Disclaimer: My other Ferrari is a…well…perhaps I shouldn't finish; I don't own Naruto or World of Warcraft.
Here's the next installment of The Legend of Uzumaki Naruto!
Naruto sat on the elevator floor as it ascended towards their destination, the 1st floor of the ground level of the great technological city of the gnomes. He clutched the wound on his shoulder, which, while it was healing quite quickly, the blood already having clotted, still throbbed with pain. Linkizzle and Rurizzle were watching him a bit fearfully, ready to repair the damage to the suit when Naruto was finished healing.
Mekkatorque also watched the blonde concernedly, but hid it better the two brothers' did. His eyes lingered on the boy a little longer, before he directed his attention to the entire group.
"We have passed a great obstacle, and I commend all of you for helping us get this far. Now, however, is what will truly count. Once we reach the next floor, we will split up, Group A will follow me to the 3rd floor, where we will attempt to gain control of Gnomeregan once more. Group B will head on that floor to the central venting system, where they will deposit the TrogAway, and hopefully rid us of those beasts for good." Everyone present nodded to show they understood, and he emitted a satisfied grunt, nodding as he did.
He turned to Naruto, and spoke calmly.
"Boy, how long will that clone of yours last? Enough to accompany them to the central venting?" Naruto nodded once, touching the now healed flesh of his arm, while Linkizzle moved in to repair the suit.
"Yeah, it should. I'll put enough chakra into it to make it last longer than just one hit. Ero-Sen…my teacher taught me how to keep track of what it is doing using another jutsu, and I'll know if it is destroyed. Ya' don't have to worry about a thing." He flashed a grin at the gnome king, who nodded.
Back in the camp, during the week that they had taken to prepare entry into Gnomeregan, Naruto had gotten into a heated debate with the High Tinker on what exactly the component of jutsu exactly was. Naruto referred to it as chakra, while Mekkatorque, and every other gnome, called it magic. Naruto had of course argued that magic didn't exist, and that always involved pulling a rabbit out of a hat or making a pencil appear as if it was rubber. On the other hand, Mekkatorque had argued that chakra were points on the body that magic congregated around, and were sensitive to magic influence. While neither had convinced the other that they were correct, they had eventually come to the agreement to call it what they wanted, as it was nothing more than a name.
The entire time, however, the entire population of the camp had not only unanimously decided that the two were far too alike, and that they should never be kept in the same room alone, as both got pretty heated in their arguments and the particular room they had argued in contained a lot of volatile substances.
The gnomes prepared as the elevator slowly began to decrease its speed, and as it came to a stop, they were able to look upon the first floor of the city for the primary time in several years.
The Technological and Engineering District, which encompassed the entire first floor, was a series of labs and rooms that were all connected through small passageways, forming a sort of spider web of rooms if one were to look at the floor plan. The floor was dedicated to developing new types of technology, and provided the majority of the city with jobs. Being just below the business district, which sold food, drink, and every other necessity and luxury to gnomes, it provided easy transport of goods up one floor to sell, or if the goods were required to go up one more floor than that, to the industrial and control district, where offices of war, the control room and the higher class of residents resided.
Though they were only looking upon the loading bay of the technological and engineering district, characterized by the dome shaped roof and the many smaller passages that branched off from it, each one labeled, some with engineering labs (A-Z), others to other elevators that took gadgets, gizmos and widgets to other areas of the city, and some to larger, more important areas such as the central venting system and the main city entrance hall.
Despite all this, Mekkatorque could tell that something was wrong. Instead of the beeping and whirring noises that had previously filled the chamber, were the steady clamping noises of Mechanized Sentries as they made their way down the many corridors that branched off from the main chamber, never moving a inch from their specified paths.
In addition to that, Mekkatorque could here the sounds of worker machines coming from the branch passages, and he swore he could here the accompanying shouts of gnomes throughout the din. That must mean…
"There are gnome engineers down here," the High Tinker whispered, his ire rising slightly. The others looked nervous as he said this. Naruto knew why.
The prospect of fighting their brethren was not something that appealed to them, nor to Naruto. He hoped that they would just get out of the way, leaving the group to do their work.
Mekkatorque, gritting his teeth, turned to the others.
"Very well…Group B, you who you are," he pointed to a passage directly behind them, with a label above that read, Engineering Labs F-H, Central Venting System. "Go that way, travel and follow the signs that have been placed there, and you will come to the central venting system soon. It is on the other side of the engineering labs, and I urge you to be as quick, and silent as possible. Can you do that?" The members of the group nodded their heads slowly. Quidneer, the leader of that group, drew himself up to his full height, (which wasn't very tall, mind you,) saying.
"You can count on me, milord. I won't let us fail!" Mekkatorque gave him a half smile, and both gnomes new that it was quite possible neither would live to see each other again. Quidneer stood at his full height for a few more seconds, then exhaled, saying in a more somber voice.
"It has been a pleasure, milord, working for you, and I am glad that I have been a part of your research team for so long. I promise that even if I die, I will do everything to ensure that you retain your honor. I will-" Mekkatorque cut him off,
"This isn't about me, or my honor, anymore. It is about my people, you and all the rest. It is I who will prove himself to all of you. I will make myself worthy of being your king. I will not see this as a goodbye, because if you plan to succeed, and so do I, then neither of us must die. This will be a parting of the ways, but we will see each other again, of that I am sure." Quidneer smiled brightly, looking like a child that had just received the highest praise from his teacher. Naruto smiled a little, glad to hear that he had gotten through to the old man.
While they finished exchanging farewells, Naruto turned and formed a seal for his favorite jutsu.
"Kage Bunshin no jutsu!" Out of thin air, a single clone appeared with a pop. Naruto then began forming a second, much longer, set of seals, finishing with ram, before placing his palm flat on the clone's forehead.
"Ikkan Bunshin (Link Clone) no jutsu!" When Naruto removed his hand, a glowing simple had appeared on the clone's forehead. Naruto felt a great deal of his chakra leave him, not only from using the jutsu, but the large amount that he had given to his clone for its own reserves. The jutsu was one that Jiraiya had taught near the beginning, because of Naruto's fascination with the Kage Bunshin technique. Jiraiya had explained that the clone was still a shadow clone, but had the ability to use its own chakra in order to perform jutsu of its own inclination. The jutsu didn't have any practical use in the heat of battle, however, due to the large amount of chakra it required, and the inconvenience of its casting, but before battles it was an excellent way to gather information, or, if fighting a weaker opponent, to not get one's hands dirty.
On several occasions during his sojourn into this strange world, Naruto had contemplated using this jutsu, but had disregarded it do to a warning that Jiraiya had given him.
"Brat, this jutsu is useful, and strong, but like most jutsu it has its weaknesses, and this one's weakness glaringly obvious. The link that you establish with the clone is a chakra link, but it also has a mental link, in order for you to know what the clone is doing, and seeing through its eyes, as well as for the clone itself to use some of your abilities while its fighting. This poses a problem, because if you are looking through it, and it is dispelled, the backlash could very well kill you, or shred your mind apart because it has experienced death first hand, something you can't recover from. So if you use this jutsu, never, ever, ever, ever, use the link when there is a very large possibility that the clone will be destroyed. Stay away from it's mind, and even though it's fighting skills won't be up to par with yours, it's better than the alternative, okay?"
Numerous times Naruto had been in the heat of battle since he had arrived, and when he had thought to use it before, that warning had come fresh to his mind, staying his hand. Using the link was something that had to be done in order for the clone to fight on par with Naruto, but the prospect of having his mind torn in half was not something Naruto enjoyed.
But now, it seemed, it was necessary.
He nodded to the clone, which nodded back, grinning. Naruto could feel the link in the back of his mind, and he realized that it felt much like his recent link with the Kyuubi, which not only puzzled him, but also disturbed him slightly. He felt around for that link, but the creature was obviously either sleeping, or simply watching.
He didn't know which annoyed him more.
With the clone created and ready for battle, and Group B set and ready to go, Mekkatorque addressed the group once more.
"There isn't much else to say…but I implore you, do not fail." Quidneer nodded, before he and the 6 other gnomes that made up his group turned and rushed towards the passageway that Mekkatorque had indicated earlier. Naruto's clone followed in fast pursuit. As soon as they were out of sight, a couple of shouts and the ring of metal on metal signified their encounter with a Mechanized Sentry.
Mekkatorque said a soft prayer, wishing them a silent good luck. He then turned, and spoke to the others.
"Very well, then we must be on our way as well. Our passageway is over in that direction," he pointed to a smaller passage on their left that had been labeled, Second And Third Floor Freight Elevators. Without waiting for so much as a nod, he hopped off the elevator and hurried towards the passageway. The others followed swiftly.
Upon entering the passage, they spied to Mechanized Sentries near the end of straight corridor, both moving in opposite directions. Mekkatorque, rather than going for his sword, withdrew another weapon, a smaller rifle that Naruto remember Linkizzle had called a pistol, and aimed it at the sentry that was making its way slowly towards them. He squeezed the trigger twice, and a fraction of a second after the pistol's end had exploded, the bird like sentry's chest area burst apart, spewing electric sparks and the Mobile Alert System at its feet shattered apart, causing enough commotion to draw the attention of the second sentry. The small Mobile Alert System at the second sentries feet, as if sensing something was wrong, began to emit a high-pitched beeping sound, before the trumpets on either side of its body began blaring and extremely loud sound for nearly a half a second before a kunai punctured it's body, abruptly ending the sound.
Naruto straightened, sighing in relief as he did, then began to pick at his ears muttering something unintelligible. Mekkatorque caught a part of the muttering, which sounded like,
"-dunno why I wore it, just keeps hurting my ears…geez." Mekkatorque shook his head, smiling slightly before he hurried down the rest of the corridor, the rest of the group following, Naruto at the back.
Upon reaching the end of the corridor (having only stopped once for Naruto to retrieve his kunai), they entered another large, dome-shaped room, also with many other branches springing off from it. An elevator stood in the middle, but Mekkatorque shook his head, saying,
"That isn't our elevator, that goes to the second floor. We want the third." He looked around, and then pointed to a passage a little to the left from where they had entered. It was appropriately labeled, Third Freight Elevator. He started towards it, only for a sound caught his ears, forcing him to halt in his movements.
At first, it sounded like nothing more than a few Mechanized Sentries making their ways towards them, however, in addition to the steady clamping that they brought, a heavier, louder thumping that suggested that something much larger and much sturdier. Mekkatorque, though he knew he should leave, couldn't move, and could only watch as the source of the noise emerged from the largest passage in the room, which incidentally was adjacent to the very passage that they needed.
What luck.
From the large passage, a huge armored machine appeared, each movement causing the floor beneath them to shake slightly, unsteadying several of the gnomes. Though far bigger than the Mechanized Sentries, and far more human-like, the behemoth nonetheless possessed the same crimson coloring, with a bit more gold, of the smaller machines, and seemed to be made from the same material. Extended out in front of it were two wicked looking metal claws, and in the place of a head was a small, round light.
To Naruto, the thing was as amazing as it was frightening, there was nothing in the shinobi world like this, a metallic behemoth that from the looks of things had no operator but the small computer with a specific set of instructions loaded onto it. As soon as he thought of its amazing qualities, his brain began to generate ideas of how to destroy it.
To Mekkatorque, the machine represented something else. He recognized it instantly, knowing his own handiwork anywhere. And yet it wasn't what he had built. The Peacekeeper Security Suit (PSS), had been designed much smaller, more dwarf-sized, and had been designed as a complement to the Mechanized Sentry. When he had first built it, it was denser, stronger, and possessed stronger weapons than the sentries did, but due to this, it was harder and more time consuming to make, so he simply created a few, knowing that they would last a long time. They were designed for situations that were far more serious, such as riots, direct attack from an enemy, or even radiation leaks. Thusly, they could take an enormous amount of damage, and would still function properly. They were even immune to outside electromagnetic forces, due to the plating.
However, considering that the monstrosity that stood before them, which, if he was correct, possessed the same technology that the sentries, in that they would be able to automatically repair themselves using electromagnetic devices implanted in their body cavities, it was clear that despite the apparent resemblance, this wasn't his creation, it was something Sicco had taken and perverted for his own usage.
Mekkatorque's eyes turned to ice as that thought crossed his mind, and he drew his blade, hearing his fellow gnomes and the boy ready themselves for battle behind them. He held out a hand, saying out loud,
"Destroy the sentries around it, the larger one is mine." His eyes flickered to Naruto's, as if challenging him to say otherwise. Oddly enough, the blonde didn't seem to mind all that much, as if sensing how important this was to Mekkatorque.
Perhaps the boy wasn't as stupid as he thought.
When the PSS had fully entered the room, it turned itself towards Mekkatorque, and emitted a loud, blaring noise that caused Naruto to clutch his head in pain from the pitch, and consequently rip the small, silver earring from his ear, depositing it in his weapons pouch.
The blaring continued, and the Mechanized Sentries converged around the PSS and their glowing, yellow eyes suddenly turned crimson. The cyclopean light on the PSS also burned red, and almost simultaneously the robots turned to face the organic beings, ready for battle.
Mekkatorque wasted no time in rushing the group, his short blade at the ready. As he neared them, he flashed through a series of half-seals, touched his blade with his free hand, and shouted, "Diamond Cleave!" His sword glowed white, just as he drew it across the Peacekeeper's torso area. It passed through the metal as if it were but air, and the though the machine was far to thick for the gnome's blade to pierce completely through, it caused irreparable damage to the robot's body. Electric sparks erupted from the slashed area, but regardless, the machine didn't falter in its first attack, swiping at the little gnome with deadly force. Mekkatorque dodged to the side, and the huge claw embedded itself in the floor, piercing through the solid steel as though it were a sheet of mere aluminum. Mekkatorque easily avoided a beam, whose owner Naruto destroyed shortly after. The spell upon his sword having ended, Mekkatorque attempted a different tactic, removing something from the satchel at his side, he ducked under a second attack, and thrust his tiny hand forward, depositing something in the gaping gash within the robots chest.
Before he could attempt anything else, however, the PSS bent its left "leg" and from the place where a human's knee would be, a small hole opened, and from the hole emerged a small, tubular piece of metal, with a red tip and gnomish letters printed on the side. His eyes widening, Mekkatorque had scarcely time to move before the missile erupted from the hole. Mekkatorque jumped over the projectile, and it shot across the room, striking the wall of a passageway, exploding as it did. The explosion didn't faze the Gnome King, who lifted something from his satchel, holding it out in front of him. It was nothing more than a cylindrical piece of metal with a small button on the top.
Without a second thought, he pressed the button, which caused the tube to vibrate, sending several unseen and unheard signals to the object that had been deposited in the PSS's body cavity. The object happened to be a small, localized EMP emitter, which was used for this exact situation. When a machine malfunctioned, it was deactivated, studied to see what went wrong then fixed accordingly. The PSS itself, while immune to outside electromagnetic forces, was vulnerable to them on the inside. Thusly the action of placing the bomb directly inside the machine had been necessary.
Mekkatorque, however, didn't see the point behind doing the second two processes at this point, and in a small burst of bluish light, the EMP bomb released, shorting out every circuit, process, and anything remotely technological within the Peacekeeper's body. From the outside, following the small flash of light, the robot simply stopped moving, sagging slightly, and the red light on its face going dark.
Rather anticlimactic.
Lowering his blade, the Gnome King looked around to survey the battle scene.
Naruto, Linkizzle, Rurizzle, and Renikle all stood, alive and well, around a multitude of destroyed sentries. Each robot had been almost completely obliterated, in great contrast to the relatively intact Peacekeeper unit. Mekkatorque sighed slightly.
"Young people…" Naruto grinned proudly at the utterance, Rurizzle and Linkizzle blushed slightly, and Renikle smiled weakly, still panting heavily as he did.
Shaking his head, Mekkatorque strode past the remains of the robots, muttering,
"So much for stealth…" With that, the group hurried down the passage towards the elevator.
Quidneer gasped a little as he sat down, the rest of his group following suit. The Naruto clone, however, remained upright, and the gnome couldn't help but think how strange it was that the boy could create a doppelganger so perfect. Such a spell would most likely be incredibly difficult to master and use, and seemed to use a lot of magic (or as the boy called it, chakra). It was amazing that such a young child had managed to use master it.
Group B had just fought their way through the first of the three engineering labs that though would be required to go through in order to reach the central venting system. Unlike what one might expect when they hear "lab" which would imply the it to be one room, the Gnomeregan engineering labs were many rooms large, each having their own separate purpose and a certain number of engineers. Lab F, for example, the one that they had just gone through, had specialized in creating and developing gadgets for everyday use, for providing gnomish families with the comfort and ease that they needed in these times. Before the troggs' attack, it had been a rather pleasant place to be.
At this point, however, Quidneer never wanted to go near the lab again, and was most certainly not looking forward to the other.
For in the last one, Quidneer had experienced hell.
Hell in both the metaphorical and physical sense, as he had the wounds to vouch for it. Upon entering the lab, after fighting their way through several Mechanized Sentries, they had been mortified to discover what the population of gnomes who had remained, having been poisoned by the radiation, had become in the time they had been gone.
Gone were the rosy cheeks that almost all gnomes possessed, as were the variety of hair colors and even the hair itself from these gnomes. They now sported sickly green skin, milky white cataract eyes, and not hair at all. Some had even begun to deform in other ways, some growing longer, pointier ears, some growing extra limbs, some even growing taller than a normal gnome would.
At first, they took the earlier words of their king into consideration. Perhaps these gnomes didn't want to fight, and would simply let them by?
Wrong.
At once, the gnomes had dropped their various tasks and swarmed the small group, some grabbing at their suits and begging them to take them away, others crying and mumbling incoherently, while still others babbled incessantly about nothing at all. The entire situation was terrifying, and it seemed that either years of working within an engineering lab, their minds poisoned by the radiation, had taken its toll on the people. They weren't totally gone yet, the fact that they were working in an engineering lab was testament to that fact, but Quidneer knew that it would be impossible to get them to see reason at this point, especially when confronted with perhaps the first healthy gnomes they had seen in years. Terrified, the gnome had taken the only course of action he had seen fit at the time to get them to move out of his way.
Striking out with his fist, he knocked one away and then drew his sword. The other gnomes in the group began following his example; the Naruto clone didn't draw his blade, but began attacking the Leprous Gnomes with his fists.
Shocked by the attacks, the Leprous Gnomes' addled minds responded in the only way they could, by retaliating to the attack. They swarmed around the small group, and began attacking with whatever they could. Some picked up wrenches or similar tools, using them to bash the healthy gnomes, who tried to defend from the clumsy, though frequent attacks. Quidneer whirled when a scream was issued from his group, and a group of leprous gnomes converged on a healthy one, dragging him away from the main group and beating him to death with frightening ferocity.
Knowing that the crazed gnomes would kill the rest of the team in the same fashion, Quidneer's hand flashed through some half-seals, before he slashed it through the air in front of him, bellowing,
"Concussion Edge!" A yellowish stream of light erupted from the sword as it swiped through the air, and it blasted every gnome within its path backwards, clearing away a large section for the group to go through. Wasting no time, he had rushed through it before the leprous gnomes could fill it up. The other members followed as fast as they could, leaving only the Naruto clone and two others behind before the leprous gnomes filled the hole that Quidneer had created. The clone, however, grabbed both by the scruffs of their necks, and leapt up, high enough to reach the ceiling. It fastened itself to the ceiling, and then ran along it until the clone had reached the other end of main lab room, before leaping to the ground in the same fashion, just in front of the group. The two gnomes whom he had grabbed looked slightly shaken, but alive.
En masse, however, the leprous gnomes were rushing after them, and so the group ran, weaving through hallways and rushing through both empty and inhabited rooms, some with sentries, others with leprous gnomes who hadn't been present in the main lab room.
When they had finally departed Lab F, they had taken refuge in a small storage room, which looked as if it hadn't been used in years. Rusty old parts littered the floor, there was a thick layer of dust covering everything, and the light didn't work.
While a gnome mended the rips in the suits, which weren't as necessary as before, Quidneer sat in thought.
We cannot afford to lose more time going through the next lab, but there is no other way. How can we cross it without losing more of our men?
In addition to himself and the clone, there were only 4 other gnomes left, Grediggle, Mortizzle, Furnbariz, and Shikozzle. Undoubtedly, the next two labs were filled with leprous gnomes, both as bad, possibly worse, then the ones in Lab F.
For once, he had no idea what to do.
Quidneer had always prided himself on being one of the most loyal and helpful of Mekkatorque's advisors. In the time since Gnomeregan had fallen, he had helped numerous times in the larger scale projects for the king, designing new types of chemicals, and leading the study on the troggs. He had gained the trust of his king, and that was something he knew that was valuable, especially after Thermaplugg's betrayal.
That was something that he didn't want to lose. He wanted to complete the task that his king had given him, as well as the one that his friend had. True they were the same task, but it didn't matter, and he wanted to be acknowledged as not only the king's advisor, but his friend as well.
He didn't want to fail.
As his mind worked through various plans, and discarded them just as quickly, the clone, who had remained silent for the entire time, suddenly blinked and looked more aware, rather than the blank look that he had possessed before. He looked around a little, and then spoke.
"Where are you guys? Is this the venting system?" The group turned to look at the clone, and Quidneer was suddenly reminded of what the boy had explained earlier in the final briefing at the camp.
"The clone I'm gonna use is a special one, which I am linked to and can use to communicate with the other group. It'll be able to hold its own in a battle against most things, because it unconsciously uses some of my knowledge of fighting. I can also take control of it and fight up to my usual par with it. If it gets too hairy, though, I will have to abandon it, cause if it's destroyed while I'm still inside, then I die too."
So the boy is using the clone to speak, interesting. Quidneer stood up, and spoke calmly,
"We have just crossed the first lab, and it seems that the remaining population of gnomes are insane, which means they will not help us. What about you, is the king all right? Where are you?"
The blonde clone nodded and said, "We're on the elevator goin' up two floors to the top. The king's fine, so don't worry. So where are we? Some sorta' closet or something?" he looked around, sniffing the air tentatively, and recoiling as he did.
"Yes," Quidneer grunted, before continuing, "we are trying to devise a way to get through the last two labs without having to fight our way through hordes of our brethren. What do you suggest?" The Naruto clone thought moment, before he spoke,
"I got it! You guys get closer, okay, this is gonna be hard, but I think I can do it for a while. We just gotta go very quickly." Quidneer stood up, frowning, but came forward anyways, wondering what he sought to do. When the five gnomes were all huddled around the clone, he formed a seal and said calmly,
" Amatai Henge (Mutli-Transform) no jutsu!" In a heartbeat, the group was encased in a puff of smoke, which, as it cleared, revealed their new forms to the group.
Instead of a group of orange-covered gnomes, they now resembled a group of leprous gnomes, complete with scaly green skin, milky eyes, and baldheads. They gaped at the change, touching the their new skin with wide eyes.
"How…what…what is this?" The blonde clone grinned, saying cheerfully,
"It's Henge no jutsu, it transforms a person into the object or thing they desire. It uses up lots of chakra, though, especially since I gotta keep all of you covered. I got the idea to use the green gnomes from the clone's memories. If we hurry, we can get through both, or at least one of the labs before I can't hold it any longer, and I'll have to drop it in case the clone pops. I still need chakra to fight myself, ya know. Don't bump into anything either, it makes it harder to hold the transformation, cause I'm doing it on so many people."
Quidneer gaped at the transformed boy, then grinned. He felt the despair be replaced by a shining hope. Perhaps we can win this yet!
Without delay, the group left the closet, and ran down the corridor that separated the two labs.
The tentatively opened the door, and they were met by the sight of dozens of gnomes working away on the task designated for them, all working without sound or complaint. Several looked up hopefully, doubtlessly having heard of the commotion in the adjoining lab, but looked down disappointedly, seeing them as only more of their kind. Quidneer looked around, gauging their reactions, then walked forward, taking care not to bump into any them, the rest of the group following suit.
It was unnerving to walk through a room full of creatures that would likely kill or maim you if they knew you were there, and simply be ignored. They weaved through rooms as they did last time, doing their best not to touch anything, thus making it easier for the Naruto clone to keep them under the transformation.
Soon, they reached the exit of Lab G, and upon entering the corridor that sent them to Lab H, the Naruto clone released with transformation with an exhausted sigh, slumping to the ground as he did. Quidneer looked at him in concern.
"Are you alright?" The blonde clone nodded tiredly.
"Yeah, I just gotta rest, build up my reserves a bit. I was using my own chakra, rather than the clone's, so it affects me more." The gnome nodded, and sat down while the boy clone recharged his chakra.
Quidneer chose this time to ask the boy a question that had been bothering him for some time.
"Boy…why are you helping us? You say it is because you made a promise to someone, but I don't believe that is the entire reason. Why are you risking your life to fight for a people who are not only a different race than you, but also you have known for a week at the most? Just for a promise?" The blonde clone sighed a little, staring at the floor in front of him.
"No…I guess you're right about that, I'm not doin' this just because of a promise. Old man Mekkatorque…he's like me. He's suffered the betrayal of a friend just like I have," Quidneer's eyes widened at this, but he made no sound. The clone continued, "I'm doing this because I have felt what he has, and I want to make sure that he doesn't drag his whole race down with him. I'm doing this because I once thought that bringing back my friend was something only I could do, but I realized, because of the words of someone important to me, that I have friends to help me, and that they can help me bring the friend that betrayed me from the darkness." The Naruto clone grinned a little at this.
"I'm not going to let that old geezer destroy his reason for living, his people, and make him into just what caused him so much pain. That's why I helping, and that's why I'm risking my life." Quidneer continued to look at the boy in surprise, before he sighed and smirked a little.
What a strange boy…
They waited for several more minutes, before the Naruto clone stood up and said,
"We should get goin', the elevators up and I'm running on autopilot in my real body." Quidneer nodded and stood up, the rest of group doing the same.
After the clone had once again placed the transformation jutsu on them, they walked down the corridor, and as they neared the door, Quidneer heard the faint clomping sounds of Mechanized Sentries from behind the door. He stopped, frowning.
Sure, there had been sentries in the other two labs, but the noise of their clomping was usually drowned out by the whirring and whizzing noises of the gnomes working within. He noticed that there were no sounds other than the clamping, and a creeping sense of dread filled him.
One of the gnomes, Mortizzle, crept up beside the door, and opened it by pressing the side panel.
Less than a second later, twin beams of light struck his head, burning two small holes through it, killing the gnome instantly.
Several feet in front of the door, a Mechanized Sentry stood, eyes glowing red, the small Mobile Alert System flashing its lights, and upon sighting the still-disguised group, it began to emit the loud, hitch-pitched beep that suddenly alerted the dozen or so other Mechanized Sentries in the lab to the situation. Quidneer growled angrily,
"A trap! They knew that we were coming here!"
The Naruto clone immediately released the transformation and flashed through series of hand seals, and the end of which he bellowed, "Hyouton: Toukanboruto no jutsu!" From his mouth a blast of arctic air erupted, coalescing around the sentry and freezing it solid. Quidneer charged forwards and struck it down with his sword, shattering the brittle, ice-covered metal like glass. Grediggle, Furnbariz and Shikozzle came in at the rear, weapons drawn and ready to fight.
The Naruto clone's eyes took in the situation, and he realized that it was extremely dangerous for him to in here, when it would take not but a single blast to end his life.
At the same time, however, he couldn't care less.
As he readied another jutsu, he got a flash of an empty room, Mekkatorque looking back into it at him, before walking away. The vision was gone almost as fast as it had come, and Naruto somehow knew that he had been seeing something in that his real body had seen. Cursing, he looked around to try and end the battle as quickly as possible.
Forming a seal, he bellowed, "Kage Bunshin no jutsu!" Half a dozen clones appeared, and with the last of his conscious thought, he directed them to obliterating the group of Mechanized Sentries that had just entered through the back of the room.
"I gotta go! That old geezer needs my help! You got things here?" Quidneer didn't even look at the boy as he shouted,
"Go! We will be fine!" The clone nodded once, and without a second to spare, the slightly glazed look that had been eternally on the clone's face returned, and the clone moved to assist his own clones in battle. Quidneer then rushed forward and drove his sword into the chest-area of one of the sentries, destroying the auto-repair unit and then pulled his sword upwards, slicing all the way up until his sword burst up through the bird-like sentry's and scythed the rider on top in half.
Meanwhile, Grediggle was forming two half-seals and then shouted, slamming the small hammer that he wielded onto the ground as he did,
"Shock Pulse!" A powerful shockwave of energy erupted from where the hammer struck, emanating outwards away from the gnome's body. Three Mechanized sentries were blasted backwards; two were smashed to pieces as they struck the wall, causing huge dents in the side. The third smashed into a fourth sentry, and both were sent careening into a worktable covered in various tools and machine parts, where they were obliterated by the tremendous force.
The gnome then rushed at the first pile of machine parts that had once been sentries, and sure enough he saw a small blinking light on a small part amidst the rubble, and parts of them were gradually gravitating towards it. He brought down his hammer, crushing it, and the parts stopped moving. He moved on to the others, whose repairs were further along.
Furnbariz stood back to back with Shikozzle, both gnomes fending off the laser-eyes of a pair of sentries with their shields. Furnbariz hissed as the thick, Dark Iron shield that had once belonged to his father began to grow hot from absorbing so much energy, hot enough that he felt his skin begin to sizzle where it hung from his arm. He knew that unless he did something, both he and his friend would be killed. He hurtled a dagger at the Mechanized Sentry's head, smashing through the eyes and cutting off the laser vision. Completely ignoring the pain he rushed forward and finished it off with a second dagger to the chest, destroying the electromagnetic regeneration unit.
Shikozzle, on the other hand, flashed through a several half-seals, gathering his magic into the shield, and bellowing,
"Reflector!" His shield glowed bright red, and the beams that were striking it were suddenly reflected backwards onto the wall near the sentry's head. Being a machine, it wasn't able to comprehend the danger it was in, only that its attack wasn't working anymore. Before it could initiate whatever program ended the lasers, Shikozzle tilted the shield to the side and down, so the beams cut directly into the sentry's chest, destroying it instantly. Grinning he turned back to Furnbariz, a one-liner ready on his lips. Before he could expel said one-liner, however, a peculiar sound reached his ears.
It was a stomping sound, signifying that something very large was coming, and something very bad.
He turned around, attempting to locate the source, but was never able to complete the turn, as the huge, metal door that he was standing by that led into a separate section of Lab H was smashed outwards, slamming into him and flying across the room towards Furnbariz's position. The gnome yelped and jumped out of the way, allowing the heavy door to sail past him and smash into the wall.
Shikozzle died swiftly as the door met the wall, forcing everything in between to become nearly the width of a piece of cardboard.
Furnbariz's eyes widened, however, not because of the death of his friend, but because of what had caused the death.
From the door, a huge machine emerged, far bigger than the sentries, and far more imposing as well. It stood about eight or nine feet tall, a steely grey color with the reddish symbol emblazoned on the front. It had no recognizable head, save for a large, glowing red light on the top of its chest area, near where a neck would be, which sunk into the metal slightly and had a hood of metal covering the top. Its feet were large and gripped the ground like claws. For hands, rather than possessing gripping claws like the Peacekeeper Security Suit, it had huge, flat-fronted cylinders. Steam poured from two large pipes on its back as it stomped into the room.
Quidneer, from his position near the entrance, witnessed the destruction the monstrosity had caused, and cursed.
What is that? It looks like…no…the Crowd Pummeler 9-60?His majesty had that shut down and dismantled! It was too dangerous! And more to the point, where did Thermaplugg get the plans for it? Mekkatorque destroyed them! It is different than the original, but it is obvious that that monster added his own touches to it. This isn't good. The fact that it is here means that Thermaplugg is trying to prevent our plan from succeeding. For some reason, he seeks to stop us from destroying the troggs, but why? We cannot let this happen! We have come to far, but if we tarry any longer here, then the chances of us reaching the Central Venting System become slimmer.
He glanced at the Naruto clone, who was standing amidst the destroyed remains of almost a dozen Mechanized Sentries, and was now focused on the behemoth that had entered. Even with faced with this new dilemma, he could not help but marvel at the power the boy possessed. And the clone wasn't even up to par with the real thing. The boy would no doubt easily surpass Mekkatorque's level at some point. He then glanced at Grediggle, who was glaring fiercely in the same direction. He moved forward, stepping up near the other gnome and whispered,
"We must end this quickly, if we stay any longer than they have more time to place a security force sufficient enough to destroy us in the Central Venting System room. What do we do?" The other gnome didn't respond, just continued glaring at the Crowd Pummeler 9-60 as it moved steadily towards them, turning to its right as it left the door frame, not increasing its speed in the slightest. Furnbariz had moved away from the deadly machine, and rushed quickly towards the two remaining gnomes and clone, avoiding several blasts from the remaining Mechanized Sentries. The gnome came to a stop in front of Quidneer, panting as he did.
"What do we do? That thing is going to take all of our strength to finish off. If we don't hurry-" Quidneer cut him off,
"I know, I know. We must do it as swiftly as possible. Like the other models of this kind, it is immune to outside electromagnetic forces, thusly that is not an option unless we open it up. I suggest that we-"
He was cut off, however, when the Naruto clone stepped in front of him. Frowning at the animated chakra, he asked point blank,
"What do you want, this isn't time to-," The clone pointed, however, towards the door from whence the Crowd Pummeler had emerged, grinning as he did. He looked confused for a second, and then managed to say,
"You go. I stay, fight." Quidneer's eyes widened as he looked at the clone, not believing it capable of speech. He then realized that the link that Naruto had mentioned earlier was two ways, and that the clone would inherit some of Naruto's abilities, more so than his personality traits or memories. It seemed that when Naruto had occupied the clones body, he had transferred more of his memories and abilities into it, gifting it with the ability to speak, albeit limitedly.
He looked at the clone, dead serious.
"You can't win. You are strong, and so is the boy, but this is a machine, and thusly physically superior to organic beings. It is more durable, stronger; it can shatter diamonds with those hammers on its arms! Only his majesty knows enough about these machines to know their weaknesses, so you can't-" Once more he was cut off when the boy shook his head, still grinning.
"Me not fail. Is promise," he said, nodding, and then turned back to face the behemoth made of metal.
Still looking faintly surprised, Quidneer nodded, and then grabbing onto the hands of the two other gnomes, rushed towards the other end of the room, slashing apart a sentry as they ran by. The huge, slow moving Crowd Pummeler tried to turn to face the trio as they rushed through the door, but was prevented when the Naruto clone and several shadow clones obscured it's vision. The clone grinned.
"Me blow you up." The shadow clones rushed forwards, and the fight began.
After rushing through the rest of the lab, which was completely deserted of both sentries and leprous gnomes, they entered a hallway that split into three directions. Glancing at the sign that hung from the ceiling, he saw that straight went to another hub of passages, left was a shortcut to another lab (I), and right went to the Central Venting Systems. Without a second thought, he went right, Grediggle and Furnbariz following close behind. They weaved through the hallway, encountering no sign of gnome or machine, before reaching a large doorway, marked in Gnomish, "Central Venting Systems, Authorized Gnomernel Only" From behind the door, a loud humming could be heard.
He moved to the side panel, and pulled of the top, before he began to fiddle with the wires underneath, a bead of sweat forming at his brow. The other two waited, weapons up, ready for anything that stood behind the door.
A few moments of tinkering later, the door emitted a beep, and opened. Both gnomes tensed, ready to attack whatever leapt out at them, but when none came, they relaxed slightly. Quidneer entered, his heart pumping, their goal close.
Soon, if we do this, it will be our day. We can't fail.
The Central Venting room was spacious, mostly because the equipment used within was so large. It was dark and shadows filled every corner of the room. A large catwalk sat in middle, suspended above a deep opening in the ground. In the opening, on either side of the catwalk, huge fans blew air in vain down into the depths of the city, likely to clear out the noxious gas that resided and was continually produced by the poisonous radiation below. Near the end of the large room, fans blew upwards to push air into the upper parts of the city. Quidneer remembered the fields outside, and how the fans in the depths had been directed to blow out the poisonous gas.
A row of computer panels stood on a platform in the middle of the large catwalk, and Quidneer knew that it was there he would find the means to shut down the filtering fans below. He gave a sigh of relief.
We've almost done it.
He moved down the steps and then towards the catwalk. When he made to move towards the platform, he caught sight of a large form, standing in the middle of the platform, unmoving.
He stopped cold.
No…He could clearly see its features, even though most of it was shrouded in the darkness. It was humanoid, nearly 8 feet tall, and was a dull grey. Huge metal claws were attached to its arms, and a circular light bulb was attached to the upper part of its chest.
Another Techbot series? Will this ever end?Grediggle and Furnbariz had by now seen the robot, and had frozen in similar states of shock.
Quidneer held his sword aloft, ready to fight.
But nothing happened.
Frowning, he moved a little closer, adjusting his goggles to see better as he did.
He noticed, rather belatedly, that the light on its chest was unlit.
It was broken, or shut down.
He gave a sigh of relief. He turned to the others, saying quietly,
"It's not activated. It's okay." The other two gnomes relaxed visibly, giving great twin gestures of relief. He started forwards again, moving cautiously, just in case it was a trick. They moved right up to the edge of the platform, and the robot had yet to move an inch.
Up close, he could see that the machine was older than the Crowd Pummeler 9-60, by a lot. It was rusted slightly, and had many dents and scuffmarks on its body. Years had also dulled the shine that it once must of possessed. Quidneer inspected the machine for a little while longer, then turned to the panels. He located the one he was supposed to, and began typing at a furious rate, hoping to override the locks that had been placed on the system. He cursed a few times, muttered something under his breath, and then turned to the two others.
"I can't get in. I knew there would be locking programs, but I never expected this level. I won't be able to break them without a lot of time, something that we do not have." Grediggle frowned, leaning against the unmoving robot.
"There must be a key then. Key cards usually got us around everywhere, but thanks to you and his majesty, we've been able to bypass of them. Don't they keep emergency key cards around here?" Quidneer nodded.
"Usually, but Thermaplugg would have removed them. He's not stupid, and is probably too paranoid to ever consider giving one to any of his leprous followers." Grediggle cocked his head to the side, still frowning.
" I don't know, Quid, I know he's not stupid, but if you had a city to run, would you remember to take all of the key cards from their positions? I doubt it, so if we look around, I'm sure we-"
CHUNK!
Quidneer's eyes widened in horror, and Furnbariz gasped as a spray of Grediggle's blood hit his face.
Grediggle looked down to the huge metal spike sticking from his small chest, nearly ripping him in half, and then slowly up at the glowing red eye of the once immobile robot.
Lifting its arm slowly into the air, it twitched the "finger" that had impaled the poor gnome, generating enough force to completely sever the gnome's body in two. Blood and organs spilled onto the ground, the two pieces of the former gnomish warrior hitting the ground with two consecutive thumps.
Without warning, the robot swung it's other arm, striking Furnbariz in the chest, before he could move an inch, and lifting him off his feet. He flew through the air, over the railing, and was swiftly annihilated as he struck the deadly spinning fan below, sending parts of his body in every direction.
It then turned it's single glowing "eye" on Quidneer, and somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew that his death was imminent.
He drew his sword, and readied himself to fight the last battle he ever would.
"I will not fail you, my king."
He rushed forward with a cry.
Earlier…
Mekkatorque cursed slightly as he watched Naruto smack into another wall, completely oblivious to the pain. The boy shook himself a little, but didn't scream or curse, instead simply turning his body until he was parallel with the wall, and walked two steps to the door that he had been trying to enter, before turning and entering the room after Renikle.
He sighed a little, wondering why they had even taken the boy along.
Earlier, on the elevator that led up to the third floor, Naruto had linked up with his clone, in order to see what was going on with the other group. He had returned briefly to explain what the situation was, before going back in to aid them.
He hadn't been back since. And they were now stuck with a complete lackwit rather than a somewhat annoying moron.
This Naruto didn't speak, but obeyed simple commands, and seemed to have some semblance of logic, even if that amounted to finding his way around various obstacles that impeded his path. That only, of course, was because he had run into said impediment first, and moved around it after he had struck it.
Mekkatorque sighed in annoyance. Though they hadn't fought any sentries, (of which Mekkatorque was glad, as fighting while worrying about Naruto getting in the way did not appeal to the King of the Gnomes), they had avoided a few, and were currently in an empty weapons storage room on the way to the Launch Bay, and then the Tinker's Court, where the Main Control room resided. The sounds of production and work surrounded them, and Mekkatorque knew that he would sooner or later encounter one of his people, forced to work and build for Sicco while the cancerous disease that they had contracted from the radiation ate away at their minds, making them into mindless monsters.
It made his him smolder with rage at the thought.
He looked over at Naruto, who was now sitting silently on the floor, not moving, just staring off into the distance. He shook his head.
He had better get back soon, or else we're leaving him here.
Linkizzle looked at Mekkatorque, asking,
"Should we go, your highness? Or wait for Naruto to get back?" Mekkatorque mulled over the question for a bit, then said,
"We will go. He is smart, and will be able to find us if he needs to." Mekkatorque stood, and walked out of the room, glancing about around to see if there was anything dangerous. Finding none, he exited the room, followed by Renikle, and a hesitant Linkizzle and Rurizzle. It was clear that they didn't want to leave the boy behind, and thought Mekkatorque was grateful for the help, especially with the other group, they needed to complete this, and though he didn't like the sound of it, this wasn't Naruto's fight.
It was the people of Gnomeregan's.
Naruto had helped, that much he admitted, and he would be reward the boy for doing so much, but Naruto had no place his this battle, and never would.
It wasn't something he could understand.
Sighing, he took a final look back at the boy, who was staring in his direction, not exactly at him, but towards him. He stood there, simply watching the boy, before turning and walking away, shutting the door as he did.
He caught up with Linkizzle, Rurizzle, and Renikle, who were parted to make way for him as he walked.
It was the home stretch.
Nothing would stop them now.
The third floor of the city of Gnomeregan was predictably the most important. It was where the wealthier gnomes, or the ones who worked directly under Mekkatorque himself, lived as well as where the two main facilities of the city were. The Tinker's Court, and the Launch Bay. The Launch Bay was where almost every main weapon that was built was mounted, and then sent into the field, and more recently the place where the research for flying technology was developing. Flying technology wasn't new, not by Gnomish standards anyway, but Mekkatorque had always been fond of flying machines since he was young, and had helped develop that system after he had become High Tinker.
The Tinker's Court, however, was where those who worked under the High Tinker, the other tinkers, such as Mekgineers, Wartinkers, and Tekgineers worked and on occasion, lived. It was where the Main Control Room resided, where the High Tinker oversaw the entire city, making everything go as smoothly as possible. It was where the security system control was, and possessed an override for nearly ever machine in the entire city.
In short, it was where Mekkatorque needed to go in order to control his city once more.
And he had to pass through the Launch Bay to do so.
Several minutes after leaving Naruto in the storage room, Mekkatorque and his group reached the entrance to the second floor of the main lobby of the Launch Bay, and from there it was only a short way to the elevator that took them to the Tinker's Court.
And to Sicco Thermaplugg.
After overriding the door's lock, Mekkatorque drew his blade and entered swiftly, but as soon as he did, he stopped cold.
With it's impressive size, the Launch Bay could impress anyone, even someone who had seen it so many times in his life. Since the day he had set foot in it, Mekkatorque had loved the Launch Bay. It was a massive room, egg-shaped, with almost twelve massive hangers that were spread out through the second and first floors. There was no flooring between the first and second floors, having only a walkway on all-sides above the first floor, and several catwalks that connected the two sides. The first floor was usually dedicated to ground based weaponry and technology, with the creation of Mechanostriders and Gnomish tanks being the most prominent. The second floor was devoted to flying machines, from the small gnomish "spy planes" as Mekkatorque liked to call them and the bomber planes that had still been in development when the troggs had attacked.
For Mekkatorque, seeing the place he had remembered most fondly for the years that he had been away was both awesome and terrible. It was awesome because it still had that feel, the feel that in it, anything could happen, and though it sounded cheesy, dreams could come true.
But it was terrible in that instead of the smiling faces that he had seen everyday back then, he was met with only the white, milky stares of so many of his people.
He let out a small gasp of surprise, his eyes widening as he saw what had become of his people. Their greenish, scaly skin and milky, blank stare shocked him more than he could have imagined.
At first, several of the gnomes didn't even see them, they were too busy completing whatever task had been given to them, their degrading minds finding reprieve from thinking by focusing on the one task that had been given. Slowly then, several of the lepers stopped, staring at Mekkatorque as if he was some sort of mutant. Gradually, others began to stop as well, until it seemed as if the entire room had stopped to look at him.
It was at that moment that Mekkatorque felt as small as he really was, each of their stares, though incomprehensible to normal people, accused him of betrayal, of abandoning them, of leaving them to this fate, this horrible, mindless existence as a slave to the monstrous man who had facilitated this entire thing. Mekkatorque backed up a few steps, eyes wide, even though not a single leprous gnome moved.
Tears streaming down his face, he spoke to them,
"By the gods…what has happened to all you…? What has he done to you? What…have I done to you? This cannot be…no…" Still doing as much as possible to stop from sobbing, he dropped to his knees, his sword clattering to the floor.
He had though that nothing could have hurt worse than having one's best friend betraying you.
But he had been wrong.
This hurt so much more than that. He had done this to his people, regardless of what Sicco had done afterwards, he had poisoned his people, and he had killed them.
One of the gnomes slowly walked forwards, stopping a foot away from Mekkatorque, watching him blankly. The gnome then hunkered down, and looked directly into Mekkatorque's eyes. The High Tinker whispered,
"I'm sorry…" the leprous gnome looked at him, and Mekkatorque could almost see an expression of pain and to his surprise, forgiveness, in the blank eyes of the gnome. The gnome reached out and caressed his face, now unhidden by the gas mask, as the air was clean up in the higher levels.
Then, with a cry of animalistic fury, the gnome raked his fingers across Mekkatorque's face, tearing away flesh and drawing blood. Jerking backwards, he had no time to defend himself as another gnome leapt at him, screaming incoherently. It was hard to believe that just seconds ago, the gnomes were as docile as lambs, and somehow smart enough to complete duties that involved engineering. Now they were ravenous monsters, no more intelligent than a wolf, and hell-bent on ripping him apart. He knocked one away, and crawled towards his blade, lifting it up and brandishing it in an attempt to scare them off.
It didn't work.
One charged directly at his sword, ignoring the possibility of death. He lowered the blade and struck the gnome in the face with his fist, knocking him out. However, they continued to swarm, and used everything in their reach to try to hurt him. He knocked a few out with the flat of his blade, but the continued coming, willing to die just for a chance to even scratch him.
He could do nothing.
They were his people.
What could he do against his people?
Linkizzle, Rurizzle and Renikle couldn't do anything either, as they were quickly overtaken and disarmed by the horde of leprous gnomes.
One bit at his arm, another clawed at his face, yet another began hammering his fists onto his chest. He was perfectly capable of defeating them, but not without fatally injuring all of them. That was something he couldn't do.
He had already caused them enough pain.
And then it stopped.
Every gnome stopped biting, clawing, and hammering, and then simultaneously, they lifted him upwards, before they began walking, still carrying him. He could barely move, as several hands that didn't seem to want to let go gripped every side of him tightly. His vision was blurry and he had trouble focusing his thoughts.
He dimly wondered if the others were all right.
He hoped so.
And then, he was dropped, rather suddenly, to the ground. He winced in pain as he landed hard on some of his new wounds, before slowly raising his eyes as a shadow passed over him.
"Ha ha ha! Hmmm? Whatever do we have here? Oh? Is that you, ikkle kingy wingy? I didn't recognize you, with those bruises! You look troubled, care to talk about it? Heh heh heh!" The voice, high-pitched with a maniacal twist to it, was not Sicco's. But he'd recognize it anyways.
"Terko…is that you?"
"Ho ho ho! He speaks! And he's so clever; he got my name in one guess! He should get a prize! Hee hee hee!" As his vision slowly cleared, he got his first look at the former Tekgineer, Terko Electrocut.
Though his face and eyes were the same as any of the other leprous gnomes, signifying that he too must have suffered at the hands of the radiation, it was the vehicle that he was sitting in that made it unique. It was a large, black machine, with six jointed appendages that stuck out from a small, pod-shaped body. It resembled a spider or insect in this fashion, and in front it even had two large "mandibles" of metal that glowed an electric blue. Terko himself sat on top of chair in the pod, which fit snugly around him and seemed to provide him with a great deal of protection.
What was different, however, about Terko, was that he did possess the blank stare that all the other gnomes had. Instead, he had a maniacal, crazed grin, and continued to laugh as Mekkatorque looked at him.
Tekgineer Terko Electrocut had been one of the Tekgineers that had sucked up to Sicco and Mekkatorque on a daily basis. He was intelligent, but was too obsessed with money and fame to ever amount to anything higher. That was why Mekkatorque had never really tolerated his presence, though Sicco seemed to have taken a great deal of interest in the younger gnome, which at the time, Mekkatorque had though nothing of. Perhaps Sicco had just found an apprentice (though he did wonder how Sicco could stand the little urchin) and had decided to pass on his knowledge to the next generation.
In reality, Terko had been the one to flush the toxic waste tanks, which had forced the gnomes to flee the city in the first place.
How ironic, he though smugly, that the one who helped cause all of this now suffers like the rest.
"What are you doing here, Terko? I don't believe you have any skill in the making of flying machines or weapons, so why are you here?" The gnome giggled, saying in obnoxious singsong voice,
"Hoo hoo hoo! What a sarcastic little tyke he is! He still thinks he's better than me! Well, kingy wingy, I'm working here 'cause my bestest buddy ever…Siccy Wiccy, Thermy Wermy, asked me too! Yep! He knows that ikkle Terko is such a good engineer! Hai hai hai!" Mekkatorque looked at him with a disgusted look.
"You…good? You were always mediocre, Terko, and it was only because of Sicco that I made you a Tekgineer." The obviously insane gnome stopped giggling, and glared down at him. One of the spider-like legs slammed down on the floor, inches from Mekkatorque's head.
"Har har har! He insults me? He is the one that runs into a city full of troggs and robots and bears, oh my! He is the one that is caught by my ikkle slavie wavies! Hya hya hya!"
Mekkatorque's eyes widened.
"Slaves…what are you talking about?" Terko sneered at him.
"Hyuck hyuck hyuck! These little gnomes that he sees are all under my little control! Siccy Wiccy developed a really cool gadget, that he puts in everyone and they obey him and me without question! Isn't that cool! Huh huh huh!"
Mekkatorque's eyes blazed. He tried to stand, ready to use whatever force necessary to destroy this bastard. He didn't get far, however, as suddenly a massive jolt of pain rain through his body, freezing his limbs and causing him to fall over, stunned.
Terko laughed wickedly at the prone gnome,
"Hi hi hi! Do you like my ability? My spiderbot gives me the ability to electrocute people, whenever I want! That's why I call it the Electrocutioner 6000! Clever huh? Hoa hoa hoa!"
Mekkatorque tried to stand, but failed once more. But his mind was working furiously. Now it made sense.
His people were being controlled, they weren't mindless, not totally, at least, it was Sicco! He was controlling them all!
"I swear to the gods in heaven, you little fool, that when I get the chance, I will kill you."
Terko laughed again, his eyes shining with crazed amusement.
"Hyar Hyar hyar! That's a good one, ikkle kingy wingy, but you're gonna die soon, so it won't matter! Your people are gonna kill you, yep they are! He he he!
"Oi, spider freak, how about you fight like a man! Try me for instance!"
Mekkatorque's eyes widened at the voice.
Is that…?
Uzumaki Naruto, Linkizzle, Rurizzle and Renikle all stood behind the crowd of leprous gnomes. Naruto's arms were crossed, his eyes were set, and he had a big scowl on his face. He was, in short, angry as hell.
Most of said anger was being directed at Mekkatorque, however. The blonde shouted angrily as he said,
"How the hell could ya' leave me behind, you stupid bastard! As soon as I kick this guy's ass, I'm gonna kick yours for leaving me in that place! Geez, the thanks I get!"
Terko was frowning at the boy, before he seemed to recognize who it was.
"Hyun hyun hyun! He's the likkle human that came with the ikkle kingy! He's a lot weirder looking than I thought! He says he wants to fight? Fine with me! Just let me kill this guy, and we can-"
"Who the heck says "hyun?" nobody laughs like that!" Terko blinked, frowning at the boy. He then grew angry.
Very angry.
"Hya hya hya! He is making fun of me! I gotta kill him now! Hyi hyi hyi!" Waving his hands, the crowd of gnomes parted, clearing the path for the two. Terko advanced forward, past Mekkatorque, stopping at the edge of the crowd, grinning wildly. Naruto grinned as well, gripping his kodachi in its sheath.
Mekkatorque stood slowly to his feet, staring at the boy.
Even now…he still fights for us…why? What have we done for him?
Naruto met the King of the Gnomes' gaze and he spoke loudly.
"Oi, old man. You, Linkizzle, Rurizzle and that other guy go defeat Thermaplugg. This guys mine, okay?" Mekkatorque stared at him, trying to discern what he was trying to do. He finally said,
"Okay…don't fail boy." Naruto smirked.
"'K!"
Mekkatorque shook his head slightly, then focusing his magic into his feet, he leapt over the crowd of gnomes, landing smoothly next the blonde. He gave Naruto a final look, before he, Linkizzle, Rurizzle and Renikle ran towards the door on the other end of the Launch Bay that led to the elevator to the Tinker's Court. Terko yelped angrily that his prey was getting away, so he shouted, pressing a button on the control panel in front of him as he did.
"Hu hu hu! Get him, all you of you! Don't let him get away! Ho ho ho!" The crowd of gnomes turned and ran towards the door, but Naruto had something different in mind.
"Kage Bunshin no jutsu!" He bellowed, and seconds after a massive wall of clone appeared in front of the rushing crowd, preventing them from moving any farther. A second seal later, another mass converged around the other side of the crowd, preventing them from turning back. Naruto walked towards the Tekgineer, smirking.
"How about we keep this between us, huh?" Terko scowled at both the effective trapping of his gnomes and the horrible one-liner.
"Hee hee hee! I'm gonna make sure you never get up again, likkle human baby! Ha ha ha!"
With that, the spiderbot tore forwards with incredible speed, surprising the hell out of the blonde. The machine reached Naruto nearly four seconds after it started, bringing up its front leg and smashing the side of it into Naruto's stomach, flinging the boy backwards until he struck the wall, causing a large dent to appear, and the boy to cry out in agony.
Terko moved in for a second shot, slamming one of the sharp legs down at Naruto, who rolled out of the way, jumping to his feet as he did. The blonde moved to attack, bringing his blade downwards, aiming it at the joint of one of the legs. Seconds before it hit, however, the blade bounced back, and Naruto felt a shock of energy shoot through his body, freezing his movements, and causing a jolt of pain to rock his senses. Terko saw the opening, and slammed the leg into Naruto's stomach again, this time sending a jolt of energy through him as well as knocking him back.
He landed back a few yards, skidding to a halt as he did.
He stood shakily to his feet, tremors of pain running through his body.
Terko looked triumphant.
"Heh heh heh! He gets a nasty shock whenever he touches the Electrocutioner 6000, doesn't he! My field of electricity makes it hard for anybody to heart me, yes it does! Hyuck hyuck hyuck!"
Fuck…
Quidneer stood on his last legs.
His body was beaten, broken, and his sword felt heavier than anything he had ever held before.
He was going to die.
But more importantly, he was going to fail his king.
He would rather die than do that.
Now he would do both.
He had backed up and was standing on the catwalk, a few yards from the platform, with the monstrous killer robot advancing steadily towards him. He could either fight, or run, and he had the energy to do neither. Whatever he through at the machine didn't seem to work. His sword, predictably, didn't cut through, even using magic. Raw magic didn't work, as the robot seemed to absorb it. He remembered hearing about it somewhere, but he never thought he'd be facing it in combat. He even remembered the name…Arcane Nullifier X-21.
It was older than the other models, and somehow its builder had combined magic with technology in order to create a machine immune to magic. With the immunity to EMPs like all members of the Techbot model had, and the durable armor that made most weapons useless against it, it was impossible to damage, and Quidneer knew he would never be able to defeat such a being.
He stood up slowly, using the railing to steady himself as he did. He held the sword out, even though it hung limply in his hand.
The Arcane Nullifier continued moving, not affected in the slightest.
Quidneer closed his eyes, preparing to die, preparing to break his promise not to fail, and preparing to lose the trust of his king.
He raised his sword,
"ADMIRABLE, LITTLE GNOME, BUT ENTIRELY UNNECESSARY."
Quidneer stopped, dropping his sword in surprise at the voice. It reverberated through the room, powerful and deep, causing the hairs on the back of his neck to stand on end. He suddenly felt a massive presence behind him, something that couldn't have fit inside the room, something so huge that only a Titan could compare.
He turned, shaking madly, to the source of the voice.
Standing at the end of the catwalk, enrobed in reddish light, was the Naruto clone. But it appeared different, more animalistic, and monstrous. Its eyes were a deep, blood red, with cat-like slits for pupils. The three faint markings on its face were now blood red and very pronounced. Its hair was tinged reddish, and it was hunched over in a primal way, claws decorating its hands.
Or hand.
For the left arm was no nothing more than a stump, and he could see that the shoulder was beginning was disintegrate, slowly burning off to join the aura of red that surrounded its body.
The demonic Naruto clone had a feral grin on its face, its remaining hand twitching in excitement.
"IT'S BEEN SO LONG SINCE I'VE HAD A BODY OF MY OWN…THE BRAT ISN'T THE KINDEST OF WARDENS. BUT IT SEEMS THAT HE HAS ALLOWED ME THIS LITTLE CHANCE TO HAVE A BIT OF FUN…DON'T WORRY, LITTLE GNOME, I SHAN'T KILL YOU, THERE ISN'T ANY POINT, REALLY." The demon hissed as another chunk of its shoulder disintegrated, and said angrily,
"IT SEEMS THAT THIS BOYS CHAKRA AN D MINE DON'T PLAY WELL TOGETHER…I ONLY HAVE A SHORT TIME IN THIS WORLD. I HAVE ALREADY FINISHED OFF THAT OTHER MACHINE, IT WAS TRULY PATHETIC. PERHAPS THIS ONE WILL BE A MORE ENJOYABLE CATCH, HMMM?"
The demon's image flickered, and suddenly it vanished, appearing seconds later in front of the gnome, a few feet away from the Nullifier. The demon sneered up at it.
"YOU REEK OF ANCIENT CHAKRA…BUT MINE IS FAR OLDER, AND FAR STRONGER. YOUR POWER WILL NOT WORK ON ME." The machine predictably didn't respond, instead raising it's left arm and bringing it downwards in a wicked attack, which would have killed any normal person.
The Kyuubi, however, was anything but normal, and it didn't even have to lift a finger for the attack to fail. The Arcane Nullifier's arm was deflected by the red aura, which seemed to lash out and grab it, squeezing it until the claw had been crushed utterly. The Nullifier didn't pull back; instead attacking with it's other arm, which the Kyuubi grabbed with its remaining hand. The demon laughed, and ripped the arm clean off the machine, causing electric sparks and smoke to erupt from the place where it had been torn off.
With a final laugh, the Kyuubi pulled its hand back, and then thrust it forwards, the red aura extending outward with the thrust. A massive, ethereal claw, made from the reddish aura slammed into the Arcane Nullifier, lifting it off its feet and backwards. The claw carried it all the way down the catwalk, and struck the other wall. The force flattened the armor plating, crushed the metal deep into the wall and caused a spark from the friction of metal rubbing against metal to ignite the fuel tanks in its chest. The Nullifier exploded in fiery symphony of light and sound, all the while the Kyuubi laughed, demonic red eyes glittering in the reflection from the explosion. It retracted its "hand" and when it had, turned to face Quidneer.
Quidneer had never been so scared in his life, facing a machine was one thing, but a demon was an entire other!
The creature spoke,
"IT WAS FUN WHILE IT LASTED, I SUPPOSE. HERE, LITTLE MORSEL," the Kyuubi flipped a square object at the gnome who caught it, and stared. It was a key card!
"I FOUND IT ON THE MACHINE."
"Why…are you helping me?" The demon laughed.
"BECAUSE, THE BRAT WOULD NEVER LET ME HERE THE END OF IT, AND HE WOULD BE MORE LIKELY TO LIVE IF YOU DID THAN IF YOU FAILED AND DIED. I VALUE MY LIFE, GNOME." The demon cursed, as a part of his head began to break away.
"I'VE DONE MY PART, BRAT, NOW IT'S YOUR TURN."
Mekkatorque stepped onto the polished metal floor of the Tinker's Court, his eyes searching. It had changed slightly since he had been there last, but as had everything. The large statues of the previous High Tinker have loomed over the huge circular room, their golden faces stern and commanding. Hanging above the huge room was a large cocoon-like structure that Mekkatorque knew was the control room. He looked around wearily, his eyes searching all over, trying to find some sign of his former friend.
The other three gnomes stood behind him, ready to back him up if need be.
Tap tap tap.
Mekkatorque stopped, his eyes widening at the noise.
Tap tap tap
The others froze as well.
Tap tap tap
Mekkatorque's eyes suddenly fell on the source of the noise, the rhythmic tapping of metal on metal. The source smiled coldly.
"Hello, Gelbin."
HOLY SHIT, that was the longest chapter I've ever written! Holy jesus! Praise me!
I apologize for the lateness, I planned for this to come out sooner, but it kept getting longer…so that's why.
Tekgineers and Wartinkers are both my creations, so don't correct me on that.
Reviewer answers:
Obsidian-fox – Thanks, sorry I got that confused, but I read way too much X-men…
The Forgotten Lord – You are correct, and as I said, the orcs will play a roll. As for the magnetic point, maybe, but I don't think so, since it requires more control than Naruto has currently (he'll get better.) Yep, Night Elves live in Teldrassil, as well as Ashenvale and so other places. Illidan and Arthas will most certainly show up, and all of the other Naruto characters will show up, but in time (a long time actually for them to see Naruto, but we'll be seeing some more of them soon).
Slimeman – good questions. Naruto told Gamabunta that he's somewhere else, but he'll explain more later. Naruto can send messages, but only by recitation, no actual messages. It seems to me that summon techniques can't take physical objects away (what's to stop them from taking a human away, for example?) so no, Jiraiya won't be able to send scrolls.
PersonaJXT – You sir, are what I enjoy about writing. You keep me on my toes, and that is good. As to your Priest/Mind Magic question, I believe that members of the Church of Stormwind won't use some of the darker spells in the Shadow line, of which there are many including several mind spells (Mind Flay, Scream, Mind Control etc.) I think that in order for them to help their patients more, they must be able to understand the pain, and thus be able to treat it better. So that's why they focus on more of the mind magic abilities instead of anything else.
I am a rogue, by the way, so I know they are deadly and fun, but the annoyance I talk about is when level 60 rogues, usually night elves, camp weaker characters, killing them. This is less common now, what with the honor system, but my annoyance of both Alliance Rogues and Paladins go back to those days, when there wasn't an honor system. So I know that Paladins aren't that overpowered, but they annoy me anyways. I love Shaman, because I am a Horde guy through and through. They are the most fun to play. I am biased, so don't hold to much value in my statements in that area, they will always be biased.
Well, that's all, I'm going to sleep.
General Grievous
Next time, Mekgineer Thermaplugg!Spellbook:
Ikkan Bunshin no jutsu: Creates a special link with an existing clone. It allows a two way chakra and mental connection that is perfect for spying and/or fighting against annoyances. It is dangerous to use in combat, because it is slow to cast and if it is dispelled while you are using the link, it will cause irreparable damage to your mind.
Amatai Henge no jutsu: Puts henge no jutsu on multiple people.
Diamond Edge: Makes sword as sharp as diamond.
Concussion Edge: Creates wave of chakra that knocks down all those struck.
Shock Pulse: Emits powerful shockwave.
Reflector: Reflects energy
Bestiary:
Peacekeeper Security Suit (Mechanical) (Elite) – Part of the techbot series, designed by Mekkatorque to take control of things in hazardous situations such as riots, chemical spills. Outfitted with repairing ability by Thermaplugg. Very durable, EMP immune.
Crowd Pummeler 9-60(Mechanical) (Elite) – Part of the techbot series, designed by Mekkatorque but discontinued because of excessive force. Later upgraded by Thermaplugg and put back into use. Possesses incredibly powerful hammers on its hands, resistant to damage, EMP immune.
Arcane Nullifier X-21 (Mechanical) (Elite) – Part of earlier techbot series, is a unique blend of chakra and technology to create a machine immune to magic. Is activated by touch, extremely deadly, EMP immune.
Electrocutioner 6000 (Mechanical) (Elite) – Designed by Mekgineer Thermaplugg, given to Tekgineer Terko Electrocut. Resembles a spider, incredibly fast, durable, can be surrounded by electric field that renders anyone who attacks paralyzed and open to attack.