The Sky Fox
Chapter 22: Unwelcome Threats
Music Start: Sonic Forces OST; Vs. Infinite (First Battle)
"Take this!" the crazed Reiko pointed one of the spider legs towards Naruto which revealed to have a mechanical hand at the end to fired an energy blast. Naruto was quick to react and darted to the side to dodge the incoming attack "Nice reflexes, do show me more!"
Naruto frowned at her true personality and stayed on guard, aware that these kinds of people tend to act very randomly and one can't accurately predict what they would do next. Plus he needs to hold her off until backup arrives.
"I have to admit, 'Reiko-san'. You certainly have guts to stroll into the IS Academy to steal my two IS when there are many strong IS pilots with Orimura Chifuyu at the lead," said Naruto, using certain wordplay to see what info he could prod out of her.
Reiko scoffed arrogantly "Like that wench scares me, let me show you just what I mean!" she was suddenly engulfed in a bright flash of light which soon dissipated to reveal her IS equipped with an IS whose design is based on an arachnid.
[This is certainly a unique IS which we've never seen before, no doubt that it was stolen by this mysterious organization which she must be a part of] said Minato with a frown.
"Surprised, little boy? This is 'Arachne' and I gotta warn ya that her poison is strong!" she pointed all of the spider legs which are equipped with blasters towards Naruto "Here you go!" then she started launching a barrage of energy blasts.
"Tch!" Naruto swiftly glided across the ground to evade while slashing at some of the shots that came too close with his HF Katanas. He kicked off the ground to skate horizontally along a nearby wall before launching himself off it towards Reiko with great speed then landing a flying kick, knocking her back but she manages to recover then clinging to the corner of a ceiling just like a spider.
"Not bad, little boy. You got some moves," 'Reiko' commented sarcastically.
Naruto retorted "Oh please, you seen nothing yet. By the time I'm done, you're just gonna be a no name whom I dealt with,"
That statement irritated the woman "You dare call me that?! I am Lady Autumm; a proud member of Phantom Task! You'd do well to remember as I kill you!"
"Good to know, hah!" Naruto lunged towards his opponent and proceeded to engage her in combat. Naruto was on edge for he needs to keep track of the spider legs which are attacking him as well as defending his attacks but he was able keep her at bay regardless "Those legs are becoming a serious pain, in that case…,"
Naruto took a quick step back and crouched slightly as he twirled both katanas to position them behind him in reverse grips, his eyes narrowed in absolute focus for his enemy's next move. Sure enough Lady Autumm attacked with him with the spider legs only for him to swiftly intercept as he dashed past her in a blur to stop at her back and three of the spider legs were sliced off.
"What the heck!?" Lady Autumm couldn't believe what just happened, he suddenly moved so quickly now her HUD is alerting her of few missing spider legs.
Naruto turned to face her "Those spider legs of yours are being an annoyance, so I figured to slice them off one-by-one. Just a matter of time,"
"Grrrr, I'll show you annoyance!" Lady Autumm began attacking fiercely with her blasters, forcing Naruto to be on the move once. He then noticed how he's circling around her while she continues to fire being similar to the training which he had with Tatenashi a couple days ago and knew what to do next.
Naruto maintained the circular orbit for a bit longer before performing a barrel roll to reposition his body then activated the Ignition Boost to propel himself straight towards his target "Substitute Zanbatou!" he switched out the HF Katanas for the Zanbatou as he rapidly closed in on the enemy "Attack Function: Disorder!" he slammed into her with a shoulder tackle then followed up with a swift uppercut then another much powerful one afterwards.
However, Lady Autumm refuses to back down as she spins around and using the larger mass of her IS to attack Naruto, seeing the incoming attack then quickly uses the flat side of his Zanbatou as a makeshift shield to block and was knocked back a bit but not out of balance.
"I gotta say, little brat, you certainly know how to show a woman a good time. Too bad I'd have to kill you otherwise we could have gone out for dinner," said Lady Autumm in a sultry manner.
Naruto frowned in response "Sorry, but you're definitely not my type to want to go out with,"
[That's right, harlots like you should stay away from my sochi!] said Kushina angrily.
"Hmph, doesn't surprise me that you're unaware of the true beauty of women. Oh well, back to killing you then,"
Naruto charged forward while still using his Zanbatou as a shield to defend against the barrage of energy blasts from the remaining legs of Lady Autumm's Arachne IS till he was close enough to attack with a cleaving strike which she dodge with a quick backstep but Naruto vaulted off the weapon while it was still on the ground with a front flip to attack with a second and more powerful cleaving struck but Lady Autumm was able to evade this one as well.
"Substitute Dual Handguns!" Naruto switched out the Zanbatou for the aforementioned handguns and started firing away at his enemy who's being evasive of his attacks and responding with hers.
At the Control Room, Chifuyu and Maya were observing the ongoing battle between Naruto and the unknown IS pilot through the monitors.
"I see, so they planned to use this day for their attack since the security would be at its lowest," said Chifuyu with a small frown on her face.
Maya turned to her with concern "What should we do?"
"We need to watch out for enemy reinforcements, alert all of the general students to evacuate,"
"Understood!"
Over at the stage area which is currently empty save for Cecelia and the other girls who are having an argument amongst themselves.
"Jeez, where did Naruto go?" Ling complained.
Laura scoffed "It's because you got in the way between my bride and I,"
"Charlotte-san, this wouldn't have happened if you didn't try to cover for Naruto,"
"Well, I figured that he would be more cooperative that way to give me the crown," said Charlotte sheepishly.
Suddenly, the alarm started blaring which caught their attention before hearing Maya's voice.
{Alert! An unknown IS has been detected in the locker room and is currently engaged in battle with Odin! All students with personal IS must deploy and stand by!}
The girls nodded in affirmation "Understood!" then they proceeded to immediately equip themselves with their signature IS and awaited orders which soon came from Chifuyu via the loudspeaker.
{Alcott and Fang will patrol the area while the rest of you shall immediately head over to the locker room to provide backup for Uzumaki!} Chifuyu instructed sternly. The girl complied with their assigned tasks and set out to investigate or provide support.
Back in the locker room, Naruto was busy exchanging fire with Lady Autumm and inflicting as much damage as he can while keeping an eye out from any surprises from her. Quickly moving to get behind her blindspot, Naruto immediately moved in for an attack.
"Attack Function: Rise Shot!" he dashed forward and prepares to strike only to be taken by surprise when Lady Autumm suddenly spins around with her open palm aimed towards him which launches a web that captures him before he could react in time "Darn it, should have realized that she was baiting me,"
Lady Autumm arrogantly approaches with an air of arrogance while creating more webs between her hands "You really are a brat after all, thinking that you could catch me off guard," she proceeds to hang on him in the air by the arms and legs with her webs.
[Naruto, you need to hurry and free yourself!] said Minato urgently.
"I'm trying!" Naruto struggles to break free from the web but is having trouble doing so.
"Now for some entertainment…," Lady Autumm takes out some sort of machine with multiple cables which moved around like tentacles "I'll be taking your Odin first!" she slams the machine into his chestplate with the cables digging into the IS and shocking Naruto who screams in pain and he also hears Kushina screaming as well.
[Kushina! Naruto!] Minato was worried for his wife and son, his mind racing for a solution.
Seeing Naruto scream in agony, Lady Autumm started laughing "Let's tell you something interesting about that other boy since you're being so much fun right now. The ones who kidnapped him during the Second Mondo Grosso was us, Phantom Task!"
Hearing that surprised Naruto and his parents as they had thought that a rivalling country was responsible for Ichika's kidnapping until now "It was…you?"
The crazed IS pilot sneered "I'm looking forward to our 'loving' reunion once I'm done here,"
Realizing the truth that Phantom Task were the ones who kidnapped Ichika when he was a child and had always been blaming himself for being weak and dragging his sister down. Now hearing that they're coming after him again and most likely target his friends and family, Naruto was enraged. He began pulling at the webs once more whilst ignoring the pain from the shock, his anger calling upon Kurami's chakra which helped him rip the web off much to the woman's shock
"Wha-,"
*WHAM*
She found herself flying backwards and crashing into a wall after feeling a strong impact against her helmet which is now cracked all over and her HUD is alerting her of major damage. She looked to see Naruto standing there with his helmet open as he casually reaches out and rips the machine from the chestplate then crushing it with one hand before tossing it away. He looked at her with eyes full of rage.
Music Change: Sonic Forces OST; VS Zavok
"Might as well pat yourself in the back because your big mouth has just put your organization at the top of my shit list. Just to let you know; this is gonna hurt and I'm gonna enjoy it," said Naruto before his helmet closed back up.
[You won't be the only one] said Kushina, feeling just as angered along with her husband.
After pulling herself out of the wall, Lady Autumm scoffed "Like you can do anything to m-,"
*WHAM*
Naruto was already in front of her with his fist buried in her gut before speaking in a cold tone "Shut. Up," he landed another punch to the head before lashing out with a roundhouse kick to knock her away.
"Why you little…," Lady Autumm equips herself with a pair of long blades while Naruto silently calls upon the HF Blades as well, his focus maintained on the opponent who earned his anger. No longer intending to hold her at bay until backup arrives, now he personally wants to rip her out of that IS.
In the skies above the academy, ling and Cecelia are patrolling the area for any signs of enemy IS and so far haven't detected any.
"Area clear," Cecelia stated.
"Stay sharp, the enemy could come from anywhere," Ling cautioned her. But no sooner her said that, her HUD alerted her of an incoming IS "They're here, prepare to engage,"
"Right!"
They approached the incoming IS with their weapons equipped to engage the enemy, Cecelia used the telescopic function of her viewer but was shocked upon recognizing the IS which its designs is based on a purple butterfly with the helmet obscuring the upper part of the pilot's face.
"That's…the BT Second; Silent Zephryus! The one that was stolen from my company!" Cecelia was definitely not expecting to encounter the stolen IS here, let alone facing the thief responsible.
"Stay focused, Cecelia. Start shooting!" said Ling as she took aim with her Impact Cannons and began firing from a distance.
Cecelia stood there in a daze before snapping back into focus "R-Right!" she took aim with her sniper rifle and started firing as well.
However, the unknown pilot deploys a bit which creates a purple energy shield and swiftly darts around to deflect the incoming projectiles which shocked the two girls.
"In that case, take this!" Cecelia deploys her missile pods and launches a pair of homing missiles at their target. However none of the missiles got close enough as a single purple laser zigzagged through the air and sliced through them with hardly any effort.
"What the?!" Ling couldn't believe what she just saw.
"That was the BT Weapon 'Flexible'. I'm supposed to have the highest compatibility for it and even gave ideas for its improvement, so why…?" Cecelia muttered in disbelief at the sight of the IS which she was meant to pilot.
At her moment of hesitation, the unknown pilot deploys multiple bits which flew towards them with great speed.
"Cecelia, watch out! We have incoming!" Ling called out in alert, both she and Cecelia took evasive action to avoid the incoming bits but neither of them expected the unknown pilot to be skilled in controlling the bits.
Seeing that the two girls are preoccupied with avoiding her attacks, the pilot continued on her way to the academy to proceed with her assigned objective.
Back inside the locker room, Lady Autumm was finding herself being beaten back by the male IS pilot who was attacking her rather fiercely with his HF katanas. Try as she could, he wasn't letting her have any chances to attack properly. She would try to pull back to attack from a distance but then he would pursue her relentlessly, she tries to attack with the remaining spider legs but he would deflect them and continue with his own attack. All in all, he was really getting on her nerves.
"Why you little…DIE ALREADY!" he lunges at Naruto with her blades poised to kill.
Naruto's eyes narrowed in focus and waited for Lady Autumm to get in close enough to swing his katanas to parry the blades then instantly went for the counterattack "Attack Function: Continuous Cut!" the katanas glow with yellow energy as he rapidly slashes at his target with afterimages trailing behind his movements before ending the combo with a jumping slash which inflicted critical damage as she stumbles backward in disbelief, this brat was supposed to be a rookie so how's this possible?
"You'd better surrender or else…," Naruto pointed one of the katanas towards her "I'll make things very…unpleasant,"
[You tell her, sochi-kun!] Kushina was in agreement with her son.
"…," Lady Autumm gritted her teeth in anger at being pushed to this point because of this boy when it was supposed to be an easy mission of extracting the IS just like with the previous missions.
*BOOM*
Suddenly, the ceiling above them was blown apart to reveal the outside and they saw an unknown IS hovering in the air and looking down at them.
"I came to get you, Autumm," said the pilot.
Said person growled in response "Where's the respect when you address me?!"
"Like you're worth respecting," Naruto scoffed but kept his eye on the new potential opponent "Another one?"
[Most likely, considering that she to retrieve this one] said Minato.
[Like we're gonna let them get away] said Kushina.
With that said, Naruto immediately flew through the hole into the air to confront the unknown pilot, confident that the others will show up to handle the first one since he damaged her sufficiently enough to be no trouble to them.
"Who are you? Identify yourself!" Naruto demanded. The pilot's answer was to deploy the bits and sending towards him to attack "Substitute Restraighter and Neo Beam Guarder!" he switched out the HF katanas for the shield and lance as he took off through the skies and was dodging and deflecting the laser blasts fired from the flying bits "Those bits, they're just like the ones of Cecelia-chan's Blue Tears.
Kushina called out in alert [Behind you!]
Naruto immediately spun around to block an incoming attack from the mysterious pilot with the Neo Beam Guarder. His HUD alerted him of the bits approaching from behind and let go of the Restraighter to grab the pilot's forearm and fling her towards the bits before recalling the lance back in his hand Attack Function: Glorious Ray!" his beam lance transforms into a ray lance then he rapidly ascends to absorb energy from the surroundings to the lance. After it absorbs all the needed energy, Naruto then swung his lance to unleash the absorbed energy into laser rays unto the pilot who reacts by having the bits shift into shield mode then gathering in front of her to block the incoming attack.
[Bits capable of shielding, hadn't you suggested that idea to Cecelia-san?] Minato inquired.
"Yeah, I did. So how…?" Naruto muttered thoughtfully.
[Sochi-kun, here she comes again!] said Kushina, bringing her son's focus back into the battle.
"Right!"
Meanwhile, Lady Autumm had climbed out of the hole with an angry expression "Next time, I'll kill him!" she suddenly found herself unable to move and looked to see Laura closeby with her AIC active.
"I won't let you get away, not after targeting my bride!" said Laura with a cold expression.
Charlotte aimed her submachine gun at her head "You'd better quit while you can,"
Penny held her shortswords at the ready "You're not going anywhere,"
Ichika was also there with his Yukihira Niigata active "Do not move,"
Lady Autumm growled upon finding herself surrounded with no room for escape.
Back in the skies, Naruto was evading the laser shots fired at him from both the bits and the rifle of the unknown pilot, having switched out the beam lance and energy shield for the assault rifle and a single handgun in order to fight back from a range since she's keeping her distance from him at the moment.
"Such levels of coordination between bits and rifle, this is exactly when Cecelia-chan is aiming for instead of one at a time," thought Naruto as he continues to evade and shoot back at his enemy.
[This only tells us that the people who are part of this Phantom Task organization are highly dangerous and should be treated with great caution] said Minato.
"All the more reason why we need to detain them, so we can find out more about this organization," thought Naruto.
Turning his attention back into the fight, Naruto locked on to the pilot and flew forward with great speed. Sure enough, the bits moved in to attack him but he was ready for them "Attack Function: Hundred Buster!" he locked-on to the incoming bits then bolstered his reflexes to shot them all down with no time gap in between each shot before somersaulting backwards to fire the last shot at the mysterious pilot and landing a hit. Seizing the opportunity, he quickly closed in and took aim with the assault rifle "Take this! Attack Function: Beam Shot!" he channels energy at the muzzle before pulling the trigger to fire a powerful blue energy beam at point-blank range, resulting in an explanation. The cloud of smoke dissipated to reveal the unknown IS partially damaged but still functional with the pilot appearing rather annoying.
"How irritating…," the pilot muttered, Naruto noticed that the voice sounded rather familiar to him but that distraction cost him as the pilot lunged at him and sliced through both his handgun and assault rifle, revealing that the rifle can also be a blade as well.
Seeing the pilot aim her rifle at him, Naruto quickly defended himself "Substitute Neo Beam Guarder and Restraighter!" he barely raised his shield to protect himself as the impact sent him flying back.
This gave the pilot the opportunity to fly down to where Lady Autumm was still held at gunpoint before firing at the group, forcing them away. Laura gritted her teeth, refusing to disable her AIC. The pilot paid her no mind and merely swung her rifle which is in blade mode at the AIC field, disabling it much to her shock.
"Impossible…," Laura couldn't believe what she just witnessed.
"Is that you can do, Germany's Advanced Version?" the pilot inquired.
"How do you know that?"
The pilot didn't respond, looking up through the hole to see Naruto approaching then she turned towards Autumm "The mission has been compromised, we need to leave immediately," she started shooting at the others, forcing them back and Ichika had to step in and use his IS's shield mode to defend.
This gave Autumm time to eject from her IS as she took out its CORE then set the IS to self-destruct then it rushes towards the group. Seeing what's happening, Naruto increased his speed to intercept.
"Guys, watch out!" Naruto landed on the ground and used what's left of his shield energy to protect them "Attack Function: Shell Shield!" a silver dome projected around himself and the others right before the IS exploded. The smoke dissipated to reveal that everyone was okay and unhurt.
Music End
Naruto turned to check on them "Is everyone okay?"
"Yeah, we're fine thanks to you," said Ichika.
"Maybe so, but they got away," Laura pointed out to them. Like she said, both Autumm and the mysterious pilot had already made their escape.
"Well, at least they didn't get what they want," said Naruto before reverting Odin to its Closed Form.
"What do you mean?" asked Ling confusedly.
"Turns out that lady who was pestering Ichika and I at the Maid Café was a disguised member of an organization and she was trying to steal our IS," Naruto explained.
"What?!" Penny and the others were surprised to hear of this.
"And that's not all," Naruto turned to Ichika "I also found out that they were the ones responsible for your kidnapping when you were a kid during the Second Mondo Grosso,"
Ichika was taken aback by the revelation and became angered "So they were the ones…,"
Then a voice spoke up "Alright everyone, calm down," turned to see Tatenashi walking up to them while fanning herself with a calm demeanor "Orimura-sensei wants you all to come over to the command room and give your report relating to the incident,"
"O-Okay…," Cecelia was still bothered by what had happened with the unknown pilot using the IS stolen from her country.
They all proceeded to follow Tatenashi to the Command Room in order to give their report on the incident.
Later that night in the skyscraper of an unknown city, Autumm was arguing with the unknown pilot.
"I don't recall asking you for help! Why did you get in my way!?" Autumm pushed the pilot whose face is disturbingly similar to Chifuyu's.
"…," the girl remained silent and smirked at her.
Autumm growled in anger "You little…," she takes out a combat knife and prepares to attack her.
Then a soft female voice called out to her "Now now, Autumm. There's no need to be so upset…," they turned to see a woman with long pale blonde flowing hair and wearing a bathrobe enter the room.
Autumm's anger instantly vanished upon seeing her and began to blush "Squall…,"
The aforementioned person smiles in response "Please calm down as that would ruin your beautiful face,"
"O-Okay…,"
The black-haired girl clicked her tongue and began walking out of the room to return to her bedroom when Squall called out to her.
"M…be sure to take Silent Zephyrus for maintenance and repairs, we'll talk more about what happened…,"
"Okay…," M responded then continued on her way. Inside her bedroom, M leaned back against the wall while looking down to a golden locket in her hand with a gleeful smile "Soon, very soon…I will have my revenge," her grin widens as she looks at the picture inside the locket…of Orimura Chifuyu.
Inside the Command Room, Chifuyu and Maya were watching the recordings of the battles which Naruto had against Autumm and the unknown pilot.
"So, they extracted the Core from Arachne and detonated it, the other IS is Silent Zephyrus which is the upgraded version of Blue Tears that was stolen from England," Maya stated while looked at the recordings carefully.
"And they call themselves Phantom Task," Chifuyu added, she also recalled the information from Naruto about them being responsible for Ichika's kidnapping but she can't be too sure.
"Indeed, they're the ones responsible for the recent thefts of IS from various countries and seem to be targeting the IS belonging to Naruto-kun and Ichika-san since they're the only two male IS pilots,"
"Which was why I had Sarashiki train and safeguard but…," Chifuyu frowned as things didn't go like the way she wanted.
"I'm surprised that you didn't have her look after Ichika-san. I bet that you were worried about Naruto-kun," said Maya playfully "Maybe you wished to have taken her place instead,"
Chifuyu looked away with her cheeks tinged pink "Don't be ridiculous! It's that Uzumaki has a tendency to attract more trouble compared to Ichika!"
"If you say so,"
Over at the dormitory, Tatenashi was explaining to Naruto about the true reason for her being around him so much instead of what he initially thought.
"…and so, that why I was always around you in order to protect you. Although you proved to be rather capable than I thought," said Tatenashi.
Naruto hummed "So that's what was going on,"
"That doesn't excuse her from everything that she did till now," said Kurami in annoyance.
"The Sarashiki Family has always been well-known for working secret operations like this,"
"I understand but it could have helped a bit more if you told me what's going on, I would have been better prepared against that psycho lady and her friend," Naruto pointed out.
"Maybe so, but I think I can relax a bit now that the immediate danger is gone for now," Tatenashi shrugged her shoulders as she went to sit next to Naruto on his bed, making Kurami glare at her from his lap "I'm sorry for so clingy all this time,"
"I-It's okay,"
"Would you be lonely if I were gone?"
"I don't know how to answer that…,"
"By the way, do you recognize this?" Tatenashi held out something that Naruto and Kurami immediately recognizes.
"That's the crown which was part of the costume you had me wear," said Naruto, wondering why she has it with her right now.
Tatenashi smiled playfully "That's right, a wondrous item that let's anyone who holds it to live with you in the same room!"
Everyone was flabbergasted to hear that with Naruto being vocal about it "But you didn't tell me about it!"
"For obvious reasons, which was why I only told the girls,"
"So, that was why all those girls were intently focused on taking the crown from you, this girl…," Kurami started growling at Tatenashi that Naruto had to wrap his arms around the vixen to hold her back.
[This girl is so sly; I'm really starting to like] Kushina commented.
[Oh dear, you really in for the long haul since she's holding the crown, son] said Minato sympathetically.
Realizing what his parents and Kurami are talking about, Naruto could only sigh in resignation as he looks at the one girl whom he just can't seem to be able to shake off no matter how hard he tries "Oh man…,"
Tatenashi smiled brightly "Let's continue to get along, Naruto-kun!"
Naruto could only sigh tiredly again.
This is Hussbek online with the latest chapter, Naruto finds himself facing down a rogue IS pilot who's targeting his IS to steal. He fights back and proves himself an even match but was temporarily caught only to free himself and this time overwhelm her. That was until an associate of hers made an appearance and he engaged her as well only to quickly discover that she's far more formidable compared to the first one. The involvement of Ichika and the others forces the two rogue IS pilots to pull off a desperate escape tactic which forces Naruto to protect his friends while they got away. Now that he's aware of who they are, Naruto knows that he would need to be ready for their reappearance in the near future. On a side note, Tatenashi manages to trick her way into staying in the same room as Naruto through a cleverly concealed loophole which she capitalized on, now he's stuck with her for the meantime.
As you guys noticed in the chapter, I didn't have Tatenashi show up to help since he was basically holding his own against his opponent, even when he faced Madoka and wasn't outclassed like Ichika was due to his unpredictable nature and experience. Had to be really creative with this one. And for those wondering about when Dot-Phasor's Second Shift, it's gonna happen in the next arc so be sure to look forward to it. Read and review like always.
This is Hussbek from Ghana.
Signing out and staying alive.