Only a few ABB gang members managed to reach the safety of their hideout. Normally, a giant rubber duck would be only moderately intimidating. But convinced that the rubber duck was spouting very warm fire and seemingly bullet proof and had eaten a few of their comrades, just three of the men were physically fit enough to run the entire way.

The pair of armed guards stepped outside to see grown men running away from a hooded boy that was briskly chasing them. "Hold up. Who's that?" one of them asked. None of Zetsu's victims stopped to answer, running inside to beg their leader to save them.

"Yo, I'm here to challenge your leader. Is he in here?" Zetsu asked from under his hood.

"Uh…" the confused guard mumbled.

The other guard pulled out a cell phone and called his superior. After mumbling into the phone, he covered the receiver and asked, "Who are you again?"

"I am Zetsu." Feeling that was insufficient, he added, "I'm a cape. A ward."

Immediately, both guards raised their handguns at the ninja.

"His name is Lung, right? I'm assuming he's in there," Zetsu said as he walked past the guards. The moment before he was shot by the guard's handgun, Zetsu raised the barrel of the gun to the sky with his hand. "Hey, I said I come in peace."


"I give up, Director. Find someone else to watch Zetsu," Armsmaster told Director Piggot on his way to his workshop.

"I can't say that I blame you," the Director said exasperatedly. "For now perhaps we could try him with Miss Militia. You'll be helping Weaver instead."

"Weaver?"

"The other new ward. She could use some experience. Meet her after school ends," she ordered. "By the way, where IS Zetsu at the moment?"

"…"


"So here's the deal," Zetsu began to speak in the middle of a crowd of ABB thugs and before the mighty leader, Lung. "I want to challenge you to a fight. If you win, I'll take out the Empire Eighty-Eight. If I win, I become the new leader of the ABB and you work for me."

"You…want to fight me?" Lung spoke as he stood up and stretched his tattooed arms. "Do you know who I am?"

"I got the gist of it."

Lung let out a bellowing, evil laugh. "I see you no longer wish to live. I will oblige your death wish."

Zetsu dodged backward, avoiding Lung's fist swiping at his head. The crowd began to roar as their boss's attacks were all blocked or avoided. Lung only paused his onslaught when he noticed the bleeding gashes in his arms. Zetsu was holding a pair of bloody kunai. The larger man's nostril flared in anger as he spoke quietly, "Nothing will save you now."

For his banter, Lung received a smattering of senbon to the upper torso. The man roared and charged at the boy. His wounds were already beginning to close as his movements became quicker and came closer to hitting Zetsu. Lung's skin began to shine with a metallic accent when he charged the boy with his entire body.

However, Lung instead barreled into a swirling fireball that Zetsu had summoned in his hands. Lung flew backward into the wall on the other side of the room. His skin was scratched and scorched, despite the infusion of armor his power gave him.

He let out a draconic roar and threw a wooden desk at the Ward. The desk impacted on the fireball, becoming but splinters. Behind the desk, however, was the wooden chair that Lung had also thrown. Zetsu redirected the chair into the air behind him but Lung took the moment to bull rush the boy.

The two of them crashed outside the third floor window. Zetsu found purchase on the wall just underneath the window, standing perpendicular to the wall, while Lung was getting up from a tiny crater he had made in the street. The inhuman dragon-man looked up at the boy. Zetsu's black coat fluttered in the wind.

Lung breathed a spray of fire at the boy, who ran across the building wall as if he was in a kung-fu action movie. Zetsu replied by throwing kunai with bits of paper tied to the end. They landed in a pentagram around Lung before exploding simultaneously.

Zetsu continued circling his opponent from above, not trusting the explosive tags to do any significant damage to the now scale-armored cape. He ran his fingers through a series of hand seals and then landed on the ground near the smoke cloud that surrounded Lung.

Lung roared as he sank into the concrete as if he was standing in water. Plumes of fire streaked in the direction of Zetsu. A single hand seal later, Zetsu was replaced by a used tire which landed on the ground as a pile of burnt rubber.

The dust cleared and Lung was climbing out of blackened, crumbling concrete. Thumping music began to play as Zetsu cast a genjutsu and watched the flaming dragon-man stand in the dancing air.

"WRAH?" Lung spoke as he looked for the source of the sound. By now, the villain was over ten feet tall.

"You don't like techno? How about this?" Zetsu asked as the music changed to something that could have come from a Kingdom Hearts game.

The ABB minions gawked from above as Zetsu smashed his fists into Lung's body and limbs. It only staggered Lung for a moment before the Ward broke off his attack. A massive beam of fire began tracking Zetsu from the mouth of the dragon. Ordinarily Zetsu was perfectly capable of dodging but the presence of curious bystanders convinced him to block the blast with his upheld arm. The fire impacted and flowed around the boy. The few people who had stopped to watch the street brawl ran in fear of their lives.

When the flames dissipated, Lung had disappeared. Zetsu immediately attacked behind himself with a spinning kick but massive dragon-man caught his foot with a claw. Lung crushed the appendage and swung the boy by the leg into the nearest wall. His triumphant roar shook the nearby buildings.

Lung's celebrations were cut short by pointed laughter coming from the human-sized hole in the abandoned apartment building wall. Zetsu hobbled out of the building to lean against the wall he had just been thrown through. His coat was scratched and covered in dust. He continued to laugh maniacally until he spoke to the invincible villain, "It's been a while since I've had this much fun, Lung. Unfortunately for you, school's out."

Surfeit with chakra with the release of the Kage Bunshin Jutsu, the air swirled around Zetsu, fluttering his black overcoat dramatically as it seemed to collect in his hands. He launched the ball of swirling, crackling electrical energy into the two story tall cape.

Lung caught the Lightning Rasengan in a single clawed, armored hand. The attack fizzled and Lung flew toward Zetsu faster than anything his size had a right to be. Lung's flaming claw swiped at Zetsu, who blocked with both arms and skidded back two meters.

"You're supposed to lose when I break out my special move!" Zetsu shouted.

Lung replied with a guttural chuckle. Again, he was cut off as Zetsu sliced off two of his fingers with a futuristic knife. Lung roared in pain and slammed his fists down on the boy. Instead of crushing his opponent, Lung ended up crushing a small sedan that had not been there a moment before.

Zetsu stood behind the enraged dragon creature, holding an oversized sword next to him, tip touching the ground. The ridiculously large blade was covered in bandages and the long handle had several grey spines along its length. The spines had even speared through Zetsu's hand which was bleeding heavily.

"It's been fun, Lung, but I have to end this before the party-poopers show up," Zetsu spoke, noticing familiar presences closing on his location. "Samehada! Absolve!"

A moment later, Zetsu was again behind Lung, only the massive Samehada was stained with blood, and instead of bandages was covered in grey, wriggling scales. The dragon-man fell to a knee, the bleeding gash in his chest surrounded by human-looking flesh.

"Zetsu, stand down!" Armsmaster announced over his built-in speakers. He was accompanied by the red cape, Velocity.

As soon as Zetsu turned toward the source of the sound, a man wearing an oni mask appeared next to him and subsequently exploded. When the dust cleared, the massive, organic looking sword was gone and Zetsu was completely unharmed, albeit scowling off into the distance. Lung was also gone, presumably taken away by the oni-man.

Zetsu pouted, "Exploding fucker messed up my coat!"