Chapitre 14: 2/3
"I don't need to." Sasuke growled as he allowed the shield to subside. The water was dripping all around him, too, but he ignored it. "It was just to give me some breathing room, not for me to hide behind. I can defeat you without even calling on my full powers."
The man did not react. "Interesting fire…" he mused. "Burns straight through asbestos, and the water isn't affecting it…"
"They are the black flames of Amaterasu," grinned Sasuke, giving his head a little toss, shaking off a few drops. "They are inextinguishable and all-consuming."
"Hm."
Sasuke narrowed his eyes. He did not feel the man was treating his power with the proper respect.
Before he could address the issue, however, the man had rushed forward and was again attacking. After the past few minutes of fighting, however, Sasuke had gotten better used to the man's rhythm, and was even starting to pick up on some of the moves.
"A quick learner, I see," commented the man as Sasuke blocked a kick with one of his own moves. He leapt into the air, spun over Sasuke's head, and planted a kick squarely in his back. "Not quick enough, though."
Grunting, Sasuke heaved himself to his feet, fingers already flying in a series of seals. Apparently the man had learned what that meant, as he was already dancing away.
"Katon: Gokyuu no Jutsu!" The fireball exploded from his mouth, searing its way toward the man, who suddenly stopped and smirked.
The fireball fizzled to nothing but steam before it'd crossed half the distance to the caped figure.
What? Sasuke tried not to gape, but it was hard. How had that failed?
"Water sprinklers," stated the man on the other side, pointing up at the ceiling as if Sasuke hadn't noticed the before. "Makes things difficult for your little fire-breathing trick, doesn't it?"
Preposterous! Granted, Sasuke HAD forgotten about the sprinklers, but even so, they should have made no difference! He'd done this jutsu dozens of times, sometimes in the middle of thunderstorms!
"Probably makes it difficult to use that electricity thing of yours without shocking yourself either," continued the man, unconscious of Sasuke's confusion. "As a matter of fact, the only ability of yours that I imagine still has much effect while these things are on are those black flames of yours."
Sasuke growled and looked up, preparing to show the man exactly how potent those flames could be.
"Like this one." He registered the black, burning glove speeding toward his face moments before it slapped full on and set his skin afire.
Oh, come ON! Sakura's inner thought raged as the woman pushed Chouji's fist off of her. We so totally had her with that one! Is she invincible or something?
Apparently so, she decided, as their attacker shot at Chouji and punched him across the parking lot. For a second there, when Chouji's fist had flattened the woman into the pavement, Sakura had gotten hopeful. Now, it was readily apparent that the attack had only surprised, not damaged her.
No worries. They still had plenty of traps left, and she and Lee still could match this lady. Sakura was nearly as strong as her, and Lee, without his weights, seemed to be just a trifle faster. So really, skill wise, they were about equal.
Except, of course, that the lady could fly. Sakura was reminded of this fact as she shot away from Lee up into the sky, before dashing back down again in a vain attempt to catch Lee off his footing.
Flying. How was she doing that?
That one Pain body could fly. Sakura considered. Through gravity repulsion. Is that how she's doing it? But she hasn't been using any gravity-like abilities. Maybe sheer jumping power? But no, she hovers and circles and floats. She hasn't been making any seals, so… but wait, no one has chakra here.
Sakura hated fighting enemies she knew nothing about. Fighting enemies in a completely different world with a completely different set of rules REALLY stank. If this lady had just been an out-and-out mercenary, like that man they'd met earlier, things would have been fairly straightforward. But no, they had to run into a flying lady who dressed like some kind of dancing girl. Sakura was fairly certain Lee wasn't as focused as usual, and she had a pretty good idea why.
Sakura huffed, studying the two battling it out in the square. Yup, definitely not as accurate as normal. She should run down there to help, she knew, the second that woman managed to land a hit, Lee would end up clear on the other side of the parking lot. But Chouji's attack had shown her that they weren't going to get anywhere with this woman unless they thought out some kind of battle plan.
She's invincible, strong, fast, and flies. Sakura idly tossed out a few kunai, setting off some traps to give Lee a chance to back out. We can't run, we can't hide, we need to beat her, or we'll never get back Neji. Yet with the amount of damage she can take… That's going to take a while. And Lee can't keep this up forever, any more than I can.
With a final weary shrug, Sakura jumped back down to the parking lot. Guess we'll just have to wing it.
"Geez man, he pounded you a new one. Magic?"
"Maybe." Superman picked himself from the rubble. "But it felt… different. In either case, that kid's incredibly strong." Glancing up at the new arrival, he added, "Thanks for the save, GL."
"No problem." Green Lantern shrugged, keeping his eyes on the green bubble of energy in the square and the raging blonde inside it. "J'onn contacted me about the situation, said he thought you might need some help."
"It's definitely welcome. You're a lot better at this containment stuff than I am."
Smiling, Green Lanterrn waved off the praise. "It's a lot easier when you've got one of these rings. That kid can pound the walls all he wants, but it's gonna take a lot more than that to get out of there." He glanced over at Superman. "So… now that we got him, what do we do with him?"
"Get him out of the city, first off." Superman wiped blood from his lip. Find a cell to keep him in, maybe one on the space tower. We'll need a translator too, he was speaking some other kinda…"
Green Lantern interrupted him. "What the… what's that kid up to now?"
Superman blinked. Where there had only been one kid in the green bubble before, now there were suddenly three.
"He can make copies of himself?"
"That's right. I remember hearing about that on my way over." Green Lantern frowned thoughtfully. "They said he made a couple thousand against Blue Devil and the others. So why's he making just…"
He stopped suddenly, and both heroes gazed in wonder as a swirling inferno of blue light filled the bubble.
"What the…"
The central figure in the bubble slammed the enormous swirling mass of energy into the bubble at point-blank range. The green wall of energy was ripped apart and Superman just barely had enough time to grab Green Lantern and whip over backwards before it hit them.
It was like getting hit by a wall of wind. Or rather, a knife of wind. Or, actually, it was most like getting hit by a wall of knifes made out of wind. In any case, it hurt. Superman barely registered that he was flying backwards and didn't even feel the building as he smashed into it. He just felt the knives of wind, ripping into him.
He felt them. He felt pain.
Finally the pain stopped, and he became aware that he was lying in a heap of rubble, Green Lantern just beneath him. Quickly he got up and helped his friend to his feet. "You okay?" He said, glancing over at the square. The kid seemed pretty exhausted himself, he was half-keeled over.
"Been better." Lantern grunted, heaving upright. Arching an eyebrow at Superman, he added, "What about you? Looks like you had a number done on you."
Superman glanced backwards to behold a completely shredded cape Some blood was even seeping through the cuts on his back. Barely a scratch, but on Superman… that scratch spoke volumes.
"If he'd done that outside the bubble…"
"Devastation. Total." Superman nodded. "He might take out a tenth of Metropolis."
Suddenly Mr. Terrific's voice came over the com-links. "Superman, you're fighting one of the dimensional visitors down there."
"You're sure? It could just be a coincidence. There're a few nuclear facilities around here… maybe an accident of some kind…"
"Supes, he's speaking Japanese." The voice carried just a touch of dry humor.
"Seems a bit outside of the power level Batman told us." Green Lantern frowned. "Superhuman strength he mentioned, but he didn't say anything about throwing around giant balls of energy or multiplying bodies."
Superman glanced at him and nodded. "Could be the fugitive they were fighting," he agreed. "Best call in all other available leaguers on our position, Terrific. We might be in for a bad fight. And try to contact Batman again. Where on earth is he?"
"No idea."
I have no idea how this boy's powers work. Batman realized as he watched the black flames dissolve from the boy's face. He can generate and control flame, including a certain black variety that can't be extinguished, save by himself. Apparently he can also generate electricity. If powers are consistent, he should also be able to control it.
Also, he reminded himself, as the boy rushed at him with an irritated growl, he has excellent hand-to-hand combat abilities.
Very well. So those were the powers he knew. But he didn't know how those powers related to each other. Superpowers usually followed some kind of internal logic, like a being that controlled fire also controlling ice, or needing to draw on some kind of external energy. Figuring out this logic could be key to incapacitating an opponent and defeating him.
Batman narrowed his eyes in concentration as he continued to block the boy's flurry of attacks. For the life of him, he could not think of any tangible link between fire and electricity. His opponent obviously wasn't drawing it from the surroundings—though it was probably a good thing the generators were out and no longer feeding energy into this room—so where was it coming from?
More importantly, where did that strange skeletal armor fit into the picture? The black flames had come from it—was it perhaps some kind of generator?
In any case, even if he didn't understand the exact details of how the fighting mechanic worked, he'd already observed some aspects of its requirements. The teenager was continually making little motions with his fingers, movements that seemed to correspond with his fire attacks. Chances were good that if he could somehow immobilize the boy's hands, the attacks would no longer be viable.
That fit with the boy's fighting style. He only used the meta powers at long distance, when his hands were not continually occupied with blocking Batman's attacks.
So. How to disable those hands? He could try cutting them off, but that seemed extreme. He could break the wrists, but from the endurance of this teenager, he couldn't be certain how practical that would be. He could perhaps handcuff…
Handcuff…
Even if Batman didn't know what was special about the handcuffs that had been used on the Titans, he knew that these intruders had considered them important. He had two pairs of them, one from Beast Boy, and the other from Raven.
They were over by the railing now. Perfect. One hand darted down to his utility belt, drawing out the strange handcuffs. Already the boy had taken advantage of the opening and managed to rain a few hefty hits on his ribs. His hand was even beginning to glow strangely as Batman clacked the set of handcuffs over it.
Instantly, the hand ceased to glow, and the teenager glanced down at it in shock. Batman used the opportunity to fasten the cuff to the railing, effectively tethering the boy to it. As if realizing the plan, the teen's hand immediately flashed out in an attempt to shatter the binding, but Batman grabbed the hand and clapped it in the other pair of handcuffs before wrestling it to the railing also. The teenager's arms were now spread wide across the railing.
Jumping away from the boy's lashing feet, Batman allowed himself a grim smile of satisfaction. Difficult, but not impossible. With the other two he'd taken downstairs and the four back at the tower, that accounted for seven of their twelve dimensional visitors.
Ignoring the boy's glare of hatred, Batman turned to check on Robin…
Pain erupted across his back.
Diana was really getting tired of all the traps around this parking lot. Had these warriors no honor? Couldn't they just fight her honestly, face to face?
Every moment, it seemed, there was some beam flying at her head or some salvo of daggers shooting at her. There had even been a few pit traps which Diana didn't know HOW they hid.
She felt pretty sure that the pink-haired girl had some kind of control over the traps, their attacks roughly corresponded to the times she threw daggers off to the side. Most of the time she hung back while the green one kept her occupied, apparently triggering traps whenever she saw a good opportunity.
However, the fact that she no longer seemed to have that option hinted that the duo must be running out of traps. She and the green one seemed to be tag-teaming her, which, while a formidable combination, was at least refreshingly straightforward.
The pink-haired girl was screaming again. What was it about this time?
Whatever it was, the green boy backed out suddenly. Diana smiled grimly. That made things considerably easier, now that the more formidable warrior was apparently sitting out. The girl was strong, but not much more. Against a trained Amazon princess, she was nothing.
At least, that's what she thought until the NEW traps started kicking in.
Flying rocks. Falling steel beams. Pit traps. Nets. All while the girl was pounding away as hard as she could, perfectly aware of the traps that Diana could only guess at.
It was an impressive collection and really quite diabolical, but all it really served to do was stretch things out a bit longer than Diana had expected. She still had her strength and lightning-fast reflexes, and when the girl did get lucky enough to squeeze in a punch, her invulnerability kept it from being a serious problem.
The traps only kept her too busy to hit back. And the second they slowed down, she lashed out with all the frustration that'd been building through the whole fight.
The girl went flying across the parking lot. Unwilling to let her go just yet, Diana flew after her, putting in a few more hits for good measure. After all she'd been through with this girl, she was going to make certain she stayed down.
The girl's face plowed into the pavement, leaving a shallow ditch in its wake. Her body tumbled over once, twice, than finally ground to a halt. With a groan, the girl slumped to the pavement.
Sighing, Diana stepped forward, only to observe something curious. A small smile was curving across the girl's face.
"YOSH!"
Turning, Diana had room for only one thought before the leg plowed into her midsection.
When did his skin turn red like that?
Shikamaru was just about ready to explode with frustration. He was certain, nearly absolutely certain, that Naurto had broken loose some moments ago. After all, there could be only so many things causing all the explosions and alarms he'd been hearing. The fact that hundreds of guards had streamed into his room as soon as the ruckus began showed that it was definitely connected to him in some way. The sounds had been approaching his position too, which made only increased the chances of it being Naruto.
And then too, there were the roars. Not many people—or things—he knew roared like THAT.
But if Naruto'd broken out, if he'd caused such chaos, and if he'd gotten so CLOSE, where was he now? Had he been captured again? Impossible. Shikamaru had seen himself how hard it was to keep Naruto down. Had he been beaten? Equally impossible. However confident the bald man had been, he found it hard to believe that people with no understanding of chakra would be capable of defeating a Kage level nin, however inventive they were.
Plus, if Naruto had been beaten OR captured, why was there still such a great commotion going on outside? Even through the walls, he could hear people rushing about, shouting, and moving things. It didn't take a genius to figure out that even though the explosions had stopped, things were far from settled.
Had he just left, abandoning them?
Absolutely impossible.
Shikamaru narrowed his eyes as he thought back. The sounds of fighting had been getting really close, and he'd been able to practically see the fear in the guards. Even he had gotten ready, preparing to leap into action the second he was free.
And then… there'd been a really deafening crash, and everyone had winced. The ground had shook, the rumble had faded into the distance, and after that… silence.
Looking over things, there was only one possible option. Naruto had been forced away by an incredibly powerful opponent, and the base was rushing to take care of things before he returned. They were either mobilizing or preparing to move. In any case, he and the others would doubtless be of primary importance.
As if in confirmation of this theory, the door burst open and two men rushed in with a gurney. Shikamaru took in the straps and gas tanks and immediately realized what they had in mind.
Babbling something incoherent, the man placed a mask over Shikamaru's mouth.
I have GOT to get one of those.
Seriously, a ring? That made you fly, lift things, protected you, and… well, it looked like it could do just about ANYTHING. Seriously. It made his fancy rod, which he'd been so proud of a minute ago, look like a piece of outdated junk.
Of course, it was green. That seriously lessened its awesome factor. If it'd been ORANGE, well, that would be something else. Green… well, green was stuff that weird people like Lee wore.
Come to think of it, Lee would really like this guy. Green spandex, green glow… even green chakra. Sure, he was a Kumo nin, but they weren't all bad.
Naruto frowned a moment as something occurred to him. Even if this guy's powers came largely from his ring, that was pretty obviously chakra that was being shot at him. So why on earth couldn't he sense it? Was there something wrong with his sage ability? It'd taken him so long to get it attuned—maybe it wasn't completely functional.
A sudden movement from three miles away behind his back cut the thought off and he dodged left just in time to avoid another rush from red-cape man. Or well, partially avoid. Flying in mid-air, like he was now, gave him more options for dodging, but he still couldn't escape the man's sheer speed. At least the invulnerability part of his sage mode was still in full swing.
Still… if he couldn't tell which one was me, he couldn't do that speed attack thing, now could he?
Quickly he formed another Rasengan in his palm and aimed it at the incoming red-caped attacker, who saw it and swept away just in time. Naruto didn't even stop to sigh in relief, instead weaving his fingers in seals even as the chakra in his palm dissipated away. Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!
Immediately the air was full of thousands of Naruto's, each holding one of the awesome rods.
Naruto grinned at the looks of consternation on his opponents' faces. I am a genius!
Then he realized something. HE had the REAL rod, so he could still fly. All his copies had only… well, copies. So they couldn't.
Naruto looked around just in time to see two thousand Narutos fall to the earth and disappear in a huge cloud of smoke.
He looked back again just in time to see a large fist aimed at his head.
Sasuke cursed inwardly as the man whipped the burning cape from his shoulders and hurled it at him. He'd hoped to catch the man off guard and get the fire to eat through the cape, but his opponent was simply too fast for that sort of thing to work.
As the cape hit him, he defused the flames with his Sharingan, except for the portions needed to eat through the handcuffs. A quick jerk and he was free, once again facing his opponent.
Astonishing, Sasuke reflected, on the difference one's uniform could make. With the cape, this man had seemed formidable and imposing. Without it, he was simply a man dressed up in gray spandex wearing a large overcomplicated belt. In some ways, he looked almost laughable.
But that would be a mistake. Because as Sasuke could say with complete authority now, this man WAS formidable, cape or no cape. And even without the cowl masking his features, the coldness of his gaze reminded Sasuke what an efficient warrior this man was.
"You show your face at last." He commented. "I was beginning to wonder if you HAD eyes." Actually, that was still bugging him. The eyes in the man's mask had glowed. How did he do that?
"Hm." Came the response. "I see you don't need that skeleton thing to create your Ameratsu."
Sasuke nodded but volunteered no further information. Something about the way the man was studying him made him feel uneasy, as if every one of his secrets was being laid bare.
"Tell me." Said the man suddenly. "Why did you leave Konoha?"
Again Konoha. "How do you know of that place?"
"Your friends told me about it."
Impossible that Juugo and Suigetsu had said anything. This man must have found Naruto. "You should have brought them along." He snorted. "You might have stood a chance."
The man's eyes narrowed. "I work alone."
Sasuke raised a suspicious eyebrow. "You have no bonds?" He asked.
"That's right."
"Hn." Though he might have respected that, the statement was too obviously false. "I suppose that is why you came to rescue him, then." He indicated the comatose Robin off to the side. "Even though of course he means nothing to you."
"Leave him out of this."
"Tch. You are as weak as the others," snorted Sasuke. "Childishly holding on to your 'precious people' because you lack the resolution to pursue true power. Bonds confuse, they weaken, they distract. It is because of your bonds that you are weak, and because of those bonds that you will die."
The man gave an oddly disturbing smile. "Oh, trust me. That's not going to happen."
Superman watched with supreme satisfaction as the blonde teenager went flying away to once again crash into the ground. Quickly he shot down again, he'd been fighting this kid for too long to suppose that he would actually stay down this time.
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone