Disclaimer: I do not own anything from the Naruto or Digimon series. Comments/Criticism is fine as long as it isn't just hate or flaming. If you do not like, no one is forcing you to read and you can just leave.
Thank you for reading and please enjoy
Humon
-Chapter 28-
-Last Time-
"Come on Matt, I'm sure you're just being- *CRASKCH* "SURPRIIIIIISE, YEAH!" …paranoid." Sora finished weakly as her eyes widened in horror as the ground in front of the ship exploded outwards and a dreadfully familiar voice rang out.
Out of the clouds of sand, a massive stone version of Etemon emerged, a wide smirk on its face as it towered over their ship. "HELLO DIGIDESTINED! DID YOU MISS ME!?"
"You were saying?"
"Shut up."
-And Now-
"Hold on to something!" Naruto yelled as the cruise ship swerved to the side, narrowly avoiding the massive stone fist that crashed down beside it. Even so, the concussive force of the blow alone caused the entire boat to shake violently and nearly overturn.
"AHHH!"
"Sora!" "Matt!" Birdramon and T.K. yelled, unable to do anything but watch in horror as the said duo were knocked off their feet and sent tumbling off the edge of the roof. Thankfully, neither went far as a pair of clones leapt up and caught them midair.
"Everyone grab a clone, we need to get you out of here!" One of the clones yelled as they and a dozen more landed around them protectively. The children and Patamon did what they were told, hurrying to the closest blonde they could reach where they promptly scooped up and rushed to cover.
Once they were gone, one of the remaining clones turned his attention to the two flying digimon. "Kabuterimon, help Ikkakumon and Togemon with the wolves, keep them off our ass as best as you can. Birdramon, knowing Boss, he's gonna need some air support as well."
"I'm on it!"
"Understood."
-Meanwhile-
"Damnit, should have known that something like this would happen." Naruto muttered through gritted teeth, his hands digging gouges into the metal railing as he stared up at the stone ape before him. "It happens every time things seem to be going to plan, every Kami damned time."
Not only did they have attacks coming from two fronts now, but the Sandoraidā was effectively trapped thanks to the sand swirling around the fake Etemon like a whirlpool, trapping them in a loop. It did take care of a few of the stone wolves for them, but most of them had been wise enough to jump onto the back of their larger brethren beforehand.
"So, how do you like my new toy TitanEtemon, it's almost like I'm really here huh? I think it really emphasizes on my naturally chiseled physique, uh-huh." TitanEtemon punned with a grin as his giant double flexed before returning his attention back to the boat with a wicked grin. "Now to give it a full test run."
-Play: He's a Pirate (Pirates of the Caribbean) or preferred battle music)-
With this said, the stone ape balled up one of his fists before swinging it down towards the ship.
"Oh no you don't! Seirei-en Rasengan!" A flaming sphere appeared in each of Naruto's hands in the blink of an eye as he crouched slightly before leaping straight at the incoming blow, leaving a trail of blue fire behind him as he flew through the air.
*Krakaboom*
The moment the two met midair, a deafening blast filled the air as stone and fire clashed, battling for supremacy. After only a few seconds though, the duel ended in a draw as the Rasengans ran out of steam and detonated, launching Naruto back into the air while TitanEtemon's fist crashed harmlessly into the sand, a large divot missing from the front of it.
"That was close," Naruto said with a sigh while pulling on the rope on his waist to bring himself to safety…
*Snap*
…before feeling a sense of dread to wash over him as his literal lifeline snapped from the strain.
"Oh kuso," He muttered, glaring at the broken rope in his hand. Falling fast, he tried to think of anything he could do to get himself out of his current situation, only to end up drawing a big fat blank. Left with no other options, he did the only thing he could. "Help!"
"I gotcha!" Thankfully, his salvation came in the form of a large flaming bird as Birdramon flew by and caught Naruto with her talons.
"Thanks for the save." Naruto said while clambering up the digimon's leg and settled onto her back.
"Anytime," Birdramon said while tucking her wings in and diving, just in time to avoid the giant hand that tried to swat them out of the air. She then had to make a sharp side turn to dodge a karate chop before ascending out of the way when the hand jabbed outwards. "I think we got his attention."
"Good, now to keep it that way." Naruto said, his tail flames flaring up as he got ready to attack. "We cannot let him hit the Sandoraidā or everyone else is screwed."
"Alright, then hold on tight. Meteor Wing!" The phoenix-like digimon called, a barrage of reddish-orange flames shooting from the underside of her wings at TitanEtemon while weaving around his punches, jabs, and swings.
"Damnit! Hold still you pests and accept your deaths like a mon!" TitanEtemon yelled angrily as he tried and failed once again to hit the flying pair.
"Pass you stupid monkey! Seirei-en no Dangan!" Naruto called out, peppering the giant's face and chest with numerous fireballs that chipped off small chunks stone and earth. At the same time, Greymon and Garurumon fired at his waist to similar affect.
"Hahahahah! Is that the best you can do?!" TitanEtemon mocked as the statue casually dusted himself off before renewing his attempts to swat Birdramon. When one of the punches got close though, Naruto latched onto the limb as it passed and ran up it while dragging a Seirei-en Rasengan across the surface, leaving a long shallow trench in the stone.
"OI! Stop that! You're ruining the finish!" The giant stone ape hollered while clapping his hand over his shoulder, only to miss Naruto when he leapt on the offending hand. The whiskered blonde then used the appendage as a springboard to leap towards the statues face and smashed his attack against his cheek.
"AAAARG!" TitanEtemon yelled while smacking itself in the face as Naruto used the recoil from the attack to launch himself out of the way and back onto Birdramon's back. Feeling the crumbled stone under his hand, the giant howled in rage. "NOOOO! My beautiful jawline!"
"We're not doing enough damage." Birdramon said while swerving out of the way of several blind swings.
"Oh really, I hadn't noticed." Naruto said sarcastically even as he looked over the raging ape golem over as thoroughly as he could. As he did so, he noticed that the damage they had dealt wasn't healing like with the wolves and that his attacked slowed down quite a bit whenever he had to move his legs. "I have an idea! It's risky and we'll only get one shot but it should at least stun this thing long enough for us to get away."
"If it means we can stop playing cat and mouse with this guy, then I'm all in. What do you have in mind?" Birdramon asked.
"Just get me as close as you can to its legs and be ready to attack on my mark." Naruto replied as he formed an overly large Rasengan in his hands and formed a ring around it with his tail tips.
"You got it, here goes nothing." The bird digimon said before going into a spiraling dive, narrowly avoiding a flurry of rage fueled punches and swipes. Passing below the torso, she made a sharp turn which allowed her to dodge the rest of the stone giant's attacks as she got behind it briefly.
"Ohoho! Looks like someone is starting to tire out!" TitanEtemon bellowed with a wicked grin, thinking that they were retreating due to exhaustion since they'd stopped attacking. "Well then, how about you take a nice dirt nap, yeah!" He added while turning to face them again before renewing his attacks in earnest.
"Aahg!" Birdramon cried out as one of the punches finally managed to hit her, though it was thankfully only a glancing blow to one of her wings.
"Are you alright Birdramon?" Naruto asked in concern, sweat pouring from his brow as he poured as much power into his attack as he could.
"I'll live but I don't know how much longer I can keep this up." The fire bird said, her whole body wobbling slightly now as she flew. "This plan of your better work or we're both toast."
"Well, we're about to find out," Naruto said as they circled around the legs, before he suddenly flipped himself underneath her and held tightly onto one of her legs with one hand while firmly clutching the miniature blue sun he'd made in the other. "Fire!"
"Meteor Wing!" Birdramon called out without hesitation as she flapped her wings, unleashing a fresh barrage of fire streams. However, much to her surprise, instead of flying out towards the legs like she had intended, the flames were suddenly sucked towards and then into the sphere in Naruto's grasp, making it turn a vibrant violet color.
"Fenikkusu san no seishin! (Spirit of the Phoenix Sun!)" Naruto called before hurling the attack straight at TitanEtemon's left knee. "MOVE!"
Birdramon didn't even bother saying anything as she simple turned around and booked it as fast as she could to the Sandoraidā.
"HA! You must be really stupid if you think that puny attack will hurt this creation, uh-huh!" TitanEtemon said with a bellowing laugh as he saw the small glowing ball heading towards him. "That thing won't even make a crack in my handso-"
-Stop Music-
*KRAKABOOOOOOOOOM*
The ape golem was cut off as the attack collided with his leg and lit the whole place up like the fourth of July. A deafening roar filled the air as a visible wave of sound tore through the air, flattening the ground and kicking up even more dust and sand.
"This is gonna be rough!" Birdramon yelled as the shockwave quickly overtook the airborne duo, buffeting them in all directions with wind and sand. Unable to see or fly properly, the flaming bird tucked her legs in before wrapping her wings around herself and Naruto protectively as they plummeted.
By some miracle, they managed to end up crash-landing straight onto the Sandoraidā's main deck, skipping twice across the floor before coming to an abrupt stop when they collided with the railing on the opposite side.
When the dust settled, it revealed Biyomon and Naruto, back in his Kitsumon form, groaning as they slowly got up from the cracked deck. "Uuuuh… that was a lot bigger than I thought it would be." Naruto muttered as he realigned his back with a loud *crack*. "Are you okay Biyomon?"
"Ow, I… ah, I think my wing is broken." The pink bird admitted while cradling the limp appendage, flinching in pain whenever it shifted in her grasp.
"Kuso, here I got you," Naruto said as he knelt, tore of his shirt, and ripped off two poles from the railing before using the material to make a makeshift splint for Biyomon's wing.
As he was doing this, the whiskered blonde could hear the sounds of combat still coming from the back of the ship. He also saw Garurumon and Greymon across from them with their attention switching from checking on them to the rapidly dissipating cloud of dust in the center of the still spinning sand whirlpool.
Oddly enough though, not a single clone was to be seen much to his confusion as he could still feel the pull of his chakra telling him that most of them hadn't been dispelled yet.
-Play Villain Music-
"AHAHA!"
"Oh you have got to be kidding me." Naruto growled as TitanEtemon's head slowly came back into view with a deep booming laugh.
"I told you a pathetic attack like that wouldn't harm my toy!" The stone giant said boisterously as it started to dust itself off. "In fact, I'm frankly… quite… insulted..."
-Que Record Scratch-
TitanEtemon trailed off from his boasting as the rest of the sand cloud cleared, revealing the fact that his entire left leg and just a little over half his right were nothing more than a pile of smoldering rubble.
As he stood there staring at the devastation in shock, TitanEtemon's look of horror grew as cracks rapidly spread across what remained of his right leg. "…Ah crap." He muttered before the limb finally gave out entirely and he toppled over sideways.
Crashing to the ground with enough force to rock the entire region (again), the rock ape barely managed to catch himself with his hands as chunks of stone and earth broke free all over its body from the impact. Slowly pushing himself back up, TitanEtemon glared at the boat with utmost contempt as he tried to say something, only for a sputtered mess to come out thanks to his lower jaw falling apart.
Naruto was more focused on the crippled giant's chest though, where he could now see parts of a large red crystal poking out through a newly formed hole. 'That must be that things power source!' He wasn't the only one to come to this conclusion either as Greymon and Garurumon wasted no time blasting at that area with everything they had.
Seeing that they had it covered for now, Naruto returned his attention to Biyomon as he finished up the splint. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a candy bar he'd been saving for later before tearing it in half and giving part to the pink bird digimon. "Here, best get something down while you can, this isn't over yet."
"Thanks, I'm starvING." Biyomon squawked out midbite when Naruto suddenly scooped her up and placed her on his shoulders.
"Hold on tight and watch my back." Naruto said before sprinting at top speed towards the stern. Even in his tired state, it only took the foxy boy half a minute to get there, and half of that was because of the various debris and damage littering the deck he had to avoid.
However, upon reaching the back of the Sandoraidā, Naruto came to a literal screeching halt at the sight before him.
As he expected, Togemon, Ikkakumon, and Kabuterimon were there fighting off the last two giant wolves while his clones dealt with the smaller ones that managed to hop aboard. What he wasn't expecting, was to see a beat up looking Tai, Matt, Mimi, and Sora fighting amongst the clones wielding makeshift clubs and kunai while a group of clones huddled tightly around Joe, T.K., and Izzy as the former two patched up a severe bite on the latter's shoulder.
"What the hell is going on here?!" Naruto demanded while grabbing the nearest clone. "I told you guys to get them to safety in the cargo hold!"
"Sorry Boss, but we ran into a few complications along the way!"
-End Chapter-
An: Really sorry about the cliffhanger, this chapter used to be twice as long but I forgot to pay attention to the battery level on my computer and it ended up dying before I saved. I patched this up as best I could but I'm still in the middle of moving and job hunting so I don't have the time I'd like to work on it. I promise I'll try to make it up on the next update. Thank you for reading and please review.