Don't Let the Doorknob Hit You Where the Chandelier Bit You. [Modded Team Mission]

[Mitsunari Akagi]

Akagi not noticing anything special about the calls that were being made to spook him away from the rooms. He came to the conclusion that out of all three doors he had chose, none of them contained their culprit. Deciding to back Shin up in his endeavors, Akagi would watch as he effortlessly stringed together handseals, launching a rush of wind.

Had the doors opened, Akagi would send his clones out along with his true body, to inspect the inhabitants of each room.

Had the doors not opened, Akagi would approach them with caution and attempt to force the doors down.

 

[Kazumi]

The decrepit doors stood no chance combination of slicing winds and a great burst or pressure and they each cracks, splinterd and broke apart with only a few seconds of battering, bursting into the room with a windy burst. The rooms looked just like the last sat, a small lit candle inside each of them that rested upon some random piece of furniture, giving faint illumination to the neglkected apartment living rooms. Either the target was sane enough to hide away from the shinobi deeper in one of the top floor apartments, or she was located elsewhere in the building.

"Hikari!?" called a young man's voice from the staircase. He sounded frantic and riddled with worry. "Hikari!?! Hold on, I'm coming, everything will be alright!" The sound of the wooden rubble being pushed aside, creaking and clattering as more pieces collapsed when one was moved filled the otherwise stale air of the top floor hallway.

"Eiji...?" the wind spoke once more, sounding calmer and optimistically confused.

"Yeah! Just-," he let out a loud grunt as he tried to push a large wooden beam out of the way of the door at the base of what used to be the staircase room. "Everything is alright, just hold on!" The sounds of more rubble shifting could be heard from the staircase. It was slow and judging from what little progress he seemed to be making, the odds he had shinobi training were limited. Should they decide to look down to see if they could get a look at the newcomer, they could see his top half as he tried to work his way through the door that had been barricaded by the flying furniture earlier. He looked to be in his late twenties, his clothes somewhat ragged and his hair a messy dirty and sand laden brown.

 

[Chikamatsu Shin]

Another sigh slipped through his lips as Shin couldn't see anything within the rooms. "Okay Akagi, I'm getting irritated trying to find this chick. I thi-"</GLOW><i></i> His thought stopped as he could hear a voice yell from downstairs. A flicker of red took the blue's out of Shin's eyes as the control over his body fell to the grasp of Kohana. "Cover me."<i></i> The voice that would enter Akagi's mind was slightly higher pitched than Shin's already high voice. The movement of Shin's body became different, and somehow more durable as the exhaustion from earlier seemed to fade some. A dark sinister look stretched onto the boy's face as his once soft eyes now took on a deep pigmentation of crimson red. Agile with his steps it may become apparent that Shin's actions were not that of his own.

Pressing her back against the wall near the staircase Kohana raised a single finger to her lips as a soft shush was sent in the direction of the warping taijutsuist. Sliding downwards the girl peeked her eyes through the doorway where she would see the man rummaging through the rubble. A darker chuckle slipped through her pursed lips as she shifted to once again look at the cute boy assigned on the mission with her brother. She was becoming more aware of her situation, much faster than Shin was, and now that she had a body her mind was able to process a lot faster than it could even moments earlier. "Keep an eye out for me, Nii-chan isn't home right now." She chuckled again as she looked at the young man down the flight of stairs. Extending her hands out and staring at him through the window made by her fingers the girl would collapse. Her body would seem to just stop, no signs of consciousness left, but her body was still breathing.

A single howl would fill the Man's mind before he would get the overpowering sensation of darkness. The secret jutsu of the Yamanaka Clan, Mind Transfer: Mind Possession, was a success. A quick stretch and a sigh and Kohana would slowly become aware of the man's body and how it moved. <GLOW glow="red">"Hikari? Are you there?"<i></i> The man's voice carried through the building once again. Raising his hand Kohana would conjure forth a blade from her chakra. Shifting the blade to set on the man's throat she would yell out through the man's body once more. "Hikari, If you don't step out now I will kill this man where he stands! Don't you doubt me!"<i></i> The blade pressed into the skin of the man causing a trickle of blood to drip down his throat, but back up to Shin's body a similar wound would appear. In the same location on Shin blood would begin to drip down from a fresh wound that seemed to appear out of nowhere.

[MFT:480]

 

[Mitsunari Akagi]

After checking the rooms Shin had opened, Akagi was becoming flustered at the having to continue searching for her. Once Shin consoled in Akagi that he also felt the same way, he would grin slightly as if they were pretty much always on the same page. However, a disturbance in the search came once Akagi heard a voice emerge from the rubble, Akagi was hesitant at what to do, when Shin looked to him, seeming different. Akagi watched his eyes drain from blue to red, creeping Akagi out as she would instruct him to be quiet and follow her lead.

In response to this strange form of Shin's, he would press into the first room he had checked, behind the door where those looking through the hallway could not see. Akagi's clones would follow suit, hiding in the various rooms out of sight. Listening to the man call out made Akagi's mind start to turn as he thought of who it could be. He had pretty easily deciphered that it wasn't there target since the male voice was approaching them and was communing with the building itself.

Akagi pearing out into the hallway then saw Shin standing beside the entrance, looking quite strange as if he had left his own body. Akagi was very confused until he heard the voice ring out in a different tone. Realizing it must be Shin's Yamanaka traits that he had shown Akagi before. Keeping his eye trained on Shin, Akagi would keep on his toes in case he needed to react quickly for an oncoming threat. Having not realized it at first, Akagi felt a slight sickness inside when he came to the realization that they were holding an innocent civilian hostage. Swallowing his anxiety and personal flak with the matter at hand, he would continue to be wary of his surroundings should the need arise to use his skill set against their original target.

 

[Kazumi]

The stranger's mind was quite easy to bind and tuck away into a small corner, allowing Kohana free reign of his physical body. His body felt rather weak in comparison, not just due to training, but likely malnutrition as well. You could feel the aching joints and had a oddly hard time even breathing easily, despite the man's apparent youth. His voice called out, speaking Kohana's words with his vocal cords. His hand outstretched and chakra coalesced into a tangible blade of energy, but your legs suddenly felt wobbly, making it difficult to stand. Drawing even that level of chakra from his body was difficult, drawing more on his life force than any significant chakra reserves. The blade held together, however and its edge was razer sharp against the man's neck as he called out his threat to the disembodied voice.

"Eiji... Everything is so dark..." the voice called, apparently not understanding the implications of Kohana's threat or misinterpreting it. "I.. I am scared Eiji." The voice floated through the halls of the building, seeming to come from the walls themselves. This Eiji's mind was weak in comparison to a shinobi, but hearing the voice brought some life to it, and it struggled fruitlessly to regain its freedom from the domination.

A rumble resonated through the house, and dust shook loose from the ceiling. If Akagi were to take notice of the hallway they had just came from, he would see that the lights inside of the rooms were winking out one by one as well, plunging their surroundings into nearly complete darkness. A creaking sound could be heard through the walls, eerily familiar to what had transpired just before the staircase had ripped itself free from the walls, but in this case it sounded to be resonating from the entire apartment building.

 

[Chikamatsu Shin]

A look of anger took the man's face as Kohana could feel this pitiful human's weakness shudder at even the simplest manifestations. A deep throated sigh slipped from her lips as Shin's body would seem to also gain the painful quakes that the man was exhibiting below. The possessed body had no way to actually make it up to the same story that Akagi and this sound was coming from, but Kohana wasn't about to give up. "Hikari-chan, please come here. I can't make my way to you! There's no steps left and I need to see you." A cough came from the man's body as Shin's body was also suffering from what seemed to be malnutrition. The shallowness of breath was also reflected in Shin's body and it was so painful that the connection was finally broken.

A deep gasp came from Shin as he had also regained control from Kohana, as seen due to his eyes being once again blue. Rolling to his knees Shin would continue to cough and catch his breath. He was taking a beating for sure, but the average shinobi would probably be fine. Shin was a tad bit more fragile than the average shinobi of his ranking, but he wouldn't let that stop him from continuing on with the mission, after all he couldn't let Akagi down. Turning to sit on his rear end he was supporting his body with his outstretched arms behind him with his knees bent in front of him. He was clearly exhausted. "Sorry about that, she took control there for a second. I'm back now though."</GLOW><i></i> Looking around the room he realized that he was in one of the rooms that Akagi had kicked the door down to, but the presence came from somewhere else. Still not sure where their target was Shin had no clue what to do next. Closing his eyes he would concentrate, then something came to mind. Long ago he developed a skill that was super helpful in a situation like this.

Touching his thumb to his bleeding neck Shin would grab some of the blood dripping and then weaved a series of hand seals. Placing his hand on the ground a puff of smoke would escape from his palm as seals would stretch across the ground. As the smoke cleared a deep red falcon would have appeared. It's cinnabar wings were powerful and its general presence was warm, in the sense that you could feel heat coming from it. Raising two fingers Shin would connect his mind to that of Tetsuya's own thoughts as the falcon could not speak the common tongue. "Hello Tetsuya-sama, thank you for coming. This is my partner Akagi; we are in a mission and need your assistance locating our target. Can you help us?" The falcon would shift it's serious gaze to that of the other boy in the room. A deep stare into what would feel like his soul the falcon took a moment before responding. <GLOW glow="firebrick">"Yes. I shall aid you in this quest."<i></i>

Looking now towards the hallway Tetsuya's eyes began to glow a warm orange as its focus would strengthen and his awareness would heighten. The keen eyes of the Bird Contract was legendary and not many could escape from it. Lifting into the air ever so slightly Tetsuya's wings would cause small wisps of flames with each flap. Launching out of the room a bright light would be emitted from the bird as flames took over its body. The bright light would cast aside any shadows and would allow Tetsuya a better vantage point to find the target of the mission.

 

[Mitsunari Akagi]

Watching his friend from the corner of his eye while he watched the rest of the hallway, Akagi would wince at the sight of the man's knees weakening. He knew that Shin was staking everything on this bait, meaning Akagi would have to wait for the perfect moment to strike.

Nodding to Shin as he explained the interaction between him and the ghost girl, now realizing that Shin was back in control, Akagi would send a mental message, "Keep the bait going, when she gets close enough I will go for the knock out." With his message, he would slowly draw his sword, holding it close to his body with both hands, each breath he drew was quiet. Turning his attention to Shin who now had brought into existence a large deep red bird that's captivating gaze tantalized him, as their eyes locked, Akagi would nod in a respectful manner to the falcon before it took off. Shin has got some serious tricks up his sleeve, I better step up my game!

Watching the bird fly out, his eyes trailed to the hallway revealing the approaching darkness as each candle extinguished itself. Having virtually no strategy when sitting in wait, Akagi had nothing much to do except wait for the target to appear before he struck her with a blow. So he simply held his sword tightly and peered down the hallway keeping his eyes fixed to the darkness.

(OOC: Nothing much to do for me here so short post)

 

[Kazumi]

The walls continued to creak, and as the bird took careful flight within the cramped confines of the halls, the shinobi might swear they felt the floor beneath them shift as well. With naturally keen eyes and swift wings, the bird was able to sweep through the rooms on the top floor within only a minute, returning with no signs of life inhabiting the area for quite a long while. The few remaining candles had gone out, leaving the top floor completely pitched into darkness, except for light the came up from the stairwell, which appeared to be brigther than it had before, even with no candles to light it.

If they were to peek into the rubble infused stairwell they could see lights coming from under the broken doors that lead into each of the three floors below them, with the floor directly below them practically glowing with a yellowish light beneath the door. They would also catch sight of the man slowly having picked himself up as well, looking dazed, weakened and very confused. "W-what...?" he would mutter as he braced himself on a beam of wood. The building shook once more and the man quickly came to his senses, looking somewhat frightened and desperate He tried to speak, but broke into a hacking cough as he tried to call out. "Whoever you are! Please, leave, you are scaring her! I'll give you whatever-" The wooden beam he was leaning on shifted as another shake rumbled through the building, causing his brace to collapse, toppling him to the ground.

As the plan readied themselves to decide on their next course of action to try and smoke out their intended target, a faint trace of more than just wicks burning began to seep through the rickety floorboards below them. With all of the candles they had seen strewn through the apartment building, it seems whatever was causing these seismic shifts had unseated one from it's perch. It was impossible to say, but if the floor below them was anything like the one they were on, an entire room might already be caught up in the blaze, and with all of the old dry wood that made up the building, it would not be long before the rest of the floor and then the building itself joined in.

Spoiler: Quick Recap:

No signs of the target anywhere that the bird nor you two can see, the floor seemed completely uninhabited. Smoke is trailing up through the floorboards and the building continues to quake with increasing intensity and frequency. The man is at the base of the stairwell shaft, conscious but weak and desperate. The stairs are completely gone, and the only lights appear to be coming faintly from the 2nd and 3rd floors, as well as from the growing fire in the 4th. You three are currently on the 5th floor, the top floor.

 

[Chikamatsu Shin]

As soon as the building seemed to begin to rumple and collapse Tetsuya acted instinctively. A bright light came from the bird as it grew to an enormous size, causing the floor beneath it to break and exposing the flames from below. Taking flight the bird would circle around the Yamanaka child as it scooped him up and darted towards an exterior wall. A loud caw came from his beak as he pushed the wind from underneath his wings to the wall causing a distinct hole to be punched out of it. "Akagi, get the man Tetsuya will be right back to get you from this building!"</GLOW><i></i> And as soon as that thought came from the Yamanaka's mind the falcon darted out of the burning building and dropped the Mednin off on the street outside of the abandoned building. Instinctively closing his eyes Shin would begin to take in the natural energies that surrounded everything in our world. In a matter of seconds Shin would open his eyes exposing the golden iris of the birds of prey. Sage Mode would grant the boy exceptional vision, but he wasn't done quite yet.

Tetsuya would arrive back in the building through the hole that he had formed, a bright light shined from his plumage as he waited for Akagi and the man to make their way to him before carrying them down to safety. At this point Shin would make the handseals required to activate the Sensory Link Jutsu which would link Shin's point of view with Tetsuya's and Akagis. All three seeing the same view their overlapping perspectives helped create a better view of the events happening. <GLOW glow="blue">"I will maintain this Sensory Link. Tetsuya please check within the flames as Akagi checks from the outside." A smile stretched on the boy's face as he enjoyed showing off his new skills to his best friend. He had felt as if he was falling behind Akagi in sense of strength but realizing that his strengths were made to support rather than lead caused some relief. Allowing for this perfect execution of teamwork Shin would do his best to keep this link going.

A strong gust of wind from the beating of Tetsuya's wings during his ascent caused the blonde's hair to dance as he maintained his seated position to keep up his strength in absorbing the natural energies. His golden eyes watched as the barbary falcon took flight and began to soar through the sky. A burst of flames took over the bird as his feathers began to shift into fire. The phoenix's flames were able to rival that of the building's and due to this Tetsuya would become immune to the heat of the scorching rampage of flames. Swooping into the building from the hole in the wall Tetsuya would begin two swerve left and right through the burning building. Slicing any falling timbers with his strong talons Tetsuya had once again taken the form of the average sized falcon. The smaller frame of the summoned bird would allow for sharper and safer turns through the building.

From the ground below Shin's eyes would dart to look in each of the building's visible windows and around the grounds. The reflective golden gaze would dart around, not only focussing on his field of vision but also on Akagi's and Tetsuya's views to help prevent any notation of finding their target to slip on by. Shin was close to his limits but knew that he needed to do this to help complete this mission. It was one of his first missions as a shinobi that was not directly related to the medical branch and didn't want this to tarnish his reputation. He knew that Akagi would probably have a long line of successful missions but Shin probably wasn't going to be assigned to many main branch missions such as this one frequently.

 

[Mitsunari Akagi]

Keeping his blade to his chest Akagi watched as the lights to the hallway completely diminished. The sense of fear he felt was gone, and it appeared the lady they had been hunting was a no-show. This news at first was infuriating as Akagi would lash out brashly at the building he was in, "COME OUT ALREADY DAMN IT!"

Placing his sword in the sheath, Akagi felt the building start to thunder beneath his feet, directing his attention to Shin, who gave Akagi the plan on what to do next. His mental message followed Shin as the bird plowed through a wall to the outside. "Got it!" Quickly maneuvering to the hole where the bird had grown in size, he would string together handsigns, taking a deep breath of air in. From the little bit of condensation in the room, Akagi used his chakra to manifest a ferocious torrent of water, sending it down the hole in hopes of snuffing out the flame. Once he finished dumping water in, he weaved seals again, using chakra to cool down the air in his lungs, blowing out from his mouth into the hole a sub-zero wind, in an attempt to freeze the water inside the floor below.

Without wasting time or knowledge if he had put out the fire, Akagi would warp next to the man who had been previously possesed. Pick him up and slinging him over his back, Akagi wasn't sure when the bird was gonna be there to pick them up, but he sure wasn't gonna just wait around! After picking up the man, he would carry the man over to the hole in the wall where Shin had breached. With a quick smile, Akagi would toss the man out of the building down to hopefully where Tetsuya or Shin would catch him.

Thinking back, The only time we were vulnerable is when we were separated. I am guessing the only time she is gonna show herself is when she has the odds of winning! With this thought he would than send a message to Shin, "That guy is falling down to you! I am gonna find out where this haunted house gets its power from, I will be safe so don't worry!" Turning back to the inside of the dark hallways, he would run toward the hole Tetsuya made, jumping up and into the hole not really knowing what to expect.

 

[Kazumi]

Smashing through the floor and then the exterior wall only hastened the rumblings of the building as its natural supports began to weaken as some unseen force forced the building to creak and shift. The surge of oxygen from the flapping of winds brought the small fire below them into a roaring rage that was quickly met by a surge of water from the comparatively small shinobi, Akagi. Working in tandem, intentionally or otherwise, the wave of frozen water snuffed out the fire that had consumed the second floor, encasing most of it in a thick wall of ice, and yet the building continued to shake and rumble.

The man took in another breath to yell out a plea but was quickly interrupted when the raider Akagi warped in next to him, surprising the words from his throat before he was swept off his feet and hastily carried up and out to the hole that Shin had made earlier. "No wait, please! You don't understand!" He cried out, in a frantic panic before being tossed out the massive hole in the wall, plummeting to a certain death if the first raider's partner in crime did not manage to save him before he was crushed on the hard ground below. He let out a panicked yell as he fell, certain that he was soon to be joining his love in the afterlife.

Shin's avian companion would sweep through the building, few traces of flame remaining from the main fire that had broken out, but a few more were beginning to take hold from other fallen candles. Searching methodically, there was still no sign of life that Tetsuya could sense. Before potentially being distracted by the screaming man that was hurdling down towards him, Shin would also see no one inside scrambling to get out or otherwise.

Suddenly a single loud crack of shattering wood sounded from the middle of the building. This immediately was followed by a cacophony of other sounds as the mass of frozen water on the third floor broke through the weakened floor and crashed down to the floor beneath it. The single break triggered more as the sudden massive weight was too much for the quickly degenerating building and within the span of a few seconds the top half of the building would twist from the collapse of its third floor. By now a small throng of passersby had gathered on the streets to see what all the commotion was about, just in time to see the building starting to collapse. A shrill sound of pain filled the minds of all within a block's radius, once again coming from nowhere as it seemed to weep and cry in pain in unison with the destruction of the building. All of the scattered civilian's covered their ears in a desperate attempt to shield themselves from the sound, some buckling over from the phantom pain it was causing them. It was no physical sound, but yet it still had a familiar feminine ring to that anguished sensation,

With the trio's senses linked, it was like the sound was magnified three fold, and even with their shinobi training it would be difficult to concentrate if they didn't simple buckle over in pain fr both the phantom sound and the raw emotion of fear and pain that shot through it. Akagi was in the most dire straits, with the building threatening to collapse atop of him as the pain resonated and wracked through his head, wooden beams, rock and everything else threatening to bury him along with the building as if it were one last grasp at revenge.

 

[Chikamatsu Shin]

As the young boy's falcon like eyes, blessed to him from gathering necessary natural energy, darted around the building he instantly saw the fragile man be trusted from the side of the building. "Dammit!"<i></i> The boy thought to himself. He was essentially running on fumes but if he didn't act the man would die. Slamming his hands together to weave a set of handseals the boy would extend his arms creating a pair of vines to shoot from the ground up and towards the falling man as sheets of paper would layer themselves between the footy tendrils of wood. This make shift slide would crash against the table a few feet below the man essentially catching him as the smooth chakra covered paper would give him a safe slide to carry him to the ground.

The connected senses would slowly begin to fade as Shin would let out a painful cough, he was on empty now. His eyes fading back to the natural blue state even his Natural Energy was gone. With a burst of flames Tetsuya would once again emerge from the building before swirling down to stand beside Shin. His size was once again small but his strength was still there. The Yamanaka on the other hand was exhausted. He would lean against Tetsuya in pain as the sensory link was completely ended. Then came the scream. Shin clutched his temples as the deafening screech came from the building He started to think something else was going on.

"Akagi, have you found anyone yet? I think there is something more than we were expecting happening here."<i></i> Still wincing in pain Shin would nod at Tetsuya as he would take flight. The large eagle grew in size as fire would coat his body. An equally loud screech came from his lungs as bright spheres of great flames would manifest around him. It was obvious that the building was empty but the target must have still been in there. The scorching spheres would be launched down to the rough building below to help increase its destruction.

 

[Mitsunari Akagi]

As Akagi landed in the center of the room a floor below, the building had been slowly collapsing before hand but was now twisting and crumbling under its own weight. After his eyes searched the area he soon realized the mistake he had made the entire time. We should have listened... Akagi quickly throwing his hands over his ears and falling to one knee he knew something was up, and he had an idea of what.

As he crouched, his hands over his ears as the pain coursed through his skull. He could feel it rattling through his body and echoing down his spine. The single mental message was recieved as Akagi was nearly crumpling over, responding as he fell to both knees. "I don't know how! But I am pretty sure that the person we are looking for is the building!"

With his energy going into the mental message, Akagi was running on nothing but willpower on this point. Mustering the strength to stand back up onto his feet with his hands glued to his ears, Akagi processed everything he could to find a solution. He first thought that perhaps he could "kill" the building by simply striking it with a strong ninjutsu, but he knew he was getting low on chakra and decided against it. His next plan sounded far more sound as an attempt to warp up to the hole in the floor above and exit the same way Shin did. However, as he thought of this idea Akagi took his hands off his ears and held them in front of his face, to which he didn't see blood.

Confirming with his thoughts Akagi knew the best idea was to escape as quickly as possible, seeing as he couldn't hold the weight of the building all by himself. Akagi would bend his knees placing his hands at his sides. The pain was still shrill and wreaking havoc on his head, feeling like a chronic migraine was tearing his head apart. Through this pain however, he would leap upward toward the hole in the ceiling, also raising his hands to his chest forming a seal.

Speaking the words, "Cancel!" Akagi had not seen blood on his hands earlier which caused him to think that something as loud as this that hadn't busted his ear drums it must be an illusion. Regardless whether or not he had cancelled out a potential genjutsu, or simply just wasted his breath as the wringing still bashed his head, he would use his remaining energy to warp above him through the hole in the floor, landing where he had cast the jutsu earlier, the pain finally catching up to him as his adrenaline was rushing, he stumbled toward the exit, barely making it to the edge running on the tips of his toes before collapsing off the side and plummeting toward the ground with one last gamble on Tetsuya catching him, if he was even outside the building. With a final mental message he spoke loud into the mental threads, "CATCH ME BIRD!" Free falling toward the ground he closed his eyes for a moment realizing he had spent up a large portion of his chakra trying to save the building and escape situations. This brought him quiet a bit of shame, seeing as he was mainly protected by Shin and didn't contribute nearly as much as he should have. With a low draw of breath he would sigh once again.

A recurring theme, it was, of Akagi disappointing himself, he couldn't save his mother, and now he can't even save himself. He thinks to himself, How pathetic am I. Perhaps there was time left for Akagi to redeem himself, or maybe his original assumption of the woman's connection with the building was fact, and she was indeed going to perish before anything could be done? Time shall reveal the answer as Akagi plummets towards the ground in hopes of his savior being a flaming falcon.

MFT