Categories > Anime/Manga > Naruto > Primis
Chapter 14
0 reviewsA new land. A new place. Sure how he had gotten here was...bad. Which is an understatement. And, sure, he could whine and bitch about the unfairness of it all; but that won't change anything. All h...
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Back in Alphonse, a massacre was finishing.
It's funny thing, really. To see an enemy, the foot soldiers of the Apothicons, that nearly brought humanity to their knees losing to a group of people they heavily outnumbered.
A single bolt of lightning, would split into many, upon making contact with a walking corpse. Making a chain lightning that would in turn cause as many as ten walking corpses to fall to the ground as if their strings had been cut.
A force of concentrated wind, would throw the corpses off their feet, killing them – again at that – before they would touch the ground.
A blast of ice would freeze the zombies in place. Halting them mid-place or In mid-run.
And a small stream of fire would leave the zombies charred.
With the zombies left in various states, it was a curb stomp battle. The four legendary heroes of the Old World were back to back, and were removing the small army of zombies from the world before they could do any real damage to the populace.
When the Keeper finally arrived, it was to witness the last of the zombies get blown away by the Staff of Wind, curtsy of Edward Richtofen the man wielding said staff. It didn't take long for the others to notice they were no longer alone, and were understandably surprised to see one of the self-proclaimed protectors of the universe amongst them.
Takeo immediately brought his fist to his cuirass. A gesture of respect.
“Keeper, I did not think you wourd be here, in this realm, after so rong.” the Japanese man said.
“I did not think I would return to this dimension, either. But someone had gotten the attention of the enemy.” the other-worldly being replied; then it looked to Dempsey and added. “You know who he is.”
Dempsey exhaled with a solemn look on his face. “Yeah, Naruto.” Nikolai, Takeo and Richtofen all looked at him with wide eyes. Did he just say- “It's been seven years since he went missing – no thanks to that damn teleporter. Any luck finding where he ended up?” the former marine didn't want to get his hopes up, but since this was a Keeper, he'll keep his faith in it.
His faith paid off; the Keeper nodded affirmatively.
“Yes. I found him.” the being answered, and Dempsey almost fell to his knees in relief. “He was in a dimension that was a carbon copy of this one; except from what I had seen, everyone was dead.”
“What!?”
“Naruto Namikaze, was in a dimension where the dead ruled the land. When he summoned me, the young human was fighting off many of the walking dead. Even a she-dragon was summoned.”
Dempsey let out an awed whistle. “Fucking hell. And where is he now?” the man asked.
Richtofen nodded as he put most of his weight on to his staff of wind. “Indeed, I vunder if zis Naruto is similar to ze one ve use to know?”
“He's a carbon copy of him, Doctor. Doesn't curse as much though.” Dempsey informed the German, before bringing his attention back to the Keeper. “So, where is he now? Did he escape?”
“He is in Rabona. Has been for the past three days.”
“Can you bring us there?” Nikolai respectfully requested.
The Keeper nodded affirmatively. The four men exchanged looks for a brief moment before they grouped around the other-worldly being. Without a word the Keeper vanished along with Dempsey, Nikolai, Takeo and Richtofen.
X.X.X.X
“...And that is what a scrub is.” Naruto 2 finished his explanation.
All he had got for his troubles were flat, befuddled and bemused looks.
Naruto 1 on the other hand, was soaking the information in like a sponge. “...So, it started off as something you would wear so blood would be easier to clean off. Then, it was turned into an insult for failing at doing something in general?”
“Pretty much.”
“Oh.” Naruto 1 felt...underwhelmed from the explanation. But, hey, he learned something new!
Then Helen gave him an amused look. “So... does that mean you're a 'scrub' outside of fighting?”
With a flat look on his face, Naruto 1 without looking at her, gave the woman the middle finger. Helen sniggered while Deneve was pinching the bridge of her nose, shaking her head in exasperation.
Then Helen cleared her throat and gave the blond her attention. “So now that we're out of trouble; where the hell have you been for the past seven years? And when did you get back?” she demanded with Deneve looking at her best friend oddly, she just saw her home-town get annihilated and is brushing it off?
“Would you believe me if I said he was in another world like this one?” the ghost asked with a raised finger.
Helen looked away from Naruto 1 and looked at the ghost. “I would say no, but since Deneve and I already been to a place like that, then I would be lying.”
Both Naruto's looked at her questioningly for a moment, but only one of them managed to get it. “Oh yeah, I remember that! You, Deneve, Miria, Cynthia and Yuma and a few others, came to get me.”
Naruto 2 exhaled in relief. “Well, that saves me from having to explain everything again.” he said with a relieved smile.
“...Wait a minute!” Naruto 1 exclaimed all of a sudden. He looked at the bewildered ghost and said. “The last time I saw you, you were still in that ruined version of my home! How the hell are you here?”
“...Uh...magic?” Naruto 2 lamely offered.
Naruto 1 gave his ghost counterpart a flat stare. “...How gullible do you think I am?” he asked the ghost in the flattest tone anyone ever heard him use.
“Not very.” Naruto 2 sighed and crossed his arms. “Alright, I got out the same way you did.”
Naruto 1 tilted his head to the side and squinted at his counterpart suspiciously. “Really? How come I didn't see you?”
“I'm a ghost.” said ghost deadpanned looking at the blond like he had said something incredibly stupid. “I can make myself invisible any time I want. Besides; since when does a ghost have to be solid?”
Then out of nowhere the Keeper reappeared in the occupied street with company. The four men holding mechanical staffs fell to a knee from disorientation. Only one of them was familiar to a certain few, while all four was known to one.
Nikolai dry heaved as he slowly stood back up. “Ugh. I feel like I will throw up!” he said with a grimace.
Dempsey stood up and would have stumbled if it weren't for him using the Staff of Lightning to balance himself. “If you're going to do that, make sure it's away from me.”
Richtofen got up from his kneel too and held the side of his head. “Vell, zat vas something I vas not eager to re-experience.” then the German noticed they were not alone. He grew wide eyed with fascination when he saw Miria'a silver eyes. “Oh. Vell zhis is new. How fascinating! I have never seen such eyes!”
Takeo who was silent for the most part was merely taking in his new surroundings. And the silver eyed women who were staring at them in bewilderment.
Only five of these silver eyed women recognised Dempsey though. Along with a certain ghost and blue eyed teenage boy.
“...'Tank'?”
Said man looked to the person calling his name, as did Nikolai, Takeo and Richtofen. And all four were shocked when they saw Naruto Namikaze and their own Naruto, the ghost Naruto, standing side by side.
Dempsey summed up what was on the mind of his companions. “...Holy shit! Kid? How in the hell are there two of you?”
With the revelation of seeing their Naruto – Naruto 2 – standing beside present Naruto side by side staring at them, suffice to say Dempsey and Takeo and Nikolai and Richtofen all had questions.
Naruto 2 who will be known as Primis-Naruto from hence forth, saw the look in their eyes. “Maybe it's best if we were to discuss this some place else.” he suggested to then.
“Yes, that would be best!” Miria was quick to agree, having some place to talk away from prying eyes and ears would be the most ideal solution. It would give them ample time to strike up some questions as their own like where the HELL that thing came from!
It turned out many had the same idea as her since they were all for it. With the situation taken care of the soldiers were allowed to go home, those that were victimised by that creature were taken to a hospital to be cared for to the best of their ability.
X.X.X.X
Several minutes later everyone is back in the room Naruto is staying in, with a few more guests.
This time it was mainly the hybrids staying around.
“So care to tell me how you both managed to get back?” Miria asked first, as she looked at Helen and Deneve.
Deneve was the one to answer. “Naruto dragged us through... something. The next thing we knew, we were back here.”
“That would be Ember's glyph. A dragon in case you don't know. She uses them as a method of quick travel.” Naruto Namikaze clarified for everyone's benefit. A lot of the people in the room had already seen Ember.
“I see. And what about that... creature that appeared from it?”
“That would be a new type of yoma zombie.” the present Naruto answered her. “I'm calling it armour-class for clarification.”
“That thing was a yoma?!” everyone, except for the Primis group, shouted out in shock.
“Dunno what a yoma is; but that thing reminded me of Prototype.” Primis Naruto said aloud, to the confusion of everyone who wasn't from his era.
“Proto-what?” Veronica asked.
“It's something back in my era. Nothing to worry about.” the ghost replied dismissively.
Since Primis-Naruto was being totally unhelpful, Dempsey decided to explain it to her in the simplest way he can. “In simple terms: it's a game where you play as this... disease thing... that can kill people and absorb their memories. The more people you absorb, the stronger you get, and the stronger you get, the more difficult it is to kill you. Outside of that, it's way more complicated.”
“I couldn't have said it better myself, Dempsey.” Primis-Naruto told him, only to get a flat stare from the man in return.
“Then why didn't you?” he asked, with his voice matching the face.
“Couldn't think of a better explanation.” Primis-Naruto replied with a shrug.
“You three have the most experience when it comes to fighting that thing.” Miria said to Naruto, Helen and Deneve. “What can you tell us about it?”
Helen crossed her arms. “Its 'armour' is made of its own puss and blood.”
“Naruto said the armour can be weakened by using fire against it. The armour falls apart after giving it a good enough hit once that happens.” Deneve added with a shrug.
Then Naruto himself added. “From what I could tell, the holes in its armour are its weak points. So if you're unable to weaken the armour with fire then hitting it there is your best bet.”
“Do you know anything on what it can do?” Cynthia asked.
Naruto nodded. “It can...absorb other armour-classes. That one you briefly saw was the result of it absorbing at least five or six of them. When it absorbs, it grows in height, and its armour gets denser and thick. But again, the holes are its weak points. They are never covered.”
Primis-Naruto, Nikolai, Takeo, Dempsey, and Richtofen all exchanged concerned looks. That description was scarily familiar to them. A bit different from what they faced in the past but it was scarily similar.
“What do you guys think? Upgraded Thrashers?” The ghost asked them.
Takeo stroked his bearded chin. “It appears so.” the man growled.
Dempsey and Nikolai both groaned in dismay, with the former pressing the bottom of his gauntleted palm against his forehead. “Great. The original Thrashers were bad; but if these things you're talking about, are successors to 'em...”
“...ve may have to take precautions vhen dealing vith zem.” the German finished.
“...What are Thrashers?” Flora asked.
“Thrashers are zombies that were experimented on with plant life.” Primis-Naruto told her.
Dempsey groaned as he brought down his hand. “Imagine a monster that is a combination of a zombie and a plant. The only way to effectively kill them was to destroy the spores on their body.” he elaborated for them.
“They eat other zombies to recover lost spores. Was bitch to fight.” Nikolai added on with a shrug.
Primis-Naruto then said with a grimace. “It didn't help they were strong either.” there was a pause. “Well, strong for us anyway. Since you women aren't normal by any means, I'm not sure how strong it would be if you were to fight it.”
Dempsey looked at Primis-Naruto with a confused, yet curious frown. “What makes you so sure about that kid?” he asked him.
Primis-Naruto sighed and met the look given to him head on. “C'mon 'Tank', they have silver eyes and no one has hair that pale. Not even me. And since this is the equivalent of the medieval ages those cannot be contact lenses.”
“Vait, so vat are zey zen? Ze result of an experiment?”
Richtofen wasn't being completely serious about it. It was a rhetorically sarcastic, question.
“Basically...yes.” Miria answered him.
The Primis group, excluding Primis-Naruto, all looked at Miria with wide eyes. Disbelief and shock was on their faces.
Richtofen open and closed his mouth repeatedly for several seconds, before he managed to find his voice. “I meant zat in jest. But... really?”
When Miria, along with several other silver eyed women in the room nodded Richtofen held the side of his head.
“The process we went through to become the way we are now, had given us abilities no other humans can possibly have.” Flora added.
“Jesus Christ.” Dempsey said after letting out a low whistle. “We're talking with actual super soldiers. We might have a better chance at fighting off the enemy than we initially thought.”
“Ja, how vunderbar!”
“Huh. I wonder what they can do?” Primis-Naruto wondered aloud; he talked with them but never saw any in action.
“Helen can stretch her arm,” Naruto Namikaze told them.
“Stretch? Like Mr. Fantastic?” Primis-Naruto again wondered aloud.
“Dunno who this... 'Mr. Fantastic' is. The names lame.” Helen said nonchalantly with a bored look on her face as she walked to one end of the room. “But I can stretch my arms like so,” she then stretched out one of her arms from across the room and proceeded to ruffle Naruto Namikaze's hair.
Said teenager didn't mind and was really disappointed when she stopped.
“Huh. Someone who can stretch her limbs. That's pretty damn cool.” Dempsey complimented.
Helen grinned sheepishly as she rubbed the back of her head, but she otherwise didn't say anything.
Richtofen nodded in agreement and then said. “It vould be interesting if ze vere able to move faster zan ze eye could see.”
Everyone gave Miria a subtle look. She did have a technique that enabled her to do just that after all.
“But what were the chances of that happening.” Dempsey rhetorically said to the German. Then, with a sigh, the American said. “I'm just glad we didn't have to fight anyone with that power. We would have been killed five ways to Sunday if that were the case.”
“There was a couple of zombies that were nigh invulnerable though.” Primis-Naruto pointed out. “Now those were a bitch to deal with.”
“Oh yeah...” Dempsey drawled out. “Those fuckers...”
Nikolai groaned. “You did not have to remind me of that, comrade.”
“Such... unfairness was disheartening.” Takeo said as he subconsciously clenched and unclenched his unoccupied fist.
“Zhose vere ze vorse...!” Richtofen groaned with a growl. “Vhy, vhy vould ze not stay down! Like zey vere meant too!?”
Everyone watched them with bemusement. Wow, this particular enemy must have been so bad if they were that pissed off at it.
“...You guys okay?” Naruto asked them. “...Should we be worried about this... invulnerable zombie?”
Dempsey sighed. “Yeah. We're fine. And no you don't. Those kind of zombies were wiped out during The Fall. They're not around anymore.” well hopefully, because if they are then they have a problem.
Everyone let out a sigh of relief upon hearing that.
“So 'Tank', how come you're alive again?” Naruto asked the man. “Because the last time I saw you, you were a ghost.”
Dempsey, Nikolai, Takeo and Richtofen all exchanged looks. Then they looked at Naruto and said simultaneously. “Monty.”
Oh... well, that explained that.
“Ah. The mysterious man I met when I was 13-years-old.” Naruto said with a nodding head. “I know Monty is the leader of the Keepers, but just what is he?”
Dempsey sighed. “Monty is... complicated, kid. He's basically the closest thing to a god – but the man would tell you otherwise.”
That had gotten everyone to look at the American in disbelief. “Wait, if he's practically god then why can't he just... snap his fingers and deal with all of this?” Cynthia asked.
Dempsey sighed again. “In Monty's words: 'Freewill'.” the man answered. “Why give us the freedom to choose... if he's going to meddle in every little thing we do?”
Seeing as they weren't convinced Primis-Naruto added his input. “Monty is well aware of the situation. But, the universe is a big place - and this isn't the only world the enemy is attacking. There is only so much he can do. And the Keepers, well, their war with the enemy left them weakened. They aren't as numerous as they use to be and even now they're still recovering.” he told them.
“All in all it's a big cluster-fuck waiting to happen. He only gets involved when the situation has really gone FUBAR.” Dempsey said, before looking at Naruto Namikaze.
“FUBAR?” Yuma asked.
“It stands for: Fucked Up Beyond All Recognition.” the American explained to her and everyone else, before looking at Naruto Namikaze. “The fact he revealed himself to you... face to face... either the situation is worse than we thought or there's something about you that caught his attention all those years ago.”
“I only met him once – that was after I lost my memory from the ages 7 to 12-years-old.” the blond scratched the back of his head and grunted thoughtfully. “Now that I think about it, he told me to look for what I was good at; said it would be help me in the future.” he looked at his FG-42 hanging from his waist. “I guess I did. I wonder if he knew I was going to be good at using firearms?”
“I think Doctor Monty alvays knew. He vorks in mysterious vays.” Richtofen answered.
“Monty knows more than lets on.” Nikolai stated, “If he talks is best to listen to him.”
Then Helen recalled Naruto, their Naruto telling them he knew who the people who rescued from the Organization was. She looked at him.
“Naruto, you told us that you know who rescued you from the Organization all those years ago. Who were they?”
Hearing this question and being reminded of what had happened to him, everyone brought their attention to said blond. The only ones who didn't know what had happened to him was the Keeper and Nikolai, Takeo and Richtofen and Dempsey.
Naruto sighed. “I was hoping you would have forgotten that.” he said, looking down at the floor and crossing his arms, “But, the cats out of the bag now I guess.” the blond looked up again, “The people who rescued me was... well... me.”
Everyone, except the Primis group who were contemplative, gave him an odd look.
“You... saved yourself?” Helen slowly asked.
Naruto nodded as he dampened his lip. “Yeah. It was the weirdest thing too. One of them was a carbon copy of me. He was around the same age as me too, the other was a zombie. But was in full control of himself.”
The women were giving him looks of different levels of disbelief.
“Huh...”
They looked to the Primis Group, and found to their bewilderment, that they were actually thinking such a thing was real! But what was said next threw them all in for a loop!
“Alternate versions.” Dempsey looked to Richtofen, “What do you think? It's happened before in the past.”
“Ja, but ve vere normally ze cause of it.” the German pointed out. “But for two other Naruto's to appear... und rescue him? It vould be unlikely but not impossible.” then Richtofen looked at Naruto Namikaze and asked, “Vat did zey do once you vere rescued?”
Naruto recounted what he remembered on that day and what they told him. “They killed the men who were about to cut me open. Then they gave me a blood vial that had their blood in it, which you all saw me drink not too long ago. And there was a bunch of side effects. There was to many to remember though.” he concluded with a shrug.
Everyone went silent at that, before they launched into a series of questions Naruto was hard pressed to answer.
X.X.X.X
One complicated mess of an explanation and interruptions later.
“Okay, let me recap...” Dempsey said before pointing at Naruto Namikaze. “You got a blood vial from two other Naruto's – one of whom was zombified, no less! - that if drunk could have potentially driven you insane?”
“Yeah. Pretty much.” said blond confirmed.
Helen squinted at him in suspicion and asked, “How long did you have that vial on you?”
Naruto shrugged. “Near enough a decade. I'm not completely sure though.” he answered her with complete honesty.
Seeing Helen was going to ask him why, Primis-Naruto spoke up. “The place he ended up is where time had no meaning. For all he knew, he was there for an eternity.” the ghost shrugged nonchalantly. “It certainly felt like it in my case.”
“Right...”
With that out of the way Naruto looked to Dempsey, Takeo, Nikolai and Richtofen. “So Monty brought you four back to life.” it wasn't a question, it was a statement and they knew it.
Richtofen nodded confirmedly. “Ja. Ve even met him. Said things vere about to get vorse und ve needed to be alive.”
Dempsey took over from there. “Good thing, too. The first thing Monty did after bringing me back to life, was to put me in a snowy battlefield that was almost overrun with zombies. I regrouped with Takeo, Richtofen and Nikolai shortly after since they were there kicking ass.”
“The zombies were in the north...” Naruto started; the gears in his head were turning as he slowly looked to Helen. He didn't know where that town was but Helen and Deneve did.
Said blonde was having the same thoughts at him. “...And they were in the South.” she added. Deneve and Helen exchanged looks before they looked at the Primis group.
“What are the chances other towns or, god forbid the other regions are being attacked?”
Dempsey, Nikolai, Takeo, and Richtofen all exchanged looks.
“Ze possibility is zere, und ze likelihood of it happening is high.” the German finally answered as he looked at the women.
“The walking dead are thoughtless killing machine.” Dempsey added on, “All they want to do is eat and eat and eat. And 9 times out of 10 those who fall prey to them, become a walking, eating corpse themselves.”
“9 times out of 10?” Miria asked questioningly.
Being the one with the most experience, and knowledge on this subject, it was Richtofen that answered. “Zere are some people who are immune to Element One-fifteen. Ze vorse thing zat can happen to zem is having zheir memories viped und certain perts of zere personalities enhanced. Dempsey, Nikolai, Takeo und myself are such people zat are immune. Naruto Uzumaki – zat vould be our Naruto, vas immune too.”
Naruto Namikaze looked at Primis-Naruto. “Uzumaki? It isn't Namikaze?”
Naruto Uzumaki shrugged. “It's both. Nikolai refers to me as Naruto Namikaze. But I was widely known as Naruto Uzumaki. It was my mother's surname. And my parents weren't married back then, and mum never got the chance to adopt dad's surname.” he told his Namikaze counterpart.
“How come?”
The ghost shrugged again and shoved his hands in his pockets. “I was an orphan. Emphasis on 'was' because I'm dead now.” he coughed into his fist, “Anyway, they died during the early stages of the Great War.” he revealed. Sighing the blond rolled his shoulders and said. “I was barely a day old at the time and I have no clue on how I lived. But, after I was saved, I spent my childhood in a military facility, learning how to fight. Never had much time to... be a kid.”
“Oh...” well that was awkward
Dempsey cleared his throat. “Anyway, given you're super soldier’s, there's a small chance you're able to be infected.”
“But we aren't able to get sick. We're practically immune to all types of deceases!” Helen pointed out.
“That would be true – but Element One-fifteen isn't your normal decease.” Naruto Uzumaki/Namikaze countered. “It's not natural. It's not man made. It comes from beyond this planet. Anything that deals with One-fifteen, you can bet thousands of people and animals will die. But because of you being what you are, you're less likely to be infected by it. You women might be immune for all we know. But I'm pretty sure you're less likely to be affected.”
Since they have the foremost experts when it comes to fighting these zombies, Miria asked. “Seeing as you fought the dead before, when can we expect them to arrive?”
“It depends on how far other regions you mentioned are. A month, maybe two.” Nikolai answered her with a shrug.
“That short?” Flora said, surprised.
Nikolai snorted. “The dead have no need for rest, or sleep. They will keep moving until they are put down.”
“And speaking of the dead,” Dempsey started and looked to Naruto Uzumaki/Namikaze, “You wanna come with and take 'em down? It'll be like old times.”
Said blond chuckled. “Sorry, 'Tank', my time in the world of the living has long passed. And besides,” he looked at the other Naruto Namikaze. “there's already a Naruto here. And he is good at fighting the zombies himself. A little rough around the edges, but he is good.”
The Primis group stared at Naruto Namikaze himself, they began to look considerate and thoughtful.
Well if their Naruto says the Namikaze is a good substitute.
Maybe they can take him on?
Unless he has other obligations.
X.X.X.X
The zombies were as Nikolai said: restless, tireless, and completely relentless. The hybrids who weren't in Rabona, had the unfortunate luck of running in large pockets of them. However, true to their super human/soldier status, the women were easily able to defeat large pockets of them as they wandered aimlessly through the regions.
They had a bit of trouble when it came to the Panzer Soldat's however. This was due to their thick armour, thrusters and their backpack that essentially allowed them to fly and cross great distances in a matter of seconds. Thankfully the Panzer Soldat's were far to few in numbers to be of any considerate trouble.
But if there were more than two, however, that is when they get into considerable trouble when it comes to fighting them and the zombies off at the same time.
In the Southern most region of Mucha, a small party of four women were finishing off a small party of zombies that had come south of Nile Village.
They're wearing the standard uniform of the Organization they used to work for: a two-piece, skin-tight cloth bodysuit and iron spaulders with two slots in the back for the standard-issue swords they wielded – the second slot was applied in case the wearer was left-handed, as the women were more specifically given two handed swords to use.
Aside from the shoulder pieces was a leather choker that bore their personal crests, a pair of vambraces, a pair of steel grieves, a steel fauld skirt, a cloth cape that served no purpose whatsoever, and absolutely nothing to protect anything of real importance... aside from their modesty.
These women are known as Dietrich, Violet, Lina and Noma. Formerly Numbers 8, 11, 14 and 22 in that order.
“Tch... where did these... things come from?!” Dietrich scowled in disgust as she stared at the bits and pieces of the rotting corpses.
Noma frowned as she looked to the North, ahead of her. “They must have come from Nile.” she said before looking at Dietrich. “Should we go and check it out? Or report to Commander Miria?”
She didn't even need to think of the answer. “We go check it out.” the woman replied, “If the village is intact we go check it out. If it's not... we fall back.”
Violet, Lina and Noma all nodded in acceptance and followed after Dietrich. Several hours later the party of four find themselves on the outskirts of Nile Village. Dietrich grit her teeth as her silver eyed narrowed dangerously; the entire town was overrun with the walking dead. Even from here she can see the corpses shambling around aimlessly.
She steeled her heart. As much as she wanted to go in there and check for survivors, as much as she wanted to go and kill those walking abominations...
“Dietrich,” Lina softly spoke up, “what should we do?”
When the woman didn't respond right away Noma added her input.“We can remove every one of those... things, if given enough time.” she said, “But perhaps retreating is the best option?”
“...we fall back.” Dietrich finally answered before she turned around and walked in the opposite direction with Violet, Lina and Noma following her. “Commander Miria has to know about this.”
It's funny thing, really. To see an enemy, the foot soldiers of the Apothicons, that nearly brought humanity to their knees losing to a group of people they heavily outnumbered.
A single bolt of lightning, would split into many, upon making contact with a walking corpse. Making a chain lightning that would in turn cause as many as ten walking corpses to fall to the ground as if their strings had been cut.
A force of concentrated wind, would throw the corpses off their feet, killing them – again at that – before they would touch the ground.
A blast of ice would freeze the zombies in place. Halting them mid-place or In mid-run.
And a small stream of fire would leave the zombies charred.
With the zombies left in various states, it was a curb stomp battle. The four legendary heroes of the Old World were back to back, and were removing the small army of zombies from the world before they could do any real damage to the populace.
When the Keeper finally arrived, it was to witness the last of the zombies get blown away by the Staff of Wind, curtsy of Edward Richtofen the man wielding said staff. It didn't take long for the others to notice they were no longer alone, and were understandably surprised to see one of the self-proclaimed protectors of the universe amongst them.
Takeo immediately brought his fist to his cuirass. A gesture of respect.
“Keeper, I did not think you wourd be here, in this realm, after so rong.” the Japanese man said.
“I did not think I would return to this dimension, either. But someone had gotten the attention of the enemy.” the other-worldly being replied; then it looked to Dempsey and added. “You know who he is.”
Dempsey exhaled with a solemn look on his face. “Yeah, Naruto.” Nikolai, Takeo and Richtofen all looked at him with wide eyes. Did he just say- “It's been seven years since he went missing – no thanks to that damn teleporter. Any luck finding where he ended up?” the former marine didn't want to get his hopes up, but since this was a Keeper, he'll keep his faith in it.
His faith paid off; the Keeper nodded affirmatively.
“Yes. I found him.” the being answered, and Dempsey almost fell to his knees in relief. “He was in a dimension that was a carbon copy of this one; except from what I had seen, everyone was dead.”
“What!?”
“Naruto Namikaze, was in a dimension where the dead ruled the land. When he summoned me, the young human was fighting off many of the walking dead. Even a she-dragon was summoned.”
Dempsey let out an awed whistle. “Fucking hell. And where is he now?” the man asked.
Richtofen nodded as he put most of his weight on to his staff of wind. “Indeed, I vunder if zis Naruto is similar to ze one ve use to know?”
“He's a carbon copy of him, Doctor. Doesn't curse as much though.” Dempsey informed the German, before bringing his attention back to the Keeper. “So, where is he now? Did he escape?”
“He is in Rabona. Has been for the past three days.”
“Can you bring us there?” Nikolai respectfully requested.
The Keeper nodded affirmatively. The four men exchanged looks for a brief moment before they grouped around the other-worldly being. Without a word the Keeper vanished along with Dempsey, Nikolai, Takeo and Richtofen.
X.X.X.X
“...And that is what a scrub is.” Naruto 2 finished his explanation.
All he had got for his troubles were flat, befuddled and bemused looks.
Naruto 1 on the other hand, was soaking the information in like a sponge. “...So, it started off as something you would wear so blood would be easier to clean off. Then, it was turned into an insult for failing at doing something in general?”
“Pretty much.”
“Oh.” Naruto 1 felt...underwhelmed from the explanation. But, hey, he learned something new!
Then Helen gave him an amused look. “So... does that mean you're a 'scrub' outside of fighting?”
With a flat look on his face, Naruto 1 without looking at her, gave the woman the middle finger. Helen sniggered while Deneve was pinching the bridge of her nose, shaking her head in exasperation.
Then Helen cleared her throat and gave the blond her attention. “So now that we're out of trouble; where the hell have you been for the past seven years? And when did you get back?” she demanded with Deneve looking at her best friend oddly, she just saw her home-town get annihilated and is brushing it off?
“Would you believe me if I said he was in another world like this one?” the ghost asked with a raised finger.
Helen looked away from Naruto 1 and looked at the ghost. “I would say no, but since Deneve and I already been to a place like that, then I would be lying.”
Both Naruto's looked at her questioningly for a moment, but only one of them managed to get it. “Oh yeah, I remember that! You, Deneve, Miria, Cynthia and Yuma and a few others, came to get me.”
Naruto 2 exhaled in relief. “Well, that saves me from having to explain everything again.” he said with a relieved smile.
“...Wait a minute!” Naruto 1 exclaimed all of a sudden. He looked at the bewildered ghost and said. “The last time I saw you, you were still in that ruined version of my home! How the hell are you here?”
“...Uh...magic?” Naruto 2 lamely offered.
Naruto 1 gave his ghost counterpart a flat stare. “...How gullible do you think I am?” he asked the ghost in the flattest tone anyone ever heard him use.
“Not very.” Naruto 2 sighed and crossed his arms. “Alright, I got out the same way you did.”
Naruto 1 tilted his head to the side and squinted at his counterpart suspiciously. “Really? How come I didn't see you?”
“I'm a ghost.” said ghost deadpanned looking at the blond like he had said something incredibly stupid. “I can make myself invisible any time I want. Besides; since when does a ghost have to be solid?”
Then out of nowhere the Keeper reappeared in the occupied street with company. The four men holding mechanical staffs fell to a knee from disorientation. Only one of them was familiar to a certain few, while all four was known to one.
Nikolai dry heaved as he slowly stood back up. “Ugh. I feel like I will throw up!” he said with a grimace.
Dempsey stood up and would have stumbled if it weren't for him using the Staff of Lightning to balance himself. “If you're going to do that, make sure it's away from me.”
Richtofen got up from his kneel too and held the side of his head. “Vell, zat vas something I vas not eager to re-experience.” then the German noticed they were not alone. He grew wide eyed with fascination when he saw Miria'a silver eyes. “Oh. Vell zhis is new. How fascinating! I have never seen such eyes!”
Takeo who was silent for the most part was merely taking in his new surroundings. And the silver eyed women who were staring at them in bewilderment.
Only five of these silver eyed women recognised Dempsey though. Along with a certain ghost and blue eyed teenage boy.
“...'Tank'?”
Said man looked to the person calling his name, as did Nikolai, Takeo and Richtofen. And all four were shocked when they saw Naruto Namikaze and their own Naruto, the ghost Naruto, standing side by side.
Dempsey summed up what was on the mind of his companions. “...Holy shit! Kid? How in the hell are there two of you?”
With the revelation of seeing their Naruto – Naruto 2 – standing beside present Naruto side by side staring at them, suffice to say Dempsey and Takeo and Nikolai and Richtofen all had questions.
Naruto 2 who will be known as Primis-Naruto from hence forth, saw the look in their eyes. “Maybe it's best if we were to discuss this some place else.” he suggested to then.
“Yes, that would be best!” Miria was quick to agree, having some place to talk away from prying eyes and ears would be the most ideal solution. It would give them ample time to strike up some questions as their own like where the HELL that thing came from!
It turned out many had the same idea as her since they were all for it. With the situation taken care of the soldiers were allowed to go home, those that were victimised by that creature were taken to a hospital to be cared for to the best of their ability.
X.X.X.X
Several minutes later everyone is back in the room Naruto is staying in, with a few more guests.
This time it was mainly the hybrids staying around.
“So care to tell me how you both managed to get back?” Miria asked first, as she looked at Helen and Deneve.
Deneve was the one to answer. “Naruto dragged us through... something. The next thing we knew, we were back here.”
“That would be Ember's glyph. A dragon in case you don't know. She uses them as a method of quick travel.” Naruto Namikaze clarified for everyone's benefit. A lot of the people in the room had already seen Ember.
“I see. And what about that... creature that appeared from it?”
“That would be a new type of yoma zombie.” the present Naruto answered her. “I'm calling it armour-class for clarification.”
“That thing was a yoma?!” everyone, except for the Primis group, shouted out in shock.
“Dunno what a yoma is; but that thing reminded me of Prototype.” Primis Naruto said aloud, to the confusion of everyone who wasn't from his era.
“Proto-what?” Veronica asked.
“It's something back in my era. Nothing to worry about.” the ghost replied dismissively.
Since Primis-Naruto was being totally unhelpful, Dempsey decided to explain it to her in the simplest way he can. “In simple terms: it's a game where you play as this... disease thing... that can kill people and absorb their memories. The more people you absorb, the stronger you get, and the stronger you get, the more difficult it is to kill you. Outside of that, it's way more complicated.”
“I couldn't have said it better myself, Dempsey.” Primis-Naruto told him, only to get a flat stare from the man in return.
“Then why didn't you?” he asked, with his voice matching the face.
“Couldn't think of a better explanation.” Primis-Naruto replied with a shrug.
“You three have the most experience when it comes to fighting that thing.” Miria said to Naruto, Helen and Deneve. “What can you tell us about it?”
Helen crossed her arms. “Its 'armour' is made of its own puss and blood.”
“Naruto said the armour can be weakened by using fire against it. The armour falls apart after giving it a good enough hit once that happens.” Deneve added with a shrug.
Then Naruto himself added. “From what I could tell, the holes in its armour are its weak points. So if you're unable to weaken the armour with fire then hitting it there is your best bet.”
“Do you know anything on what it can do?” Cynthia asked.
Naruto nodded. “It can...absorb other armour-classes. That one you briefly saw was the result of it absorbing at least five or six of them. When it absorbs, it grows in height, and its armour gets denser and thick. But again, the holes are its weak points. They are never covered.”
Primis-Naruto, Nikolai, Takeo, Dempsey, and Richtofen all exchanged concerned looks. That description was scarily familiar to them. A bit different from what they faced in the past but it was scarily similar.
“What do you guys think? Upgraded Thrashers?” The ghost asked them.
Takeo stroked his bearded chin. “It appears so.” the man growled.
Dempsey and Nikolai both groaned in dismay, with the former pressing the bottom of his gauntleted palm against his forehead. “Great. The original Thrashers were bad; but if these things you're talking about, are successors to 'em...”
“...ve may have to take precautions vhen dealing vith zem.” the German finished.
“...What are Thrashers?” Flora asked.
“Thrashers are zombies that were experimented on with plant life.” Primis-Naruto told her.
Dempsey groaned as he brought down his hand. “Imagine a monster that is a combination of a zombie and a plant. The only way to effectively kill them was to destroy the spores on their body.” he elaborated for them.
“They eat other zombies to recover lost spores. Was bitch to fight.” Nikolai added on with a shrug.
Primis-Naruto then said with a grimace. “It didn't help they were strong either.” there was a pause. “Well, strong for us anyway. Since you women aren't normal by any means, I'm not sure how strong it would be if you were to fight it.”
Dempsey looked at Primis-Naruto with a confused, yet curious frown. “What makes you so sure about that kid?” he asked him.
Primis-Naruto sighed and met the look given to him head on. “C'mon 'Tank', they have silver eyes and no one has hair that pale. Not even me. And since this is the equivalent of the medieval ages those cannot be contact lenses.”
“Vait, so vat are zey zen? Ze result of an experiment?”
Richtofen wasn't being completely serious about it. It was a rhetorically sarcastic, question.
“Basically...yes.” Miria answered him.
The Primis group, excluding Primis-Naruto, all looked at Miria with wide eyes. Disbelief and shock was on their faces.
Richtofen open and closed his mouth repeatedly for several seconds, before he managed to find his voice. “I meant zat in jest. But... really?”
When Miria, along with several other silver eyed women in the room nodded Richtofen held the side of his head.
“The process we went through to become the way we are now, had given us abilities no other humans can possibly have.” Flora added.
“Jesus Christ.” Dempsey said after letting out a low whistle. “We're talking with actual super soldiers. We might have a better chance at fighting off the enemy than we initially thought.”
“Ja, how vunderbar!”
“Huh. I wonder what they can do?” Primis-Naruto wondered aloud; he talked with them but never saw any in action.
“Helen can stretch her arm,” Naruto Namikaze told them.
“Stretch? Like Mr. Fantastic?” Primis-Naruto again wondered aloud.
“Dunno who this... 'Mr. Fantastic' is. The names lame.” Helen said nonchalantly with a bored look on her face as she walked to one end of the room. “But I can stretch my arms like so,” she then stretched out one of her arms from across the room and proceeded to ruffle Naruto Namikaze's hair.
Said teenager didn't mind and was really disappointed when she stopped.
“Huh. Someone who can stretch her limbs. That's pretty damn cool.” Dempsey complimented.
Helen grinned sheepishly as she rubbed the back of her head, but she otherwise didn't say anything.
Richtofen nodded in agreement and then said. “It vould be interesting if ze vere able to move faster zan ze eye could see.”
Everyone gave Miria a subtle look. She did have a technique that enabled her to do just that after all.
“But what were the chances of that happening.” Dempsey rhetorically said to the German. Then, with a sigh, the American said. “I'm just glad we didn't have to fight anyone with that power. We would have been killed five ways to Sunday if that were the case.”
“There was a couple of zombies that were nigh invulnerable though.” Primis-Naruto pointed out. “Now those were a bitch to deal with.”
“Oh yeah...” Dempsey drawled out. “Those fuckers...”
Nikolai groaned. “You did not have to remind me of that, comrade.”
“Such... unfairness was disheartening.” Takeo said as he subconsciously clenched and unclenched his unoccupied fist.
“Zhose vere ze vorse...!” Richtofen groaned with a growl. “Vhy, vhy vould ze not stay down! Like zey vere meant too!?”
Everyone watched them with bemusement. Wow, this particular enemy must have been so bad if they were that pissed off at it.
“...You guys okay?” Naruto asked them. “...Should we be worried about this... invulnerable zombie?”
Dempsey sighed. “Yeah. We're fine. And no you don't. Those kind of zombies were wiped out during The Fall. They're not around anymore.” well hopefully, because if they are then they have a problem.
Everyone let out a sigh of relief upon hearing that.
“So 'Tank', how come you're alive again?” Naruto asked the man. “Because the last time I saw you, you were a ghost.”
Dempsey, Nikolai, Takeo and Richtofen all exchanged looks. Then they looked at Naruto and said simultaneously. “Monty.”
Oh... well, that explained that.
“Ah. The mysterious man I met when I was 13-years-old.” Naruto said with a nodding head. “I know Monty is the leader of the Keepers, but just what is he?”
Dempsey sighed. “Monty is... complicated, kid. He's basically the closest thing to a god – but the man would tell you otherwise.”
That had gotten everyone to look at the American in disbelief. “Wait, if he's practically god then why can't he just... snap his fingers and deal with all of this?” Cynthia asked.
Dempsey sighed again. “In Monty's words: 'Freewill'.” the man answered. “Why give us the freedom to choose... if he's going to meddle in every little thing we do?”
Seeing as they weren't convinced Primis-Naruto added his input. “Monty is well aware of the situation. But, the universe is a big place - and this isn't the only world the enemy is attacking. There is only so much he can do. And the Keepers, well, their war with the enemy left them weakened. They aren't as numerous as they use to be and even now they're still recovering.” he told them.
“All in all it's a big cluster-fuck waiting to happen. He only gets involved when the situation has really gone FUBAR.” Dempsey said, before looking at Naruto Namikaze.
“FUBAR?” Yuma asked.
“It stands for: Fucked Up Beyond All Recognition.” the American explained to her and everyone else, before looking at Naruto Namikaze. “The fact he revealed himself to you... face to face... either the situation is worse than we thought or there's something about you that caught his attention all those years ago.”
“I only met him once – that was after I lost my memory from the ages 7 to 12-years-old.” the blond scratched the back of his head and grunted thoughtfully. “Now that I think about it, he told me to look for what I was good at; said it would be help me in the future.” he looked at his FG-42 hanging from his waist. “I guess I did. I wonder if he knew I was going to be good at using firearms?”
“I think Doctor Monty alvays knew. He vorks in mysterious vays.” Richtofen answered.
“Monty knows more than lets on.” Nikolai stated, “If he talks is best to listen to him.”
Then Helen recalled Naruto, their Naruto telling them he knew who the people who rescued from the Organization was. She looked at him.
“Naruto, you told us that you know who rescued you from the Organization all those years ago. Who were they?”
Hearing this question and being reminded of what had happened to him, everyone brought their attention to said blond. The only ones who didn't know what had happened to him was the Keeper and Nikolai, Takeo and Richtofen and Dempsey.
Naruto sighed. “I was hoping you would have forgotten that.” he said, looking down at the floor and crossing his arms, “But, the cats out of the bag now I guess.” the blond looked up again, “The people who rescued me was... well... me.”
Everyone, except the Primis group who were contemplative, gave him an odd look.
“You... saved yourself?” Helen slowly asked.
Naruto nodded as he dampened his lip. “Yeah. It was the weirdest thing too. One of them was a carbon copy of me. He was around the same age as me too, the other was a zombie. But was in full control of himself.”
The women were giving him looks of different levels of disbelief.
“Huh...”
They looked to the Primis Group, and found to their bewilderment, that they were actually thinking such a thing was real! But what was said next threw them all in for a loop!
“Alternate versions.” Dempsey looked to Richtofen, “What do you think? It's happened before in the past.”
“Ja, but ve vere normally ze cause of it.” the German pointed out. “But for two other Naruto's to appear... und rescue him? It vould be unlikely but not impossible.” then Richtofen looked at Naruto Namikaze and asked, “Vat did zey do once you vere rescued?”
Naruto recounted what he remembered on that day and what they told him. “They killed the men who were about to cut me open. Then they gave me a blood vial that had their blood in it, which you all saw me drink not too long ago. And there was a bunch of side effects. There was to many to remember though.” he concluded with a shrug.
Everyone went silent at that, before they launched into a series of questions Naruto was hard pressed to answer.
X.X.X.X
One complicated mess of an explanation and interruptions later.
“Okay, let me recap...” Dempsey said before pointing at Naruto Namikaze. “You got a blood vial from two other Naruto's – one of whom was zombified, no less! - that if drunk could have potentially driven you insane?”
“Yeah. Pretty much.” said blond confirmed.
Helen squinted at him in suspicion and asked, “How long did you have that vial on you?”
Naruto shrugged. “Near enough a decade. I'm not completely sure though.” he answered her with complete honesty.
Seeing Helen was going to ask him why, Primis-Naruto spoke up. “The place he ended up is where time had no meaning. For all he knew, he was there for an eternity.” the ghost shrugged nonchalantly. “It certainly felt like it in my case.”
“Right...”
With that out of the way Naruto looked to Dempsey, Takeo, Nikolai and Richtofen. “So Monty brought you four back to life.” it wasn't a question, it was a statement and they knew it.
Richtofen nodded confirmedly. “Ja. Ve even met him. Said things vere about to get vorse und ve needed to be alive.”
Dempsey took over from there. “Good thing, too. The first thing Monty did after bringing me back to life, was to put me in a snowy battlefield that was almost overrun with zombies. I regrouped with Takeo, Richtofen and Nikolai shortly after since they were there kicking ass.”
“The zombies were in the north...” Naruto started; the gears in his head were turning as he slowly looked to Helen. He didn't know where that town was but Helen and Deneve did.
Said blonde was having the same thoughts at him. “...And they were in the South.” she added. Deneve and Helen exchanged looks before they looked at the Primis group.
“What are the chances other towns or, god forbid the other regions are being attacked?”
Dempsey, Nikolai, Takeo, and Richtofen all exchanged looks.
“Ze possibility is zere, und ze likelihood of it happening is high.” the German finally answered as he looked at the women.
“The walking dead are thoughtless killing machine.” Dempsey added on, “All they want to do is eat and eat and eat. And 9 times out of 10 those who fall prey to them, become a walking, eating corpse themselves.”
“9 times out of 10?” Miria asked questioningly.
Being the one with the most experience, and knowledge on this subject, it was Richtofen that answered. “Zere are some people who are immune to Element One-fifteen. Ze vorse thing zat can happen to zem is having zheir memories viped und certain perts of zere personalities enhanced. Dempsey, Nikolai, Takeo und myself are such people zat are immune. Naruto Uzumaki – zat vould be our Naruto, vas immune too.”
Naruto Namikaze looked at Primis-Naruto. “Uzumaki? It isn't Namikaze?”
Naruto Uzumaki shrugged. “It's both. Nikolai refers to me as Naruto Namikaze. But I was widely known as Naruto Uzumaki. It was my mother's surname. And my parents weren't married back then, and mum never got the chance to adopt dad's surname.” he told his Namikaze counterpart.
“How come?”
The ghost shrugged again and shoved his hands in his pockets. “I was an orphan. Emphasis on 'was' because I'm dead now.” he coughed into his fist, “Anyway, they died during the early stages of the Great War.” he revealed. Sighing the blond rolled his shoulders and said. “I was barely a day old at the time and I have no clue on how I lived. But, after I was saved, I spent my childhood in a military facility, learning how to fight. Never had much time to... be a kid.”
“Oh...” well that was awkward
Dempsey cleared his throat. “Anyway, given you're super soldier’s, there's a small chance you're able to be infected.”
“But we aren't able to get sick. We're practically immune to all types of deceases!” Helen pointed out.
“That would be true – but Element One-fifteen isn't your normal decease.” Naruto Uzumaki/Namikaze countered. “It's not natural. It's not man made. It comes from beyond this planet. Anything that deals with One-fifteen, you can bet thousands of people and animals will die. But because of you being what you are, you're less likely to be infected by it. You women might be immune for all we know. But I'm pretty sure you're less likely to be affected.”
Since they have the foremost experts when it comes to fighting these zombies, Miria asked. “Seeing as you fought the dead before, when can we expect them to arrive?”
“It depends on how far other regions you mentioned are. A month, maybe two.” Nikolai answered her with a shrug.
“That short?” Flora said, surprised.
Nikolai snorted. “The dead have no need for rest, or sleep. They will keep moving until they are put down.”
“And speaking of the dead,” Dempsey started and looked to Naruto Uzumaki/Namikaze, “You wanna come with and take 'em down? It'll be like old times.”
Said blond chuckled. “Sorry, 'Tank', my time in the world of the living has long passed. And besides,” he looked at the other Naruto Namikaze. “there's already a Naruto here. And he is good at fighting the zombies himself. A little rough around the edges, but he is good.”
The Primis group stared at Naruto Namikaze himself, they began to look considerate and thoughtful.
Well if their Naruto says the Namikaze is a good substitute.
Maybe they can take him on?
Unless he has other obligations.
X.X.X.X
The zombies were as Nikolai said: restless, tireless, and completely relentless. The hybrids who weren't in Rabona, had the unfortunate luck of running in large pockets of them. However, true to their super human/soldier status, the women were easily able to defeat large pockets of them as they wandered aimlessly through the regions.
They had a bit of trouble when it came to the Panzer Soldat's however. This was due to their thick armour, thrusters and their backpack that essentially allowed them to fly and cross great distances in a matter of seconds. Thankfully the Panzer Soldat's were far to few in numbers to be of any considerate trouble.
But if there were more than two, however, that is when they get into considerable trouble when it comes to fighting them and the zombies off at the same time.
In the Southern most region of Mucha, a small party of four women were finishing off a small party of zombies that had come south of Nile Village.
They're wearing the standard uniform of the Organization they used to work for: a two-piece, skin-tight cloth bodysuit and iron spaulders with two slots in the back for the standard-issue swords they wielded – the second slot was applied in case the wearer was left-handed, as the women were more specifically given two handed swords to use.
Aside from the shoulder pieces was a leather choker that bore their personal crests, a pair of vambraces, a pair of steel grieves, a steel fauld skirt, a cloth cape that served no purpose whatsoever, and absolutely nothing to protect anything of real importance... aside from their modesty.
These women are known as Dietrich, Violet, Lina and Noma. Formerly Numbers 8, 11, 14 and 22 in that order.
“Tch... where did these... things come from?!” Dietrich scowled in disgust as she stared at the bits and pieces of the rotting corpses.
Noma frowned as she looked to the North, ahead of her. “They must have come from Nile.” she said before looking at Dietrich. “Should we go and check it out? Or report to Commander Miria?”
She didn't even need to think of the answer. “We go check it out.” the woman replied, “If the village is intact we go check it out. If it's not... we fall back.”
Violet, Lina and Noma all nodded in acceptance and followed after Dietrich. Several hours later the party of four find themselves on the outskirts of Nile Village. Dietrich grit her teeth as her silver eyed narrowed dangerously; the entire town was overrun with the walking dead. Even from here she can see the corpses shambling around aimlessly.
She steeled her heart. As much as she wanted to go in there and check for survivors, as much as she wanted to go and kill those walking abominations...
“Dietrich,” Lina softly spoke up, “what should we do?”
When the woman didn't respond right away Noma added her input.“We can remove every one of those... things, if given enough time.” she said, “But perhaps retreating is the best option?”
“...we fall back.” Dietrich finally answered before she turned around and walked in the opposite direction with Violet, Lina and Noma following her. “Commander Miria has to know about this.”
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