A/N: Some of the scenes will be based on Fullmetal meets Fox by ekaki-uta, so credit goes to him/her. So here is Chapter 40 with Naruto and Haruhi Suzumiya.
Chapter 40: The Boy Who Will Be Hokage and the SOS Brigade: Showdown with the Second of the Dark Generals: Part 1 of 2
Konoha Village…
It was dawn, just after the sun rose. The foggy streets of the village were littered with trash. Pieces of confetti, paper, wood, and other items were scattered all over.
Sasuke looked around the town square. On the far left, he could see some of the village men disassembling the stage that stood at the center the other night. He looked at the ground. Heaps and piles of garbage were scattered almost everywhere, waiting to be picked up. He sighed.
'Why is it that I have to be so eager for a mission?' He asked himself. As he held his head up, looking at the sky, he felt a flashback coming on.
"Are you sure you want this new mission?" his sensei asked.
"Of course!" said Sasuke proudly.
"Alright…"
Little did he know that his mission was NOT one that involved stealthing into enemy territory, retrieving any Secret Scroll of some kind, not even delivering an important message.
In fact, the mission was a pure disgrace to a ninja.
"You'll have to clean up all the trash littered around town after last night's Moon Festival.", his teacher instructed him. Sasuke had no other choice but to follow. What could he do?
Back to the present.
Sasuke shrugged. "Guess I'd better start doing my "mission"…", he said sarcastically.
He slung his sack above his shoulders and started to pick up all the trash he could get his hands on, muttering indistinctly.
In a few minutes, he had picked up all but a third of the trash in the square.
"Great…", he muttered. "Only 15 streets and 45 alleys left to go… Hooray…"
Later that day, Sasuke and his friends Naruto, Neji, Shikamaru, Hinata, Ino, TenTen, Sakura, as well as their sensei, Kakashi and Kurenai, were all at the Hyuuga Estate, drinking and gossiping.
"Too bad you had to do all the work, Sa'ke!" Naruto said, teasing him.
"Yeah," said Neji, "You could have at least asked for our help."
"Stop it. It's not funny.", said Sasuke, obviously frustrated. "Do you know how hard it was to do that?!"
"No," said Shikamaru, "But if you hum a few bars I could sing with you…"
Everyone laughed.
"Shut Up!", said Sasuke. "Besides, I didn't need your help. If I did, I still wouldn't have asked you, anyway."
"Ooh, stingy…"
All of them laughed once more, amused at their own bickering. Unaware that they were being watched.
Outside the Hyguuga Estate, are two figures, one is a man about 30 years of age, has black long hair, has pale skin, wore white clothes with purple belt like cloth around his waist, his toes are exposed as he wears sandals. He also has a dark bracelet around his left hand.
Next to him is a young man with long, silver waist length hair with red and yellow horns protruding from the sides of his head. He wears a black long coat and pants of the same color. He has a blue ring behind his back along with a gold ring with a dark gem embedded on it on his right finger.
The silver haired man turned to the black haired man. "Are you positive that Lord Summerill wants them in Agarest?" He asked. He is known as Widdershin, one of Summerill's Five Dark Generals and the one next to him is Orochimaru, the Lord of the Sound Ninja, also a Dark General, and he and Widdershin are in the homeworld of Orchimaru.
Orchimaru let out a sinister chuckle. "Of course. I have big plans for Sasuke and his brother. It's perfect, once Sasuke is bind to one of Lord Summerill's trinkets, my Cursed Seal Jutsu will increased tenfold. He will be a variable asset in destroying the Ragian clan."
Widdershin nodded in understanding and added "It wasn't easy, but thanks to Werbellia, we managed to convince the Ataksuki in joining our Lord's army. If they are as strong as you said when you first joined them, perhaps they will be of some use to us before we dispose of them. They say they wanted that boy… His name is Naruto Uzumaki, correct?"
"Yes. But enough banter. Let us transport them to Agarest…" Orchimaru did some hand some hand symbols.
(Back in the Hyuuga Estate)
Ino suddenly started feeling a lot colder. It felt like she was in icy water.
"Hey, guys… Do you feel that…?"
They looked at her.
Kakashi felt it, too. Naruto, Kurenai, and TenTen looked like they had been hit by shards of ice.
Sakura huddled close to Sasuke.
"Sasuke-kun… What is it?"
Sasuke looked out the window. Then, he saw him.
It was the one who cursed him with the Cursed Seal Jutsu, Orchimaru, he smirked darkly at the Uchiha boy and said only two words.
"Farewell, Sasuke."
Sasuke then noticed Orchimaru was with someone he has never seen before, he looked like a demon of some sort, but he is human mostly.
Suddenly, Sasuke felt sick. He could feel his insides being ripped apart. He looked to his left, but Sakura was gone. He felt that his body was slipping down into something. He looked at his feet, but all he could see was a puddle of purplish goo. It was like he was in quicksand, sinking; helplessly sinking.
Sinking. And sinking.
He closed his eyes, and hoped for the best.
(Back in Agarest)
"Thank you for the supplies." Tachibana closed her eyes, smiled and bowed lightly as the merchant gave Ragian's Army some supplies. They happened to meet a traveling merchant on the road to Fensarill and after hearing their mission and reasons for going to Fensarill, he happily gave our heroes some much needed supplies.
"It's no trouble at all." The kind merchant smiled as Ladius gave him his gold. "Good luck on reaching Fensarill and putting an end to this war." With a Heyaa, the merchant and his cart headed deeper into the Rizal Fen.
"I'm glad we met a travelling merchant during our journey to Fensarill." Saeko smiled as she tightly adjusted her katana's sheath.
"Hell, be glad we finally got some food to enjoy ourselves." Yuri commented with a smirk. Ladius turned to Yuri and he took notice. "Something up, Leader?" That is Yuri's new nickname to Ragian's Offspring since he respected Leo and a proper nickname will fit his heirs well.
"Yuri… If you don't mind me asking… Has bits of your memories come back to you?" Ladius asked with arms crossed.
"Hmm…" Yuri closed his eyes and scratched his chin in thought. "Now that you mentioned it, I think bits of my memories came back to me… I believe I was raised in some lower quarter in some kingdom back in my world, although the people of the lower quarter were being treated like dirt while the nobles pampered themselves with the taxes earned from the poor…" Yuri frowned as he tighten his fist.
"The hell that's supposed to mean? I'm a noble too, ya know?" Luke looked up from whatever he saw and looked at Yuri with a annoyed look.
"Simple… I… Don't… Like… Nobles…" Said Yuri slowly and vemously as he glared at Luke with a darken intent.
"Uh… Why is your friend looking at me like that?" Luke gulped as he took a step back.
Tear noticed the glare Yuri is giving Luke and couldn't help but think 'Something must have happen to Yuri when he was young in his world… That glare reminded me of my brother… If I do have a brother… I better keep Luke safe from Yuri even if Luke is a pain in the rear…'
Yuri calmed down and sighed. He added "Look, how about we set up camp and I can tell you more about bits of my returned memories?"
Vira-Lorr looked up at the sun setting down. "I agree. I would like to hear more about Yuri's memories."
"OK!" Neptune pumped her fist in the air. "Ymiry! You set up camp while we prepare the food! Mmm, food…" She drooled at the thought of having dinner tonight.
"I told you not to call me that!" Ymir stomped her feet and has a scary face.
Later that night…
Ellis and Dita were preparing the food while the rest of the gang sat around the fire like a huge camping group. Vashtor and Borgnine were keeping watch. Vashtor closed his eyes for a bit until he felt something. He opened his eyes and turned to the source of what's troubling him. Without a word, he walked towards the source without even Borgnine noticing.
Ladius turned to Yuri after everyone has finished their meals. The son of Leonhardt asked the rogue swordsman "So… tell us more about your returned memories, Yuri."
Yuri nodded and told him "Okay, just bear with me. It's gonna be a bit tragic and full of my hardships in what returned of my memories. I was born in the lower quarter and wanted to become a knight. So me and my friend joined the knighthood of the kingdom we lived in."
Ellis sat down and turned to Yuri and asked "Who is your friend, Yuri?"
Yuri sighed as he rubbed his temples and told the high elven girl "A friend of mine who was also raised in the lower quarter: Flynn Scifo."
"Is this Flynn Scifo hot?" Ling has hearts in her eyes, she still has feelings for Ichika who is still in his world, but this Flynn guy got her interested.
"Yeah, he's all pretty and crap like that. But I think he's better at sword fighting than me. I think I remember he beat me so many times that it infuriates me, ugh." Yuri again clutched his fist.
"But isn't he your friend, mister Lowell?" Dizzy asked, a bit afraid of Yuri's temper.
"Yeah… But he's nothing but a pawn for the nobles. The point is, no matter how hard he tries, new corrupted nobles will take his or her place and all that work Flynn does as a knight will be for naught. But Leo… Ladius, your father was amazing even if he is an ex-knight. He fought against the corruptions of his kingdom and fought for the weak. That is one of the reasons why I respected both him and Estelle. Estelle is of royalty, but she's nothing like the nobles I know." Yuri smiled softly.
"Sounds to me you have a crush on this Estelle lady, Yuri." Jean giggled perverted, only to have a rock hit his head which is thrown by Yuri. Jean cried as he nursed his bump.
"It's nothing like that, you idiot. Estelle… is a special person to me, that's all." Yuri looked away, a hint of red on his cheeks.
"Sounds to me like a crush." Winfield grinned. Yuri sighed, sometimes it's hard to put up with the perverts of Ragian's army.
Zerva then noticed something. "Vashtor is not here…" He muttered.
"You're right. Where can he be?" Meia nodded as the rest of Ragian's Army looked for their friend and ally.
"Everyone wait here. Me, Renee, Ellis and Yuri will look for him." Ladius told everyone.
"Be careful, Ladius." Yayoi hoped for the best. Ladius and his chosen group headed deep into the force because Ladius can feel Vashtor's energy coming from the direction he went into.
(With Naruto's Group)
Naruto groaned as he, Sasuke, Sakura, Ino, TenTen, Shikamaru, Hinata and her brother, Neji woke up from the cold hard ground.
"Where are we?" Sakura moaned as she rubbed her head. Suddenly, she felt something around her left arm. She looked at it and it was a red bracelet with a white gem embedded on it. "Ack! I don't remember wearing this bracelet!" Strangely, Sakura can feel an evil power coming from it just by sensing its chakra.
Naruto also noticed the orange bracelet on his right arm with a green emerald embedded on it. Sasuke also has a amulet around his wrist, it was black and has a ruby in it. Ino has a white ring with a crystal gem embedded in it on her finger. TenTen has the same thing only with a purple color and dark crystal gem on it. Shikamaru has a yellow bracelet with a orange quartz embedded in it on her left arm. Hinata and Neji has the same thing only theirs were red and blue with red and green gems.
Naruto turned to see Kakashi and Kurenai having two white amulets on their arms, each with a black crystal embedded on them. But they lie motionless on the ground.
"This place doesn't look like Konoha or the Fire Country at all…" TenTen muttered as she looked a bit scared not knowing where they are.
"Who could have sent us here?" Neji folded his arms. Sasuke however, frowned and said only one word.
"Orochimaru…"
His friends turned to face him. "Orochimaru? What is he up to now? I won't forgive him for tricking Garra and killing the Third Hokage. Komahamaro was still upset about his grandfather passing away because of that damn snake villain…" Naruto tighten his fist angrily.
"Not only that, I saw Orochimaru with someone. He looked human… except for the horns on his head… I don't think he's one of Orochimaru's Sound Ninja, but I assumed he and Orochimaru were working together…?!" Sasuke tensed as the others followed his actions and turned to the direction he is facing. They could feel an unknown power coming towards them.
Out of the woods came out Vashtor in true cold fashion. Sasuke's eyes locked at Vashtor's. "Those eyes… They reminded me of my brother…" He shuddered as the ninja of Konoha got into a defensive position. This person, they thought, wasn't human at all. Hell, the flames coming out of his shoulders gave it away.
Vashtor glared at the ninja and asked "What are kids like you doing here in the middle of the night? Isn't it past your bedtime?" He smirked at his own joke.
That got Naruto boiling up in anger. "We're not kids! We're ninja!" Naruto pointed his finger at Vashtor.
"Oh?" Vashtor asked, his smirk not leaving his face. "You don't look like ninja…"
"That's it, this guy is pissing me off…" Neji gritted his teeth as he got into a battle position and closed his eyes for a moment before opening them and showing veins on his eyes by shouting "Byakugan!" However, he closed his eyes in pain as he kneed down.
"B-Brother!" Hinata gasped as she rushed up to her brother and checked for wounds. "Brother,, what's wrong?!"
"That person… My Byakugan wouldn't work on him. I felt… evil chakra emitting from him…" Neji grunted.
Naruto got out his kunai and charged at Vashtor shouting "You'll pay for hurting Neji!"
Vashtor eyed the knives Naruto is holding and scoffed. "Those knives are child's play…" Vashtor got into a defensive position and waited for Naruto to make a move.
Naruto grinned as he used his Shadow Clone Jutsu and made two copies of himself, Vashtor however was not amused by this.
'Amateur, those skills won't work on me…' He searched for the real Naruto, but to his surprise, he couldn't find him. 'That can't be! Where is the real one?!' Suddenly, the real Naruto appeared from behind Vashtor and grabbed him. Vashtor smirked and grabbed Naruto and flung him to the ground. "Thanks for giving yourself away." He mocked.
"Wrong!" It sounded like twenty Narutos speaking. "We're all Naruto!" Twenty Narutos including the one Vashtor threw that got up appeared and surrounded Vashtor.
"Hmph!" Vashtor sneered as he readies his sword. The Narutos charged at Vashtor, the Crimson Fang used his sword to knock 10 of them away.
Naruto was surprised by Vashtor's strength and he and his nine clones charged at Vashtor.
However, just as they were about to land a hit…
"Naruto, stop!" Naruto heard Kakashi's voice. The Narutos turned to see Ladius and Renee helping Kakashi and Kurenai up with Yuri and Ellis treating his friends wounds.
"…" Vashtor frowned as he sheathed his sword and commented "This battle is over. You're not worth the effort." He said that after Naruto dispelled his clones.
Naruto has an anger vein on his forehead as he charged at Vashtor, but Ellis quickly grabbed ahold of him and whispered to him "Don't do it unless you want to throw away your life. Vashtor isn't that bad once you get to know him…" She smiled softly at Naruto who was surprised by her kindness and shocked by her long pointy ears.
"W-Who are you?" Hinata stammered as she looked at the four heroes shyly.
"Perhaps if we head back to our campsite, we will tell you more." Ladius rubbed the back of his head nervously.
"Good idea. It will be best if you tell us where we are." Kurenai nodded.
After a few minutes, they made back to the campsite with Naruto, his gang and Vashtor in tow. When they see Borgnine, Ino freaked out and screamed "AH! EVIL DEMON!" She threw a kunai at Borgnine who caught it in amazing speed that shocked Naruto and his group.
"What? Haven't you seen a larva before?" Ellis looked at Ino with her head tilted.
"What kind of crazy place is this anyway?" Shikamaru sighed as he sat down, not knowing he was next to Ratchet and Clank.
"Sup?" Ratchet waved cheerfully.
"I stand corrected…" Shikamaru face palmed.
And so, after a long introduction was made, Dyshana was explaining to Naruto and his friends about Agarest, Summerill, the pain and suffering he caused in this world as well as a few others and the trinkets they and the otherworlders are wearing.
"So, this Summerill guy is the one responsible for bringing us here to this dimension and we are somehow wearing his trinkets which are cursed and grants us immortality but will make us his slaves unless they are removed or Summerill is killed?" Neji asked as he took a bite out of his stew.
"Now that you know your situation at hand. It would be best if you joined our army to put an end to Summerill's evil…" Dyshana pointed out calmly.
"I think it would be rude to turn down your offer. So we will join your army. Also, we may have questions on why a certain enemy of our village is working with this Summerill demon." Kakashi nodded thoroughly.
Etna glared at the Konoha Ninja and asked with a sour tone "Does this enemy of yours happened to be pale as a snake and uses snakes in battle?" She crossed her arms.
That shocked Naruto and his friends. "H-How do you know who Orochimaru is?!" Naruto demanded.
"Simple, I used to work alongside him when I lost my memories and was a former Dark General. Your enemy, Orchimaru is now one of Summerill's Dark Generals." Etna waved her hand bored at all this.
"Wait, if you were once a Dark General serving Summerill… Why are you telling us all this?" Sakura asked, skeptic of Etna.
"Just drop it, flatty." Etna frowned as she went to her tent to take a nap.
"H-How dare you!" Sakura growled. Inner Sakura said in Sakura's mind 'HOW DARE THAT BITCH MAKE FUN OF US! SHE BETTER NOT TAKE OUR SASUKE AWAY!'
"But Ladius will be the one who will end Summerill once and for all." Kanonno beamed, wanting to tell the Konoha ninja about Ladius's powers.
"Wait, what's so special about your army's leader?" Shikimaru asked, wary of what they're saying about Ladius.
"You should have seen him. He defeated a small army of soldiers just by slamming his sword down on the ground!" Lloyd beamed with excitement as well.
"Wait… Are you saying your leader has powers that may rival a Sanin or Hokage?" Kurenai's eyes widen in bewilderment. 'I feel powerful amounts of chakra coming from Ladius. It's higher than even Orchimaru's, the Atakasuki and Kyubbi! Just… who is Ladius?' She glanced at Ladius who is embarrassed by his friends' praise of him due to his contract with Dyshana.
"I am sure you have questions about Ladius, but why don't we wait until morning to discuss this?" Dyshana asked stoically.
"Good idea. I want to know more about Ladius once I rested up." Asbel nodded.
"Same here. I'm also curious about your powers, Ladius." Millia added with a smile.
(Meanwhile… in another universe… Kyon's POV)
Hello. My name is Kyo, and I'm in my second year of high school. It's a pleasure to meet you, even though you probably won't believe a word of what I've got to tell.
Please don't misunderstand- I don't blame you at all. If I were you, I wouldn't believe it either, and even as I'm telling it, I'm still not sure I believe it. Some people would say that's a sign of mental imbalance, but after some time, I've come to regard it as a hazard of hanging around with Haruhi Suzumiya.
Haruhi, how does one describe her? The problem isn't in thinking of some obvious trait to help you understand her- it's trying to choose which of her many obvious traits I can leave out for brevity, yet still have some hope that you'll understand her. She's athletic, insane, forceful, moody, easily bored, and president of the SOS Brigade - the "Spreading Excitement All Over the World with Haruhi Suzumiya Brigade." I never could convince her to shorten the name, so I just changed it for the student council club application forms.
I also had to change the purpose of the club for the forms. The real purpose of the Brigade is to search for aliens, time travelers, and espers. (What's an esper? Think of a person with mysterious mental powers.) At first, I thought this a ridiculous and immature project, but, well, somehow we ended up finding some.
This isn't to say Haruhi ended up finding them. That's probably for the best- I'm not sure quite what she'd do if she actually found any aliens, time travelers, or espers. What happened is that she recruited, or perhaps I should say press-ganged, the entire membership of the Brigade, including me. It turns out that every member except me is, in fact, an alien, a time traveler, or an esper. They claim that Haruhi unconsciously arranged this. Maybe that's giving Haruhi too much credit, but it is an eerie coincidence. Anyhow, they only revealed their extraordinary identities to me, not to Haruhi. Again, that's probably for the best- Haruhi puts us through quite enough as it is.
I entered the SOS clubroom where Mikuru Asashina, Yuki Nagato and Itsuki Kozumi were doing their usual things. Miss Asashina cleaning the clubroom, Nagato reading a book, and Kozumi looking at the window with that calm smile.
Kozumi is a member of an organization of espers whose job is to defeat monsters created by Haruhi's stress in areas also created by Haruhi called enclosed spaces.
Miss Asashina is a time traveler from the future who was sent back in time to discover the changes Haruhi made and is the victim of Haruhi putting embarrassing costumes on her and groping her breasts.
Yuki Nagato is an alien cyborg and… well, she's hard to describe right now.
I sat at my desk, Kozumi took notice and smiled by walking up to me and greeted with "Morning, Kyon. Did you have a good night's sleep."
I looked at Kozumi, unfazed at all and sarcastically remarked "You kidding? Last night was hell when a enclosed space appear and we have to deal with the giant monsters inside it to save the world from Haruhi's stress. Not only that, I have these odd dreams lately…" I sighed as Mikuru poured my tea into a cup and offered it to me which I accepted.
"Hmm… And what are those dreams?" Kozumi asked with a kind smile.
I looked at him seriously for about, oh I don't know, 15 seconds and started to tell him, Miss Asashina and Nagato my dreams.
"My dreams were frightening. I was in the ruins of Tokyo… Everything was burning. People were screaming and buildings were falling apart. Not only that, I saw people being killed by zombies. You know, the undead that if bitten by them, you'll turn into one too? But… these zombies were not attempting to turn people into them, they were slaughtering them with swords as dark as onyx. And then, I see an army of knights marching down the streets with the zombies bowing before them. Those knights… they were black as onyx like the swords and their faces were completely covered. They too were killing innocent people left and right. I saw you, Miss Asashina, Nahgato, Taniguchi, Kunikida, Tsuruya and even my little sister were among the killed. Three of our normal friends have expressions of fear when they are dead. And I heard Haruhi screaming and crying out for help as one of those black knights held her by the throat. I rushed in to help her and punched the black knight in the face. And something weird happen, the black knight's helmet cracked and I was seeing myself clad in black armor with a emotionless expression. And then, the dream flashed to five people, some of them younger than me. They were facing an army of those black knights like heroes in a climatic final battle. The five people were males and each held a sword that has a golden tip and they charged. That's when the dream ended."
My friends' reaction were both surprised and Nagato remained calm as always. It was then, Miss Asashina spoke up by stuttering "I…I have the same dream too, only I was the black knight and you were among the killed, Kyon…" I looked at Miss Asashina with a surprised look.
"To be honest…. I have the same dream too and I was the back knight as well." Kozumi stated as he scratched his chin thoroughly.
I looked at Nagato who remained emotionless and calculating, I can tell she had the same dream too.. I then asked her "Did Haruhi conjure up those dreams?"
Nagato shook her head no and said in a calm and emotionless tone "The flow of information didn't come from Haruhi, but rather…"
"Rather what?" I asked again, hoping she know something and Haruhi may have caused this.
"For once, Haruhi did not cause this. Some unknown data appeared out of nowhere and alter the flow of information…" Nagato stated calmly.
"But the question is… Who or what was that data and why it is connected to our dreams?" Kozumi theorized.
Before we can ponder the reasons behind those dreams, Haruhi came in and turned to us with a smile and declared "We're going to look for elves!"
I looked at Haruhi with a puzzled look and muttered out loud "Elves? …Are-Are you serious? Elves are nothing but myths and legends and appeared only in role playing games and fantasy anime…" I tried to tell her that such possible things do not exist.
Haruhi shook her head with a smirk and told me "Kyon, Kyon, Kyon… I heard a rumor that someone saw an elf in the forest near our school. So today after class, we're going into the forest to look for elves. And once the SOS Brigade finds them, we'll befriend them and ask them if there is a way to contact aliens, espers and time travelers!" She struck a pose on the desk.
Ah crap… This won't end well. I turned to Kozumi for backup, but Kozumi whispered to me with a smile "You don't want another enclosed space."
First line of defense is down, I turned to Mikuru, but she was too scared to disobey Haruhi and thus cause the end of our world and I know Nagato won't help things either. So-
(A few minutes later)
God, this fog is so dense, I thought to myself. School has ended and the entire SOS Brigade were exploring the forest near the school. For some reason, a fog appeared out of nowhere and it's hard to see a damn thing in here. Hell, I wish I was home right now.
We walked for like a few minutes until Haruhi noticed something. "Brigade, I found something! Take a look!" She ordered sharply. We all turned to see some items on the ground. They looked like bracelets each with a different colored gem.
"W-What are those?" Miss Asashina stammered as she looked at it with all her focus. Me, Kozumi, Nagato and Haruhi were looking at the bracelets as if we were in a dazed state.
I don't know why, but some voice in my head is telling me to put that bracelet on. And without an moment hesitation, we put on the bracelets. I could have sworn I heard a faint evil laugh in my mind. We were freed of our dazed looks and I turned to the bracelet. I frowned as I tried to get it off.
…The hell? I can't get this damn thing off. It was like it has fused to my skin or something. I can tell Kozumi, Miss Asashina and Nagato were having the same problem. But Haruhi turned to me with a grin and shouted "I knew it! Kyon, you're an alien by having that tattoo on your right arm!"
"The hell you talking about, Haruh-eh?" I looked at my hand and it has some weird tattoo on it. I noticed Haruhi's left leg has a similar tattoo, only with a green color. She grinned at me some more and asked "So, where is your mothership, Kyon?"
I sighed and rubbed my temples and pointed out "You have one too, Haruhi."
Haruhi blinked for a moment and looked at her leg and gasped, but it was a happy gasp. "At last! I have alien powers!"
"Um… Miss Suzumiya…" Mikuru shifted nervously. "I don't think those were items left by aliens. And we can't get them off our bodies."
I saw that the fog cleared, but there was no sign of our school. Just a dense swampy forest.
"Uh…" I began. "Where's the school?"
I turned to Nagato who was, 'ahem' processing data. But then, we saw someone coming out of the bushes.
It was an adult woman, but she looked almost like a teenage girl who has pink hair, hell I bet everyone in Tokyo have different colored hair, take Nagato for example. She wore pink and white clothes, but the odd thing about her are her ears. They looked long and pointy.
She looked at us for a moment for a moment before eying the bracelets we have on. She smiled and said "Are you people from another universe?" What, another universe? Did Haruhi created this universe or something? But my curiosity has to be this girl's ears.
Haruhi's eyes sparkled in delight and she exclaimed "Elves!" I looked at the girl with a surprised look. No way… This girl is an elf? Dear god, looks like Haruhi was right for once, but I'm not gonna take any chances.
Haruhi began bombing the elven girl with questions. "Can you teach us how to contact aliens? Do you have advanced spaceships and can you cure cancer with healing magic?"
The elven girl looked at me oddly and asked nervously "Is…Is she always like this?"
"Sadly, yes." I replied to her question. "My name is Kyo. This is Itsuki Kozumi, Mikuru Asashin, Yuki Nagato and this nutcase is the leader of our group, the SOS Brigade, Haruhi Suzumiya. Now, are you really an elf or you're just some cosplayer?" I asked with such skepticism.
The elven woman looked at me with a questionable look, but closed her eyes and smiled by replying with "Of course. I am a real high elf." She opened her eyes and looked at my bracelet and the others' bracelets with a serious look. "It seems you are cursed with Summerill's trinkets…"
Summerill…? Kozumi beat me to the punch by asking "Who is this Summerill and what connection does he have with these bracelets?"
Her expression was grave as she told us about this Summerill guy. "Summerill is the Demon King, a really evil demon who tried to take over Agarest… He owned many trinkets cursed with his evil power that if worn, it would grant the wearer immortality."
"Well that doesn't sound bad." I stated, immortality is humanity's dream of cheating death and lived on forever.
"Let me finish." She told me nicely. "But along with the power of immortality, the wearer is cursed with a growing darkness that if either the bracelet or trinket is not removed or Summerill is killed, the wearer will go mad and become Summerill's slave forever…"
"A-A-Are you saying we'll go mad and become this Summerill's servants forever?!" Miss Asashima started to panic before almost fainting.
Haruhi, however was not impressed and she shouted "Who cares about that? If we're in another world, then there must be aliens, espers and time travelers! And I hereby recruit you, elven woman into the SOS Brigade!" She beamed energetically.
"The SOS what…?" The elven woman tilted her head confusedly.
"What is your name?" Kozumi asked, changing the subject with a smile.
"Oh, my name is Ellis." The elven woman known as Ellis smiled. Just then, five more people walked up to us. The first one was a male… Wait, that red armor… I think I saw him before… Yeah, it was in my dreams where he and four other males were facing down those armies of black knights…. Anyway, there is a girl with purple long hair, a man with a red bandana who has one of this Summerill's trinkets with a tattoo on his chest, a woman who has black hair and doesn't have a trinket whatsoever and a woman with light green hair and was staring at us with those cold eyes, she reminded me of Nagato…
"Ellis, it looks like Dyshana was right about having new visitors." The man in red armor smiled. He turned to us and introduced himself. "My name is Ladius von Busser Ragian. It appears we are destined to meet since you are wearing some of Summerill's trinkets."
"Uh… Likewise." I nodded meekly.
"Ah, perfect. More members to recruit into the SOS Brigade." Haruhi smirked. I noticed the man with the tattoo on his chest was flirting with Miss Asashina, making her very uncomfortable. Ellis scolded and got out a wand to bash this man on the head and she scolded with:
"Winfield, stop being a pervert with any women you meet!" Ouch, she seems scary when pissed off like that.
"I don't mean to question this, but what do you mean this girl is recruiting us into this SOS Brigade?" The purple haired girl asked with a stern look.
"She wants you to help her find aliens, time travelers and espers in this world, not caring about what will happen to us if this Summerill guy isn't killed or these damn bracelets are removed." I sighed as I shook my head.
"Wait, what? But I have a destiny to fulfill and it's not to waste time to look for… whatever this girl is searching for." Ladius blinked.
Haruhi frowned as she glared at Ladius and said "If you don't do what I say, then let's make a contest! A five against one with the entire SOS Brigade and you. If you win which I will highly doubt it, we'll follow you. But if we win which we will, you will become part of the SOS Brigade."
Damn it, Haruhi… But then I noticed the woman was smiling eerily and she said stoically "Very well. But you are no match for Ladius even if you have help…" Wait, what does she mean by that?
(Normal POV, First Round: Ladius vs Mikuru)
Mikuru stammered as she tried to hold a sword the right way while Ladius got into a battle position. Dyshana said in a calm and demeanor voice "First round. Ladius vs Mikuru Asashina. Begin."
Kyon turned to Yuki and whispered "I hope you can cheat to help Mikuru win…"
Yuki shook her head no and said in a tone similar to a robot "Something is blocking my ability to change the flow of information…. This universe, perhaps which my powers have no control over it…"
'Don't bother asking for your friends for help…' Dyshana spoke in Kyon's voice.
'H-How are you speaking into my mind? Are… Are you an esper?' Kyon turned to Dyshana with a shocked look.
Dyshana smirked and spoke in Kyon's mind "No, I am not a esper…'
'But you don't understand! If our team loses to Ladius, Haruhi will be unhappy and both our universe and this one will be toast!'
Dyshana shook her head no, still smirking. 'No it won't… What if I tell you that the gods of my universe were responsible for granting Haruhi the powers of a lesser god?'
'…What? Are you saying your universe is responsible for Haruhi's, er… lesser god powers?' Kyon looked at her oddly.
'All in due time…' Dyshana reassured Kyon as Kyon looked at the match.
Ladius let out a yell as he charged at Mikuru who screamed and dropped her sword and ran to hide behind Kyon. Ladius sweat dropped as he lowered his sword and looked at Mikuru oddly.
"Well, it's safe to say that Ladius won round 1." Noire smirked as she crossed her arms proudly.
Haruhi has an anger vein on her forehead. "Mikuru! Augh, you're gonna get a costume change if we lose this contest! Kozumi, you're up!" She ordered.
"As you wish, my lady." Itsuki smiled cheerfully which freaked Ellis, Noire and Ladius out as Itsuki went to pick up Mikuru's sword, actually, the sword is loan by Ladius for this contest.
"Second round, Ladius vs Kozumi. Begin." Dyshana announced.
Ladius charged at Itsuki and they clashed swords. At first, Itsuki was having no problems, but then, Ladius's god like strength was overpowering him.
'W-What on earth?!" Itsuki was showing one of his rare serious faces. 'This Ladius… his power exceeds my own and even Miss Suzumiya… Could he also have the ability to change reality like her?' Ladius saw his chance while Itsuki was distracted and used a wind attack to blow Itsuki to the ground.
Itsuki struggled to get up, but Ladius pointed his sword at his chest.
"Itsuki has lost the match and this round goes to Ladius." Dyshana declared.
'This is not good… But if what that woman said is true, then maybe we won't be reduced to nothingness…' Kyon thought as Yuki stood up next and picked up the sword and got into a battle stance, so did Ladius.
"Ugh! Why are you losing so badly?! We didn't lose that softball match thanks to my leadership skills! How is it to take down this normal nobody?!" Haruhi screamed out in anger.
Ladius frowned, this girl has no idea of the destiny that waits before him after he saves this land.
"Begin." Dyshana announced.
Yuki charged at Ladius with super-fast speed, however, Ladius was quick to her assault and they were locked in a hyper fast sword clashing event.
A few seconds later, Yuki was being overpowered and she scanned Ladius's strength and she deduced it is higher than any powerful being of existence. Ladius stopped for a moment before eying Yuki. For one minute, Yuki stated "You win… I give up…"
"Hah, that girl has forfeited. Man, is that the best your group has to offer?" Noire joked.
"If we lose this contest, you will run around this forest in the nude shouting "Martians are chasing me!"" Haruhi warned as a dark aura appeared around her. Ellis walked over to Kyon and whispered in his ear:
"I feel sorry for you, having to deal with a nutcase like her…'
"Thanks. Well, looks like my turn is up…" Kyon sighed as he went to the sword and picked it up. Dyshana said nothing as Ladius warped in front of him, catching him off guard and did a leg sweep, knocking Kyon to the ground.
Kyon grunted as he struggled to get up, Ladius extended his arm and Kyon took it. "You lack experience with a sword, but I can teach you how to sword fight if you want once I win this contest." Ladius offered with a smile.
"I'll gladly accept your offer. Good luck trying to beat Haruhi." Kyon muttered sarcastically as he went to the sides.
"That's it. It's time for the brilliant leader of the SOS Brigade to take care of this normal nobody!" Haruhi huffed as she stomped over to the sword and picked it up.
Ladius sighed as he got into a battle stance, again. Unbeknownst to everyone, someone was watching the final round of the contest.
It was Widdershin and he was smirking evilly. 'It is time I will strike down the Ragian Heir, this time with some help… Wait for me, Kanonno, I will show you who your true friends are…' He thought diabolically to himself.
To be continued…
Next chapter: The Bladebreakers and The Girl Who Speaks an Alien Language: Showdown with the Second of the Dark Generals: Part 2 of 2
A/N: This… has gotten to be my longest chapter yet. 7,000 words. I think that's a new record. Anyway, next chapter will be the fight with Widdershin, I swear. Also, A Tales character from Tales of Eternia at first will be with the enemy, but after the battle, she will switch over to our heroes' side.
Extra Notes: Since the updated version of TOTW: Tactics Union is coming to Japanese 3DSes this October, I would like to go over a few things.
First off, new Tales characters will appear in this updated Tactics Union game and I want to make some of them be with the bad guys for awhile, but after a battle and realization during Generation 2, they will switch sides and be on the heroes' side. The reasons for certain Tales characters to be temporary on Summerill's side is that Summerill will give empty promises by promising to restore some Tales characters' memories or send them back home if they help him rule the universe. But they will realize Summerill's true intentions and switch over to the Hero side. Okay, enough spoilers from me, see you next time.