"What exactly are you supposed to be?" asked Sakura. The result was an adult male, but the clothing was a bit odd.
"Bruce Wayne," said the man in the grey/black armored suit.
"Why a cape?" asked Naruto. "Won't that get snagged on a lot of stuff?"
A gloved hand touched a section, and the cape came away.
"The mask is a bit much too," said Sakura. "Why a bat anyway?"
"The bat is a symbol of the night and of fear for many individuals," stated the Fight card. "As 'the Batman' - a force of vengeance striking in the night to bring opponents to justice."
"Oh?" asked Sasuke, slightly intrigued.
"Yes, Bruce Wayne's parents were killed by a criminal while he was young," said the Fight card. "He embarked on a lifetime of training to become stronger, faster, smarter, and mastered a variety of fighting styles to that end. Also to that end, he developed a number of weapons and tools to use."
"Oh?" repeated Sasuke, more interested now. "I think I would like to hear more of this later."
"Shall we... oh, that's interesting," said the Fight card. "The Power card seems to have been attracted to our impending fight."
"Eh?" asked Sakura just before she began glowing, her hair blowing up as if a wind was being emitted from the ground at her feet. "Wha..." Her hair turned blonde and she seemed to gain six inches of height and a fair amount of muscle tone.
"This might just be interesting. Bring it," said the Fight card, beckoning them on.
Sakura responded first, leaping up, then coming down with a two-handed smash that made a crater four times her body length across.
The Fight card had nimbly avoided being at the point of impact only to find his own trajectory had been anticipated and Sasuke was now there.
Meanwhile, Naruto had apparently vanished.
"They're improving."
"Oh, 'Cat' isn't it?" asked Kakashi, watching his genin from the shadows on a rooftop.
The ANBU swordswoman took a seat near Kakashi's position.
"What brings you here anyway?" asked Kakashi.
"I've been keeping an eye on them from time to time," admitted Cat. "The Hokage suggested it after the apprehension of Mizuki. Since Naruto is basically inventing a new form of fuuinjutsu."
"I see," said Kakashi. So an unofficial eye on my team, just in case someone gets the idea of pilfering from Naruto? Possibly, if anyone had a good idea of what Naruto's cards were capable of - and it wasn't bloodline dependent.
An explosion marked Sakura making another crater in the street.
"I'm surprised you aren't using your Sharingan," said Cat after a few more exchanges.
"To pick up some of the taijutsu that the card is using?" asked Kakashi. "It takes way too much out of me to use the Sharingan for very long."
Naruto abruptly appeared, squatting down with his hands touching the ground. Ice spread out from his position along the ground.
"Kakashi?" asked Cat.
"Hmmm?" asked Kakashi.
"Let me know if your team is going to be entered in the Chunin Exams," said Cat. "I think I'm going to put a few bets in."
"They're not ready for the Chunin Exams," automatically stated Kakashi.
"Oh?" asked Cat. "The team that can put a layer of ice down, call up a windstorm, throw fireballs and supercharge their kunoichi into someone who rearranges the landscape like Tsunade after a drinking binge?"
Kakashi blinked, looked down at his genin team, and considered what would happen if they fought a normal team of genin. Terms like 'massacre' and 'curbstomp' came to mind. "I'll... consider it."
"Best workout I've had in ages," said the Fight card.
Sasuke wheezed and gasped, glancing over at the unconscious Naruto and the exhausted Sakura. "How?"
"I'm faster, more experienced than any of you, and I'm all about skill," said the Fight card, getting his mask and cape from where he'd dropped them earlier. "There's also the Batman persona I'm using. He's at the pinnacle of where he can take his strength and stamina, and he's used to fighting opponents who have literally superhuman abilities. Batman has taken on evil gods without hesitation, and prevailing - especially if he has time to figure out his opponent's strengths and weaknesses. In this case, I knew everything you had available before the fight started."
"Huh," said Sasuke, immediately thinking that this was something he could use when the time came.
"In any case, go ahead and plan for next week's fight," said the Fight card, fading into the shadows of an alley. "Don't disappoint me now."
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(Posted Fri, 09 Nov 2012 00:41)
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