strong and larger than most. His prolonged exposure to the toxic waste has caused him to grow an extra set of useless arms, but has also made him stronger and faster than most troggs.
Mechanized Sentry (Mechanical)(Elite)- Part of security system, amazingly resilient due to new technology. They can fire beams of energy from eyes, and are resistant to damage.
Mobile Alert System(Mechanical)- Essentially an alarm system on legs, emits loud sounds that attract other security machines.