Categories > Anime/Manga > Naruto > Dead Rising
Chapter 22
0 reviewsA new dimension had been made from their actions. They have the staves. And Naruto's curiousity of his home has been satisfied...
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Dead Rising
Chapter 22
Being back in their inter-dimensional base at long last Samantha sat cross-legged on the ground; resting on her leg is the decaying and flaming head of her dog Fluffy, a giant sized German Shepherd turned Hellhound that is near the height of a bicycle.
Both Naruto and Fu were staring at the Hellhound with a sickened and wary expression on their faces. For Naruto he had a sick look on his face because a memory he had almost forgotten had resurfaced, the memory of Fluffy and another going at it. And it was not a pretty sight.
For Fu this is the first time she had ever seen a Hellhound and her first reaction to see it appearing in an orb of lightning was to shoot it with her M-14. Luckily for her she didn't have the M-14 battle or the M1911 .Colt in her possession. However seeing it look so tame and acting like a dog normally would, excluding the decaying flesh and exposed bones, it made her calm down a bit. It wasn't enough to make her at ease around it though, Fluffy is still a Hellhound after all.
Samantha was watching with interest at a conversation Naruto and Dempsey were having with one another. It was interesting, to say the least.
“...I'm just saying, it doesn't make any sense for this Monty person to just stay on the back lines for as long as he did. If he is omnipotent as he claims to be, then shouldn't he have known about these Apothicons the second they appeared?” Naruto said questionably.
“Monty did say that the universe is massive.” the American pointed out, “And he also said he can't be everywhere at once despite being all powerful. And if you think about it he was helping us since the beginning. I mean before I was captured I remember there being chalk outlines, power ups and perk machines in that Asylum. Not to mention they were there back in France when Takeo, myself, Nikolai and Richtofen met for the first time.”
“And there are other realities similar to our own.” Nikolai said, “There is good chance they are having same problem as we are, only worse.”
“And let's not forget that the enemy, the Apothicons, are able to go to other dimensions. Chances are they made that stone henge you were worried about and waited for a specific person to go near it or something which resulted in this fucking mess.” Dempsey added with a stroke of his chin.
“It doesn't excuse the fact Doctor Monty could have nipped this problem in the bud before it got so far out of control. You heard him: the universe itself is on the brink of collapsing. And from what he said this undead problem is affecting many other dimensions and had to recruit other versions of you three in order to fix it!”
Naruto was really irritated. Just how long has this undead problem been around for if other dimensions are having the same problem? Naruto had a point, they all knew this, but...
“Monty is just one man, kid.” said Dempsey, “Despite being all powerful he can't be everywhere. Plus if he is as powerful as he claims to be then he probably has a lot of shit on his shoulders on top of this. Like listening to the millions of wishes and prayers of people. Closing off or destroying dimensions that are too far gone to save or creating new ones and so on. The man can only do so much on his own.”
“...Point.” the teenage boy conceded.
“So what do we do next? Going to the past didn't change anything. It just made a new dimension.”
“To be honest, short of killing any zombies we see, I'm out of ideas.”
Nikolai rubbed his bearded chin, “We could just wait and see how everything plays out? If worse comes we can abandon this dimension and head into another one?” he suggested.
“There is no honour in waiting and watching the deaths of others, Russian.” Takeo reprimanded.
“It is better to wait and rest than getting tired and killed, Japanese.” Nikolai returned.
Fuu looked between the two men with a flat expression on her face. They cannot be seriously talking about abandoning her home could they? She looked at Naruto to see what he thinks about their conversation, and found to her dismay that he didn't care, if the look of disinterest he's wearing is anything to go by. Dempsey had the same look of disinterest too.
Three against one. This is concerning.
Suddenly Dempsey let out a loud sigh of exasperation getting both Nikolai and Takeo to stop arguing with one another and look at him. Seeing as he has the attention of everyone around the table the former Marine Raider put in his input, “Look. It's obvious the zombies are coming from somewhere. All we gotta do is find out where they are and put a stop to it. We also know the zombies can be reanimated with enough Element 115 inside of their blood. So all we gotta do is find a place that has a high concentration of zombies around and go there. Simple.”
Naruto found a flaw in that plan.
“I see one problem with that, Tank.” the teenager pointed at the tactical map. “The zombies are everywhere outside of the Hidden Villages. The only way for us to see a high concentration of zombies if they're attacking one of them, otherwise it'll be like looking for a needle in a haystack.”
“So the dilemma is this: are we, or are we not, going to wait for another Hidden Village to be attacked?” Fu looked at Dempsey and Nikolai, Takeo and Naruto one at a time as they discussed their next move, Samantha is still busy petting and rubbing her undead pet Fluffy so she wasn't paying too much attention to what was going on. Although that didn't mean she wasn't listening.
“What do you normally do?” Fu asked them all with curiosity lathing her voice.
“We normally go where the wind takes us.” Dempsey answered vaguely.
“As in, before coming here, we would travel from place to place and gather some stuff.” Naruto elaborated seconds after hearing the grown man's half-assed answer; and it was true. To a degree. The one who did the gathering was that wacky Nazi, Edward Richtofen and that was so he could take over Samantha's body, and the zombies and make the Earth his playground.
Of course, he succeeded in that endeavour.
The fucking, backstabbing, asshole.
“Perhaps we can find out what these can be used for, apart from obvious of killing.” as he said that, Nikolai held out his hand and watched as the Staff of Ice materialised in his hand. The Russian observed it for several seconds before it dematerialised as he lowered his arm.
“What I want to know is what you're going to do next.” Fu said.
“Next? Kid, there's nothing to do next. We tried finding a way to solve this problem by going to the past, at his behest,” Dempsey motioned his head to Naruto, “and that was a bust.”
“What about fighting the zombies?” she asked and everyone looked at her as if she were stupid. They were fighting the zombies ever since they got in this dimension for fucks sake!
“What do you think we've been doing ever since we got here?”
As they spiralled into another conversation Naruto suddenly came to realise the fruitless endeavour they had while in this world. He let out a tired sigh wondering how it got to this point. Originally he wanted to come here because he remembered his home and was curious about it. Then he got sidetracked by the Elemental Staffs being here and went on an adventure to various locations through the Elemental Nations to retrieve said staffs. Then after going through all sorts of bullshit – rescuing Gersch from whatever place he was trapped in and destroying one of the Element 115 facilities in the Land of Water being some of the bullshit they had to go through – they got even MORE sidetracked by ending up in the past against their will.
This was followed by himself and Samantha finding a zombified version himself trapped in another facility, shared by Division 9 and Group 935, and after getting him out and going to another dimension altogether for a little while, they all went into the past once more to try and change the future.
Only for it to be fruitless in the end!
Suffice to say he's tired. Not to mention...satisfied with what he had learned of his home thus far. Their original objective of being here in the first place is finished. There is no reason for them to stay here any longer.
With this in mind he subtly looked over everyone else who came with him. Takeo Masaki, a samurai obsessed with honour to the point it goes beyond reason. While he's not as fanatic now he will still think more on his own honour than anything else.
Nikolai Belinski, a now reformed drunk that can think clearly. He's loyal to a fault and is the type of guy you can trust to watch your back. Even when drunk he was reliable. To a degree.
Tank Dempsey. The man who knows no fear. Whose heart yearns for battle. No matter the situation he may find himself in, nothing fazes him, and he is the one guy you can trust to have your back no matter what.
Samantha Maxis, a former controller of zombies. Introduced to one another by her father Ludvig Maxis the two became good friends. Even when she was sicking the undead on them she mainly tried to get them to steer away from him unless he was around Dempsey the other four. She's trust worthy too.
And he is pretty damn sure they're tired of this place as well. The signs are there. The subtle look of irritation. The look of homesickness when they think he's not looking. And the faraway look on their faces when they're sometimes doing nothing.
It was observations and the reminder of what they came to do in the first place that made Naruto's choice on what to do next. A certain green headed girl isn't going to like it though.
“Y'know, what? I'm done.” he suddenly said, leaning back up against his chair. His statement had gotten everyone around the table to look at him. Three with questioning expressions on their faces while the fourth had a demanding one.
“What do you mean you're done?” Fu demanded with squinted eyes. “You can't stop fighting the undead!”
“Yes. we can.” he bluntly replied in a no nonsense tone, “We have no obligation to keep fighting. The five of us came here because I remembered where I came from. The dislike for my home aside, I came because I was curious. Dempsey, Nikolai, Takeo and Samantha came with because they wanted to watch my back. Then we got sidetracked and sort of forgot what we came here for in the first place.”
Through all this Dempsey, Nikolai, Takeo watched and listened in silence. Even Samantha had stopped focusing her attention on her pet dog to listen.
“Now that all the shit we've gone through is out of the way I've had some time to think to myself. And I realised something; our objective, our original objective, is complete. We can leave any time we want.”
“Wait. Really? Since when?” Dempsey questioned.
“Since we came back to the future. I learned enough to state my curiosity.” the blonde teen answered.
“...I say we leave.” this came from the most unlikely source, Takeo Masaki himself! A man who is known to upload his own honour way beyond reason. This is way out of character for someone such as him.
Dempsey was staring at the samurai with wide eyes and narrowed them with suspicion, “...Who are you and what have you done to Takeo?”
“I have done nothing to Takeo, for I am he.” the way he said it with a seriously, straight face that betrayed no emotion was funny. Well to Naruto it was funny.
“So why do you want to leave?” Naruto asked when he saw Dempsey about to make a smart ass remark.
“It is as you said there is nothing to keeping us here. We have no obligation to remain.” the samurai answered.
“I want to leave as well.” Dempsey said with Nikolai shrugging and vocalizing his agreement to leave too.
Fu slammed her fist on the table with a look of wide eyed dismay on her face, “B-B-B- you can't just leave! You're heroes! Everyone's counting on you to help kill the walking dead!” she shouted as she got up from her chair.
Hearing this Samantha sighed and decided to join in the conversation. Fluffy whined protestingly as Samantha moved her head off her lap before standing up on her feet. “First of all, ve are not 'heroes'. Dempsey, Nikolai and Takeo are soldiers. Zheir job is to kill for zheir country. I myself vas zheir enemy at one point, and I can definitely say vith certainty zhat I am no hero. Naruto, vell, he vas a ninja' an assassin. Not a hero.”
“None of us are heroes.” Dempsey said looking at Samantha with a nod of gratification. It was true after all none of them are heroes. They're just a group of soldiers and teenagers who are fighting for survival. “We don't really care about this place. We're only here because Naruto wanted to come here.”
“And now there's nothing to keep me here.” Naruto added on soothingly as if taking in a calm tone would calm the green haired girl down.
It did the exact opposite.
“No! No no no no no! The reason I joined you was because you were actually fighting them and got results out of each engagement! You were giving people hope!” the green haired girl exclaimed. This can't be happening! This seriously cannot be happening! They can't leave not now!
“We're soldiers. We fight. We kill. We die. It's what we do.” the marine replied in a flat even tone followed by an unamused look, “I don't know about Takeo, Nikolai and Samantha but I don't give a flying fuck if we 'give people hope' here. This place ain't our home. And Naruto was born here and he doesn't care about it.”
Fu looked at the group imploringly and upon seeing their unmoving expressions she looked to Naruto, since he's the only one they'll listen too. “Please, Naruto people are-”
“Samantha, get rid of her.” the blonde said dismissively, interrupting Fu from completing her sentence.
Fu only had a moment to react before she would be forcibly taken away from the group. Gritting her teeth she launched herself across the table, arm drawn back with the intent on giving Naruto a haymaker.
“You bast-”
She was teleported out of their inter-dimensional base before she could deliver the punch and finish her sentence.
An awkward silence filled the air.
“Well. She took that a lot better than I expected!”
And it was promptly broken by Naruto's cheerful voice.
“What? Better? She was going to attack you.” Nikolai pointed out.
Naruto waved him off, “Details, details.” with a sigh he turned to look at the life sized tactical map with analysing eyes. Since they've made the decision to leave this place there is only one place for them to go.
The Land of Iron.
If the past hadn't affected this future, then the zombie version of himself should still be there. Theoretically. He could be long gone by the time they get there now.
“Did you take the guns away from that girl?” Dempsey looked at Samantha.
She nodded affirmatively, “Yes. I have.” she then looked at Naruto as she made her way over to the table. “Are ve going back to zhe Land of Iron?” she questioned looking between Naruto and the map in question.
“Yes. As you know, Samantha and I found an underground base belonging to Group 935 and Division 9 in the Land of Iron.”
“And there is a gateway built in there.” Dempsey said, remembering what Samantha had told him and everyone else about their little misadventure.
“So we go now?” Nikolai questioned as he slowly got up from the chair.
Those that weren't standing got off their seats and assembled in front of the map. The map changed from being an overview of the entire Elemental Nations to just focusing on one specific place.
The Land of Iron.
More particularly the hidden base Naruto and Samantha had been too before.
“Yeah.” said Naruto. “We go now.” he looked over to Samantha, ignoring the fact that her undead pet is beside her, “Can you get us close?” he asked.
Samantha idly pet Fluffy behind the ear and looked at her friend with a smirk, “I can do better zhan that my friend.”
Just as the words left her mouth her skin went pale and her eyes glowed yellow. The air around them seemed to twist in and around on itself, and then with a bright flash of light, the group of five were gone and reappeared in the Land of Iron, in the joint facility of Group 935 and Division 9. Naruto took note they are in the same place he and Samantha met his zombified self.
The ones that weren't here before looked at their surroundings. A barren circular chamber with two doorways, one of which leading to a staircase that ascends to the outside, and the other which leads deeper into the facility. A large metal cage big enough to fit in multiple elephants, which has two inactive generators hooked up to it is in the middle of said room; and above the cage itself, is a giant machine that looks like a giant sized version of gun barrel, only a lot sleeker and mechanical looking. Attached to it are several large cables that went through the walls.
Unlike the last time they were here, there is no mist, the cage is open and the zombie Naruto is nowhere to be found.
Dempsey, Nikolai and Takeo all looked at Naruto and Samantha.
“You two have been here before; lead the way.” Naruto shrugged, and as he and Samantha made their way to the second doorway that would lead further into the facility he gestured them all to follow. They did.
They went past the power room. Turns out there are dead, rotting corpses of scientists and guards in there. It was something that surprised Naruto and Samantha. So them going to the past did have somewhat of an effect.
The first time they went to the past, the one that was against their will did have an effect on the future. The survivors from Iwagakure are more numerous; instead of being fifty of them there's at least a few hundred. Their intentional travel to the past was the only time it did not have a profound effect on the timeline and instead created a new dimension separate from the one they're in.
They followed the cables to the arms-foundry and found more rotting corpses as they made their way there. When they reached the place they could see the shattered test tubes, capsules, slabs and long dried up bloody floors and walls. The bodies are still there only they're decayed to the point of being unrecognisable.
Dempsey, Nikolai and Takeo were all disgusted with the place. They could see the bodies still in the test tubes. And despite their state of decomposition, they all saw how mangled and mutated some of them were.
Dempsey grimaced as he looked around the room. Unpleasant memories rose to the surface, “Fucking hell. This place reminds me of Verrückt only more twisted.”
“Group 935 and Division 9 have shamed their ancestors with this foul act.” growled a disgusted Takeo, “I hope their deaths, when it has been received, have been slow and painful!”
Nikolai stared at the decomposed corpses in silent contemplation. But he silently agreed with Takeo. He really hoped Naruto and Samantha gave Group 925 and Division 9 hell for the brutal experimentations that have been committed here.
Naruto got their attention by saying, “C'mon. We're nearly there.” and walked with Samantha to the doorway leading to the gateway room.
The three men followed after them in silence. When they caught up to the both of them, they were already in the gateway room, standing in front of the machine that was taking up most of the room.
Dempsey, Nikolai and Takeo all looked at it in surprise.
“Well I'll be damned...it's the same damn thing!” said Dempsey.
“Indeed.” Takeo said as he gazed at the contraption.
“This gateway cannot fall into the hands of these people. Who knows what chaos they will bring if left alone!” Nikolai voiced his concern. Everyone understood. If the ninjas find this place intact the chances of them using it for their own ends is high. If they were to use it and get to another dimension that is very similar to theirs, chances are they're going to bring a lot of heat down their backs too.
Not to mention the chances of the Apothicons taking notice and wreck their shit in the dickish way possible is also high. No. This gateway cannot be allowed to be left intact. It needs to be dealt with in an efficient manner.
Dempsey's lips thinned and turned to Samantha as an idea came to him, “Samantha, can you bring us a batch of M37 Demolition Kit's?”
“Of course.” she had a look of intense concentration as an entire crate of the explosives appeared in the middle of the room.
The crate was open, showing everyone the multiple eight blocks of explosives, with two priming assemblies in a canvas bag with a shoulder strap within.
“Sweet. Everyone, take several bags of the stuff and plant them. If we're going to leave then we're gonna have to make sure nothing here is going to be repairable and usable.” Dempsey said as he walked over to the crate and took out several bags of the stuff, before making his way to the gateway and started planting them in various areas on and around the machine.
“Very well.” Takeo said before making his way over to the crate and taking out several bags of the stuff. He walked out of the door they came from and proceeded to plant the explosives in the arms-foundry, Nikolai followed after him after grabbing his own batch.
Naruto and Samantha did the same and went off after grabbing several bags.
Not only would they destroy the underground facility, the explosives will also destroy the gateway and anything else caught in the explosion beyond repair. There's going to be no chance of the ninja's rebuilding the thing, or reverse engineer it. Much of the technology here is going to be, beyond their comprehension much less understand.
Everyone came back to the gateway room minutes later and assembled in front of the gateway.
“Everything has been set. We just need to push the switch, so to speak.” Naruto informed the marine.
“Good.” Dempsey then looked at Naruto, “Think you can make those clones of yourself to set the explosives off when we're through the gateway?”
Naruto nodded in the affirmative, “Yeah. I can.” he said as put his fore and middle fingers into a cross shape, “Give me a second.” everyone watched as several puffs of smoke appeared around the Uzumaki and when the smoke dispersed, several clones of the blonde filled the room. “Find the igniters for the demolition kits in this facility, and press them at least ten minutes from now. Understand?”
Several of the clones saluted and went to find the switches for the M37s. This allowed the others to focus their attention on the gateway.
Naruto walked over to the control panel and found it was deactivated. It must have automatically shut down or ran out of power. He frowned a bit before looking over to Samantha, “Do you know how to turn this on?”
She made her way over to Naruto's side and looked over the controls, “It has been a vhile since I last operated zhis, but I should be able to make it vork. Do ve need to make sure it does not overload?” she questioned.
Naruto shook his head from side to side, “No. The last time it was used it was perfectly fine. We just need to turn it on, and, let my clones do the rest.”
Samantha nodded at that and turned to the control panel. As she recalled what she had done before, she pressed a series of buttons and looked up when the panel and the gateway whizzed to life. Like the previous one they used electricity began to shoot through the cables connecting it to the outside. The energy racing across the metallic surface of the gateway. Giving it an glowing effect.
While this happened Samantha continued pressing and turning buttons on the control panel with a concentrated look on her face. Naruto saw how focused she looked and decided to let her to her own thing. She's the only one with the knowledge on how to work that thing. Besides like the first time they found the gateway its all in German.
Another minute went by before the German girl pulled away from the panel with a successful look on her face.
“Zhere, it is done.” she said, and as the last word left her mouth a portal opened in the middle of the structure. The reflection showing them what they currently look like. Dempsey, Nikolai and Takeo were all surprised at how young they looked compared to when they first appeared in this dimension.
“Dang. I knew we de-aged and all but I look twenty years younger!” Dempsey exclaimed in astonishment. This is the first time he actually saw his entire reflection. His young appearance wearing the World War 2 era uniform of the United States Military. He let out a whistle as he rubbed at his left cheek, “Heh, I haven't seen this face since 1915.”
“Indeed. The past has its advantages...” Takeo said, as he too observed his young appearance in the uniform of the current Japanese Imperial Army.
The only person who looked completely different was Nikolai. Who looks young and is wearing the uniform he wore back in World War 1. “Hmm, I missed how I looked in the past.”
Naruto shook his head as he smiled fondly, “You can admire your reflections later! We have a gateway to take!” with that said he pulled a Nikolai and much to the surprise of everyone he separated from the group by taking a running start and jumping head first into the portal.
Dempsey, Nikolai, Takeo and Samantha all stared in astonishment.
“Oh.” Dempsey began.
“My.” said Nikolai.
“God...” Samantha face palmed.
Takeo was quiet for a moment and then he slowly walked to the portal, “This badass motherfucker will not be left behind!” he said laughingly as he took off in a sprint head first into the portal much to the shock of everyone else.
This was the first time they heard and see Takeo do something like this. It was quite the shocker for them to witness. Dempsey was the first one to recover and followed the same example as Takeo and ran head first into the portal. Nikolai and Samantha looked at one another, shrugged, and ran head first into the portal after them.
The portal closed behind them leaving the underground base quiet. The clones that were left behind however, all heard the portal close itself down. One clone, made another clone and had it dispel itself so the information it had would be transferred to the others.
Instead of them waiting for ten minutes they reduced the count down to five seconds. And five seconds later they all pushed down on the igniter at the same time.
Outside of the complex, the icy like mountain went up in a ball of fire; with the flames taking the shape of a mushroom cloud. The combined M37's ignited at the same time had destroyed the foundation of the underground facility reducing the equipment within to torn and twisted metal and rubble.
This would be the last time the group has been detected within the Elemental Nations. However, the small but devastating impact they had on the residents would not be forgotten.
Chapter 22
Being back in their inter-dimensional base at long last Samantha sat cross-legged on the ground; resting on her leg is the decaying and flaming head of her dog Fluffy, a giant sized German Shepherd turned Hellhound that is near the height of a bicycle.
Both Naruto and Fu were staring at the Hellhound with a sickened and wary expression on their faces. For Naruto he had a sick look on his face because a memory he had almost forgotten had resurfaced, the memory of Fluffy and another going at it. And it was not a pretty sight.
For Fu this is the first time she had ever seen a Hellhound and her first reaction to see it appearing in an orb of lightning was to shoot it with her M-14. Luckily for her she didn't have the M-14 battle or the M1911 .Colt in her possession. However seeing it look so tame and acting like a dog normally would, excluding the decaying flesh and exposed bones, it made her calm down a bit. It wasn't enough to make her at ease around it though, Fluffy is still a Hellhound after all.
Samantha was watching with interest at a conversation Naruto and Dempsey were having with one another. It was interesting, to say the least.
“...I'm just saying, it doesn't make any sense for this Monty person to just stay on the back lines for as long as he did. If he is omnipotent as he claims to be, then shouldn't he have known about these Apothicons the second they appeared?” Naruto said questionably.
“Monty did say that the universe is massive.” the American pointed out, “And he also said he can't be everywhere at once despite being all powerful. And if you think about it he was helping us since the beginning. I mean before I was captured I remember there being chalk outlines, power ups and perk machines in that Asylum. Not to mention they were there back in France when Takeo, myself, Nikolai and Richtofen met for the first time.”
“And there are other realities similar to our own.” Nikolai said, “There is good chance they are having same problem as we are, only worse.”
“And let's not forget that the enemy, the Apothicons, are able to go to other dimensions. Chances are they made that stone henge you were worried about and waited for a specific person to go near it or something which resulted in this fucking mess.” Dempsey added with a stroke of his chin.
“It doesn't excuse the fact Doctor Monty could have nipped this problem in the bud before it got so far out of control. You heard him: the universe itself is on the brink of collapsing. And from what he said this undead problem is affecting many other dimensions and had to recruit other versions of you three in order to fix it!”
Naruto was really irritated. Just how long has this undead problem been around for if other dimensions are having the same problem? Naruto had a point, they all knew this, but...
“Monty is just one man, kid.” said Dempsey, “Despite being all powerful he can't be everywhere. Plus if he is as powerful as he claims to be then he probably has a lot of shit on his shoulders on top of this. Like listening to the millions of wishes and prayers of people. Closing off or destroying dimensions that are too far gone to save or creating new ones and so on. The man can only do so much on his own.”
“...Point.” the teenage boy conceded.
“So what do we do next? Going to the past didn't change anything. It just made a new dimension.”
“To be honest, short of killing any zombies we see, I'm out of ideas.”
Nikolai rubbed his bearded chin, “We could just wait and see how everything plays out? If worse comes we can abandon this dimension and head into another one?” he suggested.
“There is no honour in waiting and watching the deaths of others, Russian.” Takeo reprimanded.
“It is better to wait and rest than getting tired and killed, Japanese.” Nikolai returned.
Fuu looked between the two men with a flat expression on her face. They cannot be seriously talking about abandoning her home could they? She looked at Naruto to see what he thinks about their conversation, and found to her dismay that he didn't care, if the look of disinterest he's wearing is anything to go by. Dempsey had the same look of disinterest too.
Three against one. This is concerning.
Suddenly Dempsey let out a loud sigh of exasperation getting both Nikolai and Takeo to stop arguing with one another and look at him. Seeing as he has the attention of everyone around the table the former Marine Raider put in his input, “Look. It's obvious the zombies are coming from somewhere. All we gotta do is find out where they are and put a stop to it. We also know the zombies can be reanimated with enough Element 115 inside of their blood. So all we gotta do is find a place that has a high concentration of zombies around and go there. Simple.”
Naruto found a flaw in that plan.
“I see one problem with that, Tank.” the teenager pointed at the tactical map. “The zombies are everywhere outside of the Hidden Villages. The only way for us to see a high concentration of zombies if they're attacking one of them, otherwise it'll be like looking for a needle in a haystack.”
“So the dilemma is this: are we, or are we not, going to wait for another Hidden Village to be attacked?” Fu looked at Dempsey and Nikolai, Takeo and Naruto one at a time as they discussed their next move, Samantha is still busy petting and rubbing her undead pet Fluffy so she wasn't paying too much attention to what was going on. Although that didn't mean she wasn't listening.
“What do you normally do?” Fu asked them all with curiosity lathing her voice.
“We normally go where the wind takes us.” Dempsey answered vaguely.
“As in, before coming here, we would travel from place to place and gather some stuff.” Naruto elaborated seconds after hearing the grown man's half-assed answer; and it was true. To a degree. The one who did the gathering was that wacky Nazi, Edward Richtofen and that was so he could take over Samantha's body, and the zombies and make the Earth his playground.
Of course, he succeeded in that endeavour.
The fucking, backstabbing, asshole.
“Perhaps we can find out what these can be used for, apart from obvious of killing.” as he said that, Nikolai held out his hand and watched as the Staff of Ice materialised in his hand. The Russian observed it for several seconds before it dematerialised as he lowered his arm.
“What I want to know is what you're going to do next.” Fu said.
“Next? Kid, there's nothing to do next. We tried finding a way to solve this problem by going to the past, at his behest,” Dempsey motioned his head to Naruto, “and that was a bust.”
“What about fighting the zombies?” she asked and everyone looked at her as if she were stupid. They were fighting the zombies ever since they got in this dimension for fucks sake!
“What do you think we've been doing ever since we got here?”
As they spiralled into another conversation Naruto suddenly came to realise the fruitless endeavour they had while in this world. He let out a tired sigh wondering how it got to this point. Originally he wanted to come here because he remembered his home and was curious about it. Then he got sidetracked by the Elemental Staffs being here and went on an adventure to various locations through the Elemental Nations to retrieve said staffs. Then after going through all sorts of bullshit – rescuing Gersch from whatever place he was trapped in and destroying one of the Element 115 facilities in the Land of Water being some of the bullshit they had to go through – they got even MORE sidetracked by ending up in the past against their will.
This was followed by himself and Samantha finding a zombified version himself trapped in another facility, shared by Division 9 and Group 935, and after getting him out and going to another dimension altogether for a little while, they all went into the past once more to try and change the future.
Only for it to be fruitless in the end!
Suffice to say he's tired. Not to mention...satisfied with what he had learned of his home thus far. Their original objective of being here in the first place is finished. There is no reason for them to stay here any longer.
With this in mind he subtly looked over everyone else who came with him. Takeo Masaki, a samurai obsessed with honour to the point it goes beyond reason. While he's not as fanatic now he will still think more on his own honour than anything else.
Nikolai Belinski, a now reformed drunk that can think clearly. He's loyal to a fault and is the type of guy you can trust to watch your back. Even when drunk he was reliable. To a degree.
Tank Dempsey. The man who knows no fear. Whose heart yearns for battle. No matter the situation he may find himself in, nothing fazes him, and he is the one guy you can trust to have your back no matter what.
Samantha Maxis, a former controller of zombies. Introduced to one another by her father Ludvig Maxis the two became good friends. Even when she was sicking the undead on them she mainly tried to get them to steer away from him unless he was around Dempsey the other four. She's trust worthy too.
And he is pretty damn sure they're tired of this place as well. The signs are there. The subtle look of irritation. The look of homesickness when they think he's not looking. And the faraway look on their faces when they're sometimes doing nothing.
It was observations and the reminder of what they came to do in the first place that made Naruto's choice on what to do next. A certain green headed girl isn't going to like it though.
“Y'know, what? I'm done.” he suddenly said, leaning back up against his chair. His statement had gotten everyone around the table to look at him. Three with questioning expressions on their faces while the fourth had a demanding one.
“What do you mean you're done?” Fu demanded with squinted eyes. “You can't stop fighting the undead!”
“Yes. we can.” he bluntly replied in a no nonsense tone, “We have no obligation to keep fighting. The five of us came here because I remembered where I came from. The dislike for my home aside, I came because I was curious. Dempsey, Nikolai, Takeo and Samantha came with because they wanted to watch my back. Then we got sidetracked and sort of forgot what we came here for in the first place.”
Through all this Dempsey, Nikolai, Takeo watched and listened in silence. Even Samantha had stopped focusing her attention on her pet dog to listen.
“Now that all the shit we've gone through is out of the way I've had some time to think to myself. And I realised something; our objective, our original objective, is complete. We can leave any time we want.”
“Wait. Really? Since when?” Dempsey questioned.
“Since we came back to the future. I learned enough to state my curiosity.” the blonde teen answered.
“...I say we leave.” this came from the most unlikely source, Takeo Masaki himself! A man who is known to upload his own honour way beyond reason. This is way out of character for someone such as him.
Dempsey was staring at the samurai with wide eyes and narrowed them with suspicion, “...Who are you and what have you done to Takeo?”
“I have done nothing to Takeo, for I am he.” the way he said it with a seriously, straight face that betrayed no emotion was funny. Well to Naruto it was funny.
“So why do you want to leave?” Naruto asked when he saw Dempsey about to make a smart ass remark.
“It is as you said there is nothing to keeping us here. We have no obligation to remain.” the samurai answered.
“I want to leave as well.” Dempsey said with Nikolai shrugging and vocalizing his agreement to leave too.
Fu slammed her fist on the table with a look of wide eyed dismay on her face, “B-B-B- you can't just leave! You're heroes! Everyone's counting on you to help kill the walking dead!” she shouted as she got up from her chair.
Hearing this Samantha sighed and decided to join in the conversation. Fluffy whined protestingly as Samantha moved her head off her lap before standing up on her feet. “First of all, ve are not 'heroes'. Dempsey, Nikolai and Takeo are soldiers. Zheir job is to kill for zheir country. I myself vas zheir enemy at one point, and I can definitely say vith certainty zhat I am no hero. Naruto, vell, he vas a ninja' an assassin. Not a hero.”
“None of us are heroes.” Dempsey said looking at Samantha with a nod of gratification. It was true after all none of them are heroes. They're just a group of soldiers and teenagers who are fighting for survival. “We don't really care about this place. We're only here because Naruto wanted to come here.”
“And now there's nothing to keep me here.” Naruto added on soothingly as if taking in a calm tone would calm the green haired girl down.
It did the exact opposite.
“No! No no no no no! The reason I joined you was because you were actually fighting them and got results out of each engagement! You were giving people hope!” the green haired girl exclaimed. This can't be happening! This seriously cannot be happening! They can't leave not now!
“We're soldiers. We fight. We kill. We die. It's what we do.” the marine replied in a flat even tone followed by an unamused look, “I don't know about Takeo, Nikolai and Samantha but I don't give a flying fuck if we 'give people hope' here. This place ain't our home. And Naruto was born here and he doesn't care about it.”
Fu looked at the group imploringly and upon seeing their unmoving expressions she looked to Naruto, since he's the only one they'll listen too. “Please, Naruto people are-”
“Samantha, get rid of her.” the blonde said dismissively, interrupting Fu from completing her sentence.
Fu only had a moment to react before she would be forcibly taken away from the group. Gritting her teeth she launched herself across the table, arm drawn back with the intent on giving Naruto a haymaker.
“You bast-”
She was teleported out of their inter-dimensional base before she could deliver the punch and finish her sentence.
An awkward silence filled the air.
“Well. She took that a lot better than I expected!”
And it was promptly broken by Naruto's cheerful voice.
“What? Better? She was going to attack you.” Nikolai pointed out.
Naruto waved him off, “Details, details.” with a sigh he turned to look at the life sized tactical map with analysing eyes. Since they've made the decision to leave this place there is only one place for them to go.
The Land of Iron.
If the past hadn't affected this future, then the zombie version of himself should still be there. Theoretically. He could be long gone by the time they get there now.
“Did you take the guns away from that girl?” Dempsey looked at Samantha.
She nodded affirmatively, “Yes. I have.” she then looked at Naruto as she made her way over to the table. “Are ve going back to zhe Land of Iron?” she questioned looking between Naruto and the map in question.
“Yes. As you know, Samantha and I found an underground base belonging to Group 935 and Division 9 in the Land of Iron.”
“And there is a gateway built in there.” Dempsey said, remembering what Samantha had told him and everyone else about their little misadventure.
“So we go now?” Nikolai questioned as he slowly got up from the chair.
Those that weren't standing got off their seats and assembled in front of the map. The map changed from being an overview of the entire Elemental Nations to just focusing on one specific place.
The Land of Iron.
More particularly the hidden base Naruto and Samantha had been too before.
“Yeah.” said Naruto. “We go now.” he looked over to Samantha, ignoring the fact that her undead pet is beside her, “Can you get us close?” he asked.
Samantha idly pet Fluffy behind the ear and looked at her friend with a smirk, “I can do better zhan that my friend.”
Just as the words left her mouth her skin went pale and her eyes glowed yellow. The air around them seemed to twist in and around on itself, and then with a bright flash of light, the group of five were gone and reappeared in the Land of Iron, in the joint facility of Group 935 and Division 9. Naruto took note they are in the same place he and Samantha met his zombified self.
The ones that weren't here before looked at their surroundings. A barren circular chamber with two doorways, one of which leading to a staircase that ascends to the outside, and the other which leads deeper into the facility. A large metal cage big enough to fit in multiple elephants, which has two inactive generators hooked up to it is in the middle of said room; and above the cage itself, is a giant machine that looks like a giant sized version of gun barrel, only a lot sleeker and mechanical looking. Attached to it are several large cables that went through the walls.
Unlike the last time they were here, there is no mist, the cage is open and the zombie Naruto is nowhere to be found.
Dempsey, Nikolai and Takeo all looked at Naruto and Samantha.
“You two have been here before; lead the way.” Naruto shrugged, and as he and Samantha made their way to the second doorway that would lead further into the facility he gestured them all to follow. They did.
They went past the power room. Turns out there are dead, rotting corpses of scientists and guards in there. It was something that surprised Naruto and Samantha. So them going to the past did have somewhat of an effect.
The first time they went to the past, the one that was against their will did have an effect on the future. The survivors from Iwagakure are more numerous; instead of being fifty of them there's at least a few hundred. Their intentional travel to the past was the only time it did not have a profound effect on the timeline and instead created a new dimension separate from the one they're in.
They followed the cables to the arms-foundry and found more rotting corpses as they made their way there. When they reached the place they could see the shattered test tubes, capsules, slabs and long dried up bloody floors and walls. The bodies are still there only they're decayed to the point of being unrecognisable.
Dempsey, Nikolai and Takeo were all disgusted with the place. They could see the bodies still in the test tubes. And despite their state of decomposition, they all saw how mangled and mutated some of them were.
Dempsey grimaced as he looked around the room. Unpleasant memories rose to the surface, “Fucking hell. This place reminds me of Verrückt only more twisted.”
“Group 935 and Division 9 have shamed their ancestors with this foul act.” growled a disgusted Takeo, “I hope their deaths, when it has been received, have been slow and painful!”
Nikolai stared at the decomposed corpses in silent contemplation. But he silently agreed with Takeo. He really hoped Naruto and Samantha gave Group 925 and Division 9 hell for the brutal experimentations that have been committed here.
Naruto got their attention by saying, “C'mon. We're nearly there.” and walked with Samantha to the doorway leading to the gateway room.
The three men followed after them in silence. When they caught up to the both of them, they were already in the gateway room, standing in front of the machine that was taking up most of the room.
Dempsey, Nikolai and Takeo all looked at it in surprise.
“Well I'll be damned...it's the same damn thing!” said Dempsey.
“Indeed.” Takeo said as he gazed at the contraption.
“This gateway cannot fall into the hands of these people. Who knows what chaos they will bring if left alone!” Nikolai voiced his concern. Everyone understood. If the ninjas find this place intact the chances of them using it for their own ends is high. If they were to use it and get to another dimension that is very similar to theirs, chances are they're going to bring a lot of heat down their backs too.
Not to mention the chances of the Apothicons taking notice and wreck their shit in the dickish way possible is also high. No. This gateway cannot be allowed to be left intact. It needs to be dealt with in an efficient manner.
Dempsey's lips thinned and turned to Samantha as an idea came to him, “Samantha, can you bring us a batch of M37 Demolition Kit's?”
“Of course.” she had a look of intense concentration as an entire crate of the explosives appeared in the middle of the room.
The crate was open, showing everyone the multiple eight blocks of explosives, with two priming assemblies in a canvas bag with a shoulder strap within.
“Sweet. Everyone, take several bags of the stuff and plant them. If we're going to leave then we're gonna have to make sure nothing here is going to be repairable and usable.” Dempsey said as he walked over to the crate and took out several bags of the stuff, before making his way to the gateway and started planting them in various areas on and around the machine.
“Very well.” Takeo said before making his way over to the crate and taking out several bags of the stuff. He walked out of the door they came from and proceeded to plant the explosives in the arms-foundry, Nikolai followed after him after grabbing his own batch.
Naruto and Samantha did the same and went off after grabbing several bags.
Not only would they destroy the underground facility, the explosives will also destroy the gateway and anything else caught in the explosion beyond repair. There's going to be no chance of the ninja's rebuilding the thing, or reverse engineer it. Much of the technology here is going to be, beyond their comprehension much less understand.
Everyone came back to the gateway room minutes later and assembled in front of the gateway.
“Everything has been set. We just need to push the switch, so to speak.” Naruto informed the marine.
“Good.” Dempsey then looked at Naruto, “Think you can make those clones of yourself to set the explosives off when we're through the gateway?”
Naruto nodded in the affirmative, “Yeah. I can.” he said as put his fore and middle fingers into a cross shape, “Give me a second.” everyone watched as several puffs of smoke appeared around the Uzumaki and when the smoke dispersed, several clones of the blonde filled the room. “Find the igniters for the demolition kits in this facility, and press them at least ten minutes from now. Understand?”
Several of the clones saluted and went to find the switches for the M37s. This allowed the others to focus their attention on the gateway.
Naruto walked over to the control panel and found it was deactivated. It must have automatically shut down or ran out of power. He frowned a bit before looking over to Samantha, “Do you know how to turn this on?”
She made her way over to Naruto's side and looked over the controls, “It has been a vhile since I last operated zhis, but I should be able to make it vork. Do ve need to make sure it does not overload?” she questioned.
Naruto shook his head from side to side, “No. The last time it was used it was perfectly fine. We just need to turn it on, and, let my clones do the rest.”
Samantha nodded at that and turned to the control panel. As she recalled what she had done before, she pressed a series of buttons and looked up when the panel and the gateway whizzed to life. Like the previous one they used electricity began to shoot through the cables connecting it to the outside. The energy racing across the metallic surface of the gateway. Giving it an glowing effect.
While this happened Samantha continued pressing and turning buttons on the control panel with a concentrated look on her face. Naruto saw how focused she looked and decided to let her to her own thing. She's the only one with the knowledge on how to work that thing. Besides like the first time they found the gateway its all in German.
Another minute went by before the German girl pulled away from the panel with a successful look on her face.
“Zhere, it is done.” she said, and as the last word left her mouth a portal opened in the middle of the structure. The reflection showing them what they currently look like. Dempsey, Nikolai and Takeo were all surprised at how young they looked compared to when they first appeared in this dimension.
“Dang. I knew we de-aged and all but I look twenty years younger!” Dempsey exclaimed in astonishment. This is the first time he actually saw his entire reflection. His young appearance wearing the World War 2 era uniform of the United States Military. He let out a whistle as he rubbed at his left cheek, “Heh, I haven't seen this face since 1915.”
“Indeed. The past has its advantages...” Takeo said, as he too observed his young appearance in the uniform of the current Japanese Imperial Army.
The only person who looked completely different was Nikolai. Who looks young and is wearing the uniform he wore back in World War 1. “Hmm, I missed how I looked in the past.”
Naruto shook his head as he smiled fondly, “You can admire your reflections later! We have a gateway to take!” with that said he pulled a Nikolai and much to the surprise of everyone he separated from the group by taking a running start and jumping head first into the portal.
Dempsey, Nikolai, Takeo and Samantha all stared in astonishment.
“Oh.” Dempsey began.
“My.” said Nikolai.
“God...” Samantha face palmed.
Takeo was quiet for a moment and then he slowly walked to the portal, “This badass motherfucker will not be left behind!” he said laughingly as he took off in a sprint head first into the portal much to the shock of everyone else.
This was the first time they heard and see Takeo do something like this. It was quite the shocker for them to witness. Dempsey was the first one to recover and followed the same example as Takeo and ran head first into the portal. Nikolai and Samantha looked at one another, shrugged, and ran head first into the portal after them.
The portal closed behind them leaving the underground base quiet. The clones that were left behind however, all heard the portal close itself down. One clone, made another clone and had it dispel itself so the information it had would be transferred to the others.
Instead of them waiting for ten minutes they reduced the count down to five seconds. And five seconds later they all pushed down on the igniter at the same time.
Outside of the complex, the icy like mountain went up in a ball of fire; with the flames taking the shape of a mushroom cloud. The combined M37's ignited at the same time had destroyed the foundation of the underground facility reducing the equipment within to torn and twisted metal and rubble.
This would be the last time the group has been detected within the Elemental Nations. However, the small but devastating impact they had on the residents would not be forgotten.
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