Chapter Thirteen
The Bet
"Let's play a game!"
The entire event will be secretly broadcasted thanks to the cooperation of Katie Killjoy. She wanted a dramatic interview with him, one that likely ended in his pants, but he had promised something more. The takeover of the three members of the largest Overlord faction in the city.
It was an opportunity she could not pass, and Naruto had banked on that very attitude. He was able to hide the film crew out of sight of the three Overlords he invited to the factory and that was the easiest part.
Luck, don't fail me when I need you the most.
"I'm glad I could get you three here so quickly," Naruto sipped on his cup of club soda. "How have you been, Velvette? Miss me?"
"With every bullet so far," she smirked back while leaning back in her chair. "Suddenly got ambitions? You couldn't just come work with me?"
"Nope," Naruto smirked into his cup as the girl whined at his quick response. "Sorry, but I don't like being chained to other people's ambitions. But if you win the game against me, that could be your reward."
"What games are you talking about?" Vox leaned his box head on his fist while bouncing his foot up and down.
"Only the fun kind where both sides have a chance to win."
Naruto quickly ordered his clones to come in and four of them all brought in various types of games. Board games, card games, and even video games.
"I am the challenger so I offer you the choice to choose. But first, the rules." Naruto looked between the three, his eyes taking in the relaxed posture of the final Vee that had yet to speak. "What we are betting are our souls. Deals, I'm sure you understand, is the blood of any Overlord - me being the exception through pure accident. What we will be betting on is our autonomy and service as well as everyone and everything we own."
Naruto leaned to the side and set his cup on the ground. "We will be playing one on one, in any order you three choose. My goal is to beat each of you in one game of your choosing, and should I win you are agreeing to sign away your services to me indisputably. Whoever beats me gains my service and my powers."
"As you probably have not heard, I have even earned the favor of the King and Queen of Hell for actions unimportant," Naruto waved his hand as he did not want any questions asked. "All you need to do is beat me once, while I need to win thrice - once against each of you. Do you agree?"
"Agreed!" Velvette did not need to think twice, not even when the pulse of red light enveloped her and his chest.
"Having someone close to the royal family would be nice," Valentino blew out a cloud of red-pink smoke. "Agreed."
Vox narrowed his eyes at his two partners agreeing to the blonde so easily, also concerned over the clear pact being agreed upon. The magic that pulsed is different from when he made his deals, he wasn't so sure about the other two, but it made him pause. What if they were being tricked?
"What about you, Vox?" Naruto raised an eyebrow at the television man. "Scared?"
Vox scoffed at that and glared at the blonde. "Scared of who? You? Please, you were nobody prior to your video sent to us and I still barely remember your name."
"But you do," Naruto smirked and sat forward. "So do you agree?"
"If it will wipe that smirk off your face. Agreed."
Naruto grinned and nodded his head as he patted the arms of his chair once before standing up. "Fantastic! Choose the order you will come in then come choose your game."
"Hey! Hey! Hermana!"
Kushina turned to see Agatha Connolly, or Aggie as she began to affectionately call her when she became her mentor. The young girl from Earth is of mixed Hispanic descent from Mexico, England, and Ireland, although she grew up more with her father in El Paso, Texas. A lot of places and terms that the redhead did not understand but she remembered anyway as she cared about the young girl a lot.
"Hey, Aggie, what are you doing on this side of Chastity?"
The girl huffed as he stopped in front of the redhead, putting her hands on her knees to catch her breath. "I came to tell you that I have my Exorcists final exam tomorrow and I wanted to see if you will be there to support me? I don't… have anyone who wants to come."
Kushina's smile softened at the girl's depressed tone, putting her hand on the young girl's cheek. "Of course I'll come. I need to make sure my student succeeds in her dream."
Being an Exorcist is a responsibility not taken up by many angels, especially those who see violence as a vulgar affront to God. Agatha's family, especially, found the job of murdering anyone, even demons, as nothing more than a blotch on this pure paradise. It was no surprise none of them would come to see her last test before she became a full member.
"Thank you, sis. I'll see you then!"
Agatha hugged the woman before running off with an excited pep in her step. It brought a smile to Kushina's face as she watched the girl go and shook her head once she was out of sight. "She's not gonna be so happy when she finds out what our job is really like."
While mentally preparing for the later conversations they will have to have after Agatha's first Extermination, Kushina continued her walk to her destination.
Kushina is a high-ranking Principality now. She served in the Exorcists for Extermination Week - a seven-day period where the angels would prepare for six days and then carry out Extermination Day. During the rest of the year, Kushina served as a Principality of the Temperance Choir and was sent to Ninkai to root out any rogue elements upsetting the balance of her home world. It was mostly the abominations of the Darkness, but also severing the resurrected souls that are brought forth by the Impure World Reincarnation.
She was very good at her job, not only with her chakra-based powers but also as a warrior in general. Even Michael has praised her for her skills and boasts that she will reach the level of Dominion within a century. But she was never receptive to the praise as she knows that deep down she did all of this for selfish reasons.
And the old bastard likes to remind her every day why what she is doing is not the right thing to do.
"I'm home, old man," Kushina announced as she closed the door behind her and took off her shoes.
"Greetings, Kushina."
She looked up when she heard a female voice answer her instead of the old man. She found a few people in the house including the geezer, who sat at the end of the dining room table closest to the wall. She knew the three that sat with him at the table although she did not have only good reasons for them.
The first, the one who spoke to her, is Uriel. She is the Virtue of Chastity, one of the Virtues of the second triad. She is powerful in the ways of Heavenly Magic, especially light manipulation and conjugation, and prefers the use of her ornate staff in fights. She is also known as "God's Light" and is considered one of the most famous angels on par with the likes of Michael and Gabriel.
Despite that nickname, she has rich black hair that turned glossy like obsidian glass while in the sunlight. Her eyes are a rich purple like hers and the wide halo above her head is a shade lighter than that. She is wearing a rich robe with a purple and gold sash that goes over her shoulders and past her waist. She had minimalistic jewelry on her, only a pair of purple jewel earrings that were hidden behind her dark hair.
The second is Azrael, who ranks higher than most Seraphim but is only a member of the Powers. He had been there with his brother angels Michael and Raphael to see Lucifer cast down by God. He is a skilled master of the scythe, an unorthodox weapon, but with it he has carried out his tasks as the Angel of Death. His magic is said to be so potent that he can flood entire cities and districts with so much power that it would drive normal angels and humans insane.
He is hermaphrodite, a condition uncommon among the original angels as they have chosen whether to present themselves as one gender or the other. He was androgynous by appearance alone and to those who did not know him would never be able to comprehend his exact nature. He is wearing a black long-waisted coat with a gold cross design across his chest and his cuffs. His white and gold pants are tucked into his black knee-high boots.
The third is the geezer, Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki. He is also known as the Sage of Six Paths, an accidental person of worship that did not desire it. He was a follower of the main religion of the time, which is now known as the Old Ways. With his life being very good for someone who lived to be nearly two centuries old he was chosen to be one of the few ningen to be allowed into Heaven. Within a single century, he quickly became a Virtue of Meekness for his considerable patience.
His appearance is much like the final records that spoke of his life, copies of which were also owned by the Ninshu Monasteries that worshiped the Sage of Six Paths.
The final member is the one that made her eyebrows narrow, however. The Second Woman and Mother to Humanity, Eve. She is a short woman with long chestnut hair and hazel eyes, which has a considerable amount of red and black eyeliner and shadow. Her bosom is quite small, shocking considering her ex-husband's fixation of breasts and the fact her sister had a decently sized chest.
She wore a checkered black and red long coat with a matching wide-brimmed hat. Her pants are black with knee-high boots while her crop top shirt is a black and white checker pattern. Her look did not fit the ideation of the first woman to start humanity but after eating the apple she had changed considerably.
So much so that now she goes by a new name.
"The fuck are you all doing here?" Kushina's eyes narrowed at the geezer.
"We are just talking, Kushina." Hagoromo sighed at the woman's attitude.
He had been mentoring her ever since she arrived, one that marked her as a hero since her death was by selfless sacrifice. Such deaths were very well rewarded and appreciated and to die such a death made your afterlife in Heaven all that much more easier.
What he did not tell her is that her family will be very important in the future, a future that is currently about to go bad.
"Should have just called and told me and I wouldn't have come back," Kushina rolled her eyes before tossing a few of her stuff to the side. "Whatever, just don't disturb me. I'm going to sleep."
Hagoromo watched the woman enter her room and rubbed his face tiredly.
"When will we tell her that her son is missing?"
Uriel glared at Azrael as he asked the question while lazily leaning back in his chair. "Don't be rude!"
"We don't even know where he is or that he made it to the afterlife!" Azrael snapped back at her. "The supposed Promised Child disappears right under our noses and any record of his passing through Purgatory is gone!"
"Calm down Azrael," Hagoromo placated the angel with a calm smile. "It is entirely possible that the Child is in Hell somewhere."
"Even more reason to tell her," Azrael raised his hands. "Extermination is the only sanctified time that angels can enter Hell. She can help us look for him in those twenty-four hours!"
"We will not drag in someone who is not in on our plans," Eve told Azrael with a shake of her head. "We cannot risk this getting out with Father not in Heaven."
"He's been gone an awfully long time," Uriel sounded concerned. "Could something have happened to him?"
"Other than having to face Mary, I doubt there is anything that could possibly happen to Him," Hagoromo chuckled.
"Let's just continue looking out for him. Azrael, you have access and loyalties of demons in Hell. Use them to scour the Pride Ring for where the Child could be hiding." Eve stood up from her chair and nodded her head to them. "I'll be heading home now."
"And that's checkmate!" Naruto grinned as he moved his white Rook from L2 to L3, cornering Vox's black King between that and the Queen.
He had just beaten the man at strato chess, an unorthodox game he did not expect the technology-centric man to choose. It was even more concerning considering he had never actually completely played this game. He only read the instructions with his clones, committing it all to memory in preparation of the event he would need to play it.
"What the fuck! How?!"
Vox shook angrily in his seat before standing to his feet and kicked over the table. That sent the pieces flying and shattered the board, a mash of glass and cheap plastic.
"You cheated somehow!"
Naruto raised an eyebrow at that and stood to his own feet. "You mean, like you running through simulations and trying to predict my moves before I make them? Are you just upset that your cheating did not get you the win?"
Vox was about to shout, to deny the accusation or not most likely, before he felt his chest begin to burn. He bent forward and gripped his chest in pain, being brought to his knees quickly. W-what is happening?
"You've lost with as many odds stacked in your favor," Naruto informed him with an amused smirk on his face. "You are now bound to my will as per our deal."
Naruto sighed and looked over to see Valentino and Velvette watching with various looks of shock at how he won what was supposed to be a sure loss. Val had already lost to him in his personal favorite game, strip poker. He now only had his fur coat on and a thong that Naruto had been scarred enough to have gotten a glimpse at when he lost the skirt.
"That just leaves you, Vette," Naruto smiled at the girl and motioned to all of the games still on a separate table. "Will you be the one to beat me?"
"Probably," she skipped to her feet and browsed the collections of video games. "Where'd you get all these?"
"Found 'em." Naruto would not tell them he had Charlie procure them at his request.
Velvette hummed as she looked at all of the competitive games stacked together; Rocket League, Gran Turismo, Super Smash Bros, Mortal Kombat. But which one- oh!
That's when she found it, the perfect game to win. Back when she was a little girl, she had been a ballet student at a local dance studio. She had loved it before getting into social media and becoming an internet sensation. So what better game than one she can capitalize on?
"This game!"
Naruto watched her pick up a brightly colored case and his eye twitched at the game she chose. "Seriously? Dance Central 3?"
Velvette smirked and shook the case in her hand. "Are you scared?"
Naruto's nostrils flared in disgust but shook his head. "No, I said that you may choose the game." Now if only dancing came easily to me.
"We choose a song on the max difficulty and whoever has the most points by the end wins!"
Naruto sighed and nodded his head. "Ladies first."
Get Wasted and Get Out had become a center of popularity ever since the advertisement on the news as well as the five between the enigmatic owner against two minor but equally destructive Overlords. It seems that their popularity was only infinitely climbing, making it a madhouse for the workers of the restaurant.
"Holy fuck, shut the fuck up you shitfucks!"
Tayuya ran from the back to the large television hanging above the bar, pushing past Haku. She grabbed the remote and changed from the network it was currently broadcasting, some kind of show made by Mammon in the agreed Ring. She switched it rapidly until it finally landed on the 666 News station.
The restaurant got deathly quiet as the screen flickered a bit before they could finally make out what it was showing.
"Is that Naru?!" Helsa asked incredulously as she had followed the pink-haired girl out.
"He's battling the Vees for the Entertainment District!" Tayuya tossed the remote to the side and stepped back to get a good look at the screen.
"He's doing what?!"
Tayuya flinched at Charlie's shout and she came running from the reception to get a look. "Calm down, Princess. He already beat Valentino and Vox at their own games. Now he just has to beat Velvette?"
"At what?"
"A dance game."
It was quiet in response to Tayuya's answer.
"Can Naruto-kun even dance?" Haku mused aloud while still working.
Naruto watched as Velvette fluidly moved from dance move to dance move to the song of her choice; You Make Me Feel by Cobra Starship. She showed a graceful yet powerful technique, making sure to add a flair to the moves that he was sure was meant to distract him.
The way her hips moved during the Seduction Punch and Snaps, how her hair and breasts bounced with the Run Step Slide. The few times where she needed to spin or look around, her crimson eyes caught him with a mischievous gleam.
As the moves picked up in rhythm for the climax and end of the song, she did give a single mistake which did cost her a few thousand points if he had to guess. But she did not let that stop or discourage her, simply adding more flair to the sharp gestures and fluid motions that the game's choreography demanded. Her execution of the dance's signature moves that appeared golden were struck with beautiful precision and a smile was on her face.
He could see so many colors around her and he was surprised to see that it was not a competition to her anymore. It was a game and she was having fun.
Once the song finally ended, she was left breathing quickly but she was far from winded. She was energized and having fun! Who thought this would be so pleasurable?!
"3,703,821 points! Beat that!"
Naruto couldn't help the chuckle that came from him as he nodded and walked into the view of the Kinect camera. As he did, looking through the songs on the screen, he had to get one last tease in. "I wonder how it will come to be that you lose everything to me over a dance game."
Without a second thought he chose his song.
"Oh my gosh!"
OMG by Usher.
Naruto took a deep breath, the sudden realization that his dancing will be broadcasted for hell to watch making its way to the forefront of his mind. He was feeling his face heat up in a blush as he hit the first few moves of the song, the Dap, Dap Slide, and Conjure.
The moves were surprisingly fluid and if not for his skills as a shinobi he would have not been prepared for the insane footwork that came with the Double Dutch and Cane Twirl. Surprisingly, he had gotten flawless on that segment of crazy dance moves that he had to use chakra for. It wasn't cheating, as they had used their own strengths to try and beat him, and he never said it couldn't be used.
Not his fault they didn't know what chakra was.
Toe tapper, cleopatra spring, look spring, search light!
He hit the signature move Factorial flawlessly and took a moment to look over at Velvette to see what she was thinking. He really wished he didn't and he quickly turned away for the rest of the dance. Her crimson eyes looked at him with a sense of longing and excitement, but the scarlet and orchid around her made him uneasy.
He nearly stumbled when he hit the finishing move, raising his fist above his head. He stared at the screen as it darkened, his breathing barely kept in check as a bit of sweat gathered at his hairline. That's when he saw the point total.
3,981,923.
"That was awesome!"
He collapsed when Velvette suddenly tackled him from behind and they both shined red as he won the deal and she was tethered to his will.
"I want to do this again!"