I Return! And forgot to post my last chapter, which was ready over a month ago, because of a new job! And I'm finally adjusting, so back to this grindstone I go!
ANOTHER ROUND! PROTECTOR OF MANKIND! LETS GO!
"hello"- regular speech
'hello'- regular thoughts
"hello"- phone/ radio calls
'hello'- internal discussion
Disclaimer: I. OWN. NOTHING. Not Naruto. Nor MHA. Nor Thor. Or any other miscellaneous items, characters, tech or skills I may bring in.
(Valhalla Agency, Danger hall)
His training room had gotten an upgrade.
It was a full size Hall now, easily a mile long and wide, incredibly well-lit and maintained. A full quarter of it was dedicated solely to workout equipment meant for people with incredible abilities. The basic bench presses and other strength related equipment were now rated for upwards of 3000 pounds, while the advanced ones were built for tons, not pounds. The treadmills and the like were capable of handling speeds upwards of Mach 3. And the actual dangerous part of the now danger hall, was the sparring section.
The sparring section, and Hall overall, had three basic rules.
One, no lethal attacks. Going all out was fine, encouraged even, but lethal attacks saw you get knocked the fuck out and banned from the room for life. No exceptions. There were designated areas, and targets, for people to practice those types of moves.
Two, no fooling around. This was a place meant for practicing in the art of combat, and a temple to the dedication of improving your body. Coming here just to show off and take pictures was prohibited, and would result in being kicked out the first two times, with the third being a permanent banning. Most 'celebrity heroes' couldn't follow this rule, and as such the gyms ban list only got longer every year, while the list of faithful attendees got shorter and shorter.
Three, the sparring section was a free-for-all. There were dedicated sections to one-on-one sparring, but the actual sparring section was a massive arena with a free-for-all in the middle. If you weren't prepped too be attacked from all sides at once, then don't enter the sparring section.
The sparring section was where Naruto was now, the towering behemoth standing tall amongst the scrapped forms of the halls sparring bots. They were top of the line models, each meant to handle blows from heroes like a fully charged Fat-Gum, whoever that was, and keep on trucking along.
Against heroes like him and All might though…?
The scrapped bots at his feet spoke to the difference.
"Are heroes this day and age truly this… sad?" muttered Naruto, before shaking his head and focusing on his freshly ended training session, running his head through what he could tell was his limits.
'Less than a tenth of my full power from all those years ago. I know Chiyo said the drop from my coma and then straining myself so much as soon as I woke up would be bad, but to this extent?...' he thought, staring at his shaking and twitching hand, before clenching it into a fist, a burning look appearing in his eyes. 'A goal to aim for then, get back to my full strength, and then surpass even that.'
His ears twitched then, before he whirled around and threw up his arms in a cross to block the overhead kick aimed at his head. As he did he followed the leg back too its owner, only to find himself staring at a woman with a wild grin on her face.
She was rather short compared to him, a mere 5 feet and 2 inches tall compared to his towering 6 and a half foot tall stature, her skin a smooth, dark tone as opposed to his own tanned, battle scarred flesh. Her hair was a stark white and eyes a vivid ruby red, as opposed to his bloody red hair and sapphire blue eyes. She wore simple clothes, a simple black sports bra and a pair of loose black workout pants, with a pair of clean white and red sneakers on her feet.
It was when their eyes met that he finally recognized the look in her eye. A battle junkie, just like him when his blood was up. Right then and there, he knew he would either hate this woman's guts, or he'd love her unlike any other before or after her.
After all, Nana had been much the same when they first met…
Her grin got that much wider when he blocked, before launching herself backwards and landing on the ground with skid marks from the force she launched herself with. She quickly threw herself back at him, legs spinning like a whirlwind of death aimed right at his head.
Aimed at his head that was, if he let it hit him.
A single hand intercepted his adversaries vicious kick, catching hold of her calf and gripping tight, before slinging her up and over his shoulder, whipping her back into the reinforced ground of the Hall with absolutely no mercy, repeating the process a few times, which she refused to cry out in pain during, before throwing her at the distant wall, launching himself after her with no mercy in his movements.
When she crashed into the wall legs first, she was ready to launch back at him, only for his hand to wrap around her face right before she launched, surprising her enough for her to lose her footing and begin to fall only for her head to be rammed into the wall and find itself dragged along the wall as he ran, before quickly throwing her into another wall before he did any permanent damage.
When she impacted into that one, he crashed into her again, only to find two strong legs being thrust into his face when he did, launching him back and up into the air, where he found her over him, planting her two legs into his stomach and sending him straight into the earth below. The impact into the dirt kicked up a large dust cloud, concealing him from view as she touched down with her own crash.
In the dust cloud, Naruto could only stare up from the ground in shock as he slowly processed what had just happened. His hand slowly came up to his mouth to wipe away what he thought was leaking drool, only to find a red stain on his hand when he pulled his hand away. A grin slowly covered his face, his own blood beginning to race in his veins and heat up beyond what was normal.
' This chick can fight!' came the only though to run through his head for a minute now, before he hopped to his feet when she crashed down and launched himself out of the cloud in the direction of the crash, catching her by surprise when he slugged her in the face and dragged her through the ground, before throwing her into a pillar of rock that was being raised out of the ground by the automated systems that were adjusting the battle field as time went on, changing it to simulate changes in the area. She crashed clean through, before recovering in midair and landing on the ground hard in a three point superhero landing, skidding backwards when she did, until her sneakers caught enough grip to slow her momentum.
She launched herself back at him with a maniac grin on her face and Naruto threw himself at her in turn, a blood-thirsty smirk on his own face too match hers, as they clashed again for the third time in as many minutes.
They didn't leave the battlefield for the next three hours, drawing quite the crowd as they waged their own private war against each other, ripping their own bodies, and each other's, to bloody shreds in the process. By the time they finished their battle and collapsed down to the ground next to the other, they were bare of most of their clothes, what they previously wore having been torn to shreds in their multitude of clashes.
The woman was missing her top, the piece having been torn from her when he had put her forcibly through a rock pillar with his own two hands, and her pants were less than shreds, revealing the vast majority of her long, powerful legs, and were hanging on by a thin slip of cloth to preserve her modesty.
Though to be fair, Naruto wasn't any better. His shirt was long gone, having been ripped off from a kick he barely dodged, having caught on her heel and been tore away without even slowing down. His pants and undergarments were torn to shreds as well, having been caught when he had been thrown so hard he crashed through the hard plate metal walls, the jagged shards ripping away his modesty at the time. It was only by sheer luck his 'tool' was covered by her hair when she fell beside him, else he'd be giving a free, uncensored and unblurred show to the crowd near him.
Thinking on that, he lifted his arm from the ground just enough to lift it above her body, before dropping it over her breasts, making sure his hand didn't touch anything it shouldn't by leaving his hand palm up in the air, getting a confused and weird look from the woman beside him. Snickering, he tilted his head in the direction of their observers.
"The peanut gallery has gotten enough of a free show, don't you think?" he asked in between his panting breaths. When she looked down at herself and at the crowd, it finally clicked, and she just snickered in turn before turning to face him again.
"Let em look if their brave enough, that's as close as any of those cowards are getting." She replied, getting a guffaw from the male of the duo at the seeming disregard for her own nudity.
"You really don't care that their getting a free show?" he questioned, getting a shrug in response from the heroine beside him.
"None of them are ever going to get any closer to seeing me like this then from over there, so it's fine. Besides, fighting naked hasn't slowed me down before, why would it now?" she asked, getting a smile from her opponent.
"Fair enough. By the way, in my time it was normal to get someone's name before you saw them naked, so… what's your name little lady?" he asked the woman beside him, getting a fierce glare in response to his question.
"Call me 'little lady' again, and I'll kick your ass twice as hard next time you big bastard. As for my name, it's Rumi Usagiyama, A.K.A. the number 5 pro hero 'Mirko'." She growled at him, before finishing with pride in her own name and position as a hero. Smirking at him, she asked him her own question. "Considering your using my hair as a dick cover, you mind sharing your name as well?"
A grin blossomed on his face at her casual dismissal of him, enjoying hearing someone backtalking to him after 3 days of non-stop simpering and worship. It was incredibly refreshing.
"Names Naruto Uzumaki. Pro hero name is 'Thor'." He replied, getting her to do a double take at his face, before lifting and dropping her free arm over her eyes, a groan escaping her lips at the realization of who she had essentially, violently stripped naked.
"Explains a lot. And by the way, as of right now, I don't mind if you turn your arm over. Payback for the… violent strip session, as it were." She grinned at him as she said it, getting a snort in return, before he groaned from the broken nose he currently had hurting some more.
"Pass for now. Maybe some other time, when we don't have an audience of enthusiastic voyeurs." He replied, getting a grin from his new friend.
"Only if you promise to make it a fun next time, after all, as first dates go, this was the best one I've ever had." She agreed, before hearing a pair of snorts of amusement from the direction her head was pointing towards. Tilting her head back until she could see the persons responsible, she smiled at seeing her two favorite people besides her new sparring buddy/potential victim.
"Keigo! Ryuko! Come meet my new sparring buddy!" She called, getting a laugh from the current number three hero and a sigh from the number nine heroine.
"We are aware of who he is Rumi, no need for all that." Replied Hawks, before unfolding his wings and handing a pair of shorts and a t-shirt to the titan on the ground. "Don't know if they'll be a perfect fit, but they should be big enough to cover you till we get out of here big guy."
"I appreciate it regardless, thanks kid." Thanked Naruto, standing with his back to Keigo as he pulled on the shorts, revealing the litany of scars and marks lining his back and arms, none of which were caused by Rumi.
Looking over, Naruto saw the new lady, Ryuko he believed he heard Rumi call her, doing much the same for Rumi, blocking the view while Rumi slipped into a new sports bra and a fresh pair of pants. The only thing was, you could see a vein pulsing as she pulled them on, as the color of the clothes violently disagreed with her.
"You know I hate Pink Ryuko, so what the hell?!" she questioned through clenched teeth. At her question, Ryuko had a small smile on her face.
"Punishment until you get some new clothes, for fighting so hard you ruined your first set." She replied, getting a death glare in response from the rabbit heroine.
"Hate you, Hate you so much right now…" She growled, before a large arm came down around her neck. Looking up, she saw her new best buddy smiling down at her.
"Come on, I think I still got some old clothes up in the room that belonged to my wife, should fit you just fine for now." He offered, getting Mirko to instantly perk up.
"No pink?"
"Maybe a little, on some of them."
"Booo! Hiss! No Pink!"
"Well now you're only going to get Pink!"
"NEVER! Death to PINK!"
(Twenty minutes later, Naruto's penthouse)
"Thought you said 'no pink' Rumi? Change your mind that quickly?" Prodded Hawks from his lounging position on the sectional couch, his feet kicked up on the seat beside him, while Ryuko sat at the other end, upright and proper in her posture, while Rumi growled at him from her position on the foot of Naruto's bed. As she was now, she was sat wearing a simple, deep blue pair of pants and a black t-shirt, her hair still wet from her recent shower. The t-shirt, however had a bit of pink on it, in the form of 'Bad Bitch' wrote on the back in hot pink.
"… it's an acceptable amount of pink." She admitted, mostly due too the form it was in. if it was some pansy shit or anything else, she'd have violently refused to wear it. The words on the back, however, were an acceptable amount of cool and in a minor amount of pink. She could deal with it.
"Figured you wouldn't have minded a small amount; Nana was the same way." Said Naruto, stepping out from his walk in closet, having vanished into it after throwing the clothes at Rumi and shoving her into his spacious bathroom. He quickly walked into his bathroom before shutting the door behind him, the sound of a shower turning on shortly after he closed the door.
"So, who would have thought the mighty 'Thunder god hero' could be beaten by the 'Rabbit hero', huh?" Questioned Hawks, getting a look from both women in the room before Rumi decided to burst that bubble in a hurry.
"He wasn't going all out. Not even close." Revealed Rumi, before looking at the two hero's she was closest too. "He was constantly holding back, pulling punches at the last second and deliberately avoiding the use of his hammer and axe to make it a fair and even fistfight between him and me, rather then overpowering me with those weapons."
"Could be he just didn't want to kill you, Rumi. You've seen the damage that he can cause with those weapons, he probably just wanted an even and fun spar." Reasoned Ryuko, getting a half-hearted shrug from the rabbit hero, before the door opened up again and Naruto walked out with a clean pair of jeans on, as he pulled on a blank, burnt orange shirt, reaching over and grabbing a black vest to pull on over the top of that. He glanced at the clock on his wall, an old analog clock from the 1980's, and saw it was just after 6 in the evening.
Nodding he turned to his guests, before waving for him to join him in his elevator down. The three heroes quickly joined him, pulling their outdoor shoes back on in a hurry.
"Where are we headed now big guy?" Asked Hawks, getting a small smile from the giant by them.
"To drink and feast, my young friend. I'll show you how we partied when I was a young man!"
(Sometime later)
There was a great noise coming from the bar as a portal opened in the darker shadows of the entry hall. Lucifer, back in his mortal disguise, quickly reached in and pulled his second born through as her sister pushed from behind, taking them both into the mortal realm for the first time in over two hundred years.
"Here we are, dear daughters of mine! Welcome to the 'Black Thunder mead hall'!" proclaimed Lucifer, hands on his daughters shoulders as he walked them towards the door.
"Looks dark, I kind of like it actually." Muttered Aurora, the simple colors and comfy atmosphere appealing to her as a rather private individual. Her own mortal disguise was a rather simple one, her hair a simple black like their fathers, while her own face closely resembled their fathers as well. She wore a simple set of black pants and boots, with a grey shirt and red leather jacket over it.
"Well, I think it's nice! It looks so cozy and clean here, somebody has obviously taken care of it!" enthused Charlie, her own eyes sparkling at the sight of such a well-loved place, even if it did promote sins and sending more souls to hell. She decided to wear her regular red suit, though she had changed her skin tone to match their mothers mortal form, a nice healthy tanned skin tone, rather then the chalky white her family were known for in the depths of hell.
"Well, thank you for the compliment Sweetheart! I do try to take care of my bar, you know?" thanked a rather familiar voice for the two daughters of the devil. Turning to face the voice, they were equally surprised and worried to see a rather familiar face to the two of them.
"Alastor?! What are you doing here?" Questioned Charlie, eagerly sitting at the bar where the hidden demon was cleaning glasses, with her sister reluctantly sitting beside her and father leaning on the bar on her other side. Alastor only grinned that little bit wider, before throwing the cleaning rag he had in his hand over his shoulder and set the now clean glass back on the rack and leaned down to talk with them.
"Taking care of my bar Sweetheart, what does it look like I'm doing?" He replied, his amusement at her evident. A frowning Aurora decided to poke at him a bit and see the reaction she could get.
"Didn't realize you owned a bar in the human world Alastor, least of all in Japan of all places." She inquired, getting a small chuckle from the radio demon at the wording he used being used against him.
"Well, I don't own it, but I do manage it and take care of it. Owners over at the high table, having a grand ol' time with some new and old friends." He revealed, before pointing at the man and his group in question. Naruto and the group of heroes were there all right, with a few more to their number to match. Midnight had shown up at some point with several bottles around her, and Yoroi Musha was sat at the table as well, a large tankard in his hand. A few others were seated around the table as well, but there was still plenty of room left for the newly arrived trio of devils.
"Well, I guess I'll take them over too see my new friend, shall I? Good to see you Alastor, could you bring me another glass of the whiskey I had this morning?" he asked, getting a nod in response from the demon bartender. Looking at the other two, he raised an eyebrow at them, as if too ask, 'either of you want something to go with that?' to which the younger decided to respond first.
"A glass of your best rum, whatever that might be." Answered Aurora, before turning to get up and follow her father to meet this supposed 'interesting mortal', whatever that meant.
Nodding, the radio demon turned to look at the firstborn princess of hell, waiting for her to no doubt ask for something non-alcoholic. She didn't disappoint.
"Don't suppose I can get a Frappuccino, can I Alastor?" she asked with a small, sheepish smile on her face while she did, her hand rubbing the back of her head.
"Normally my dear, I'd say no. But, just for you, I'll make you one. It'll take me a bit longer then your fathers or sisters, however." He complied, before waving her off after her father and sister to the big guy's table for food and socializing. "Go on, your crowding up my bar with your cheer and joy. It's rather sickening if I'm honest."
"Thank you Alastor! See you soon!" She cheered, before taking off after her father and sister, tap dancing the whole way over.
A small smile took over Alastor's face at the sight, shaking his head while muttering 'that girl' underneath his breath as he turned back to the kitchen to tell them to keep cooking and ready more, as more guest were showing up, while he went for the coffee machine. He had a Frappuccino to get ready after all. Let it never be said that Alastor ever failed to deliver on a promise or deal.
He had a reputation to keep after all.
AND SCENE! That's it for this one. A bit of an exposition chapter, I admit, but a good one I feel. There's quiet a few things going on here, so if you have questions, ask em! I'll gladly try to address them all over the course of this story.
Anyway, in other news imma shamelessly plug myself now. I have a page on P-on page and if you feel like getting one-week early access, that is up for you to decide. I am still going to post here; it will just be a week early on that page. That's it for that, but I also stream on twitch occasionally for fun! My name there is Hadradajust, if you got a twitch account and feel like supporting me, drop a follow and hop into stream every now and then to chill. I mostly play single player survival games and story driven games, due to mediocre internet right now, but I hope to play some multiplayer survival soon if I can get a better I.S.P. thanks for your time!
So, if you liked the story, leave a comment! It always helps me to read some positive reviews and constructive criticisms are always helpful. Any flamers will be used to cook well-done steaks for the hunters of Bherna village, the Soaratorium, Astera, Seliana, Kamura village and Elgado outpost. Keep your stamina up folks!