Adventures of the Orange Flash
Chapter 71: Breaking the Iron Shackles
Ever since the Iron Dominion took over New Mobotropolis, everything fell into chaos as everyone struggled to fend for themselves and tried not to become victims to the whims of the Iron Queen and her forces. The remainder of the Freedom Fighters that had remained behind were doing all they can to keep the citizens safe for as long as they could.
Right now, Amy Rose and Antoine were making their escape from the Iron Dominion and the Dark Egg Legion after accomplishing their recent objective of helping a group of refugees escape from the city.
"Pick up the pace, Antoine! We need to get away!" said Amy running ahead with Antoine close behind, avoiding the barrage of laser fire from the Dark Legionnaires.
"You don't have to tell me twice!" the coyote ducked under a laser shot as he ran.
More Dark Legionnaires and Bat Ninjas appeared ahead to obstruct the duo but Amy and Antoine were quick to take them down with practiced ease thanks to their years of experience and Naruto's training, making them fearsome combatants,
"I'm wishing that ma princess waz here to lead ze resistance, Tails too! Even Naruto who has been helping us since he came here. I wouldn't even mind if zat hedgehog was here to help," Antoine swiftly sliced several laser guns of the Dark Legionnaires in half then knocked them out with strong punches to the face "Not sure about Monkey Khan though, I'm still a little bit cross with him,"
Amy sent several enemies flying with a swing of her Piko Piko Hammer before catching a breath "I know we could really use their help but they're not here right now. If they can persuade the Four Houses to break ties with the Iron Dominion, it should make things easier for us here. And knowing my Sonic the way I do, I'm sure he'll come to the rescue right at the nick of time,"
They soon found themselves surrounded from all sides by the enemy, giving them little to no chance of escape. Amy and Antoine stood back-to-back with the latter muttering meekly at the situation.
"I wish that the 'nicking of time' had been a few days ago," said Antoine.
Suddenly, a volley of crossbow bolts rained down from above which forced the Dark Legionnaires and Bat ninjas to scatter in a panic at the sudden attack then a male voice spoke up from above.
"You could never count on that hedgehog…,"
Everyone looked up to see a male Mobian skunk wearing specialized military combat as he hung off the side of a building with a rope whilst aiming at the enemy with his crossbow gauntlet.
"G'day everyone, you two run on ahead while I deal with these blokes," the skunk swung down to confront the opposition.
Amy immediately recognized who it is "Thanks Geoffrey, catch up when you can!" she ran off with Antoine close behind.
"I'll be right there…," Geoffrey aimed with his crossbow gauntlet "Smile for the birdie!" he fired a bolt with a flashbang attachment which blinded both the legionnaires and ninjas before catching up with the duo "A man leaves for one little mission and the whole city falls apart, things weren't this bad with the first Robotnik!"
Amy replied assuredly "Everything will work out once Sonic and the others get back, you'll see," they reached the New Mobotropolis Park and approached a tree stump which revealed to be a hidden entry point "Come on, we've got a secret underground bunker here,"
"And through a tree stump no less, how nostalgic," Geoffrey commented fondly.
They all went through the entry way and found themselves inside the bunker where Bunnie was waiting for them.
"Ah jus heard from Vector, ya'll were able to get the last group of refugees out of the city and they're doing fine on Angel Island now," said Bunnie.
"I'm glad to hear that, we even have Geoffrey St John with us now," Amy gestured at the aforementioned person who was marveling at the bunker before turning to them.
"I'm surprised that I haven't seen you on the frontlines," Geoffrey commented.
Bunnie looked down sadly "Ah'm a liability right now, the Iron Queen's technomagic can control my cybernetics and make me attack mah friends…,"
Antoine was quick to console his wife "Mon amour, nobody ezz blaming you,"
"Of course not, I'm still playing catch up with what's going on,"
Nicole appeared before the group while dressed in her Iron Dominion attire "Hello everyone,"
"Crikey!" Geoffrey jumped back and aimed at her with his crossbow "But I do know that Nicole's been compromised, get out of here while I cover your escape!"
Amy moved in to clarify things "Calm down, she's been on our side this whole time plus she's a hologram, so what can a bolt do to her?"
The skunk rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment "Oh, sorry about that…,"
Nicole smiled in understanding "It's alright, commander,"
"Nicole and Nico have been working undercover, giving us important information which was what has been helping us a lot this whole time," Amy explained.
"We try," but Nicole looked at them with seriousness "But I come with bad news; they're moving more prisoners and this time to the coliseum where they're going to be 'legionized' in the public,"
Everyone sans Geoffrey were horrified to hear of this with Amy being vocal about it.
"That's sick!" said Amy angrily.
"Is being 'legionized' any different from being 'roboticized'?" asked Geoffrey confusedly.
"Worse, they're turning people into cyborgs, brainwashing them, and sending them to Dark Egg Legion chapters around the world!"
Antoine muttered worriedly "They haven't done it to many of ze people, but…,"
"With the Chaotix safeguarding Angel Island, half of the Freedom Fighters away, and the rest of the citizens in hiding, we can't save everyone," Bunnie pointed out.
"I see…," Geoffrey muttered in understanding.
Amy brandished her hammer and strode towards the exit "We've got no time to waste! Antoine! Geoffrey! We're heading to the coliseum to rescue them and put a stop to this!"
Geoffrey looked thoughtful for a moment before nodding in affirmation "Right then, let's go!"
The group carefully made their way to the coliseum where they saw that the place is packed to the brim with Yagyu ninjas and Dark Legionnaires at the seats. In the middle where the Iron King and Iron Queen sitting atop their throne, there was also Snively inspecting the cyborg parts for the legionizing and close by where the Egg Pods containing the prisoners.
"Zis is a nightmare…," said Antoine.
Geoffrey shook his head in disagreement "Nah mate, nightmares are nicer than this…,"
The Iron King watched the procession go on with displeasure and made it known to the Iron Queen "This is trying on my patience, Regina. There's an active rebellion going on and you're having me sit and watch your retainer play 'mad doctor',"
The Iron Queen spoke in a reassuring tone "Patience Jun Kun, there's more to this spectacle than simply converting a handful of Mobians. The rebels have proven to be too successful with their strikes being too precise which tells me that they somehow managed to tap into our communications, so I made sure to do something that they cannot ignore,"
"I see, so this is actually a trap,"
"Precisely,"
"Then I shall crush them,"
"To your heart's content, my dear,"
"Good, they should appear soon,"
Snively ensured that the cyborg parts are usable before speaking up "Alright then, let's have our first 'volunteer'," the Egg Pod opened up as Rotor stumbled out of it in a daze before snapping back into focus with Dark Legionnaires holding him at gunpoint "Ah Rotor Walrus, a councilor of the republic. You will make a good legionnaire,"
Rotor glared at Snively in response "You were part of our brain trust team once, remember?"
"Oh yes I remember, that was for a few good laughs. Good times,"
"Yeah, way back…when I was a Freedom Fighter!" Rotor suddenly lashed out with two backhands, knocking out the Dark Legionnaires to the ground with their guns falling away from them "And I still got it!"
Snively was shocked at this sudden development "W-What?! I thought your spine was damaged!"
"Goes to show how much you know, a new friend of mine helped fixed me up. Now I'm good as new!" Rotor soon found himself surrounded by Dark Legionnaires and Yagyu ninjas "Well, isn't this a familiar situation,"
Regaining his confidence, Snively sneered "Then don't mind if we break your back again,"
"We need to go and help him!" Amy got ready to jump in and help with Antoine ready to do the same.
"Hold on, they outnumber us! Thirty to one!" Geoffrey pointed out to the two "We're better served if we-,"
"Go sneaking around like you do? Not a chance, especially when Rotor needs us now more than ever!" Amy shut him down with finality.
Antoine added "Do as you want, commander. We are going to save our comrade,"
Seeing that they're not changing their minds, Geoffrey shook his head with a smile "Heh, alright then. I always did want to go out in a blaze of glory,"
The trio leapt into the fray with battle cries, alerting the entire coliseum of their presence.
"Freedom Fighters forever!" Amy yelled with her Piko Piko Hammer raised to strike.
"For ze king and country!" Antoine took the lead, ready to face the opposition.
The Iron King and Iron Queen smiled upon seeing them approach.
"At last," the Iron King rose from his throne and took out his Tremor Mace.
"So pathetically predictable," the Iron Queen sneered.
Knocking several legionnaires and ninjas aside, Amy positioned herself next to Rotor and stood at the ready with her hammer "Don't worry Rotor, I've got your back!"
Rotor smiled in nostalgia "You always do, Amy,"
Antoine rushed over to the Egg Pods and opened them, freeing the Mobians imprisoned inside them "Run for ze exit, we'll cover your escape!"
At another part of the coliseum, Geoffrey was handling the enemy with practiced ease as he evaded the laser shots and throwing stars before retaliating by launching a barrage of bolts with his crossbow gauntlet.
"I'm going to have a serious sitdown with Sonic if he lost to blokes like you, he must be losing his touch!" he continued to fight with great confidence, unaware that someone was approaching him from behind "Maybe all those masks and hoods are getting…in the…way?"
*WHAM*
One moment, Geoffrey felt a chill crawl up his spine and the next he was sent flying across the coliseum by a mighty smack from behind. He groaned in pain as he looked up to see the Iron King looking down at him with a smirk on his face.
"Who are you supposed to be, a special soldier of sorts?" the Iron King inquired.
"Something like that," Geoffrey fired back a sarcastic comment.
"Does that also mean that you squish differently? Time to find out!" he raised his Tremor Mace above his head and brought it down only for the blow to be intercepted by Amy with her Piko Piko Hammer "You!"
"We've got to stop meeting like this," Amy commented whilst holding him off "Go and help Antoine evacuate everyone, I can handle this bullhead,"
"Are you sure about that?" asked Geoffrey.
"Absolutely,"
The Iron King snorted at Amy in anger, having been obstructed by her just as much as that annoying hedgehog and infernal nine tailed fox! "Insolent girl, I will not be embarrassed by you for a second ti-,"
Amy jumped over a horizontal swing from the mace and countered by her hammer down on the Iron King's head…hard "Blah blah blah! Zip it and eat mallet!"
Geoffrey made his way over to Antoine whilst still recovering from the surprise, having been hit by a lot of things and enemies but this one's new for him. He looked to see Antoine managing to hold his own in spite of the enemy trying to overwhelm him with numbers "Hang on Antoine, I'm coming!"
However, Antoine refuted "Never mind me, help zhe civilians get out of here!"
"Right then…," Geoffrey turned to help the civilians only to be greeted with the sight of giant hands made of soil and blue markings shoot out from the ground and grab the people much to his shock "What? Where are those hands coming from!?"
"From me," the Iron Queen spoke up from behind with an arrogant smile on her face and her scepter glowing with energy "Everything in this city is composed of nanites; microscopic machines! With my techno-magic, they are mine to command!"
"That explains how you were able to overtake the city," said Geoffrey with a frown.
"Every building, every wall, every tree, every blade of grass is a potential weapon for me! I control four clans of ninjas and the entire Dark Egg Legion! How could you ever hope to win against me?" asked the Iron Queen smugly.
*BOOM*
Suddenly, the roof of the domed city was broken up and forming an opening as various silhouettes came through it and became clearer for everyone to recognize who they are and Geoffrey now speaking with a smile.
"Before? I wouldn't have known. But now…the cavalry has arrived!" said Geoffrey confidently.
Sonic leapt off the Tornado to confront the Iron Queen while Tails flew around on standby but ready to assist immediately, Monkey Khan and Sally landed nearby and Naruto jumped off Dragoon for it to fly away and turned his sight on the Iron Queen after leering at the Iron King for a bit.
"I'm disappointed with you! I go out for one world travelling adventure and what did I say?" Sonic gestured to the coliseum "No crazy parties! Sheesh, you just can't count on world conquerors these days,"
Geoffrey smirked "Like I said before, the cavalry is here which means it's time for you to pack out early,"
"Hardly, I still have my Iron Nicoles under my control!" the Iron Queen sneered as she summoned the two Holo-lynxes next to her "Use the nanites to crush your friends while you deal with your fox friend, dearies!"
However, the Iron Queen failed to notice the grins on their faces as Nicole immediately commanded the nanites to form a transparent dome to imprison the tyrant much to her shock while Nico simply snorted at her.
"Before Sally and the others left, they freed us from you. During that time, we improved our programming and are no longer vulnerable to your magic," Nicole declared as she changed to her true form.
Nico followed suit and reverted to her original form as well "You have no idea how sickening it felt to be controlled by you,"
Iron Queen scowled at the two "You can't make a fool out of me! You're nothing but programs! Tools! Things!"
"Maybe so at the beginning, but we were able to evolve beyond our base programming thanks to the people who care for us. We've become something you can never control anymore!" Nicole declared confidently.
Gritting her teeth in anger, the Iron Queen used her techno-magic to free herself from the dome "All machines are mine to do as I please! If you won't command the nanites as I say…," she manipulated the nanites to transform into a mech designed to look like a scorpion with razor-sharp blades "Then I will do so myself!"
Iron Queen launched an attack at Nicole who quickly formed an energy shield in front of her to block it "Those nanites are part of my city, part of me, you will not misuse them anymore!"
Nico stepped forward "And she's not the only one, I too have prepared for this confrontation," she tapped a command on the touchscreen of the S.A.C with her fingers before streams of data flowed out and clumped into a shape in front of her then dispersed to reveal something in her hand.
It appears to be a large rectangularly shaped high-tech suitcase with a color scheme of purple, black and white. Parts of the suitcase was glowing faintly with blue energy as Nico held it forward by its long handle.
Nico called out "Initiate Battle Routine," the suitcase beeped as a female voice responded
[Voice Command recognized]
[Arms Case Online]
[Safety Lock Released]
[Switching to Combat Mode]
[Deploying Bits]
A part of the Arms Case slid open as numerous purple spherical dronelike machines which are the size of tennis balls called 'Bits' emerged from it and floated around Nico randomly as she reached for one end of the case and pulled out a highly advanced SMG which shared the same color scheme.
The Iron Queen sneered at Nico's new weapon "That's just another toy for me to play with and use against you!" she attempted to use her techno-magic only for blue electricity to crackle around the Arms Case.
[Unauthorized Access Attempt Detected: Firewall Defense Reinforced]
"What?!" the Iron Queen couldn't believe that her magic wasn't working.
"We already told you before, we are no longer vulnerable to your magic. you will do well to listen," said Nicole with a frown.
"I seriously doubt that she would listen to us," Nico pointed out as the Iron Queen piloted her scorpion mech to attack them.
"I'm well aware, but it shall be known that a warning was issued beforehand,"
"True,"
Meanwhile, there were numerous clashes between Amy with her Piko Piko Hammer and the Iron King with his Tremor Mace albeit the latter was becoming increasingly frustrated at how a little girl could match him evenly in strength.
"This…little…pink…girl!" the Iron King growled in anger.
"Quit whining like a baby and just admit that you're not all that," Amy retorted.
"Never-grhk!" the Iron King was suddenly slammed to the ground by a blue blur who revealed to be Sonic who was standing on his chest with his usual confident smile.
"Hey Amy, miss me?" asked Sonic before being hugged by a joyful pinkette.
"Oh Sonic! I knew you'd come back to save the day, and of course I miss you!" said Amy happily.
"Okay okay, I was being ironically cliché,"
However, their touching moment was soon ruined by the Iron King whom they were standing on "Get off me!" they quickly moved to safety as he leered at them "I'm going to crush you all for this disrespect!"
They prepared to find when suddenly, Naruto appeared in front of them with his arms crossed and a serious look on his face "You guys can leave this guy to me, I'll handle him on my own,"
"That's a pretty tall order, Naruto. This guy can take anything we throw at him which is why we're stalling for time before Espio gets here with what we need," Sonic pointed out.
"Trust me, Sonic…," Naruto gave a thumbs up "I got this,"
Sonic looked at Naruto silently then sighed, understanding that this is personal for him "Alright, but I'm tagging in if things go south,"
"Fair enough,"
The Iron King saw Naruto approach calmly and sneered at him "You again, are you so stupid as to have forgotten that all of your attacks did nothing? No matter, I shall make sure that this time I'll break every bone in your body just to hear you beg for forgiveness for not knowing your place to your superiors, like all those whom were defiant until I broke them,"
Naruto looked at the Iron King laughing at him before speaking up "Tell me something, Iron King. Because of your invulnerability…have you ever felt fear?"
The Iron King scoffed in response "What kind of stupid question is that? I would never feel fear from the likes of you or any insignificant insect who dares to oppose the Iron Dominion!"
"In that case…," Naruto ignited his right fist with foxfire "Allow me to fix that,"
Naruto dashed forward at the Iron King who swung his Tremor Mace to attack but the blonde kitsune evaded by leaping above the incoming attack while rearing his fist back and landing a fiery punch on the Ox King's face. Under normal circumstances, the Iron King would have shrugged the attack off and retaliated. However, he felt a burning sensation on his face which actually made him do something he thought he would never do…
"Argh!"
That genuine cry of pain from the Iron King stunned everyone into silence, finding it hard to believe what they just heard. Even the Iron Queen paused in her battle to look at the Iron King pressing a hand to his face and wasn't shrugging it off.
"Jun Kun was hurt? This is impossible!" the Iron Queen exclaimed in disbelief.
Naruto watched the Iron King hold a hand to the part of the face which he had hit as Kurama commented "Looks like the Dark You was right after all," they could hear Dark Yami's snicker echo throughout the mindscape even though he's no longer there, having returned to Naruto after his training but not without telling them that he'll be back.
"Made a lot of sense when he brought it up," thought Naruto.
"You…what did you do?! It should be impossible, I'm invincible!" the Iron King demanded.
*WHAM*
Another fiery punch to the face made the Iron King cry out in pain once more, shocking everyone again. Even the Ox King himself was confused at what's going on. The first time they had fought, the kitsune's Foxfire had no effect on him back then. So how come is it able to hurt him?
"Still thinking that you're invincible or would you like another punch to the face to wake you up to reality?" asked Naruto looking eager to do the latter.
"How is this possible?" asked the Iron King in disbelief.
"Ever since our last bout, I've been thinking of ways to inflict actual damage on you since most of my attacks only tickle you and that's when it hit me…you're invulnerable to all physical attacks but what about spiritual attacks? Judging by your reaction, you aren't invulnerable against the latter," Naruto stated, making the Iron King realize what happened, this fox was striking at his very soul.
"B-But how could you…?"
"I'm a Kitsune who wields Foxfire which is basically spiritual fire. The reason it didn't work before was because I used it with the intent to attack physically but now I'm using it to attack spiritually, therefore ignoring your body and going straight for the soul,"
"Then that means…," the Iron King took a step back, the truth finally dawning upon him.
"That's right…," Naruto punched his fist into his palm as they ignited in foxfire "It's payback time!" then he dashed forward at highspeed to attack.
"I will not lose to the likes of you!"
The Iron King swung his Tremor Mace at Naruto who ducked under the swing and countered with a straight punch to the torso, landing a clean hit "Foxfire Kick!" Naruto's foot lights up with an azure flame before striking out with a roundhouse kick to the face which knocked him to the ground "Here's another, Kitsune Fire Wheel!" he leapt into the air whilst radiating foxfire from his body and cured into his spinball form before descending like a fiery meteorite and slamming into the Iron King, creating a large crater in the aftermath before jumping out of it.
"What's the matter, can't handle a little pain?" Naruto taunted.
Pulling himself out of the crater, Iron King scowled at the blonde kitsune "This is far from over!"
"My thoughts exactly, now quit stalling and get over here so we can resume,"
Naruto raised a hand and gestured for the Ox King to attack him which made him roar in anger and charge at him. Naruto took a stance with eyes narrowed in focus as he waited for the Iron King to draw closer then executed a blazing uppercut whilst expelling foxfire from his elbow to increase the momentum which launched him into the air then he created four shadow clones to leap after the airborne Mobian Ox before following them. The clones grabbed the Iron King's arms and legs to restrain him as they fell then slammed him hard into the ground with Naruto literally stomping on his chest with both feet covered in foxfire before somersaulting off him and the clones dispersed themselves.
"I never would have thought there'll be the day when I would see the Iron King finally feel pain," said Monkey Khan, watching Naruto overwhelm the Ox King with a power that he wasn't invulnerable to.
"The same could be said for everyone here, but we also have our own role to play," said Sally, reminding the simian of what needs to be done.
"You're right," Monkey Khan rose to the air atop his cloud and released a blot of lighting from his Atom-Bat to gain everyone's attention sans those fighting "Hear me, Yagyu Clan! I am Ken Khan, crowned king of the Free People! Chosen by the citizens of the Dragon Kingdom! I come here as a humble messenger. I have just returned from the Dragon Kingdom and had met all four leaders of the ninja clans. Upon my word of honor, your ties with the bride of the four houses have been absolved! You are free of the Iron Dominion!"
Upon finishing his words, all of the ninjas of the Yagyu Clan stopped attacking and stood there in shock whilst the Dark Egg Legion were skeptical of Monkey Khan's declaration as it didn't make sense to them.
Even Lien-Da sneered at the audacity next to a Yagyu Commander "They were gone for that long and this is what they came back with? How absurd!"
"Yagyu, we return home!" the Yagyu Commander declared much to her shock.
"Wait, one monkey gives you his word and that's it?!"
"I do not how you do things here, Grandmaster Lien-Da. But in our homeland, one's word of honor is sacred even between the fiercest of rivals!" the Yagyu Commander explained.
Realizing that things was going downhill real fast for them, Lien-Da tried to appeal to them "B-But the Dark Legion won't be able to hold this city by ourselves!"
"I fail to see it's our problem anymore, goodbye," with his words of finality, Yagyu Commander left along with the entire ninja force following his lead, instantly reducing the major force to something miniscule.
"This can't be happening; I can't let it end like this!"
Lien-Da began to look around, seeing the Iron Queen being pushed back by the two Nicoles who were having it out for her, Snively breaking down to a full-blown panic, and the Iron King getting sandbagged by a rarely serious Naruto while Sonic and the others were helping free the prisoners. She began to realize something.
"This is it, the moment I've been waiting for!" then Lien-Da declared in a loud voice "Dark Egg Legion, fall back to me! The Eggman Empire now belongs to me…Grandmaster Lien-Da!"
Hearing this shocked everyone around and also enraged the Iron Queen who then slammed one end of her scepter into the ground to release a radial shockwave that knocked the two Nicoles away from her before turning towards the traitorous echidna.
"Your slight towards me shall not be ignored! Dark Legion, win back my city!" the Iron Queen tried to use her techno-magic to control them but noticed that it wasn't working for some reason but the legionnaires were rather obeying Lien-Da.
Seeing her reaction, Lien-Da sneered "Trying to control us through the neural chips you installed in all of us? Mine has been modified to not only shield me from your magic but also ensue that the legion is mine to command. Time to face facts, you've been played yet again!"
"You forgot one critical detail, I can still control the bomb in you,"
The Iron Queen pointed a finger at Lien-Da who heard beeping inside of her which began to beep faster much to her horror, she hardly had any time to do anything when it detonated, leaving her at near-death. The Dark Legion snapped out of their mind control and saw that Lien-Da was in no condition to lead and tried to seek out Snively to lead them only to reveal that he had ran off in fear and inability to face up to pressure, forcing the legionnaires to pick up Lien-Da and retreat to the EggDome due to seeing that the tides have been turned against them.
Back with Naruto, he had hopped backwards away from the Iron King who had dropped down to the ground on one knee with a tattered appearance, the remaining pieces of armor that were hanging on his person could barely be used for scraps. The blonde fox walked towards the Ox King calmly and spoke in a condescending tone.
"Instead of using this strength of yours to help people, you rather chose to make them suffer just so you could feel better for yourself and developed an illusion that you could do anything without suffering any consequences. That is until I showed up and shattered that illusion into tiny pieces and making you see reality for what it really is…you're not unbeatable,"
"NO!" Iron King rose to his feet in defiance, glaring at Naruto with all of his hate "I am the Ox King! I've crushed many warriors, rule over a kingdom! Not even the so-called hero Sonic or pretend King of the Free People were able to match me! You are all insects in my eyes!"
"Sounds to me like he's trying to convince himself instead of everyone else," Kurama commented.
"My thoughts exactly," Naruto replied as he approached the Iron King "You may say that but you might wanna look down at your legs,"
Confused, the Iron King looked down and was shocked to see that his legs were shaking and unable to move no matter how hard he tries "Why won't my legs move?!"
"Because your body knows and accepts the truth which your mind continues to deny…," Naruto pointed a finger with a firm declaration "You…are afraid,"
"No, that's absurd! I cannot possibly be afraid!" the Iron King was in denial.
"Then why are you breathing so quickly? Why won't your body stop shaking? Why is your heart pounding against your ribcage so hard that you can hear it? I'll tell you why; they're all traits leading to the fact that you…are…afraid. All of your consequences have finally found the medium in me to cast the long-delayed judgement upon you,"
Naruto held out a hand as he formed a Rasengan as the foxfire swirled around his arm to form the head of a fox as if it is holding the spiraling sphere in its mouth "And I am far from hesitant to do so," he crouched slightly before charging forward at high-speed till he was right in front of the Iron King "It's over for you, Foxfire Rasengan!" then he rammed it into his chest as the foxfire swirled around and constantly damaging the target.
"GAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"
The Iron King's scream was something no one would ever forget for the rest of their lives as he laid there on the ground with his entire body scorched from the Foxfire and Naruto walked away without a care in the way.
"I can't believe it, Jun Kun lost so badly…," said Iron Queen who was in shock and denial.
"Whoa, that was totally hardcore man," Sonic commented, not deny that it was something serious with no banter involved. Then again, he couldn't talk considering that even he had his serious moments in the past.
"I seem to recall that you guys have something prepared for him," Naruto spoke up upon reaching them.
"Why of course, Espio had just delivered the Fan of Fen Xing to us. Turns out that the Iron King had hidden it in his armory so it wouldn't be used against him," Monkey Khan replied while holding up an unfolded ornate battle fan in his hand "May I?"
Sonic shrugged his shoulders "Go ahead, I got to do it last time so he's all yours"
Monkey Khan raised the fan above his head and swung it down to form a powerful mystic wind carry the defeated Iron King into the air and flung him far away to parts unknown to anyone for now. The fan reminds Naruto of Temari and her signature battle fan back in the Elemental Nations.
Soon enough, everyone surrounded the Iron Queen who appears to less confident than usual for obvious reasons.
Sally spoke up "It's all over, Iron Queen! The four ninja clans have severed ties with you, the Dark Legion has abandoned you…,"
"And your cooked friend has just been packaged and delivered to somewhere else," Sonic added cheekily.
"…and you're all alone, surrender now and no harm will come to you," Sally finished.
Antoine turned to Monkey Khan "Are you agreeing to this? Considering what she did to you?"
"It took a lot of convincing from Sally and Naruto to change my mind about seeking justice instead of vengeance, and they were right to do so," Monkey Khan explained.
"Surrender? Surrender?" the Iron Queen started laughing maniacally "MREE-HEE-HEE-HEE! NEVER!" she called upon a massive amount of nanites with her magic and transformed into a giant serpentine Chinese dragon which hovered in the air above them "I will never surrender to the likes of you!"
"Oh my gosh! Nicole, can you…?" asked Sally worriedly.
However, Nicole was struggling with her control "I'm using all of my resources to prevent her from using any more of the city!"
"Then we'll just have to do this the old-fashioned way," Sonic was about to attack when Naruto placed a hand on his shoulder to stop.
"Sonic, let me handle this…," said Naruto.
Sonic quirked at eyebrow at this "Come on, you already got that bullhead. Let me take this one,"
"Sonic, this will be my last run here,"
"You mean…?"
"Yeah,"
The blue hedgehog was silent before letting out a sigh "*Sigh* fine, you can take this one too. But make it look good,"
"I will," Naruto stepped forward when Nico walked next to him with her Arms Case in hand and Bits floating around her.
"Let's do this together," said Nico with determination.
Naruto nodded in affirmation "You got it,"
The duo charged towards the Iron Queen who saw them coming and attacked them with anger in her heart.
"You! This is all your fault and you shall with your lives!" the Iron Dragon swiped at them with its claws then Nico moved to position herself in front of Naruto as the Arm Case immediately called out
[Activating Flashfield]
The Bits quickly spiraled around the duo and encased them in an energy shield which deflected the incoming claw. Activating her Digital Wings, Nico took flight and began flying around the Iron Dragon all the firing short bursts of energy bullets with her "Spark Stellar!" Nico commanded the Bits to take up a specific formation which then unleashed a spread of lightning bolts straight forward at the Iron Dragon.
At that point, Naruto triggered his Air Aspect with a strong gust of wind swirling around him "Wild Tempest Kick!" he leapt towards the Iron Dragon whilst forming a windstorm around each leg and unleashed an assault of wind enhanced kicks while moving along the body until reaching the head "Aero Beast Swipe!" wind swirled around one of his arms to form a large beast paw which he then swiped at the Iron Dragon's head, knocking it for a loop.
"Why you little…!" Iron Queen turned to attack Naruto but was pelted with energy bullets by Nico's SMG "I'll crush you to pieces!" the Iron Dragon lunged at the Hololynx with jaws wide open to bite down on her. Nico threw the Arms Case for it to fly past the Iron Dragon then seemingly glitching out of existence from where she was then reappearing to grab it while upside down in midair as it transforms into a high-tech precision rifle, she took aim and fired a powerful energy round which inflicted significant damage onto the Iron Dragon but she wasn't finished yet "Broad Circuit!" the Bits took on another formation and launch a wide-scale flurry of data for additional damage.
"We're not done yet!" Naruto switched to his Celestia Aspect with a halo appearing above his head and starlight sparkling around him "White Hailing Arrows!" he conjured a bow made of celestial energy before pulling a bowstring to form an arrow and let loose to fire the projectile as it split into many more arrows which rained upon the Iron Dragon.
Seeing that the odds are against her, the Iron Queen opted to escape from them as she flew towards the hole made by Sonic and the others earlier "You haven't seen the last of me!"
"I don't recall having agreed to let you leave, lady," Naruto reappeared in front of the tyrannical queen in a flash of light and scowled at her "Light Beam Cannon!" he cupped both of his hands close together and thrust them forward to launch a large white beam of energy which blasted the Iron Dragon down to the ground.
"Vantage Raid!" Nico commanded her Bits to launch ring-shaped shots that appear to be made of ropelike energy which wrapped around the Iron Dragon, restricting its ability to move "Naruto, it's time to end this!"
"No!" the Iron Queen struggled to free herself but the bindings held strongly
"Right then, Light Speed Blade!" Naruto conjures a sword out of celestial energy and prepared to attack his target at the speed of light.
"Shred Storm!" at Nico's command, the Bits glowed with purple energy then darted at highspeed with a purple light trailing behind each of them as they unleashed a storm of slashes. Naruto moved in sync with the Bits as he attacked with an assault of slashes before finally ending the barrage with the trailing lights drawing a "Claw"(爪) Kanji for all to see.
Finally reaching its limit, the Iron Dragon fell to tiny pieces as the Iron Queen plummeted to the ground and all she could do left was yell
"I HATE YOU ALL!"
Luckily, Monkey Khan conjured a small cloud with his Atom-Bat to break the Iron Queen's fall but then mischievously snapped his fingers to make the cloud dissipate and for her to fall to the ground with a thud much to the amusement of the others. While Antoine and Geoffrey handcuffed the Iron Queen and were escorting her to be detained, Sally turned to inquire Nicole about the overall status of things.
"Nicole, report…?" asked Sally.
"All of my systems are coming back online but everything is stable, I'm still checking but there are no signs of the Yagyu Clan or the Dark Legion," Nicole informed everyone.
"Then that's it," said Sonic.
Sally nodded in affirmation "We've won,"
"Surprise surprise," Sonic was then hugged by Amy happily.
"Don't say it like that! We've won! Hooray!" said Amy with joy.
Nico smiled at all this when she found herself being hugged tightly by Naruto much to her surprise and started blushing "N-Naruto?"
"I'm so glad you're okay, I was worried when I left for the Dragon Kingdom," said Naruto.
Nico smiled softly and hugged him back "Me too, the nightmare is over now and we were able to emerge victorious like always,"
"Yeah an-huh?"
Naruto noticed that something was shining in his ninja pouch, he reached in to see what it was and was shocked to discover that it was the two cocoons of his Chao. The cocoons glowed brightly with a strange organ jingle being heard before dying down to reveal that Kou and Yoru were awakened albeit looking very different from their previous forms.
Kou the Hero Chao now has two large wavy horns with pink highlights which closely resemble rabbit ears, a long downturned spike that now covers the back of the Chao. Kou's back and feet are speckled, with solid light blue colored eyes and no visible mouth, and the emote ball is a transparent yellow halo.
As for Yoru the Dark Chao, he has two devil-like horns pointing upwards and two horns at the back of his head pointing downwards, his tail has become long and fork-shaped, two spikes protruding from his arms, sporting a flame-like designs on his hands and horns, and his emote ball is a purple flame.
"Kou and Yoru, you're awake!" said Naruto happily, Kou flew to hug Naruto's face and Yoru sat atop his hair with the emote balls of both Chao becoming heart-shaped to depict their joy now they don't have visible mouths.
"From what I can tell from the database; Kou and Yoru have evolved into a Hero Chaos and Dark Chaos respectively. Those are very unique as they are now immortal; they'll never die nor reincarnate no matter whilst possessing special abilities," Nico explained.
"So long as they're okay, I'm fine with anything,"
"So this is it, huh?" asked Sonic who was standing along with the Freedom Fighters, Chaotix, the Royal Family and Council, and the citizens of New Mobotropolis as they were all gathered outside the walls of the city to see Naruto and Nico off.
During the two weeks after defeating the Iron Dominion and detaining the Iron Queen. Nicole worked hard on restoring the city to its original state with help from Nico, Rotor and Tails. They had also discovered that Snively had used the chaos during the battle to free Eggman along with the other imprisoned villains and escaped from the city. Sonic did a thorough search since he wanted to make sure that what happened with the Iron Dominion doesn't happen again, he also tried to search for Eggman but to no avail so far.
Also, Naruto had gone to Albion along with Nico to make sure that everything is okay as well as to bid them farewell. However, Kneecaps seemed to have caught on and started bawling loudly, not wanting him to leave and refused to calm down no matter how hard his parents tried. Thinking hard on what to do, Naruto and Kurama came up with the idea of using his Aspects to create an unbreakable glass orb which contains a small piece of Foxfire which could act as a night-light which Kneecaps took an immediately liking to and was finally calmed down.
Naruto also took noted that things were rather tense between Espio and the other members of Chaotix considering what had happened with the Iron Dominion which had seriously strained their bond with each other but he knew well that it would take time until it restored by to their usual dynamic. There's a bit of unrest amongst the citizens which couldn't be helped, considering the ordeals that they had to go through because of the Iron Queen whom by the way is locked somewhere she wouldn't be able to use her magic to control any technology and escape. All in all, everything has gone back to normal.
"Yeah man, time for us to go back home," Naruto said with a sad smile.
"We had been postponing our return too many times and can't do so anymore," Nico explained.
Sally bowed apologetically "We're really sorry, our problems kept pulling you guys into them which was why you couldn't go earlier, making your friends worry about you,"
Naruto rubbed the back his head sheepishly "Yeah, they're definitely gonna let me have it when I get back. But it would be worth it since I was able to help you guys get through the rough spots,"
"There's no denying that both of your presence here had changed things for the better," said Sally, grateful for everything Naruto had done since he and Nico came to their world.
"Yeah, Rotor's all better now thanks to you!" said Tails happily.
"Not to mention that you helped us get some new upgrades and get in shape," said Bunnie.
"Come to think of it, we didn't get to have that race," said Sonic thoughtfully with a feeling of disappointment.
"No worries, we can race when I drop by to visit next time," said Naruto.
Regardless, I am grateful for your assistance during these dire times," said Prince Elias with the rest of the royal council sans Hamlin Pig nodding in thanks.
"It's quite alright, we're glad to have met you all as well and learnt so much during our time here," said Nico.
"You guys should be on your guard, I can feel a storm coming so you all need to be ready for it," said Naruto in a serious tone.
Knuckles nodded in agreement "And we'll be ready for it, you won't have to worry about me running solo anymore cause I'll handle anything that comes at me with my friends,"
"We'll make sure of that," Julie-Su with the other members of Chaotix stepping up from behind her.
"Glad to hear that, anyways…," Naruto took out the Seal-Modded Warp Ring and tossed ahead of him, causing the ring to enlarge itself with the seals on it glowing and a white vortex spiraling in the middle of it "Time for us to go,"
"Be sure to send our regards to everyone in your world," said Sally.
Tails waved happily "Tell the other me I said hi!"
Antoine unsheathed his sword and performed a salute with it "May you continue to fight for peace and honor,"
"Ya'll better take care of yourselves!" said Bunnie cheerfully.
"Hope to see you again," said Amy.
"Wherever you go, never stop running," said Sonic with his two-finger salute.
"Take care of yourselves out there," said Uncle Chuck.
"Ditto," said Rotor.
Naruto looked back and gave a thumbs up with a foxy grin while Nico waved at them with the Chao doing the same as their emote balls became heart-shaped, then they leapt through the ring before it shrunk and disappeared afterwards.
"Hmph, good riddance," Hamlin Pig muttered to himself.
"*Sigh* you could really do without that attitude Hamlin, it nearly got us into trouble several times," said Uncle Chuck with a scolding tone.
"He's not wrong, Naruto had told us that he dislikes those who try to control others while refusing to understand circumstances," Rotor added.
"Hmph," Hamlin scoffed, walking away and refusing to respond.
"Is it too late to call them back?" asked Sonic pleadingly, Naruto's presence had been making Hamlin keep his mouth shut much to the relief of others.
Sally sighed "I'm afraid so,"
Over at the FF HQ, everyone had gathered at the Commander Center, having received a message from Naruto that he and Nicole will be returning for real and no postponing this time. As of now, most of the Freedom Fighters were there waiting. Namely; Sally, Bunnie, Barby, Sonic, Amy, Rotor, Tails, Lilac, and Carol.
"How much longer do we have to wait?" Carol whined.
"No need to be so impatient, Naruto had sent a message that he'll be returning today," said Lilac.
"Are you sure? His messages often says he would be returning but then something always comes up and he gets dragged into it,"
"Yes I am, because he promised this time and you know how he is with his promises," said Lilac assuredly.
Sonic leaned back on his chair with his arms folded behind the back of his head "You guys should chill, I'm pretty sure that they'll be here any minute now,"
No sooner those words left the blue hedgehog's mouth, a large golden ring with a white swirling vortex appeared then two figures jumped out of it, revealing to be Naruto and Nicole (an; Back to using her full name) as the Warp Ring shrunk and floated into the former's hand.
"Hey guys, we're back!" said Naruto happily,
Everyone huddled around the duo to welcome them back; Sonic and Rotor bumped fists with Naruto who then fondly ruffled Tails' hair before Nicole hugged the young fox. Suddenly an extended arm grabbed Naruto who found himself in a tight embrace by Bunnie.
"Geeze Sugah Fox, you have no idea how much we missed ya!" said Bunnie.
"Ditto," Barby joined in the hug, making Naruto's face turn blue until they finally let him go so he could breath.
"I'm sorry for not coming back sooner," said Naruto apologetically.
"I don't think saying sorry can erase the amount of worry we felt,"
Hearing Sally's voice, Naruto started sweating when he saw the collective glares of her, Lilac and Carol. He recognizes that look, he sees it way too often from Sakura and Tsunade whenever he did something crazy that put his life at risk.
Seeing Carol stalk towards him like a predator, Naruto tried to placate her "N-Now Carol-chan, surely you're not that mad at me for having delayed my return, are you?"
"Oh really, how about I show what I really feel?" said Carol sternly, then she suddenly pounced at Naruto with her stern expression suddenly to a happy one "You multi-tailed dummy, what took you so long to get back here?"
"Oww, my head," Naruto groaned a bit from having been knocked to the ground and looked up to see Carol straddled atop his stomach "You weren't really angry, were you?"
"Not really, unless you want me to…," said Carol.
Naruto was quick to respond "No no no, it's fine!"
Giggling in amusement, Lilac to pull a pouting Carol off and helping Naruto to his feet before giving him an affectionate hug of her own "We're just glad that you've returned to us," then she pulled away from him.
Sally who was the last went to hug him the longest over the others whilst muttering "Welcome back, Naruto,"
Naruto smiled in response "I'm glad to be back,"
However, both Naruto and Sally started to feel awkward with everyone watching them; both Sonic and Rotor were smiling in amusement, Tails on the other hand was looking away while feeling awkward from the flowery atmosphere. As for the girls, they were smiling alright but for a whole different reason shared between them.
Breaking away from the embrace with her cheeks tinged pink, Sally spoke up "I know you told us about your experience in the other world through your messages, but I'm sure there's more to tell,"
"Yeah, and it's a long one," Naruto admitted.
"Hang on," Sonic got up from his seat to dash out of the room and soon came back with a tray of chili dogs and bottles of soda "Good thing I prepped for this,"
Carol groaned at the realization "Great, now we're gonna listen to stories while hungry,"
"No worries…," Naruto formed a handsign to create a shadow clone which left the room "I'll have a clone prepare lunch while we tell you guys what we went through in the other world,"
"That's a relief, plus we really missed your cooking,"
"I figured as much,"
Once everyone was sat down, Naruto and Nicole proceeded to tell them of what had happened when they were gone. Starting from their encounter with Scourge and Fiona which led to them being transported to the next universe and immediately confronted Enerjak who was Knuckles being controlled, there was also the Destructix and Finitevus who was responsible for Knuckles being controlled which led to his father Locke sacrificing his life to save him. Later on, there was Mammoth Mogul's manipulation attempt then going to Albion where the Echidnas reside while meeting Remington and others, the Dark Egg Legion and Lien-Da.
Then the rise of King Scourge and his Suppression squad with the former going super after using the Anarchy Beryl which is essentially the polar opposite of Chaos Emeralds from his dimension Moebius, the No Zone after beating Scourge and taking him to jail while meeting Zonic who's a dimensional cop. Then there was putting up with Eggman and his mechs resulting in the fall of Egg empire which Snively took over and joined forces with the Iron Dominion. Naruto spoke of the fights he had against the Iron Queen & Iron King as well as the advanced combat robot Fulgore during the invasion of New Mobotropolis. He faced the Yagyu clan that are part of the Iron Dominion along with the Dark Egg Legion led by Lien-Da. Meeting the Four Clan houses and getting them to cut ties with the Iron Dominion, and finally putting an end to the Iron Queen's rule once and for all.
As they were telling the story, Naruto had Nicole display holographic images of whom and what they'd faced, also showing them locations of where they had been to such as New Mobotropolis, Albion (Home of Echidnas), The EggDome and Dragon Kingdom when the Four Ninja Clans mainly reside (but concealed critical parts of information). They also showed them the enemies they faced as well as Eggman's machinery. They even showed them their history from their digital library in New Mobotropolis that they knew a bit from. Such as the Dragon Kingdom which was already mentioned, Deerwood Forest, the Felidae race & culture, Wolf Pack Tribe who are rivals to the Felidae, then lastly Dingo Regime.
Needless to say, they explained EVERYTHING in one large package of information on them in full display as Naruto has a feeling that he might meet one of them in the future if they exist in his dimension, though he silently hopes that he doesn't meet the Felidae if they do happen to exist.
"Whoa, you know it's kinda surprising that I'm learning all this without having to go to the library to read a book, much less a handbook for that matter," Sonic quipped, trying to let the info sink in.
"But it certainly piques one's curiosity, wanting to know the differences and similarities between our worlds," Rotor pointed out with a look of interest.
Carol simply shrugged "Well you can count me out if it comes to history or culture, I'm not that nerdy,"
"But it doesn't change that things were quite intense over there, no wonder why your return was delayed for so long," said Sally, feeling sympathetic for her counterpart and the hardships she must be going though it felt weird to hear of the love triangle between her, Sonic and Monkey Khan.
"Anyways, I will be uploading all of the information into the Main Computer," Nicole informed the group.
"Glad to hear that, seeing those machinery and schematics have given me a lot of ideas. I'm definitely going to be busy in the lab for a while!" said Tails excitedly, then he had a thoughtful look "By the way, I thought of what you said about Nicole having been controlled by the Iron Queen and you freeing her by injecting your chakra into her body which made me rather curious of the possibility of there being additional effects besides your main intention,"
"You mean my chakra did more than what I wanted?" Naruto turned to Nicole with concern "Nico-chan, do you feel anything different from usual?"
Nicole frowned at the question and looked at her hands "Now that you bring it up, I've been noticing that my body has been feeling rather strange. I don't really know how to describe it, but it's like I feel more…alive, more than evolved data,"
"But It's nothing bad, right?" asked Barby confusedly.
"I can't say for now, I'll need to scan her in my lab to find out more. Could you guys come over tomorrow?" Tails inquired.
Naruto nodded in affirmation "No problem, plus there's something I want you to take a look at tomorrow,"
"Sure thing,"
"Anyways, I think it's about time that we head back home soon. No doubt that Milla, Spicy and Wendy are missing me too much and I want to ease them of that," said Naruto.
"That's for sure, but you'd better prepare for Carla to give you an earful when you get there," said Carol jokingly.
Lilac chuckled in agreement "Carol's right, you'd better be ready for her lecture,"
"I'll have the popcorn ready by then," said Kurama, chuckling at Naruto's mental grumble.
After some more time spent chatting and catching up with the others then having lunch, it was already time for everyone to go about their separate ways with Naruto preparing to head back home to Emerald Town via the Hiraishin. The girls held onto him as he locked on to the Hiraishin seal and warped over to it in a flash of yellow light, reappearing right in front of the house.
Naruto approached the house to enter and was about to reach for the door handle when it suddenly flew open and the next thing he knew was that he got tackled by a blur, knocked back to the ground before hearing a familiar voice.
"Naruto, you're back!" Naruto looked to see Milla hugging him tightly with teary eyes, he barely sat up from the ground when he got hugged by two more being Spicy and Wendy.
"Welcome back, Naruto! We really missed you!" said Spicy joyfully with Wendy nodding in agreement while holding him tightly as if afraid of losing him again.
Sensing how much they missed him by their current emotions, Naruto smiled a bit and hugged them back while apologizing "I'm sorry for making you all worry,"
After hugging each other for more than a minute, they finally broke away and Naruto got back to his feet when he heard someone clearing their throat and turned to see Carla looking at him rather stoically.
"Um, hey Carla…," said Naruto unsurely.
"Hmph, so you've returned…," Carla stated rather than asked.
"Yeah…,"
"I see…,"
Before Naruto could say anything more, Carla suddenly flew over and hugged him by his chest much to the kitsune's surprise at her current action.
"Carla?" Naruto was confused at her unexpected action.
"Do not assume things, this is just me showing my thankfulness for your safe return," Carla explained.
"Oh okay," said Naruto "Gee, and here I was bracing myself for the lecture that Carol and Lilac were warning me about,"
"Same here, I'm rather disappointed about the turnout," Kurama huffed.
Carla broke away from the hug, then a serious expression appeared on her face "You have some nerve to suddenly disappear for days without a single thought of how much you made us worry! Wendy and Milla had great difficulty going to sleep without thinking of your safety, even Cream kept coming here to check if you had returned, how are you going make it up to them?!"
"Hahahaha! I see how it is, she purposely made you let down your guard before delivering the mother of all lectures! How sly of her!" Kurama cracked up.
Naruto could do nothing more than stand there and be berated by Carla while Milla and Wendy were a bit sympathetic but Lilac and Carol were amused with the wildcat recording the whole thing with intentions to share it with the others who would no doubt find it hilarious. Kou and Yoru felt bad for Naruto too, seeing that their friend had bowed his head in shame from the flying feline's lecture.
All the while, Naruto was coming up with plans to make it up to everyone for worrying him due to his long absence. But all in all…he smiled mentally as it's really good to be back home with all of his loved ones.
This is Hussbek online with the latest chapter, things had gone south ever since the Iron Dominion took over New Mobotropolis and Naruto along with some others left for the Dragon Kingdom to persuade the Four Ninja Clans to cut their ties with the Iron Queen. Snively attempted to 'legionize' some of the citizens with Amy and remaining Freedom Fighters intervening but were hard-pressed by the both the Yagyu Ninjas and the Dark Egg Legionnaires.
However, backup came in time as Naruto and the others came busting in to help them out. Naruto proceeded to face the Iron King in a rematch and revealed his trump card being that he had alter his Foxfire to bypass the Ox King's invulnerability and directly attack his very soul, then he proceeded to soundly beat the Iron King into submission which was something no one ever thought would happen but hey, it's Naruto we're talking about.
After sending the Iron King off to who knows where, Naruto teamed up with Nico to face the Iron Queen who was acting desperate at this point but eventually fell to their combined might, considering that this is their final battle before officially returning to their world with no interruptions this time. Also, his Chao had awoken from their cocoons and now in their signature Chaos Form.
Using the modified Warp Ring, Naruto and Nico returned to the Gameverse was understandably scolded by his friends even though they were happy to see them again. He brought them up to speed on what happened in the Comicverse before the subject strayed to Nicole's condition which drew curiosity and concern for Tails to want to run a check on the Hololynx later on. Naruto then returned to Emerald Town and happily reunited with Wendy, Milla and Spicy but got scolded heavily by Carla, however he was happy to be back home.
Now for those wondering about the first fight between Naruto and the Iron King; he used the Foxfire at first with the intent to attack physically which aimed at the body and it didn't work, but then Yami Naruto pointed out something during their training with the Void Aspect that the Iron King is invincible to anything physical so he could attack him spiritually since his Foxfire was able to attack ghosts during the Sonic Heroes Arc, therefore he should ignore the body and rather attack the soul. That was what Naruto did in the rematch by changing his targeting intent.
Regarding the weapons which Nicole used; the Arms Case is the weapon used by Lee Hyperreal from the game Punishing Gray Raven (Check it out on YouTube) while the Bits were based on Copen from Azure Striker Gunvolt 2 and Gunvolt Chronicles: Luminous Avenger iX. Also Kou has become a Hero Chaos and Yoru is a Dark Chaos with new abilities which you'll see in future chapters.
The next chapter will be an OC chapter which will show Naruto getting back into the swing of things and visiting friends to catch up with them. I might toss in a surprise appearance of a character along the way so be sure to look forward to it, be sure to read and review like always.
This is Hussbek from Ghana.
Signing out and staying alive.