SONIC HEROES: THE SERIES
I would like to thank the following people for making these chapters possible: Aika08, DarkspineSilver92, Kiba Sniper, SupergamerGreg79, Emily Blue Paw, and the Brawler.
Naruto © Kishimoto
Tomo © Kiba Sniper
Note: Takes place during Hybrid's Wrath and one year before Shippuden
Chapter Sixty-Nine: Pein and Suffering, Part 1
The scene opens to a highly industrial city somewhere hidden in a far away land. An endless sea of storm clouds covered the skies of the city, drowning its inhabitants in an endless downpour. We shift to one of the larger towers in the city, where a young woman appeared to be waiting near an opening to the tower. She had short blue hair and wore a black cloak with red clouds; she took great pride in the paper rose in her hair. The woman remained motionless, watching as the rain continued to drizzle over her home. She then turned slowly around as a shadowed figure approached her from behind.
"Arrived early, have you?" The woman spoke.
"It is always a pleasure to see you, Konan." The figure said sarcastically. "But now is not the time for pleasantries. I must speak to 'him' at once. I have a rather urgent need for a fresh supply."
"What we provide is not simple to obtain." Konan said darkly. "If you wish to obtain what you desire, you must first offer up payment."
"I was expecting you to say that." The dark figure chuckled.
The figure snapped his fingers to call one of his servants out of the shadows. Surprising, one of the Black Arm soldiers stepped forward with a silver case in its claws. The Black Soldier kneeled before Konan and presented her with the items inside the case. It was filled to the brim with stacks of money that would seem impossible to obtain in such a short time. Konan looked over the money with a sharp eye, checking to see its authenticity. Pleased with the payment, Konan closed the case and took it from the Black Soldier.
"Right this way, Black Doom." Konan commanded.
The alien overlord nodded and floated behind Konan up the steps of the tower. With every step that was taken, Black Doom could receive a better view of the city below. Though hidden from the world, this city was one of the most advanced industries in the world, only beaten by Megalo City. Finally, they reached the highest point of the tower and walked out to a small open area. Standing over the edge of the area, in the middle of the rain, was a man who wore the same cloak as Konan. Black Doom moved to make his presence know, but it was not required.
"Back again, Black Doom?" The man questioned.
"I should have known I couldn't fool you." Black Doom said lightly.
"He has come to obtain more of our stock." Konan informed.
"How many has he paid for?" The man questioned.
"Seven." Konan answered shortly.
"Then go prepare his shipment, Konan." The man commanded.
The blue-haired woman nodded and walked back into the tower, happy to get out of the rain. As Konan exited the area, the man turned to present himself to Black Doom. He was around the same age as Konan with spiked orange hair and a headband around his forehead with the Rain symbol present. He had seven piercings and a metal bar through each ear, three studs through his upper nose and one spike stud on each end of his bottom lip. But his most unique feature was his multi-ringed purple eyes. The man stepped down from his ledge and approached Black Doom.
"I hope you can provide me with some necessary bodies, Pein." Black Doom said.
"What happened to the ones I gave you two weeks ago?" Pein questioned. "Ever since we met in The Land of Snow, you have become rather dependant on the bodies I offer. You best consider yourself grateful that I would allow it."
"But I do provide the funds for your little organization, so you can't complain." Black Doom retorted. "Rather, I would not need these bodies if it wasn't for those meddlesome heroes and the filthy disgrace of evil, The Dark Rulers."
"The Dark Rulers?" Pein repeated. "Nazo's organization?"
"Yes." Black Doom nodded. "I am currently hiding from them. Nazo can track my energy anywhere in the world, but he is unable to sense my presence in space. I am risking my life returning to this planet." His three eyes turned to the pierced man. "But how do you know of Nazo?"
"Word of Nazo spreads even to The Village Hidden in Rain." Pein stated. "But what infuriates me is that one of Akatsuki's former subordinates has joined them."
"You must mean Tomo." Black Doom said menacingly. "I believe she was one of your partner's students. His name was Kakuzu, wasn't it?"
"That is correct." Pein stated. "When I find that traitor, she will learn what true pain feels like." His attention was then drawn to the hanging cloud above. "And it appears I will receive that chance."
The scene alters to the border of the village. With quick precision and stealth, Tomo the Chameleon bound over the outer walls and landed silently in the village streets. Unfortunately, her partner, Nack the Weasel, was not so lucky and fell into an empty trash can. Tomo groaned, rubbing her temple, and turned back to help pull the clumsy weasel out.
"Can you be any more of an idiot?" Tomo seethed
"Excuse me, Miss Ninja." Nack groaned, pulling out of the can. "We can't all be super secret kung-fu freaks."
"Keep your mouth shut, rat." Tomo said threateningly, holding a kunai to his throat. Nack nodded slowly as Tomo replaced the kunai in her glove compartment. "Anyway, Lord Nazo said Black Doom was hiding somewhere in this village. Let's find him and get out as soon as possible."
"Aw, the little lizard afraid of a little rain?" Nack mocked.
"Do you know what this place is?!" Tomo exclaimed frightfully. "This is Amegakure or The Village Hidden in Rain. This is the home village of the Akatsuki leader, Pein."
"Pein." Nack scoffed. "That's a stupid name."
"Pain is one of the most powerful people in the world." Tomo stated. "Maybe even a rival for Lord Nazo. Since I left the Akatsuki, that makes me a fugitive. And if Pein ever finds out we're here, he'll kill us."
"You kidding....right?" Nack asked nervously; Tomo gave no reply. "Aw man, you're serious! I don't care what Nazo does to me! There is no way I'm risking my neck for the three-eyed freak!"
Nack tried to run, but the female chameleon grabbed his jagged tail.
"Lord Nazo gave us a mission." Tomo said, snapping Nack's tail back. "And that means we follow through his orders or die trying."
"Die?" Nack whimpered.
Tomo sighed. The chameleon girl pulled out a pair of black cloaks from the bag she was carry and handed one to Nack. Under the disguise, both Dark Rulers wandered down the soaking streets, not realizing a pair of eye following them. For the next two hours, Tomo and Nack went from place-to-place, asking for any information of Black Doom. From what it seemed, no one had ever heard of the alien overlord. But there were some rumors of a mysterious shadow wandering the halls of the Burial Tower. Many suspected it was only 'Lord Pein' as there were rumors that he resided their. After their long search, Tomo and Nack stopped at the fountain in the center of an empty plaza.
"Well, that was a waste of time." Nack groaned. "I mean, what was the point of that if no one knew who the hell he was?"
"We really should have expected Black Doom to actually show himself." Tomo said, twiddling with her kunai. "He wants to make sure that no one finds him, especially Lord Nazo."
"And he's doing a good job at it." Nack said, jumping back to his feet. "Ah, we better get back to the castle. This mission is a failure."
"Lord Nazo is going to be angry." Tomo said, following the weasel.
"When is he not angry?" Nack joked.
Tomo placed her hand over her mouth in an attempt not to laugh. It was strange, but the only one that had ever been able to force a laugh out of the stern chameleon was Nack. Come to think of it, Nack was the only one who could ever draw any emotion from Tomo. The chameleon realized this and began to think over her time with the clumsy weasel. But just as the two walked towards the exit, Nack suddenly raised his hand to halt them; Tomo could feel it too. They could faintly hear silent footsteps coming from the pipes above. Nack reached into his cloak to pull out his gun and Tomo performed a series of hand signs.
"Ya ready?" Nack smirked.
"Have you forgotten who I am?" Tomo replied.
At once, Nack twisted around and pulled the trigger towards the pipes. The bullet bounced off the pipes, but it was enough to draw out their spy. Finishing her hand signs, Tomo took in a deep breath and huffed out a gigantic ball of flames. Since the figure was in mid-flight, it was impossible to avoid the attack. But to their surprise, the figure stretched his arm to an unimaginable length and pulled himself swiftly out of the fireballs path. As the ball of flame exploded into a nearby building, the shadowed figure dropped into the plaza and few feet away from the dark duo. The figure revealed himself to be none other than Naga the Snake.
"My, that was an impressive attack." Naga complimented coolly. "Judging by that marvelous display and the headband around your neck, I am to guess that you are a kunoichi from the Hidden Leaf Village."
"Yeah, what of it." Tomo sneered.
"Who the hell are you, anyway?" Nack questioned, holding his gun threateningly.
"My name is Naga, the Serpent of Darkness." Naga introduced. "And that would be my apprentice, Kai."
"Who?" Nack questioned.
"I believe he's referring to me." A cold voice answered.
Looking back, the two Dark Ruler confronted with Kai. The blue-haired Nobody swiftly reached into his pouch and shot a sharp dagger for Nack's forehead. But at the last minute, Tomo tossed a kunai to deflect the attack. Nack sighed in relief, but it didn't last long. Naga reached over from the other side of the plaza and dragged the weasel backwards by his heels. Tomo attempted to help her partner, but Kai jumped forward with a dagger raised above her head. Reacting fast, Tomo reached for her compartments and pulled out an enlarged shuriken to block the dagger.
"You are persistent." Kai said emotionlessly.
"We've always been taught at the academy never to give up." Tomo groaned, pushing all her weight towards the shuriken. "But then again, maybe giving up isn't such a bad idea."
"I won't matter." Kai stated. "Within minutes, you'll be dead."
"Which is plenty of time to turn this around." Tomo said confidently.
Tomo shifted her weight and sidestepped away to allow Kai to pass by her. With Kai's back to him, Tomo flung her shuriken for his head. Suddenly, Kai vanished from sight as the shuriken passed by and reappeared in front of the chameleon kunoichi.
"You'll have to be faster than that." Kai stated.
"Damn." Tomo cursed.
Meanwhile, Naga dragged Nack with his extended arm and slammed the weasel into the fountain. The force sent Nack bursting through the pipes and impacting the stone wall behind it. Nack slowly stood up, cracking his sore back, when he noticed Naga's head moving closer. The Heartless viper snapped at Nack's face, but the weasel dropped to the floor at the last minute. With this open opportunity, Nack pulled the trigger with gun aimed for Naga's jugular vein. He nailed a direct hit and Naga dropped dead, head and body.
"Heh! He wasn't so tough!" Nack boasted.
"I can only wonder who you are talking about." A malevolent voice hissed.
Nack shot around with a look of fear in his eyes. He had a right to be afraid as Naga burst through the wall behind him and grasped the weasel by his throat.
"What the hell just happened?!" Nack exclaimed
"You like it?" Naga said, reaching for the face of his clones. He ripped away the scale to reveal the face of a human body in his early teens. "It's a little trick I made from my creator's old jutsu." Nack tried for his gun again, but the viper saw this and quickly knocked the pistol out of his hand. "Little boys shouldn't play with guns. Someone might get hurt."
"I'll show you little!" Nack screamed, flailing his arms and feet. "Let me down so I can bop you upside the head!"
"As amusing as that sounds," Naga chuckled. "I would rather see you suffocate."
With that said, Naga closed his grip around the weasel's throat. The western weasel slowing started to lose oxygen and saw his life flashing before his eyes; Nack smiled at the memory of tricking Tomo into bed. Just as Naga was about to finish the job, Tomo's enlarged shuriken cut across his arm, barely chipping away at his scale. The sudden attack was enough to force Naga to release Nack's throat. With a menacing glare, Naga shot his head over to the battle with the chameleon and his apprentice. Tomo was covered in scratches as she swung her kunai in random directions. Kai suddenly appeared and cut across Tomo's back before vanishing again.
"Where the hell are you?!" Tomo questioned furiously, swing away with her kunai. "Show you damn face!!"
"I believe ninja's are supposed to be calm and collected." Kai's voice echoed. "If you were to truly grasp the concept of ninjutsu, you would realize this."
"Don't talk down to me about ninjutsu." Tomo growled. "You are not a shinobi."
"No." Kai replied, appearing suddenly behind Tomo. "I'm a beyond humanity."
Kai swiftly reached into his pouch, pulled out a dagger, and held it to Tomo's throat. At this range, Tomo couldn't perform any jutsu to defend herself. So the kunoichi did what any chameleon would do in this situation; she stuck out her tongue. This was the first time Tomo had ever resorted to using her usually long tongue. The slimy tendril reached around Kai's wrist and surprisingly lifted Kai over her shoulders. As she tossed the Mysterious Nobody to the ground, Kai landed back to his feet. With a twist of his head, Kai wrapped his bloodstained scarf around Tomo's wrist and flung her across the plaza, forcing her tongue to release. Fortunately, Tomo used her ninja skills to cling to the wall before crashing.
"You are exceedingly annoying." Kai glared. "You are possibly more irksome than Larxene or Demyx."
"I'll accept that as a compliment." Tomo grinned, forming a series of hand signs. "Now allow me to return the gesture. Water Style: Violent Water Wave!!"
Surprisingly enough, instead of expelling an attack, Tomo held her breath and kept her mouth tightly closed. Kai watched with interest as Tomo's body suddenly started to expand with incredible amounts of pressure. When she finally opened her mouth, a harsh jet of water spewed forward. Under normal conditions, this wouldn't have seemed so bad to Kai. But the blue-haired Nobody realized the pressure in the water was stronger than it looked. Acting fast, Kai zipped across the plaza at blinding speed, watching as the water tore through the metal pipes.
"I doubt even Demyx could come up with an attack as powerful as that one." Kai commented.
"I just knew you would approve." Tomo taunted, jumping overhead of the blue-haired Nobody with her leg held out. Unfortunately, Kai raised his forearms to block. "Oh, are you kidding me?"
"You should learn that I am not one to be tampered with." Kai said, pushing the chameleon away.
"If I had a nickel for every time I heard that." Tomo muttered.
Back with Nack and Naga, the weasel wasn't fending for himself very well. Without his gun, Nack was pretty much useless in battle and Naga knew this. Every time Nack would try to reach for his gun, Naga would always find someway to cut him off. Nack's latest attempt was to jump off one of the pipes and dive for his weapon. Unfortunately, the Heartless viper extended his arm and grasped Nack by his ankle, tossing the weasel to the side.
"Oh, this job doesn't pay enough." Nack groaned; Naga grasped his neck. "Aw, crap!"
"As much as I enjoy a good chase, you really need to die." Naga said annoyed. "I have other things to deal with besides handling a lowly rodent and slithering lizard."
"Like getting a facelift?" Nack sniggered.
"That about tears it." Naga said calmly.
Naga raised his other hand over his head, extracting his claws. While currently panicking under the pressure, Nack seemingly noticed that his pistol was somehow closer to them. It must have moved during Tomo's fight. As Naga swiped his claw down, Nack grabbed the pistol and pulled the trigger in Naga's face. Because of the closeness, Naga was barely able to move his head in time; the bullet swiped across his cheek. With the viper momentarily distracted, Nack pulled his gun at Naga's chest. The Heartless Serpent hissed in pain and stepped backwards, looking down at his bleeding chest.
"You miserable rodent!" Naga screeched.
"Tough luck, old timer." Nack smirked, cocking his pistol. "But we all have to go sometime."
"Heads up!" Tomo screamed.
Without warning, Tomo collided with Nack and smacked into the wall with a loud thud. Naga pulled off the upper half of his gi, which revealed his Heartless emblem, and ripped off the section where Nack's bullet hit. By this action, Naga's skin was refreshed and rejuvenated. Naga replaced his gi portion.
"Are you all right, my lord?" Kai asked, trying to sound worried. Being a pure-breed Nobody, he failed.
"I am fine, Kai." Naga stated. "But we've wasted enough time with these two. Clearly, they will not lead us to Black Doom or any of his Black Arms technology."
So that's what this is about." Tomo glared. "You were using us to get some alien technology."
"We have a genius with us, my lord." Kai said sarcastically.
"I can see that." Naga hissed. "What you have to understand is that the Black Arms are of the greatest societies in the universe. Next to the Babylonians, Black Arms technology is the most advance in the universe."
"Why do you need their technology?" Nack questioned. "You're starting to sound like that greedy pigeon, Rodrigo."
"Rodrigo is alive after all these centuries?" Naga questioned surprisingly.
"You know the old bird?" Tomo asked.
"Rodrigo was one of the first Babylonians to set foot on this planet." Kai explained monotone. "He was well known for his greed for power and lust for the darkness. This led to the separation of the two tribes: the Solar Tribe led by King Rakis and the Lunar Tribe led by Rodrigo. They first fought for the domination of Babylon Garden, but the Solar Tribe obtained victory and banished the Lunar Tribe. The two tribes have been at war ever since."
"Wow, what a nice bed-time story." A new young voice said.
The group of four swerved their heads around for the source of the voice. Since most of the plaza was covered in large pipes, the voices could have easily echoed from across the city. As they scanned their surroundings, a more mature voice began to chuckle.
"I think you spooked them, my apprentice." The voice laughed.
"Sorry, master." The young voice chuckled.
"Where are you?" Kai questioned.
"Well, since you asked so nicely..." The young voice taunted.
A moment later, everything was silent. The sudden halt in noise left everyone on edge, trying to predict where their anonymous watchers. Suddenly, a loud swirling sound could be heard swinging around the plaza; Naga dropped down on his palms. Kai looked confused at his master until a black chain suddenly swung from nowhere. The chain wrapped around his body and pinned the Nobody to a nearby pipe. Naga hissed menacingly as the assailant dropped from the rooftops and made himself known. It was the cursed warrior, Xenot.
"Who are you?" Naga hissed.
"Oh, don't mind me." Xenot waved. "I just decided to drop in."
"Boo!! Get off the stage!" Nack shouted.
"Everyone's a critic." Xenot moaned.
While Xenot was distracted by the verbal assault, Naga stealthily slithered his head closer to cursed being. With the warrior's neck close, Naga stretched his jaws to expose his fangs. But before he could strike, the Heartless viper sudden found his body stiff and cold. It was surprisingly painful as he turned his head and stare down at his body. The serpent's entire body was frozen from head to toe. His piercing yellow eyes were now a furious red when he noticed the figure standing next to his frozen body. Master Nyrox leaned against Naga's frozen body while sipping a cup of green tea.
"Hmm, still not good enough." Nyrox shook. "I could never make it as good as King."
"Who are you?" Naga hissed.
"Oh, sorry about that." Nyrox said nonchalantly. "I am Master Nyrox, Master of Light." He pointed to Xenot. "And that is my apprentice...Who is currently called Xenot."
"I abandoned my true name when I took this form." Xenot said sadly.
"You said you were friends with King, correct?" Naga questioned; Nyrox nodded. "Then give me a reason why we shouldn't kill you right now."
"For one thing, you and your apprentice are trapped." Xenot pointed; Naga hissed evilly.
"Listen, I have a proposition for you." Nyrox said calmly. "We can either leave you here for someone to kill you...or we can set you free and discuss this like rational men."
Naga and Kai glanced at one another. Both men knew that in their currently situation, they were in the position to be making threats. With a great sigh, Naga nodded; his neck was cramped because of his stiff neck. Seeing their reluctant acceptance, Nyrox used his mastery of fire to free Naga from his icy prison. Xenot walked over to Kai, both fighters glaring at one another, and retracted the black chain into particle of darkness. Sensing that everyone was calm again, Tomo and Nack slowly pulled back to their feet. All six warriors gathered near the destroyed fountain, everyone sharing a moment of silence.
"So..." Nack said awkwardly, turning to Nyrox and his apprentice. "What are you guys here for?"
"We heard rumors of a demon that regularly visits this village." Nyrox stated, patting his hand on his apprentice's shoulder. "I figured there was a chance it might be Xenot's little brother, Kyuta."
"It's possibly Black Doom." Naga hissed. "All the rumors spread across this village are centered around his number of visits."
"Then we were wrong." Xenot sighed. "My brother was never here to begin with."
"I'm sorry, Xenot." Nyrox said apologetically.
There was a moment of silence between the six, all respecting Xenot's depression. But the moment didn't last long as a bolt of lightning suddenly crashed inside the circle of warriors. The sudden explosion forced the six fighters to jump away. As they did, six more bolts of lightning dropped the sky, all aimed for each individual.
Naga twisted his stretchable body to avoid the bolt. Kai used a three-pronged dagger to absorb the energy. Nyrox summoned a mirror of ice to reflect it. Xenot summoned his trademark double-bladed black sword to split it in half. Tomo performed a lightning jutsu to nullify the attack. Nack couldn't avoid it, but got lucky since it only burned his hat. As the six warriors landed, they could faintly see a misshapen shadow in the cloud of dust. All warriors prepared for battle with the exception on Nack, who was sobbing over his burned hat.
"Aw man!" Nack cried. "I stole this hat from Clint Eastwood!"
"What was that?" Kai questioned
"The end." Tomo said frightfully.
As the dust cloud began to settle, the figure stood solemn in the center where the first lightning bolt hit. He was a yellow lion with a prickling mane surrounding his face. Like Pein and Konan, he wore the Akatsuki cloak with the Rain headband around his neck. He had four piercing sticking in his ears, two studs hanging from his bottom lip, and three piercings going down his nose. The most surprising feature was that he possessed the same purple, multi-ringed eyes as Pein.
"It's been a while, Tomo." The lion said.
"The leader of the Akatsuki, Pein." Tomo muttered.
"You shall experience true pain." Pein stated.
The true test of strength begin! Can these unlikely group of aliies fend off this new enemy? Will Pein too great of a match for them? And what secrets does Pein's newest form possess? Find out on the next Sonic Heroes!
Please, read and review.