Starring:
Noab, Sosuke, Itami, Kaito, Chitose
Date: May 10, 2013
Summary:
NMR ninja enact an Indian Jones-esque adventure movie.
"Tomb of the Elephant King"
A perilous jungle
*CUE ADVENTURE MUSIC!*
Deep in the heart of the jungle, in a world that is most definitely not the same as our Narutoverse yet contains suspiciously similar people, there is a LEGENDARY RUIN! The ruin of the Elephant King, fabled to contain wildly fabulous treasures! Gold and gems piled like mountains, artifacts from forgotten ages, magical devices that can grant any wish — the tales go on and on, and nobody knows the truth for certain. Not yet, that is, for the location of this legendary place has been revealed to a certain few by a CONVENIENT PLOT DEVICE ANCIENT TREASURE MAP! And now, hacking their intrepid way through the undergrowth in pursuit of riches and glory, here come our heroes…
With a fatigued sigh Sosuke slashes through a thicket of low hanging leaves to clear the path ahead. He swipes the back of his hand across his forehead clearing his skin of sweat before glancing back to the map holder. "How much further?" he asked. Jungles were quite similar to forests but there were a few distinctions that Sosuke wasn't all too fond of. He couldn't go two seconds without scratching or flicking something off his exposed arms. "Why can't anyone ever hide their treasure in some place less prone to disease and infestation?" Sosuke mutters as he scratched his forearm.
"Because the gods would be angry. They don't want treasure meant for them not being in the proper place. Besides, curses abound should anyone ever touch it or take it away from them," Itami remarked to Sosuke. She wasn't holding the map, unfortunately, but she was along for the ride. "I don't know how much further we have, though. I assume we're getting close. The more disease and infestation, the better!" This was chimed with an unusual amount of happiness.
With a single eye open as usual, Kaito trails along with the group. "So, we're likely to run into a large number of boobytraps then, eh?" he asks, letting out a sigh and shaking his head as he glances around. "Well, at least we won't be bored," he says as he hacks at some of the vines and other overgrown plants. "Sure we're going the right way, old timer?"
Walking along behind Kaito, Chitose hmms and shrugs, "This doesn't seem that big of a deal. Compared to the desert I'll take the jungle and such any day of the week." She then looks over and peers, "Oh, look! A spider that's the size of your head Kaito." She points at a massive bird eating spider nearby, "I wonder if it is dangerous." She nods her head.
The fat old man trailing at the rear of the group is sweating profusely in the jungle humidity, but he hikes on gamely. "As sure as anything ever is in this business," he grunts, wiping his brow for the umpteenth time. "I've been searching my whole life for this score, piecing together clues from a dozen other ruins. Finding them was no joke either. I can't tell you how many false leads I've followed, and this one could easily be no different. But I wouldn't be hauling my carcass through this blasted jungle if I didn't think it was the best shot we have."
The jungle is indeed home to many dangerous life forms, from the tiniest fever-inducing microbes to the arachnids Chitose pointed out to bigger predators, like — JAGUARS! O.O; A pack of big cats suddenly jumps snarling out of the underbrush and assaults the adventurers with sharp claws and huge fangs!
…What's that? Cats don't hunt in packs? Don't sweat the details, this is a double-fictional world. :P
"That was more of a rhetorical question but the explanation does make me feel a bit more…understanding." he remarks to Itami as he sliced through another thick of leaves. He'd stop asking questions after the old man expressed his faith in the location of the ruins. Sosuke just continued on until- "Tsk." Sosuke winces as the jaguar's razor claws slashed through his flesh like paper. Once he released he wouldn't be able to avoid damage via dodging he placed his arm in harm's way. An open wound in the jungle….just what he needed. But it would for now wouldn't weight too heavily against a pack of ferocious overgrown felines. "A pack of jungle cats." Sosuke says while looking to his arm. He has to take up his scythe and prepare for combat. Cats aren't like shinobi. His tactic of approach would take some adjustment. For now the jaguar would have another attempt to attack him.
Itami took a look at the spider. As long as she's traveled these parts, she's never liked the gigantism of the animals around here. "Dangerous enough. I don't think any of us want to find out…" She rubbed her neck as if somehow protecting herself from any future spider bites. "I imagine we'll be fine…in some respects." She looked back at the old guy as he explained how difficult searching for treasure could be, let alone the places that hold the treasure. "So, where did you acquire the map for this place again?" She wanted to know.
Just then, jaguars came popping out of the greenery, snarling and hissing before leaping to attack. Itami managed to duck out of the way of a vicious swipe right on time while fumbling with her walking stick to keep balance. She could say she was lucky. That wasn't any ordinary dodge, that was a save-your-life dodge. She wasn't in full control at the moment.
Cutting a glance at Chitose, Kaito snickers a bit and shakes his head. And then the fun part comes… It almost looks like Kaito's just going to stand there and take the hit from the jungle cat, and then it collides with what turns into a puddle of water on it. Just then several copies of him would lunge out of the trees at the cats in a mixture of strikes and powerful kicks in attempts to take as many of them down as he can.
Looking at the incoming Jaguar, Chitose is barely able to spin to the side of the beast. WIth the odd angle at which the creature is coming, a proper strike would see impossible but then Chitose's arm would simply bend out of socket, or so it seemed. Her arm raising up above her head at an angle impossible given it is now at a 90 degree of the opposite direction of her shoulder before it whips down almost literally in an attempt to smash the jaguar that attacked her, "Damned thing."
Noab snorts when asked about the map. "You wouldn't believe me if I told y — WATCHOUT!!!" Noab brings up the head of his pick-axe walking cane so that the jaws of the attacking jaguar close around it. He then yanks it free and starts swinging the spiked tip at any big cat that comes too near. >.U Two of them receive nasty puncture wounds from the sharp tool. Kaito's water clones manage to pin down and stab a couple of the jaguars, and pretty soon the jungle felines get the message that this is a species that shouldn't be messed with. They slink off into the foliage to lick their wounds.
After a while of trekking onward, the adventurers reach their destination — the ruined palace of the fabled Elephant King! It does exist! :O But like was mentioned before, the place is most certainly riddled with traps for unwary tomb raiders. What sudden dangers await our intrepid explorers?
Sosuke sighs in relief as the rest of the Ultra Ninja Treasure Hunter Squad 9000 manage to fend off the jungle cats. He didn't get the change to do much else except tend to his wound, which is what he did. He was no medic but he knew better than to leave an open wound out in the middle of the jungle. He uses his sash to cover it. It was no longer bleeding when they came upon the ruins. Sosuke would be in a tough spot if he had to call on any extended use of taijutsu. Upon a simple inspection of the ruins Sosuke could see the age and attention in the construction. But as Kaito surmised earlier there would no doubt be traps of the sort to fend off those who would dare excavate such a place. Sosuke can detect a section of flooring that is a bit more worn and has trace materials of dried blood and wood clippings. Sosuke's eyes then go to the ceiling. It all makes sense there and he does well to avoid that section of flooring. "Don't step there." he points out to the others.
Those cats didn't know what were coming for 'em! Even if one of them managed to get the jump on her, just barely. Luckily enough, the jaguars slink off into the jungle, leaving the group alone. Eventually, they make it to the temple of the Elephant King. She's glad they've finally made it to this place. It's about time! "I'll make certain not to step in that spot," she points out while taking note of the ruins they came upon. It's clear this place used to be a sprawling civilization. While avoiding the trap on the ground, she made her way to a wall and began to run her hand across it idly. There were a few inscriptions, but she couldn't understand them.
As she proceeded to brush away a bit of foliage, she must have pressed something down. In return, there was some sort of mist expelled in her eyes. Her sight was taken away momentarily, but returned. Instead, she began to feel a bit numb. "Don't press here… or anywhere for that matter," she wiped her eyes with one arm, using the other to support herself on her stick, though the added weight was causing it to shift from under her.
Once the issue with the jungle cats is taken care of, Kaito follows the others toward the temple. He gives a nod to Sosuke at his words then just blinks at Itami. "Um, shouldn't you already know to keep your hands to yourself in this type of environment if you're not intentionally testing something?" he asks, shaking his head a few times. u.O "However, if they wanted us blind, there's another trap they didn't want us to see coming."
He holds a hand up to request for the others to stop and actually fully opens both of his eyes as he squats down a bit to survey. Gazing at a doorway ahead and blood stains just before, he narrows his eyes a bit and says, "There is a set of stones put at random that are slightly elevated. This is probably meant to look natural, but I'm betting there's a nasty surprise waiting if you step on one of them and depress it."
Simply walking behind the others, perhaps it is the cruelest and smartest move that is used by Chitose. She simply follows behind Itami and watches her get hit by a trap before nodding, "Well, there you are." She states and chuckles even as she looks at the ground, "Don't step there." She points where Itami's foot went and then shrugs and gestures for Itami to continue to lead the way, "I feel as if I will be able to avoid most traps if I continue to simply follow you." She then looks at the others, "I will make sure no more jungle cats come in after us."
After dealing with all of those traps, the adventurers finally reach their ultimate destination — the tomb of the Elephant King! The gigantic chamber is as big as a football stadium, and what should greet the weary treasure hunters' eyes but EVERYTHING THEY'VE BEEN HOPING TO SEE! :DDD Huge piles of precious stones and gold! Strange-looking technological gadgets! Tomes of ancient knowledge and stunning artworks of every kind! It's a treasure hunter's dream come true!
Noab, however, leaves gawking and cheering over the myriad invaluables to the others. He heads straight for the center of the tomb, where a large sarcophagus lies. He rests a hand on the ornate stone lid. "It's really here…" Noab suddenly gives a maniacal belly laugh and shoves the lid off with a loud CRACK! "Just like the family legends said!" >D Noab reaches into the sarcophagus and yanks out a strange-looking circlet. "At last! The crown of the Elephant King!" Noab slides the circlet onto his balding pate. Archaeologist knows in advance about an item of royalty he didn't mention to his companions and immediately wears it…that's never a good sign in these stories, is it? e.e
*RRRRRRUMBLE*
The ancient ruins are shaken as Noab GROWS INTO A GIANT! :O What a TOTALLY UNACCOUNTABLE TURN OF EVENTS! "HAHAHA!" Noab's voice booms in the chamber. "BEHOLD, THE ELEPHANT KING! KNEEL, PEONS!" >D Apparently Noab's actually more interested in testing out his newfound powers than gaining servants, though, because he swings a giant fist down in the general vicinity of the others.
«u.o» Kaito cranks this up as Noab puts the crown on and grows:
"Don't try and scold me," Itami stated. "And I can see just fine. What I'm doing is losing feeling. I'll be okay, it isn't exactly potent," Itami describes as she continues hobbling along with her staff to help her. Itami tries to keep herself from stepping anywhere or pressing on anything, supposedly having become a human shield for Chitose along the way. "I can't assure that you'll be able to avoid traps. In the event that I don't, I fully expect you to have the skill to escape," she explains to her. "Until then, let's hope I don't stumble into something while trying to recover from this issue."
Sosuke blinks at Itami as she activates some mist trap. "Hmmm interesting." he states folding his arms. Kaito's suggestion gets a nod from Sosuke "That makes sense. Doesn't look like it's doing much else but irritate her eyes." Sosuke adds. He stays behind Kaito as he points out the layout before them. Once they navigate around that, Sosuke figures the rest of the excavation would be rather simple. But as always the universe loves proving him wrong. As they come to the tomb Sosuke is enlightened as to why they called this ruler the Elephant King. "This is a massive tomb." Sosuke remarks looking about. He doesn't notice Noab until he starts laughing.
Sosuke eyes the Akimichi in confusion until he dons the crown and starts to ramble on about being a king. Then when he turns on Itami and Kaito Sosuke fears the worst. "Well that's unexpected." Sosuke sighs softly. He looks to the crown then to the others hoping they can fend the attacks off. Sosuke's body starts to emit a dark chakra and he begins cycling through handseals. "Any ideas?"
Itami eventually found feeling in her body and continued along with the group until they managed to finally enter the tomb. She was excited to see what had been lost ages ago right in front of their faces! She was going to need to carry something back with her as a souvenir, but those tomes were far more interesting. As she wanders over to observe some of them, the strangest thing begins to occur. She thought because she'd picked up one that the place began to shake, but no, instead it was the old guy Noab who'd become a giant and—*SMACK* Too much thinking!!
Itami is knocked aside, the wind leaving her lungs as she crashes against a wall and tries to recover from that hit. If there was ever a way to lose feeling again, this was one of those ways, but thankfully, she wasn't going to allow herself to succumb to such a thing a second time. She rose back up, dizzy as she was, and proceeded to take the form of a large lizard, complete with crest. She didn't waste any time in returning fire as she leapt forward and raised her claws to attack the very arm that struck her down.
Woo! Finally to the throne room! Cha-chiiiiiiiing! As they enter, Kaito finally closes on eye again to relax u.o and simply enjoy the sight of all the treasure. This was definitely worth the trip. When he spots Noab going after something… He blinks a few times as Noab places the crown on his head and GROWS?! Looking up, he quirks an eyebrow and isn't able to quite move fast enough to get out of the way of the incoming massive fist that smacks into them with a CRASH!
And then a loud explosion of energy would come out from under the rubble where it landed! Gray-ish blue energy sends rocks flying out from Kaito as it flares up around him with a tail and a turtle shell sticking out of it. "Elephant King, huh?" he growls out. "I guess you're the only on here that can fit that name, fatso." Could he be trying to draw the fire away from Sosuke? Maybe Itami too since he's not quite sure how much her senses have returned from that earlier trap. As he points his hands out in front of him at the giant man, the moisture in the air itself seems to turn into water and begin spiraling into a ball in front of him, compressing itself with energy before firing off at him like a massive shotgun blast aimed directly at his face.
Noab's arm turns out to be pretty tough, due to a combination of the multi-size technique he used in smashing down at the others and the transformation he's currently under. "HA! YOUR PUNY CLAWS ARE NOTHING TO THE HIDE OF THE ELEPHANT KING!" >D When Kaito fires off his special water ball attack, though, that proves to be a bit more effective. Noab tries to shield himself with his other hand, which doesn't have the added density of the multi-size technique at the moment. The water orb creates huge lacerations across his giant palm. "OWWW! YOU'LL PAY FOR THAT!" D< Despite his words, though, Noab doesn't take any immediate action. Seems this giant business takes a fair bit of energy, and he needs to catch his breath and gather his chakra. c.U
"Ok…I'll try and think of something." the young genin comments to himself, albeit aloud. Well Noab is too much of a powerhouse for him to even hope to take down. So perhaps there was a way to undo what has been done. Naturally when that idea popped into Sosuke's head he looked to the crown. Sosuke first constructs handseals and uses the advantage of his dark cloak to influx his chakra into Noab's. The genjutsu utilized was to temporarily lull him into a harmless state. "First…remove the crown. Can't be much of a king without a crown." Sosuke says with a smirk.
Itami didn't do enough to break through that tough skin that he'd suddenly gain from taking on his new form. She was going to need to do a lot more to take this guy on and needed some time to build up herself. Only problem is once he recovered, she wondered if she'd be able to defend herself properly as she hadn't been able to previously. Guess only time will tell. At least she's bigger and able to dish out more damage.
"Will I now?" Kaito asks with a smirk as he surveys the effects of his attack. u.o As he leaps into the air, the moisture in the air below him spirals into water under him, this time being condensed by chakra to take on the form of a surfboard that carries him through. "Actually, I think you fit the role of Humpty Dumpty better than the king," he says with a wry grin before the board takes off toward Noab. It almost look like he's going for the face again as he charges forward, and he leaps to attempt to cause the big man to flinch as the board flies direction at Noab's diaphragm, attempting to wreck his ribs and knock his wind out, but also mostly attempting to make him double over and cause the crown to fall off his head.
Noab sucks in a deep breath (like, a fathom deep the way he currently is) and steadies himself. "ALL RIGHT, NOW I'M GOING TO…HRM?" Feeling his senses starting to go fuzzy, Noab squints. The stories didn't say anything about side-effects…wait, it must be genjutsu! Noab shakes his head and manages to clear it. "HA, YOUR PUNY MIND TRICKS CAN'T — WHOA!" O.U; Sosuke's genjutsu, while not exactly successful, was enough to keep Noab from noticing Kaito setting up his attack. Noab tries to move out of the way…yeah, pretty tall order considering. X) *WHUMPF!* The watery attack slams into Noab's midriff, and the crown flies off his head. "NOOOOOOooooooo…" Noab shrinks back down to normal human size and sits there, dazed. @.@
Sosuke can feel his genjutsu hold shatter but that was alright because Kaito seems to have capitalized on the moment. With the crown off Noab began to shrink back to his normal portly size. Sosuke moves for the crown so that Noab cannot recover it. The dark chakra cloaking him dissipates. "Glad that's over." he says not wanting to think about the damage that could've been inflicted had that gone on longer. "How is he?" Sosuke calls out.
Back in action! With a roar to rival the quaking of the temple as Noab grew, she advances toward him, running with her claws clicking against the stone floor. When he goes down at the surf attacking his body, she picked up her pace only to skid to a stop before him. If she'd ran any further, she'd have passed by his puny body now. She looked down at him, tilting her head and focusing in with one reptilian eye before showing off a number of sharp teeth waiting to greet him.
Opening her maw, she thrusts forward to swipe him up from the ground and enjoy him as a snack. It's safe to say he's probably not doing well.
With a single handseal, a small geyser throws the crown up to Kaito to catch before gracefully landing on the ground. Eyeing the others, he gives a wink as the sclera of his eyes turn black, their irides turning red just before he places the crown on his head. It is then that he starts growing and growing while shifting in the form of the Sanbi turtle, continuing to grow to the point that the temple gains a new view of the sky with a loud cracking of it. However, it doesn't stop there, as the effects of the crown cause him to turn into a version of the Sanbi that is giant even for its normal size, moving to stand up on his legs again with the three tails sticking out like some monstrous thing combined Mega Godzilla and a Ninja Turtle. A ferocious, groundshaking roar rings out as an enormous tornado of water forms in the air above him, spiraling into a gigantic orb of water and condensed energy as he tilts his head up at it…
To be continued…
