Chapter 12: Men Against Machine
"Who the hell do I have to beat up to get an answer around here?" yelled out Franky. He had his sunglasses on, tealish hair flowing in the wind, and an opened vacation shirt and underwear being the only items of clothing to cover him. Clothing-wise, this was his typical uniform to express his superness. However, there were some other things bothering him.
-FLASHBACK-
"Where the hell am I?" He needed some answers as to how he ended up in this hick neighborhood and out of Water 7, his home island. Last thing he remembered was wiping his tears in a forest nearby for some reason, and then it finally occurred to him. He had no idea where he was.
So all in all, he walked around for a while and found himself in this village. The citizens of this area did not seem all that friendly though. He tried to walk up the gate's guards, and they immediately identified him as "He's that perverted guy from the invasion!"
They sure as hell didn't know how to properly greet their guests, but he tried to stay calm.
"I have no idea what you're talkin' about, but maybe you can help me out. Which way is Water 7?"
"We better call in for back-up, sir!" one guard said to the other.
"Heck no! I can take care of this trash. It's only right for me to give him the proper compensation him and his gang deserves for messing with my men and Konoha!"
"There he goes being reckless again," sighed a hopeless subordinate.
"Fine, if you're not up for talking, I'll beat it out of you!" yelled Franky.
However, it did not turn into much of a challenge for Franky. His toys ineffective. His magic tricks unimpressive. His durability…, not very long lasting. All he needed was a good punch to be down for the count. However, his situation would not be resolved so simply…
He soon found himself surrounded by these guards, ready to take action at any moment's notice. They were pissed.
"Hey, I'm the one who should be mad here! If you don't know the way to Water 7, just say so!"
-END FLASHBACK-
"Anyways, Tenten and Neji, I want you handle this."
"Yes, ma'am!" they both responded simultaneously. And in an instant, they were off.
While traveling through the traffic of everyday life in the village, they discuss their plans.
"So, how should we approach this guy, Neji?" Tenten asked. Although she had been a fully capable ninja by now in terms of strength and rank compared to Neji, every time she's around him, she always feels that she should act subordinate to him. A matter of habit, I guess…
"Knowing that it could possibly an enemy from this Koragen, it's best to take no chances and handle it as swiftly as possible. You divert him and I'll try to get up close," Neji clearly stated.
"Wait, someone's following us…" Tenten suddenly noticed.
"Don't worry. It's just one of them!" Neji said calmly as they continued advancing.
"Them?" Tenten wondered as she looked back. A happy-go-lucky Sanji was keeping up with them from behind.
"Mellorineeeee!!!! Nami-swan told me that I should accompany you and see what's going on!!!!" Sanji shouted from afar, fully enthusiastic.
"Try not to get in our way," Neji stated.
"Who the hell's talking to you, you bastard?!?" Sanji yelled back. Then he calmly returned to his smooth lovey tone. "Tenten-san, don't worry. I'll protect you and make sure you will not be harmed. That's my promise to you!"
Tenten nervously laughed. "Uh, yeah. Thanks…"
"I see the enemy in sight. Get ready!" Neji ordered. Another enemy so soon… "Whatever this organization is, they're impatient. However, it seems there's only one person to worry about… Is this really an isolated attempt to knock Konoha while it's recovering?"
Both shinobi sped up leaving Sanji behind only to catch up later. Whether this was a one man army or a decoy, it was up to the ninja of Konoha to take care of it. Sanji somewhat understood that and decided there was no need for him to rush to the scene. "Once that bastard touch my beloved Tenten-san though, all bets are off!"
Meanwhile, for Franky, it seems the overprotective men were starting to back off. "Now, that you guys understand how super I am, show me to your leader!" he cried with a pose of victory, two arms diagonally pointing to the sky.
In an instant, all the men backed off and retreated.
"Geez, not even an apology after giving me all that trouble…" he responded.
Before he had much time to relax though, two kunai were thrown at him, forcing him to jump back out of reflex. He did not have much time to start complaining before another barrage of weapons was hurled at him. This time, they were much more plentiful in number.
"Twin Rising Dragons!"
"Star Shield!"
Since Franky considered it hopeless to try to completely avoid the attack, he took it head on by walking through it with his arm covering his head. Re-inventing himself as a cyborg was meant for this durable defense after all. Once the seemingly never-ending barrage of weapons slowed down, it took no wasted time to counter attack.
"Beans Left!" His left arm rotated inward, only to reveal four holes of rapid fire explosive pellets, aiming at his attacker, Tenten.
She did not expect such a responsive turnover, but did her best to move outside of the range of fire by jumping off the top of the roof she was on. She then throws a kunai in retaliation which went straight to Franky's chest.
Unfortunately, the weapon barely scratched his chest before dropping to the ground.
"Sorry, something like this can't hurt…."
BOOM!
An explosion clearly caught Franky. Tenten had prepared an explosive tag on the kunai, so it was no wonder it made such a heavy impact.
"I didn't see him budge, so did I get a clear hit?" Tenten wondered as the smoke started to clear.
"Gotta say, that packed a punch, but something like that can't stop me," Franky declared while posing in his usual form.
By that time, Neji had already maneuvered in front of the opponent, ready to take him down. Before Franky could react, the attack had begun.
"Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!" he coldly stated as he examined the ignorant man standing before him.
In an instant, he started delivering quick finger jabs to the body of Franky. He continued striking to the unfazed body. Before reaching 64, he sensed his attack wasn't very effective, and barely avoided a return punch, slightly bruising his cheek.
"Even with his tough exterior, I assumed I would be able to have some effect with the gentle fist style…" Neji reflected.
"Don't tell me you're done yet. Our fight's just getting started," said a grinning Franky getting into a boxing pose. "Franky Boxing!" Fists up and ready to punch, while quickly shuffling his feet.
"What is he even made of?" Tenten thought while watching on.
Neji made no signs of hesitation as he provoked the enemy to make the first move.
Franky quickly move in for a right hook. Neji jumped for a quick kick to the jaw before Franky could make any contact and followed up with a double-palm to the chest to push him back. Franky impatiently stepped in again, only to get two strikes to the chest. He did not budge and landed a clean one-two combo in on Neji's upper body. His body couldn't take the attacks well as his opponent, leaving him a moment of vulnerability. Franky delivered an uppercut to close the deal. Before flying upward from the attack, he landed a hard kick to Franky's cheek.
Franky fell over to the side but quickly rolled back up to his feet, while Neji back-flipped and landed on his right knee and hands. He slowly got back up, wiping the blood from his mouth.
"Master Nail!" Franky took a deep breath and started firing nails out of his mouth in rapid fire.
"Eight Trigram Palms Heavenly Spin!" He quickly maneuvered around while deflecting all projectiles getting near him. No projectile was able to enter within a set radius from his technique as he continued guarding from the onslaught of the nails. When the Master Nail attack has reached its limits, it was revealed that Neji managed to catch some of nails and he launched them right back at Franky's head.
"Star Shield!" He raised his arm to cover the oncoming projectiles from hitting him. "Who does he think he is trying to hit me with my own attack!?!?"
When Franky finally relaxed his guard, he received a warm welcome from re-entrance of the other opponent.
Tenten punched him hard with a baton equipped, having him spit blood from how hard she hit him. With another baton equipped on her other arm, she did not make no hesitation to continue delivering combos of baton beating. Quickly switching the baton between arm guard and stick handling, she left Franky no opening to make a clean counter or room to escape. All aimed toward his face. Leaving him much bruised and bloodied up.
Franky finally grabbed a baton before it was swinged over his head with his left arm and pulled it from her and pushed her back.
"Enough of this…" he silently spoke from feeling fatigue. He launched it back at her, but she quickly side-stepped to avoid it.
"Fresh FIRE!!!!" Flames burst out of his mouth, aimed directly at Tenten who was caught off-guard. It quickly reached her figure and burned her intensely. Franky continued exhaling the fire to make sure she would stay burnt.
When he finally could breathe out no more, he gradually ceased the attack. Out of the flames though, he noticed a thin figure in a burnt suit, covering Tenten. A blonde man with a cigarette in his mouth Franky noticed as he turned around…
"Thanks for the light, but sorry… I'm still gonna beat the living shit out of you. Nothing personal, but didn't your parents ever teach you some manners when dealing with a lady?"
"Sorry, the Grand Line treated me with no parents, but plenty of memories. Want me to tell you all about them?"
"Sure…."
Sanji quickly rushed in and deliver an aimed high jumping kick, to which Franky blocked with his left arm.
"Strong Hammer!" He took the skin of his right hand and delivered a pure steel punch toward the face of Sanji. Sanji barely avoided it by twisting his body and kicking the arm away from him.
As soon as he got back up on his feet, he ducked under a second punch and returned a strong back sweep kick to the loin. Franky fell over hard to the ground, bending over while rubbing his lower back.
"Guess you aren't invincible after all," Sanji stated.
"I have plenty more up my sleeve so don't get too cocky yet!" he cried as he slowly got back up.
By then, however, Neji, Tenten, and Sanji have all surrounded him.
"It seems his back isn't as tough as his front…" Tenten said.
"Yes, Tenten-san!!! It was me who discovered it! Me!!!" Sanji proclaimed proudly while twirling in delight.
"Let's finish this…" Neji ordered.
"Wait, wait!" Franky cried as he saw his three opponents close in on him. They stopped to see what he had left to say.
"Since it's three-on-one, at least allow me to do this… Franky Invincible!!!!"
… A moment of silence after his comeback technique…
"Eh, why is he lying on the ground like that? Is he surrendering?" Tenten pondered.
"Well, doing that does have his weakness covered, but it's not like he can fight back now…" Sanji examined before getting distracted by Tenten's thinking face. Then he just started prancing around.
"This is pointless…" Neji remarked coldly.
"Ha ha! See what you fools can do now?!?!" Franky boasted.
"Tenten…" Neji indicated.
"Oh, yeah…" Tenten said, before Sanji stepped in.
"Allow me to do the honors, Tenten-san!!" he happily volunteered.
He dashed in and launched him into the air with a standard soccer kick. The body fell toward Neji, who was in a perfect position to take advantage of the enemy's weakness. Franky dazily dropped with his back toward the ground.
"Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!" Repeated strikes flew upward, continuously piercing accurately to his internal organs. Constant delays from hitting the floor, with each strike giving an ever-so slight push against gravity.
By the end of the technique, Franky was lifelessly dropped to the ground, knocked out cold.
"Okay, let's take him back and find out his identity and for what purpose he decided to enter Konoha."
"Ah!!" Tenten finally noticed now she had a good look at him. "He's with that Koragen organization. I remember Ino and the others were fighting him. I should have noticed sooner with his odd choice in clothing…"
"This means we will be able to get some more answers out of him. Hopefully, we'll be able to gather more useful information on what we're up against…"
Author's Notes: Well, that's a fairly quick release considering my typical track record, so I'm somewhat proud of myself. I know this fight would cause many concerns, such as "Really, three against one to take Franky down?!?!?" In my defense, this is just an "overwhelm the enemy" strategy, rather than a serious fight. Plus, Franky's advantage of having a very durable upper body gave him much of a fighting chance early on in the fight.
Next chapter will start off with Tsunade sending a team to investigate the whereabouts of the mysterious and somewhat cliché Koragen. To make it somewhat interactive, in your reviews think of an ideal 4-man cell involving our heroes. I have not think too much of it yet, so I may even end up using your ideas (I'll try to remember to give you credit).
Also, comment on the fight scene. I'd like to think the fight scene has gotten better (watched much more martial arts movies during the time; Donnie Yen FTW!) than early on, although I have lost my touch with the fighting styles of the Naruto characters (it don't even feel right for me to use the Japanese names of the techniques anymore as you may have noticed; anime filler really have detached me from the awesome fighting that was in Naruto). The One Piece characters I'm still working on, not sure if I'll ever get it right. If my description of the fight scene is confusing / cluttered up/ or just damn dull, please say so!
Anyways, read and review, and don't expect another quick release!