Adventures of the Orange Flash
Chapter 42: Speed vs. Power
"That was quite a match, don't you think so guys?" asked Naruto as he continued to sit next to the girls to watch the matches as it's yet to be his turn anyways plus it's becoming nighttime at the moment.
"Yes, too bad Tails wasn't able to win though," said Milla a bit sadly, the match they had just watched was between Tails and their other friend Barby the Koala. The fox fought along with some of his gadgets and creativity but Barby had proven herself to be quite skilled in terms of close combat and instinct which led to the decisive blow and moving on to the next round.
"He tried his best, he just needs to involve himself more in martial arts to contend better," said Nicole.
"Is he a friend of yours?" asked Wendy curiously.
"That he is and he's even friends with Sonic the Hedgehog amongst others like myself, Tails is very talented in inventing many things like the S.A.C that Nicole-chan has on," Naruto explained.
"Sounds interesting, like what other kind of inventions?" asked Carla.
"It's a long list, I even saw a plane in his lab some time ago too," said Milla excitedly.
"We can tell you more about it later, I think they'll be announcing the match soon," Naruto spoke up as he saw Scratch standing at the arena like always.
[Ladies and Gentlemen, we're now moving on to the next match and I believe that it's the one you've all been waiting for, it's Sonic versus Bunnie Rabbot!] the crowd went wild as the Holo-screen display the portraits of the announced contenders before they arrived upon the arena [And now the next theme of the arena is…] The arena is set upon the wing of a beige giant biplane, which is bordered in with metallic fences […Giant Wing!]
Sonic was bouncing on the tips of his sneakers, just rearing to take off at the signal of the match "Alright, time to party!"
"Don't thinking I'll be going easy on ya!" said Bunnie with a look of determination.
[Now let the match begin!] Scratch announced out loud.
Music Start: O2Jam OST - End Of Fight
Sonic runs up to the front of a single opponent and performed a Spin Dash then shoots himself straight into his opponent while enveloped in a light blue aura, Bunnie quickly used her metal arm to block the incoming attack for him to rebound from her, Sonic sends himself back at his opponent to deliver an additional spinning double-kick to his target but Bunnie defended once more by deflecting the kicks with a strong backhand then followed up with a spin kick "Sonic Ballet!" the hedgehog performed an aerial somersault which created a burst in mid-air to quickly get out of range of the attack and land on the ground with a skid.
"Take this, Sonic Wave!" Sonic curls into a ball as if to perform a Spin Dash, however, he instead creates a forward-moving ground-traveling shock wave, whilst jumping backwards from recoil towards Bunnie who activated the boosters on her feet to take to the air to evade the incoming projectile then she pointed her palm towards the hedgehog to fire blasts of energy, having set it to nonlethal beforehand. Sonic was using his speed and athleticism to evade the shots aimed his way
"Here it comes!" Sonic threw a ring towards Bunnie and performed a spin attack to home in on it once it was close to her for a rapid switch into the offensive, Bunnie swerved to the side to avoid it but was unprepared for when hedgehog used the Sonic Ballet to redirect himself and perform a powerful downwards kick whilst in mid-air to send her crashing to the ground and followed it up with a Homing Attack, Bunnie was quick to recover in time to generate a pink forcefield around herself to deflect the hedgehog's attack then used the boosters to launch herself at her opponent to engage him in close combat.
"Wow, Sonic's in top form today," said Naruto as he watched the ongoing match with interest, he had been wondering how strong his fellow speedster has been since the last time they had met up.
"Yeah, he's gotten a lot stronger," said Milla.
"But I can tell that he hasn't so seriously yet," said Nicole.
"Well, I think he's going to soon enough," said Naruto.
Bunnie reared her metal fist back and thrust it forward to stretch, Sonic somersaulted sideways and rapidly closed the distance between them "Sonic Flare!" he fell straight down and carried his entire body on one hand while using break dance moves to do a sweeping kick in a wide arc to knock Bunnie away, then he leapt after her in pursuit and continued to utilize his break dance moves to execute a Spin Kick to strike her by sticking out one leg and spinning 360 degrees around himself horizontally in mid-air.
"Not done yet!" Bunnie performed an aerial recovery with her jet boosters then increased the output to propel herself towards Sonic with great speed as she channeled energy into her fist before throwing out a punch to launch a blast which Sonic performed a spin dash to move out of the way and kept moving to evade the shots which followed after till he uncurled and skidded to the side.
"Time to wrap this up!" Sonic raises his right fist and calls out the move's name "Sonic Wind!" He then ran around Bunnie at high-speed to create a small cyclone made of sharp sky blue winds, which lifted her into the air and was held in place despite attempts to escape. Sonic dove into the cyclone and unleashed a barrage of homing attacks from all directions, Bunnie tried to use her forcefield but it still needed some time to recharge and so was forced to resort to using her metal arm to defend herself which was having little to no effect as she was being pummeled and gradually losing consciousness till she couldn't take any more damage and collapsed to the floor once the cyclone dissipated.
Music End
Scratch went to check on her and clearly saw that she was unconscious before announcing […The winner of this fast paced match with a stylish finish is…Carol Tea!] Scratch announced as the crowd cheered loudly, Sonic smirked and performed his signature pose before zipping away from the reverted arena.
"That cinches it, Sonic has definitely gotten stronger. Can't wait to go up against him," said Naruto with a look of excitement.
"But it's too bad that Bunnie lost though, she really tried her best against him," said Nicole, looking a bit sad.
"Maybe we can cheer her and the others up later," Milla suggested.
"Sounds like a nice thing to do," said Wendy.
Carla scoffed in response "Why bother with complete strangers?"
"Because they're our friends, they can be yours too if you want," said Milla, Naruto patted her head with a smile of approval.
"Yup, strangers of today are friends of tomorrow," said Naruto "There's something I'm going to check on, I'll be back soon enough,"
"Okay Naruto," said Nicole.
Naruto got up from his seat and left the stands as he followed the directions and soon his way to the infirmary then went inside once he had received permission from the medics. The Kitsune went inside the room to find Bunnie having regained conscious with bandages wrapped around parts of her body but wasn't looking so cheerful, she perked up a bit upon seeing Naruto walk into the room.
"Hey Bunnie-chan, how're you doing?" asked Naruto as he pulled up a stool to sit next to her cot.
"Just fine and dandy as ah can be, too bad ah couldn't win but then again it was against Sonic," said Bunnie.
"But you did your very best, that's for sure. You were able to keep him on his toes which few could actually do," said Naruto with a smile.
Bunnie smiled as well "Aww thanks Sugah fox, that means a lot,"
"Anyways, that's not the only reason why I'm here,"
"What is it then?"
"I'm here to give you a little pick-me-up since I don't really want you to watch the other matches from in here," Naruto pulled off the glove from his right hand to reveal the Sun Mark on his palm then placed it on Bunnie's hand, causing her to blush as she felt a warm sensation flow through her body and was rather surprised to feel the pain fade away and the bruises completely disappear. She looked up to see that something was different about Naruto or rather his appearance.
"Say sugah fox, ah noticed that there're some strange markings on ya," said Bunnie.
Naruto blinked in confusion "Markings?" Naruto looked at his hands and was surprised to see blue tribal markings glowing on his arms, he quickly found a mirror to take a better look at himself and was surprised to see that his body is covered in glowing cyan tribal tattoos with his eyes glowing the same color "What's happening to me?"
"It appears that another one of your aspects has been unlocked, and it looks like you've unlocked the Life Aspect," said Kurama thoughtfully.
"Life Aspect?" thought Naruto confusedly.
"It's main focus is on healing abilities. Offensively a so inclined life Kitsune may cause injuries or simply suck the life out of a weaker opponent and plants. A strong source of life energy would be a river or other sources of fresh water and the ocean. Tetsuo also mentioned how some of the Yakan members with the Life Aspect were capable of using such sources of life energy to heal via transference," Kurama explained further.
"In a way. I've become some sort of medic ninja right?" thought Naruto.
"Pretty much, but different from the Slug Sannin and the Haruno," Kurama mentioned the last name with distaste.
"All in all, this will prove to be very useful to me so I won't always have to rely too much on the Yang seal," thought Naruto then he deactivated his aspect as he turned back to Bunnie.
"So what was that all about?" asked Bunnie.
"Just one of my powers being unlocked, I owe it to you for helping me acquire it," said Naruto with a smile.
"I didn't really do anything besides having been hurt from my match, but I'll be sure to call in my favor when the time comes," said Bunnie slyly, causing Naruto to gulp a bit at the look.
"Oh uh…sure, just let me know when," said Naruto a bit shyly, he took a glance at the clock hanging on the wall "It'll soon be time for the next match, I'll have the medics come check in on you so they can let you out of here,"
"Sure thing Sugah fox, I'll soon be out and seeing you," said Bunnie.
Naruto nodded in affirmation and left the room then he informed the medical staff before leaving the infirmary and making his way back to the stands and meeting up with Nicole and the others as he took his seat next to them.
"Hey everyone, I'm back," said Naruto with a smile.
"Welcome back Naruto, are you done with what you were doing?" asked Nicole.
"Pretty much yeah,"
"What was it you were doing?" asked Wendy.
"I went to the infirmary to heal Bunnie-chan with my chakra, she's bound to be out soon," Naruto replied while avoiding to speak about his aspects that much.
"You have the ability to heal?" asked Carla.
"In a way yes, anyways it looks like the next match is about to start up again," Naruto pointed out for them to see.
[…And now we're on to the next match which is between Knuckles the Echidna and Amy Rose!] said Scratch with the Holo-screen displaying the portraits of the announced contenders as they appear on the arena with the crowd applauding them [And now the next theme of the arena is…] The arena is set on a small island plateau, in an area that looks mostly like the Green Hill Zone as it is surrounded with wooden bridges, waterfalls and palm trees […South Island!]
"I'm ready!" said Amy as she wore a pair of MMA gloves while holding her hammer.
Knuckles bumped his fist together with a smirk on his face "Let's see what you got!"
[Now let the match begin!] Scratch announced out loud.
Music Start: Killer Instinct S2 OST- I'm Back (to Rise!) (TJ Combo's Theme)
"Here I come!" Amy rushed towards Knuckles with her hammer raised over her head and brought it down to strike her opponent, Knuckles moved out of the way of the attack and moved in to punch Amy who quickly spun her hammer like a propeller to parry the incoming strike then freed up one of her hands to punch him in the face for a counterattack before jumping away before he could retaliate.
"Ground Shaker!" Knuckles jumped into the air, then dove straight down to the ground with his fists first and spins his entire body around rapidly while giving off a flaming red aura. Knuckles then impacted the ground with his fists with such force that he creates a disruptive shockwave along the surface to damage the surroundings before jumping back on his feet, the shockwave caused Amy to lose her balance as Knuckles seized the opportunity to rush up to her and strike with rapid jabs then followed up with a straight punch to send her flying. Amy managed to recover from the ground as she raised the hammer overhead and brought it down to the ground with great strength to create a shockwave to cancel the other out and was able to regain her balance "Pink Typhoon!" she spun her hammer around, releasing a powerful pink tornado which slammed into Knuckles and knocked him back.
"You're not bad, time to get a little serious!" Knuckles leapt into the air and began gliding "Spiral Attack!" he began spinning through the air while keeping his fists in front with the force from the speed engulfing them in fire "Right back at you, Maiden Tornado!" Amy held out her Piko Piko Hammer and spins rapidly like a top as they clashed in the middle and struggled constantly for dominance but eventually ended in a draw as their momentum was waning, forcing them to jump away from each other.
Amy launched another Pink Typhoon but Knuckles was quick to move out of the way and countered with an uppercut though she swung her hammer to parry it then swung once more for it to miss as well. Both sides continue to lay on the pressure and at the same defending against each other's attacks as everyone watched from the edge of their seats.
"Who do you think is going to win?" asked Elias as he watched with the others in the VIP room.
"I can't really say, both are pretty good," said Sally.
"I see your point, those two are well trained in their art of combat," said Antoine.
"Well, there can only be one victor in this match which is why they're fighting so hard," said Breezie with a shrug of her shoulders "Although the ones betting on them are either going to be happy or sad depending on the outcome,"
Amy had partially forgone using her Piko Piko Hammer to alternating between her weapon and punches against Knuckles, but the echidna was gradually figuring out her attack pattern and soon was able to set up countermeasures as he weaved in and out of her incoming attacks and retaliating with his own, Amy was also giving her all in the fight but was getting pushed back bit by bit despite using her best moves to regain her footing but to no avail.
"Sorry about this Amy, but it's my win," Knuckles suddenly lunges forward with a fist reared back "Spiral Upper!" and delivered an uppercut with such force that it ignited in flames to launch Amy into the air and followed after her while spinning for additional damage before both landing back on the ground with Amy clearly knocked out.
Music End
[And so…the winner of this match is none other than Knuckles the echidna!] said Scratch with the crowd cheering loudly and the arena reverting to its default state, Knuckles simply nodded before going back the way he came through while the medics carried Amy away to the infirmary.
"Looks like Knuckles won this one," said Naruto.
"Yeah, he fought strongly," said Nicole.
"This is the first time I've seen him fight, I think I can see why he gets along so well with Sonic and Tails," said Milla.
"It will be interesting if we're to match up with him, reminds me of those two crazy taijutsu users," said Kurama.
"Bushy Brows and Bushier Brows-sensei aren't crazy!" thought Naruto in protest.
"Can you look me in the eye and tell me that their behaviors' normal and met others like them?"
"…,"
"I thought so,"
"Just quit talking about them like that,"
"Whatever you say, better pay attention since the robot chicken is back again since the arena wasn't all that damaged this time,"
Naruto turned to see that Scratch was back on the arena much sooner than he thought the announcer would be coming before recalling that the arena repairs took lesser time than when he went up against Natsu and felt sheepish upon recalling how destructive their techniques were.
[And now for the last match of the day, we have…Espio the Chameleon versus Honey the Cat!] said Scratch with the Holo-screen displaying the portraits of the last two competitors like always as they walked into the arena [And now the next theme of the arena is…] The arena is set on a giant tree stump, which has tall mushrooms bordering it while the background being a wide forest with larger mushrooms and small hills […Mushroom Hill!]
Espio put his hands together and bowed "Let us have an honorable battle,"
"Same here, let's do our best," Honey with a smile.
[And now, let the match begin!] Scratch announced.
Music Start: Tekken 5 Dark Resurrection; Hiten
Honey took the initiative to attack as she rushed up to Espio in a surprising show of speed and struck out with a straight punch, the chameleon was mildly surprised but was quick to sidestep the incoming attack before countering with a quick chop to the shoulder which Honey performed a backhand to parry it then followed up with a high kick and again it was avoided. Espio was now the one to take to the offensive as he struck out with a combo of punches and kicks as he was targeting Honey's joints to slow down her movements and gradually tire her out but the fashionista wasn't planning on making things easy for her opponent as she parried the ninja's attacks with riposte and grapples while at times managing to toss him away with him landing on his feet.
"Looks like Honey-chan has being training very hard for this," said Naruto, looking quite surprised.
"I am seeing aspects of Karate and Judo in her movements, her proficiency is rather high concerning them," said Nicole.
Espio wasn't going down so easily as he bounced from the ground to attack with a double kick which Honey jumped out of the way to evade but was unprepared for when he landed on the ground then rapidly closed the distance between them in a burst of speed and knocked her back with a palm thrust to the torso and followed it up with a high kick for Honey's head, despite smarting from the pain the feline managed to duck below the incoming attack and rolled away from her opponent to try and recover her momentum.
She finally snapped back into focus and retook her combat stance as she waited for Espio who was already moving in to engage in combat once more then they exchanged punches and kicks with the ninja keeping his guard for any intents of her trying to grapple him. His suspicions were confirmed when Honey performed a low sweep kick to force him into the air then leapt after him in pursuit "Ninja Arts: Substitution!" the moment Honey grabbed him in preparation for a throw, he was suddenly engulfed in a puff of smoke which dissipated to reveal straw dummy in his place much to her shock as the ninja appeared right behind to deliver a powerful kick, knocking her down to the ground.
"Hey, that's just like your technique Naruto!" said Milla in surprise.
"You're right, but mine's more advanced than his," Naruto pointed out.
"What do you mean?" asked Wendy curiously.
Naruto winked playfully "Now that would be telling Wendy-chan, you'll just have to wait and see in my oncoming matches,"
"Hmph, I doubt it would be that impressive," said Carla with a huff.
"like Naruto said, you'll just have to wait and see," said Nicole.
Back at the fight, Espio was exchanging fists with Honey and launched a straight punch which seemingly made contact but was taken by surprise when it actually went right through her like that of a ghost, he looked up to see Honey playfully wink at him then disappeared before transparent copies of herself surrounded him.
"This technique, it's almost similar to that of Naruto's!" thought Espio as he looked around in search of the real Honey but then was forced to defend himself as punches and kicks began to be launched at him from different directions, he was able to block a majority of the incoming attacks but several were able to land on him. The ninja's mind raced for a solution to his current situation and finally came upon one as he swung into action "Ninja Arts: Camouflage!" Espio formed a handsign and completely disappeared from sight which was more than enough to surprise Honey into stopping with her attacks as she began to look around for her opponent.
"W-Where did he go?" Honey looked to detect any trace of the ninja, that was soon interrupted when she felt a strong hit to the back and turned round to find nothing before being struck again in the shoulder, she tried to fight back by attacking where she was hit but failed to land any hits. Soon she was getting worn down from the unseen attacks "There's no way I keep this up,"
Then a voice spoke up from behind "I have enjoyed this battle for long, but it's time for me to end this," a strong blow to the back of Honey's neck was felt before she lost consciousness and collapsed to the ground and Espio reappeared on the arena and bowed towards her in respect.
Music End
[And the winner of this match is Espio the Chameleon] Scratch announced with the crowd cheering loudly with said ninja bowing once more before leaving the arena with the medics carrying Honey away afterwards.
"That match was amazing, I didn't know Honey could fight so well," said Milla in amazement.
"Espio has also proven to have gotten stronger as well," said Nicole.
"Yeah, to be able to turn Honey's strategy of hit and away to his advantage with his own variation," said Naruto "But it didn't mean that Honey-chan hadn't proven herself to be just as strong,"
"She's definitely shown herself not to be underestimated even when her claws aren't out," said Kurama musingly.
Scratch soon spoke up to gain the crowd's attention [And so ladies and gentlemen, out of 16 contenders, only 8 were able to move on to the next stage of the World Fighting Tournament and these are the ones!] the Holo-screen went ahead to display the portraits of the qualifying contenders which are Barby, Carol, Killua, Knuckles, Naruto, Sonic, Lilac and Espio [These 8 will battle amongst each other to earn the right to move on to the semifinals the next day same time, so be sure to be well rested for tomorrow everyone!] Scratch then left the arena as everyone else proceeded to leave the stands as well.
"Well, guess we better head on over to the hotel and meet up with Lilac-chan and Carol-chan," said Naruto as he stood up with the others before turning to Nicole "Which rooms did you get for us?"
"I booked a three-person bedroom for Milla, Carol and Lilac, and a single for you Naruto," said Nicole.
"Think it's possible for you to share with Wendy and Carla? I can even give mine to them and warp back home to sleep and come back in the morning,"
"It's okay, you don't need to do that," Wendy while waving her hands nervously.
"I'm sure we can manage, Lilac and Carol won't mind. You can even bring my beanbag bed from home if you can," said Milla cheerfully.
"Then it's settled, let's go get ourselves some dinner then turn in for the night," said Naruto.
"I'm still not fully convinced of your strength, better show me something awe-inspiring tomorrow," said Carla nonchalantly.
"Whatever you say," the group began making their way towards to rest after a long day and wondered how intense tomorrow's battles will be.
This is Hussbek online with the latest chapter, we're now done with the first stage of the tournament and soon moving on to the next one where the fighters will be competing much harder than before as the numbers keep reducing. Naruto has managed to unlock yet another aspect besides his Azure Drive which will be explained in the next chapter. Be sure to read and review like you always do.
This is Hussbek from Ghana.
Signing out.