//------------------------------// // Visions of the past: Villainification part 1. // Story: Screw the rules we're on a road trip. // by Ssendam the Masked //------------------------------// Tobi's P.O.V, 1,050 years ago. "Well, fuck." I felt that was an appropriate response to suddenly being told, hey, you get the power that every forever alone Narutard wants. Have fun! Oh, and Josh seemed to be different himself. Something was different about his appearance. I squinted harder. Maybe it was the Sharingan, but I could tell that this wasn't the armour that he'd worn to Avcon. "Hey, Josh. Your armour looks different." Josh looked down at his armour, then did a double-take. "The fuck?!" Instead of a spray painted Master Chief breastplate, it looked decidedly more... organic. He tapped it in wonder. Instead of the dull thud of plastic on plastic, there was a clang of metal on metal. He looked at his left hand. "My hand... MY HAND!" He frantically tapped his arm, and his eyes widened. "Josh, what's wrong-" "My arm, my arm, what the FUCK is wrong with my arm?" He looked frantic. I couldn't really blame him. "Feel this, man!" He pulled my right arm, and my own eyes widened when I felt what was happening to it. My arm squished under his firm grip, more than a normal, non hambeast arm should. Apparently, my arm was made of fat or some shit. Obviously, he felt it too. For about a minute, we just sat there, in shock. Then: "AAAHHH!" "AAAAHH!" We sprung back, scrambling away from each other. I gripped my arm, probing it. Nope, still squishy, still apparently held by some sort of skin. I pulled off my glove, and stared in bemused horror at the pasty white hand that confronted me. I flexed the fingers, giggling like a schoolgirl. Screaming had given way to giggling. Funny what your body will do to prevent you from going totally batshit from horror. Meanwhile, Josh had apparently done something to find out what his arm was like. He clicked something, and he screamed as his arm popped off. "WHAT THE FUCK?!" I shook myself. Better to not panic. I decided to lighten the mode with a dirty joke that fit the circumstances. "Dude, you have a robotic arm. Better not use it tonight." He glared at me. "Real mature, Toby. REAL mature." I giggled, pulling my glove back on. Josh gripped my arm. "So, you've got a plant arm now? Well, it looks as if you are going to save a fortune on lotion." I pouted at him. "Who's immature now?" We looked at each other, and burst out laughing. What? We really needed to laugh. You know, laughter is the best medicine, after all. And really, we were stranded in a mysterious place, with no way of knowing where we were- you have to laugh. After a good, long laugh, we felt a lot better. Josh tried to reattach his arm, but found it quite difficult. He strained and strained, but then slumped. Then he paused, and offered the arm to me. "Hey, could you reattach my arm? I can't really reach it." "Sure thing, sempai." That got a chuckle. "I'm not your sempai." Still chuckling, I grabbed his arm. I crept over to the socket, put it in, and pushed until I heard a click. Josh flexed his fingers, pleased that it was working. "Now I really feel like Yoshimitsu." I chuckled. "And I really feel like Tobi." With our worldly goods gathered, we trooped off, exploring the forest we were in. It was ind of stupid, but what were we going to do with ourselves? Stand around, waiting for rescue? No, we were going to make our own rescue. While we walked, my head brimmed with questions. Why did I have Tobi's Senju arm? Why did Josh have a prosthetic arm? And where were we? Why even put us here? These were important questions. After wandering around for a bit, I could say with the utmost cheer that we were completely and utterly lost. Josh was just idly swinging his sword around, juggling it between his hands. Rather than it simply being painted, the sword was now glowing an eerie green, like the wakizashi. It served as an efficient torch in the darkness of the forest. It also proved to be very good at hacking apart those vines that blocked our path. Needless to say, I did not want one of our torches being lost in the undergrowth. "Hey, be careful with that thing." Josh almost cut his hand on his sword, but quickly gripped it by the sides. "Relax, what's the worst that could happen?" He spun the sword around, and swung forwards, not noticing that the sword was glowing with a brighter green fire, seemingly making the blade larger. With a 'zing' sound, the blast was unleashed. Our eyes opened comically wide as the blast from the sword cut through the undergrowth like an angry god sweeping the land, carving through the soil at an incredible rate. Josh stared at his sword in amazement. "I...whuh...buh-huh?" Truly, he was as eloquent as Homer the bard. It sounded really weird with the vocal distortion of his helmet. That was another thing- with the helmet on, his voice distorted into this totally badass sounding voice, like Yoshimitsu. Normally, we'd be all 'hell yeah this is awesome,' but right now, we were just concerned with finding civilisation. But back to the sword swinging. It was really starting to bother me. Out of impudence and more than a bit of terror, I rapped him on the head. "Well, that's probably the worst that could happen." He nodded mutely, and we continued our journey, noting belatedly that water seemed to be flowing through the trench. Celestia's P.O.V, 1,050 years ago. I groaned silently as the noble blathered on and on about something or other. Yet for my poor, overworked sister, I kept the serene smile on my face, even while I was getting steadily angrier and angrier. I was a warrior, not some beaurecrat! It was I who led the charge against Discord with my sister! I could never, in a thousand years, ever, possibly resign myself to a menial existence of being some glorified pen pusher! ... but for all my blustering, the fact remained that pony kind say me as their main leader, not my sister. Despite the fact that it was her own quick thinking that led to the mad tyrant Discord being overthrown, and all I did was duel him to a standstill, ponies still referred to me as the one who beat Discord, and don't give my sister the consideration that she deserves. Yet it was she who I admired above all else. She knew how to run a kingdom, give the appropriate grants to who, keep the nobles in line, all that sort of thing. She knew how to manage a kingdom. But she also wanted to express herself in her night sky, and was feeling the effects of her workload. So, out of my faith in her, I was taking the questions that she would have otherwise taken for herself. After all, it was the least I could do- she was the one who had taken all the work that I shoved at her with no complaint, working well into the daytime while I caroused with nobles and commoners alike. "So, heretofore wouldst it be possible for one such as myself to possess a-" Whatever he was going to say was interrupted by a guard who stormed in. "Princess, I apologise for mine unwanted presence, but I have grave news for thee." I waved off his concerns. "Prithee speak," I thundered, the Royal Canterlot Vioce blowing dust into the corners and shaking the ceiling. Our guards have enchantments on their helmets so that they are not hurt by my volume, but the noble was unfortunately pushed away by the sheer force of it. The guard took a second to realign his armour before continuing. "Milady, there seems to be a new river, carved by forces most curious and arcane. Whatever it was must surely possess equal power to the two of you." I rubbed my chin, pondering. For somepony to appear that could challenge us... It was a most interesting and novel prospect. Not since Discord had something so powerful and intelligent ever posed a serious threat. I couldn't wait for it. Recomposing myself, I turned to him. "Gather mine Royal Guards and scout around for this mysterious being. I must warn my sister of this development." The guard nodded, quickly galloping off to the barracks. When he was out of sight, I grinned, flared my horn and teleported to my sister's observatory. I found her there, still sleeping. I smiled, gently. In this room, I did not have to be loud. Here, I could be myself. I gently nudged Luna with a hoof. "Luna, wake thyself." Luna cracked open a blue eye, then shut it. She mumbled to me sleepily. "Get thee to Tartarus, sister..." I giggled, then poked her harder. "OW! Tia, why dost thou poke me?" "Twas meant in jest, dearest sister. Pray tell, dost thou know of any creature in the realm that could challenge us in matters of magic and might?" Now awake, Luna's face shifted to a more calculating look. "I dost think no singular creature. A band of unicorns, perhaps, could match us in magic, and a dragon may be more powerful in strength. But why rouse me from mine sleep? I was dreaming of new designs for the heavens." "I do apologise for that, but something has come up. The Everfree has a new river, carved by some magician or beast unknown. Anything like that poses a serious threat to our little ponies, no?" Luna nodded. "What have you done about the situation, sister?" I looked at her. "I have sent a squadron of guards to investigate the surrounding forest. Dost that appeal to thine tactical knowledge?" Luna nodded. "It is nice to see that thou hast become more cautious. I do remember when thou didst attack Discord head on, and he removed your horn and wings-" I winced. "Yes, yes, thou hast never forgotten that, have you?" Luna shook her head. I giggled. This was much better than being some sort of judge. I'm not cut out for being peaceful. Not at all. Yoshimitsu's P.O.V, 1,050 years ago. I kept trooping through the forest at the front, slashing at vines numbly while my mind blazed. Good God, the sword in my hand just cut through the soil of this forest like butter! All I was thinking about when swinging it around was making the path easier to cut, and apparently my sword just thought that, oh, I'd better release enough destructive might to form a new river! I was beginning to hate my sword now, but I had to admit, without it we'd be totally, absolutely lost. "Hey, Sempai. Check this out." I turned around. Toby was doing nothing. Then, I watched in bemused horror as he shoved his hand into a tree and pulled it out again. I boggled at him and he giggled. "Cool, huh? I got Kamui!" I glared at him. "Great. So you get a power that doesn't cause rivers to form out of nowhere." Toby pouted, or at least I think he pouted. It's hard to know what's behind that mask of his. I'm probably worse. "Hey, Sempai! I can walk on trees now~!" I turned around for the second time in three minutes. Yep, Toby was definitely standing vertically on a tree. "How do you do that?" Toby rubbed his chin. "Dunno. Just thought about how cool it would be to be able to walk on trees. Then I tried, and hey presto, I'm walking on trees." I pondered that. "Yeah, that sounds pretty cool." On a whim, I walked over to the tree, and hesitantly placed my foot on it. It seemed to be firm, so I quickly lifted my other leg onto the tree. I braced myself for falling, but I didn't. Was this the secret to tree walking in Naruto? Toby nodded. "That's wicked sweet." I nodded, grinning. "Race you to the top of your tree?" "Oh, heck yeah." With that, we ran up the tree, carefully avoiding branches in our frantic race to the top. I pushed myself harder, harder... going as fast as this was incredible! Unfortunately, that feeling was soon gone when I hit a problem. A very big problem. A wasp's nest. And hearing Toby scream. "AAAAAHHH! WASPS!" Well, fuck.