1 week before Ascension...
Central Power Station
Olympus Underbelly
…1300 Hours
Two men stood before a behemoth of a machine while an entire team who stood on scaffolding worked away. The large metallic structure seemed to be partially hollow; there were welding torches shining from within grates on all sides of the massive structure. A small team of inspects were slowly making their way around it, checking welds, wires, and rivets against the blueprints they carried around. The sounds of jack hammers and air compressors reverberated through the cavern. There was a constant dust that never seemed to settle down, even with the filtration system they had first installed once the main chamber was mined out. Shouts from workers seemed to echo every so often, but after months of work, everyone appeared to have gotten used to the atmosphere.
"A week or two and it will be ready for operation. Of course, you'll need a power source, that of which I cannot provide for you." said the tall, rather handsome looking man: Taro. A few moments passed by before the dark and brooding one responded.
"I have agents working on acquiring more of that was we speak. You'll have all the chakra you need for start-up. We are so close to achieving what we set out long ago. I'm glad you stayed in Lightning to assist us Tomikan-san."
"There isn't a home for me to return to. It was thanks to you I got my father back and have a place to stay. I just hope this work out, cause if it doesn't... Well." That sentence didn't need to be finished. If this didn't work exactly as planned, a global disaster was likely to occur. It would basically be the first man made earthquake in the history of the world. "But don't you go worrying yourself about that. After all, my math is never wrong." he said in a very cocky manner, though, a momentary look of worry did flash across his face.
3 months before Ascension...
The Happy Unicorn
Port Cirrus
…2100 Hours
The tavern was alive with drinking and storytelling alike, but in one dark corner sat a dark skinned female along with a man and a woman. Between them sat two large mugs of ale, the third (in front of the man), a small glass of water. Everyone around them appeared to be engrossed in their own affairs to notice the types of subjects they were bringing up.
"I be walk'n about and one of me mates just hands me dis letter with instructions to meet some strangas 'ere with a job proposition. So what can I do you fer?" said the dark woman. The silver haired man looked to his companion who was in the middle of a swig and smiled. It looked like he would be doing the talking.
"Captain Yuna, thank you for meeting us. First of all, we'd like to make a request that sounds like a bit of a stretch." he started. Yuna quickly rolled her eyes.
"You wouldn' believe me if me told you how many times I hear that. Go on, give it yer best shot." she jabbed with a chuckle. Hato frowned slightly and realized his usual tact wouldn't be useful here. A look was sent from Tori as if saying 'I told you so.'
"Well all right. We need one hundred tons of TNT, and we need it discretely."
She nearly spit out her drink as her expression went from smiles to a look of disbelief. "Impossible. I may be de greatest smuggla in all the seas, but even guards notice patterns. I can't be comin inta port regularly wit da exact same shipment, raises flags."
Hato smiled. Normally a man whose request was told impossible would be disheartened, but, he had his contingency plan. "What if we could get you a ship that allows you to bypass the ports and come straight to us." he said with a very confident smile. Yuna looked perplexed, so Tori who had been listening the whole time and finally decided to chime in. "You should really consider this. It'll be the most powerful vessel in the sea... and the skies."
Her skepticism was anticipated. "I'm supposta just expect ya to give me dis ere ship for free?" she asked. "In exchange for da shipments yes?"
Hato smiled. "Yes that is correct, but we also have another question. How would you like to have your own armada of these vessels. We would bring you in as the commander of our Navy. Titan's Navy." he suggested. This was their real plan. It was hard to believe that in all of Titan there existed no sailors they believed were up to stuff. The stories of captain Yuna were well circulated amongst those in the ocean going community. Most were exaggerated, but the administration was interested none the less.
"I don't like bein' tied to rules and laws." the dark skinned woman quickly replied with a stern look in her eye. Tori quickly nodded her head and gestured with her hands.
"Neither do we. You'd be free to run off wherever and do whatever you like as long as you protect Titan interests from time to time. Just come on home when you are called, and make Olympus your home port."
"Olympus?" questioned Yuna. Hato smirked and lowered his head given Tori a look. She wasn't supposed to mention that.
"That is hard to explain, but we need the TNT to get Olympus operational. Can we count on you?"
Yuna looked down at her half empty mug, ready to walk away. It did all sound too good to be true. However, the way the pair spoke didn't sound anything like a falsehood. They believed their words. After being a pirate for so long, one gets to know how to read people and their intentions. And they seemed full invested in what they were asking. Still, 100 tons of TNT wasn't going to be easy. "You show me this ship of yours and we might have ourselves a deal."
Hato and Tori looked to each other with small smiles. "Then please."
"Follow us." finished Tori with style.
2 1/2 months before Ascension...
Titan Laboratory
Kumo's Business District
…1000 Hours
Hana looked onward from behind the glass, her best friend laying on the table with a bunch of scientists around her. The small child was accompanied by her handler. Concern danced across her face as people would get in the way of being able to see Haruka's face. One of the female doctors turned to the intercom and spoke into it. "We're going to start the procedure now. Want to say anything?" she asked. Hana quickly nodded her head and lifted herself up on the tops of her toes to speak into the microphone. She had been growing, but not as quickly as most girls.
"Be strong Haruka-chan! I'm gonna give you a big hug when you get out of there!" she called. Haruka smiled from behind the breathing apparatus and rose her hand to give a wave. Slowly her hand fell to the table and the procedure began. A man stood over her, his eyes closed. "Be strong... I hope you fare better than the others..."
Kitami frowned, but his decision was made. Anyone could see it in his eyes. He had orders. The lead scientist looked passed him to the brightly adorned child. "What are we going to tell her?"
"Tell her Haruka passed on, is in a better place, was reincarnated, whatever." he said coldly.
"Haruka has been there for alot of her time here. She isn't going to handle it well."
"The boss wants her other half. Do it, and deal with the consequences after." spoke the sorcerer who then quickly left the room. Soon, the procedure continued...
Minutes later, Kitami popped his head back in the door. "Don't worry about Hana. The boss said he'll talk to her personally. Carry on!" he chimed, quite happily. A concerned look crossed the teams face, and then they went forward with plan F.
Later that day...
Titan Laboratory
Kumo's Business District
…1830 Hours
"They did everything they could Hana. They aren't to blame." explained Masahiro. Hana's tears continued to drip onto his slacks which he seemed rather concerned about, though the crying girl before him wouldn't be able to tell in her distress.
"W-why did you make her do that!?" she cried, sucking in air as best she could. Her small hands were grasped around the fabric of his suit.
"She asked us if we could try. She had a monster inside of her, one that she wanted out of her. Haruka-san knew the risks going into the operation." he tried to explain rationally.
"She wouldn't j-just abandon me... why-- why was there a monster!? Who put it there!? She wailed and whined. Masahiro sighed and ran a hand through her hair. So easy to manipulate children.
"The monster was put inside of her by the village. They will do anything to people as long as they can control them. That's why I asked you to come here and work with us. I didn't want them getting their hands on you and putting a monster inside of you either." he finished, pulling her head close to his chest, comforting her; being that friend she needed at that moment. Hana continued to mourn for a while before she slowly quieted down and whimpered slightly.
"Why would they do that?"
"The people of the shinobi corps are just pawns to the administration. They infect people's bodies with forbidden jutsu all the time, and I even heard that cursed seals are being given to students now. The survival rate is low even for adult when it comes to cursed seals. They are willing to kill you and let you be killed. But don't you worry. I'm not going to let them do that to you."
"I wanna go home..." she said softly. Masahiro only patted her on the head, no response. He was calculating just what he was going to do now. His thoughts quickly went to his newest asset, and a dark smile appeared on his face...
2 months before Ascension...
Mori Residence
Seki District
…1200 Hours
"Well go on, I know it's been a while, but they are your parents, they'll love you nonetheless."
Hana sniffled and wiped her nose. Her thoughts were always on Haruka, and coming home to where they spent so much time together wasn't going to be easy. As she scooted toward the door, Masahrio opened it for her. "I'll be here when you are all done. Take all the time you need." he finished as she stepped out of the carriage. He quickly shut the door behind her and looked forward, his mouth opening to speak while she was walking away. Her steps were slow, so he needed to be discrete in his words. "Everything is set? Agent Zero is in position?" he spoke, into the headset microphone he had placed in his ear.
"Yes sir, she's in for a surprise." said Noboru laughing at the end of it. Masahiro had a select few individuals in the reserves for doing things that were against standard morals of the land. While he would have appreciated his entire corporation having the ability to do things such as this, well, when you work in the middle of a military state you gotta put up with sub-standard employees.
Hana knocked on the door a few times, but there was no answer. She frowned more intensely and then reach up to turn the knob, but it appeared to be jammed. Then, she realized that to was actually ajar and pushed it slowly. It swung ajar with a loud creak, but she was focused on the small puddle of red liquid on the ground in front of her. Fear consumed her expression as she crouched and ran her fingers through it. It wasn't dried. She looked to her right and left in fright and then noticed the kitchen was literally torn apart. "Why aren't the ninjas here..." she asked herself out loud. Little did she know that Noboru had set up a scrambler when they were ransacking the place.
She left the kitchen to follow the trail of blood that ran across the tile onto the carpet. As soon as she turned the corner, she froze. Her eyes were on the mutilated body of her father, face down on the couch. Then there was a thud to her left. She jumped in fear and her trembling eyes fell upon the assailant. None other than the Raikage himself. Hana was unsure of what to do, a mixture of confusion, sadness, fear, and rage all mixed in side of her. Tears began to stream down her face. "Whhhyyyy!?" she cried, falling to her knees, face in her hands. The wailing was far louder than the time with Haruka.
The man with the glasses stepped forward, and crouched, putting his hand on the small girls shoulder. "You were supposed to be mine, your parents gave you to someone else." he said. Hana froze, the words lingering in her mind. "You are coming with me." he said, grabbing onto one of her arms firmly.
"No!" she screamed, throwing his hand off of her. Hand-signs weaved together like any true jounin and Shin was sent flying backward through the wall, making a rather sizable hole. Blood was visibly running down his arms and legs as he crawled back through the hole. "Not gonna go quietly, come on, I tried to be friendly." he jested with a definitely evil smile. Hana's glare was steady, and her hands were ready. One step too close, and she had him floating in the air with gravity jutsu. "Impressive trick, I'll be happy when you are using your skills for the good of Kumogakure."
"Kumo as evil! And so are you..." she said softly then suddenly unleashed the a massive fireball straight at him, inside of which was a gravitational push that would send him through the roof. The house caught fire, and Hana just stood their watching. Masahiro ran inside with a frightful look and began to pull her away. "We need to go Hana, we'll have a ceremony for your parents later, we need to get you safe from whoever did this." he said in a quite a believable actors voice. Hana seemed to shut herself away as the man picked her up and carried her away to the carriage...
Meanwhile, Hayata Shin laid on the street, bloody and looking up at the faces of strangers wondering what had happened. "You people are all so useless." he said, before standing and making his exit without a trace.
It was a silent ride back to the headquarters, Masahiro didn't dare speak to the girl who blasted half of a house away. No, it was her who spoke first. "It was-- it was the Raikage. He said he had come to take me away." she said in a seemingly emotionless tone. Masahiro sighed, as a voice chimed in his headset.
"Tomomi has reported in sir, she said to give the kid a compliment for such destruction. Crazy bitch also wants to know how her acting was." Masahiro had to restrain a smile. He shifted across and sat next to Hana, placing an arm around her shoulder.
"We're going to keep you safe--" she started, but we immediately cut short by Hana.
"I'll keep myself safe."
The man in the suit smiled from ear to ear. This was just the response he was hoping for...
1 month before Ascension...
Southern Construction Station
Former Acreage of Hideki Isao
…1500 Hours
"Steady! Steady!! Less tension in the back!" called the landing crew. The words "Flying Dutchman" were painted on the back of the slowly lower ship. It was being directed via ropes into what appeared to be a cradle of sorts. The crew worked steadily as several worked at the site stopped to watch the amazing feat. Yuna stood aboard her ship, looking down at a face she had grown acquainted to in the time she had been making trips for Titan. "Hoy Taro." she called with a smile on her face.
The engineer waved his hand lazily as he spoke to one of the shift captains. There was a creaking of wood under stress until the vessel touched down onto land once again. "All right boys, hoist the nets and get this crap off me ship." she ordered with a jolly smile before tossing a rope ladder down the side and climbing her way down to talk to the man. "How're things going 'ere ground side. Everyting on schedule?"
"For the most part, you're making good time on your deliveries and that keeps the men busy. But I'm having trouble getting materials for the text two vessels. How's she been holding up? Not running low on power I hope?" he questioned, turning to face her.
"Aye, seems to be goin' well up der. She turns like shit, but not like we got icebergs to avoid." she said with a single laugh. "Just one more shipment and we be ready."
"That's good, we're coming to the end I guess. Hopefully I'll have the next two units installed by the time you get back." he continued with a frown. Yuna smiled and nudge him with an elbow.
"What are ye even doing up here, I tought dey had some guy managin these folks." she asked.
"After the second cave in, I decided it was time someone who knew what the fuck they were doing was put in charge."
"Since when did you become 'n expert at minin?"
"Last night."
Yuna shook her head and looked back at her crew off loading the dozens of crates of TNT, leaning her butt against the work bench for support. "You really think this is gonna work?" she asked. Taro stood up and moved next to her in the same fashion and shrugged.
"I've done the calculations. Technically it should. But if there is one thing I've learned not to underestimate it's mother nature's unpredictability. Besides, the Dutchman's a prime example of the technology working. It'll work." he said with confidence.
3 weeks before Ascension...
Administration Wing
Aesculapium
…0300 Hours
"Do you ever wanna catch me...I'm feeling ignored..." Hex's head bobbed along to make believe music playing in her head. The halls around her were empty for the most part, and should the stray late night worker show up, she was in a lab coat looking all professional. She'd already said hello to two of the cleaning crews and no mishaps yet. She was on her way to the big bad wolf's office, the one place that was sure to have what she needed. Not being from Kumogakure, she didn't really know the whole situation with the branches and the new sennin. Though the people they had on the inside, which weren't many especially inside of the medical branch, had noted that there had been a recent change in leadership. Whether that was good or bad was yet to be seen.
"What do we need here, is a little bit of panic~" she sang along, skipping to the beat in her head. She turned the corner and found her prize, a door with the name Kaguya Daisuke on it. "Jackpot!" she exclaimed and hurried over to the door with a giddy little smile. Hand on the knob, it didn't budge. "Drats! Locked, however will I get through a locked door?" she pouted, pulling out the Tomikan bolter from her belt. "Look's like I'll just have to go back home." she sighed, pulling the trigger. BAM! "Oh my! It just opened up on it's own! I better go make sure there aren't any intruders!" she called with a hysterical laugh. "God I'm funny~"
Pushing the door open, she skipped her way to his desk. The room was nice and orderly. Hex hated nice and orderly. "We'll have to fix that later. First on the list is...." she looked at writing on her hand. "Find the 'kinjutsu list'. Whatever that is." she said with a sigh and began to pull draws out from the desk. If they were locked, well, she would employ the same tactic as earlier. Drawer after drawer and no such luck. "Ugh are you serious, I have to go through the file cabinets?" she whined and cringed. She was already bored out of her mind. She looked down at the piles of papers on the desk. "What if I missed it, I'll be here all night..."
It took another fifteen minutes, but after the near death experience of boredom, Hex discovered she had missed it and cheered happily when she found it. "All right, let's get out of here. But first... I'll leave the sennin a present!" she giggled. From beneath the lab coat she took out four of her iconic grenades. She stepped out of the room and pulled the pins with one hand and threw them inside, and dashed quickly down the hall to the other end. Shooting her way into another office, she broke the window and hopped outside just in time for the four explosives to go HAM inside the sennin's office.
There was an innate darkness in everyone but sometimes something worse just got put there. In this case it was the cursed seals that plagued two people of the Cloud Village. The Demon Sage Akkuma came here and left his mark on the fellow villagers scarring them for life. “Doku” would never come to trust another foreigner he’d be more skeptical and more on edge each time. That was an understatement for the man who took his eye. However that man had now been identified although the shell was something foreign. Then there was the simple child Meka an idiot.
She had fallen for Akkuma and she barely knew him. Meka clung to his existence barely moving since the demon Sage had left the gates. She wanted to keep the seal until her “brother” came back. If he came back he’d meet a swift death at the hands of Yuuto. She’d probably go insane at that point too losing all sense of reality if it wasn’t already gone. Just what did he do that made her shift her mind so much? How did he change her so quickly? The Demon Sage was still plaguing Yuuto, if one thing was sure he’d definitely left his mark.
How could he criticize the man? Yuu had done something similar and foolish as well taking on the destructive power of the Cursed Seals. He wanted to engrave himself experience what it was and now the runic sigils had taken form stretching over him far greater than their initial sealing. It was painful but still not as bad as when they were first done. To think none of this would have ever happened if he never joined fell into desperation to Uza. Did that demon even have control over his family or was that all a lie? In a week he’d be fighting his first Primordial Lord, and it could very well be his last day alive.
The weight of responsibility and the pressure of his decisions were beginning to get to him torturing his every thought. The plague of fighting for something greater than you was just too much sometimes. At least for a twenty year old barely able to go on an Anbu mission without feeling weighed down during the task. Everything was just too much and he needed air not this stabbing nightmare in his head. He’d walk out of the hallway heading away from the patient’s rooms. The halls were so quiet you’d be able to hear a coin drop like it was on a speaker. There were a few staff members prowling the halls, the security light as usual. He’d wave to some people he saw signaling his leave from the building. Maybe I just need some fresh air… and a little relaxation.
Yuuto pulled out a small object. It looked like a hand rolled cigarette but the contents were something completely different. An urban herb grown in the mountains that brought a cool sense of ease and relaxation to the mind and body. Some said an urban legend others praised it like a drug. Yuu himself was in the middle an occasional user. A flame would extend from his finger as he lit the paper and began to inhale the smoke. His exhale was like magic forming an ‘o’ shape as he played with it. It was then that something blared from inside the office. As if by reaction he activated his third eye tracking the any aura signatures. It didn’t seem like anyone was dying or laid out, then he caught a glimpse of a single person fleeing from a side close by. Clearly this person knew something and Yuuto could not waste time.
He darted after the mysterious person never breaking stride. On the way he formed handseals to summon an Umbra Serpent (Ebony Nightmare). With his amazing talent for summoning jutsu, he was able to summon two of them at the same time. Both creatures went full speed ahead traveling through the tree lines with ease. Emerald flames would spew from their mouths a distance ahead of the runner to make them stop. They should have known better by now, a cloud shinobi was always near by.
”So mind telling me, why you set of a bomb in the Hospital not to hurt anyone but to do damage? Who are you and what do you want?” The words were simple and any moves were entirely up to the mystery assailant.
While a person who valued strategy and the mind game would simply deny involvement. After all, Hex had not seen the man directly in her escape so for all intents and purposes she might have looked like a fleeing victim. But, our darling blue haired bandit was not this type of person. No, Hex was the type to spray paint her name on the wall of her destructive pieces of art. In fact, during her run through the trees she was cursing herself for not doing so!
But in her idle thought, she was nearly engulfed in the green flame that was being spit out by the. Skidding to a stop on the backs of her heels, she stared at the creatures with a disapproving frown, stomping her feet. "Here I though I made a clean getaway!" Turning around to face the man on her tail, she folded her arms across her nonexistent bust and shook her head. He had things to say, and she had places to go. A combination that Hex hardly liked to deal with.
"Well for some fun of course! Taking some silly old papers is BORingggg!" she exclaimed. Next came the proud smile. She was never really allowed to introduce when chased down. It was always, shoot first, ask questions later. "Why don't you just call me Fourty-seven for now; maybe I'll give you my name if you play your cards right." she enticed with a wink, believing without a doubt that she was in control of the situation. "As for what I want, well... I've already got what I came for." She said, waving the few pieces of paper in the air. "Gonna be a good man and let the lady go? Or are we gonna have to get... physical..." she concluded with a menacing tease. Normally she would have just aimed for his head and pulled the trigger, but she was specifically ordered not to kill anyone on this mission. One of the few reasons she hated taking jobs within the village walls. So all that was left was to stall long enough for either back up to arrive, or to maybe convince the guy to let her go.
She was remarkably sarcastic and childish stomping her foot as she exclaimed that she almost got away. She was confident definitely, the woman though that she would get by with her antics. She had stolen some papers probably sensitive documents on people or patients. She was too giddy in her response, clearly she had something up her sleeve or she was just one screw loose. The woman claimed her name was 47 before making some odd pass at Yuuto. He smirked for a moment not wanting to play any games but not wanting to give her reason to believe she had something over on him.
"Nice to meet your 47, I'm Masaru Yuuto and whatever you took I'm gonna need you to return. See people who have permission don't blow up rooms in the hospital. So there's that.." He'd begin to observe the forest a bit with his third eye while keeping the other two focused on her. The split vision still not perfect but definitely helping. There were no other energy signatures yet if this woman was solo she was probably a top operative. However this entire operation was just sloppy. The two serpents began to circle the area around Yuuto and 47 trying to block off the perimeter.
She had the papers and they were small but definitely had to be worth some form of effort. She asked if they would have to get physical with one another, assuming that Yuuto would just let her go. He smiled some more before opening a black pool of shadows. He'd reach in pulling out a sword with a skull design prepping for a battle. "Now as convenient as that would be for you 47, you know I can't let you go. You can be a good girl and give back what you took. You could be 20% cooler if you told me why you took it too."
He brandished a fancy sword from the depths of the shadows and Hex's eyes took on a slightly psychotic glint. The large red orbs peered down at the shining blade in the light of the moon and focused on it. "Fancy trick!" she giggled and her vision shifted rapidly onto his eyes. "But If I kill you that means Hex has been a bad girl and I'm gonna get in trouble. How about we make a deal! I tell you just what I am doing, and you can let me go, kay!?" she replied in a very excited manner. "After all, these ARE just pieces of paper, I'm sure there are plenty of copies if they came from the sennin's office. Gotta be important, right?"
Meanwhile, Tomomi awoke from her sleep to the sound reverberating from the radio that was on the desk in front of her. It was the exchange of conversation coming from Hex and Yuuto. "Awh shit, what'd she do this time." grunted the other woman, shoving the chair to the side to open the window. Currently located a few blocks from the hospital, Tomomi threw on her personal headset and dropped down to the ground a few stories below her. She began a slow walk towards the escape route that had been planned by the pair, from the sound of things, it didn't seem like she needed to hurry.
She started to get excited. She was coming off like a psycho wench and she probably got off on the threat of battle. She claimed she would kill Yuuto, how cocky she was. He was already thinking about the first six moves he'd use to lock her down and then overtake her. He'd rip the very soul from her if given the chance. However it seemed that the woman began to have a change of heart relaxing herself but retaining the excitement in her voice. She wanted a deal, information for release. Yuuto smiled at her pleasantly while allowing her to finish her sentence.
"Wonderful deal but allow me to make a counter offer. You hand over what you took, and then I let you go to an interrogation room, instead of calling more shiobi here to ensure you get put into the ground. You're on my territory lady I'm sure I can arrange that." His face didn't change much as he kept the pleasant smile on his face. Although he could have easily agreed to her terms, he doubted that she'd let the info go that easily. Having had enough time to assess the situation further, Yuuto brought up a seal summoning ten shadow bodies (Corpse Soil). They were dark emitting pure black energy.
One of the Shadow corpses would move forward to the woman holding out it's hand for the papers. He hoped she'd surrender the documents not making this matter even worse. If she didn't realize it by now she could take the time to realize that he had set up twelve additional allies. If Yuuto wanted to he could summon clones to top things off, and overwhelm her. She'd likely have to start breaking out the tricks but it wouldn't be enough to get away at this point. "Just hand them over 47, we can work something out. It's not too late yet you haven't hurt anyone."
Hex listened to his words, hoping that he would comply. Unfortunately, the childish whining and pout that followed his words signaled that he wasn't for her little deal and instead was just going to take it all and make her go to an interrogation room! What a horrible idea! Then he had to go and summon the goons of the underworld to top it off. Her eyes and senses opened up to the world around her. She was becoming serious...
"For someone with so much power, you sure off showing me all the tricks you have up your sleeve. Not to smart on your part. In fact, this list pertains to your little parlor trick." she said, holding the list up in front of her face. A very real danger, taking vision off of a potential threat. But Hex wasn't worried. He was the one who was showing his hand, if he was going to attack he would have already. Then again, this perhaps was the chance he was waiting for.
"If you think I'm some foolish girl with a love for fun, you'd be right. But that doesn't mean I'm ignorant." she continued, her snapshot jutsu going off silently. "I'll give you these. But I have no interest in acquiring time in an interrogation room. Not that you could get me to say anything~" she said with a smile. The look in her eye said she wasn't bluffing. Besides the fact that Titan agents were trained for it, she just loved all things kinky.
"Or I can burn them. And with his office in tatters, you'll never know what I've picked up." she winked. "So what's it gonna be? I'm open to more... negotiation. I'm not planning on hurting anyone, because you are a reasonable person are you not?"
She was beginning to become serious. This was good, she was going to reveal little by little about her objective. She started off chastising Yuuto about his hand. His smile did not waver, it was quite simple that she was trying to unnerve but 47 would find that it was not so easy. She said that the list there pertained to his parlor trick that was when his face changed to that of something more questionable. He was intrigued now by the list she stole but if she was referring to the Dark Techniques then he had something to hold over her as she did him.
She was smart though, as she believed there was a check in her words. She was short of the mate however. Sliding into a safer position but one that would still leave him vulnerable Yuuto responded. "You misunderstand me, an interrogation room is for gaining information. You won't sell out your people that's fine, you've already given me what you sought. You've also revealed a little about yourself but not much." He'd keep his composure but the smile was not there anymore they could both agree that the conversation was hitting it's apex.
47 then threatened to burn the documents and claimed that she'd burn them keeping Yuuto from finding out what it was that she was doing. He cocked his head to the side wondering if she'd do that. It must have meant that she'd knew running was out of the option at this point. She'd have to fight her way out and chances of that were slim however something she said had intrigued him and brought back flashes of Akkuma. "You can burn them but then we'd both be out of answers. You claim that the list in your hand reveals my parlor tricks? I urge you to read the list of whatever, I can guarantee you won't find my name on there. Masaru Yuuto go ahead look it up. The only two people who know the true nature of my techniques are Hayata Shin and that man has not made a report. Miroku Akkuma a criminal in my eyes and a nemesis I will kill. He and I have similar skill sets and this dark nature is not one of my choice. Now I wonder why would you get a list about dark techniques? He had mentioned to me before about Kumo's shady dealings in this department. Shinobi are full of dirty secrets but these things..." He'd pause for a moment glancing down at his chest where the marks from the seal had been rising.
Yuuto brandished his hand rolled herb and began to re-light with a small ember. He'd take a quick drag and blow the smoke out before extending his hand. "You didn't hurt anyone, and you don't want to hurt anyone right? If you did then you'd have taken out all those night shifts on your way up. You blew up Daisuke's office big deal he'll get another one together. However this list you have I want to see it. How about a trade. I promise not to attack you if you don't attack me. Let me see the list and I'll let you borrow this. If that's not good enough for you how about no calls, no reinforcements if we have a civil conversation. I think that list and why you want it interest me more than a silly battle." He was offering mountain herb, who wouldn't love it? Only a square and this lady didn't seem like one. However the biggest mystery was what she took and why. If this could give him leads to what Akkuma was really talking about then this could bring him a new insight. 47 was becoming an interesting player in this entire scenario.
As his smile disappeared, she lowered her hand to look at him as he spoke. Things were getting meaty!
"Masaru Yuuto go ahead and look it up." she said, confident that what she said was a lie. While it was true that she simply know that the list was about kinjutsu, and his technique was similar to that of a particular kinjutsu and put two together, what happened next was quite a surprise. As she resumed looking at the list, she kept attentive on the words that continued to come out of his mouth. Her search for his name stopped short when he mentioned the name Akkuma.
"Akkuma?" she began, thinking back to that night she was sent to... strike a deal with him. That was quite the night. It brought her smile back, her pearly whites flashing towards Yuuto as he spoke about their skill sets and how similar they were. There was a moment where he stopped talking and Hex took that moment to speak on Akkuma. "The man you spoke of, the criminal, he can't die just yet. But if you seek his death after I am done with him, I might be able to help you out in arranging that." she said, throwing another bid into the pot of goodies.
Her eyes went back to the list to search for his name, flipping over a page, and then another as he continued to speak. Whether it seemed disrespectful or not, Hex was now just hoping to find his name so she could come out as a victor in that regard. After all, he spoke so highly of himself being able to avoid whatever was on the list.
Once again, a proposition was put forward. One that she normally would have refused. However her smile grew even wider as her eyes found something on the list. "Sure, why not!" she said with a devious grin. Hex walking towards him, her hands out before her. One to hand him the documents, and the other to receive this... herb. If he was honorable, it would be given to her, and she would bring it to her lips and slowly draw out the smoke. She was relishing in victory. Underneath the header "Watch List" Masaru Yuuto would find his name recently written in.
47 was scratching for a lead on Yuuto. He didn't think she would find one but it seemed she had a response prepared as usual. Akkuma apparently was someone she knew and someone she could not allow to die. His fist clenched for a moment until she told him that it could be arranged. She wasn't hurting anyone and clearly wanted info. She could just be trying to expose the truth which honestly wouldn't be too bad. He could learn to like this little lady if she became this cooperative more often. It was a great turn around she finally accepted the bargain. 47 Gave up searching, and took the herb with a glorious drag. She was seeming better, and Yuuto could look through the file.
However the page she was on immediately gave his eyes a double take. His face had changed becoming more serious. It said "Watch List" and his name was the newest addition. Shin didn't care about this being a curse he was to be collected at the end of his time or seen as a threat. There was a bit of anger that coursed through him. For one these techniques weren't genetics so poking through his body wouldn't give them much. Instead he'd be better with discussing it with him. Shin took the effort to write his name down in a list but not collect people like Akkuma or Hoshikata. He was being slightly irrational and he knew it but it sucked. To be labeled as a "Potential" without even being informed. Yuuto began to track back looking through the files looking for one name in particular.
He found the name Kushin, a high ranking medical official with a spotty history for cruel public methods. He was sadistic in this report and they viewed him as a iron fist. Someone like this was allowed more privilege than they should have been given but he was. It made sense the village would collect their dead and examine them but did the families know? Was their even a choice given? It's one thing to treat your enemies like items, but your villagers? It felt wrong for some reason. Why did they need to be taken apart when there was centuries of research on people's origins? It was understandable if they were one of a kind but this seemed like any dead body was good for desecration. Yuuto sighed before grasping the bridge of his nose. He needed to know more and he wasn't going to get answers from the higher ups. He needed to meet with 47's people and get some concrete answers on why they wanted this.
"Wow, I definitely didn't see this coming. 47 I was wrong, I'll give you that. I need you to do something else for me. Take me to your employer, I want answers on what this is and how much they know. Please do this for me and I'll let everything that happened be by-gones." Right now answers about Kumogakure's potential corrupt policies and secrets would be something invaluable to him something that he'd need far beyond any measure of meaningless battle. Not to mention he knew nothing about this woman but she was confirming things he'd never heard of before. It was one of those moments where you were so lost you needed any answers to lead you to the right route. One that you could form on your own mind and not the mind of your commanders.
While Yuuto toiled over what had been revealed to him, Hex was happy with the little bit of mountain herb that she had been given. She was relaxing, and that was something that was nearly impossible for her. Despite how they met, Hex was liking this young man! She wasn't the type to hold grudges nor remember past events for the most part. With her it was the next gig, the next job.
It seemed that the next gig was going to be taking Yuuto to meet up with her boss, at least that's what he wanted. But by this point, she was getting tired of him using her assigned number and that took priority. "First of all, just call me Hex or Blue. Secondly, under the circumstances I can't just take you to see him! You gotta have an appointment and he needs time to do his fancy schmancy espionage thing on your past before he would meet with you. Now, I'll give my good word of course, but it's up to him. Why don't you... give me your number," she winked once again. "And I'll give you a call when he's ready to meet, or maybe when I'm feeling lonely..."
She smiled and batted her eyelashes. "Oh, and are you gonna keep that list? I might get in trouble if I don't bring it along. Think of it as a sign of trust!" she finished. No doubt the man would hand it back, a smart move on his part. Hex took the final drag of his herb and then skipped past him humming her usual tune. "I'll see ya around!"
1 week before Ascension...
Cell Block G
Tarterian Specus
…2100 Hours
A guard walked with purpose through the halls, each step in those boots reverberated as an echo in the cells nearby. A familiar grin played on his face, one seen only by the few people who had the privilege of working with him. It had been a long day, so most of the guards were tired and ready for the changing of the guard; busy with packing up their gear and checking on convicts. Our guard however was on a mission to a very specific cell. When he arrived, he turned very officialy and looking inside the cell to the pair of prisoners inside. "Yamane Kinuyo. You are coming with me. Step forward inmate." he said in a very...peculiar tone. The Demon Maid did so with a frown and put her hands through the hole in the bars. A pair of handcuffs were put on her and the door opened to let her out.
The guard pushed her forward to a space between the cells and then left close to her neck. She gasped in surprise and then growled, as if he were going to molest her. No doubt that happened to these prisoners. Instead what he said was quite opposite of what she was expecting. "Listen to what I say, and do whatever I say and you may walk out of here alive." The young woman looked back at the guard in confusion and was pushed forward again. "I said move it inmate!" he shouted, shoving her forward again. Kinuyo begrudgingly moved forward. Even if this was a escape he didn't have to be a dick about it.
Their walk was in silence for a while, up some stairs, checking in at guard stations until they finally reached a supply closet in which she was directed. Inside she found the body of another guard, one whom looked exactly like the man who was escorting her. "Who the hell are you?" she asked. He laughed and shook his head, crouching down to pick up one of the man's hands.
"Give me your arm." he ordered. The demon maid hesitated and the fake guard glared at her.
"Don't pin this on me." she demanded.
"Do you wanna rot here the rest of your life? Or get out? We can get you out of the country with a new identity." he responded coldly. He was lying, but she didn't know that. Reluctantly she put her arm forward, and the man scraped the dead man's nails along her skin. He'd then take the handcuffs off of her and throw them on the body.
"What about the collar?" she asked.
"We'll take it off at our facility where we can disable it safely. Now keep close." he ordered and then left the closet with her following close by. The nameless guard checked his watch. "5 minutes... Right on schedule." he thought with a smile. He approached the final check station with a smile and entered, signalling subtly for her to remain out of sight. "Ready to head on home guys, been a long day." he said before dropping the sleeping grenade. In a matter of moments, the rest of them were asleep and he had kept the nearest guard from triggering an alarm. Instead, our hero hit the switch to open up the gates prematurely and the pair left silently.
There was only one guard waiting on the outside, but he was quickly silenced by a blow to the head to knock him out. They were home free...
Later...
Titan Laboratory
Kumo's Business District
…0100 Hours
"Why did you take him from me..." Kinuye said in a lifeless tone. "I only wanted to serve him..."
Our guard had reverted back to her original form with a hysterical laugh. "You don't deserve power if you are caught by those imbecile shinobi of Kumogakure. He's gonna be made to serve us now!" Tomomi exclaimed with passion.
"Don't antagonize her. Hurry and put her out of her misery so we can get this thing packed up and out of the village." said Kitami. Looking down at the ground he nodded his head in pride. "I must say, this has got to be one of the best seals I've drawn in a while."
Tomomi rolled her eyes as her arm transformed into a cannon, aiming at the woman who was in chains at the center of the sorcerers circle of exorcism. "You and your fancy magic got nothing on sheer power." claimed Tomomi, whose cannon fired a rail of energy through the center of Kinuye's head, rendering her inert immediately.
"Yea yea, come on. Let's pack up and head out. Boss wants us there ASAP." concluded Kitami who was throwing straps over a very large piece of cargo. Tomomi frowned and slowly made her way over to help...
Central Power Station
Olympus Underbelly
…1300 Hours
Two men stood before a behemoth of a machine while an entire team who stood on scaffolding worked away. The large metallic structure seemed to be partially hollow; there were welding torches shining from within grates on all sides of the massive structure. A small team of inspects were slowly making their way around it, checking welds, wires, and rivets against the blueprints they carried around. The sounds of jack hammers and air compressors reverberated through the cavern. There was a constant dust that never seemed to settle down, even with the filtration system they had first installed once the main chamber was mined out. Shouts from workers seemed to echo every so often, but after months of work, everyone appeared to have gotten used to the atmosphere.
"A week or two and it will be ready for operation. Of course, you'll need a power source, that of which I cannot provide for you." said the tall, rather handsome looking man: Taro. A few moments passed by before the dark and brooding one responded.
"I have agents working on acquiring more of that was we speak. You'll have all the chakra you need for start-up. We are so close to achieving what we set out long ago. I'm glad you stayed in Lightning to assist us Tomikan-san."
"There isn't a home for me to return to. It was thanks to you I got my father back and have a place to stay. I just hope this work out, cause if it doesn't... Well." That sentence didn't need to be finished. If this didn't work exactly as planned, a global disaster was likely to occur. It would basically be the first man made earthquake in the history of the world. "But don't you go worrying yourself about that. After all, my math is never wrong." he said in a very cocky manner, though, a momentary look of worry did flash across his face.
3 months before Ascension...
The Happy Unicorn
Port Cirrus
…2100 Hours
The tavern was alive with drinking and storytelling alike, but in one dark corner sat a dark skinned female along with a man and a woman. Between them sat two large mugs of ale, the third (in front of the man), a small glass of water. Everyone around them appeared to be engrossed in their own affairs to notice the types of subjects they were bringing up.
"I be walk'n about and one of me mates just hands me dis letter with instructions to meet some strangas 'ere with a job proposition. So what can I do you fer?" said the dark woman. The silver haired man looked to his companion who was in the middle of a swig and smiled. It looked like he would be doing the talking.
"Captain Yuna, thank you for meeting us. First of all, we'd like to make a request that sounds like a bit of a stretch." he started. Yuna quickly rolled her eyes.
"You wouldn' believe me if me told you how many times I hear that. Go on, give it yer best shot." she jabbed with a chuckle. Hato frowned slightly and realized his usual tact wouldn't be useful here. A look was sent from Tori as if saying 'I told you so.'
"Well all right. We need one hundred tons of TNT, and we need it discretely."
She nearly spit out her drink as her expression went from smiles to a look of disbelief. "Impossible. I may be de greatest smuggla in all the seas, but even guards notice patterns. I can't be comin inta port regularly wit da exact same shipment, raises flags."
Hato smiled. Normally a man whose request was told impossible would be disheartened, but, he had his contingency plan. "What if we could get you a ship that allows you to bypass the ports and come straight to us." he said with a very confident smile. Yuna looked perplexed, so Tori who had been listening the whole time and finally decided to chime in. "You should really consider this. It'll be the most powerful vessel in the sea... and the skies."
Her skepticism was anticipated. "I'm supposta just expect ya to give me dis ere ship for free?" she asked. "In exchange for da shipments yes?"
Hato smiled. "Yes that is correct, but we also have another question. How would you like to have your own armada of these vessels. We would bring you in as the commander of our Navy. Titan's Navy." he suggested. This was their real plan. It was hard to believe that in all of Titan there existed no sailors they believed were up to stuff. The stories of captain Yuna were well circulated amongst those in the ocean going community. Most were exaggerated, but the administration was interested none the less.
"I don't like bein' tied to rules and laws." the dark skinned woman quickly replied with a stern look in her eye. Tori quickly nodded her head and gestured with her hands.
"Neither do we. You'd be free to run off wherever and do whatever you like as long as you protect Titan interests from time to time. Just come on home when you are called, and make Olympus your home port."
"Olympus?" questioned Yuna. Hato smirked and lowered his head given Tori a look. She wasn't supposed to mention that.
"That is hard to explain, but we need the TNT to get Olympus operational. Can we count on you?"
Yuna looked down at her half empty mug, ready to walk away. It did all sound too good to be true. However, the way the pair spoke didn't sound anything like a falsehood. They believed their words. After being a pirate for so long, one gets to know how to read people and their intentions. And they seemed full invested in what they were asking. Still, 100 tons of TNT wasn't going to be easy. "You show me this ship of yours and we might have ourselves a deal."
Hato and Tori looked to each other with small smiles. "Then please."
"Follow us." finished Tori with style.
2 1/2 months before Ascension...
Titan Laboratory
Kumo's Business District
…1000 Hours
Hana looked onward from behind the glass, her best friend laying on the table with a bunch of scientists around her. The small child was accompanied by her handler. Concern danced across her face as people would get in the way of being able to see Haruka's face. One of the female doctors turned to the intercom and spoke into it. "We're going to start the procedure now. Want to say anything?" she asked. Hana quickly nodded her head and lifted herself up on the tops of her toes to speak into the microphone. She had been growing, but not as quickly as most girls.
"Be strong Haruka-chan! I'm gonna give you a big hug when you get out of there!" she called. Haruka smiled from behind the breathing apparatus and rose her hand to give a wave. Slowly her hand fell to the table and the procedure began. A man stood over her, his eyes closed. "Be strong... I hope you fare better than the others..."
Hours had passed, and Hana was asleep with her head on the handlers lap. Behind the glass the lead scientist stepped back with a sigh and one of his hands moved to rub his temples. He looked over to Kitami. "It's impossible to save both of them. You would only create two insane individuals with half of their soul-- per say. If you have any chance of retaining a sane individual as an asset, you have to pick, otherwise your going to have half wits in a mental institution." he spoke in a very tired manner. After trying every technique known to them, it was down to this. Kitami had been right, about the regenerative abilities of the young woman. Most people died within the first hour, but somehow she still lived on.Prior to the opreation said:
Kitami frowned, but his decision was made. Anyone could see it in his eyes. He had orders. The lead scientist looked passed him to the brightly adorned child. "What are we going to tell her?"
"Tell her Haruka passed on, is in a better place, was reincarnated, whatever." he said coldly.
"Haruka has been there for alot of her time here. She isn't going to handle it well."
"The boss wants her other half. Do it, and deal with the consequences after." spoke the sorcerer who then quickly left the room. Soon, the procedure continued...
Minutes later, Kitami popped his head back in the door. "Don't worry about Hana. The boss said he'll talk to her personally. Carry on!" he chimed, quite happily. A concerned look crossed the teams face, and then they went forward with plan F.
Later that day...
Titan Laboratory
Kumo's Business District
…1830 Hours
"They did everything they could Hana. They aren't to blame." explained Masahiro. Hana's tears continued to drip onto his slacks which he seemed rather concerned about, though the crying girl before him wouldn't be able to tell in her distress.
"W-why did you make her do that!?" she cried, sucking in air as best she could. Her small hands were grasped around the fabric of his suit.
"She asked us if we could try. She had a monster inside of her, one that she wanted out of her. Haruka-san knew the risks going into the operation." he tried to explain rationally.
"She wouldn't j-just abandon me... why-- why was there a monster!? Who put it there!? She wailed and whined. Masahiro sighed and ran a hand through her hair. So easy to manipulate children.
"The monster was put inside of her by the village. They will do anything to people as long as they can control them. That's why I asked you to come here and work with us. I didn't want them getting their hands on you and putting a monster inside of you either." he finished, pulling her head close to his chest, comforting her; being that friend she needed at that moment. Hana continued to mourn for a while before she slowly quieted down and whimpered slightly.
"Why would they do that?"
"The people of the shinobi corps are just pawns to the administration. They infect people's bodies with forbidden jutsu all the time, and I even heard that cursed seals are being given to students now. The survival rate is low even for adult when it comes to cursed seals. They are willing to kill you and let you be killed. But don't you worry. I'm not going to let them do that to you."
"I wanna go home..." she said softly. Masahiro only patted her on the head, no response. He was calculating just what he was going to do now. His thoughts quickly went to his newest asset, and a dark smile appeared on his face...
2 months before Ascension...
Mori Residence
Seki District
…1200 Hours
"Well go on, I know it's been a while, but they are your parents, they'll love you nonetheless."
Hana sniffled and wiped her nose. Her thoughts were always on Haruka, and coming home to where they spent so much time together wasn't going to be easy. As she scooted toward the door, Masahrio opened it for her. "I'll be here when you are all done. Take all the time you need." he finished as she stepped out of the carriage. He quickly shut the door behind her and looked forward, his mouth opening to speak while she was walking away. Her steps were slow, so he needed to be discrete in his words. "Everything is set? Agent Zero is in position?" he spoke, into the headset microphone he had placed in his ear.
"Yes sir, she's in for a surprise." said Noboru laughing at the end of it. Masahiro had a select few individuals in the reserves for doing things that were against standard morals of the land. While he would have appreciated his entire corporation having the ability to do things such as this, well, when you work in the middle of a military state you gotta put up with sub-standard employees.
Hana knocked on the door a few times, but there was no answer. She frowned more intensely and then reach up to turn the knob, but it appeared to be jammed. Then, she realized that to was actually ajar and pushed it slowly. It swung ajar with a loud creak, but she was focused on the small puddle of red liquid on the ground in front of her. Fear consumed her expression as she crouched and ran her fingers through it. It wasn't dried. She looked to her right and left in fright and then noticed the kitchen was literally torn apart. "Why aren't the ninjas here..." she asked herself out loud. Little did she know that Noboru had set up a scrambler when they were ransacking the place.
She left the kitchen to follow the trail of blood that ran across the tile onto the carpet. As soon as she turned the corner, she froze. Her eyes were on the mutilated body of her father, face down on the couch. Then there was a thud to her left. She jumped in fear and her trembling eyes fell upon the assailant. None other than the Raikage himself. Hana was unsure of what to do, a mixture of confusion, sadness, fear, and rage all mixed in side of her. Tears began to stream down her face. "Whhhyyyy!?" she cried, falling to her knees, face in her hands. The wailing was far louder than the time with Haruka.
The man with the glasses stepped forward, and crouched, putting his hand on the small girls shoulder. "You were supposed to be mine, your parents gave you to someone else." he said. Hana froze, the words lingering in her mind. "You are coming with me." he said, grabbing onto one of her arms firmly.
"No!" she screamed, throwing his hand off of her. Hand-signs weaved together like any true jounin and Shin was sent flying backward through the wall, making a rather sizable hole. Blood was visibly running down his arms and legs as he crawled back through the hole. "Not gonna go quietly, come on, I tried to be friendly." he jested with a definitely evil smile. Hana's glare was steady, and her hands were ready. One step too close, and she had him floating in the air with gravity jutsu. "Impressive trick, I'll be happy when you are using your skills for the good of Kumogakure."
"Kumo as evil! And so are you..." she said softly then suddenly unleashed the a massive fireball straight at him, inside of which was a gravitational push that would send him through the roof. The house caught fire, and Hana just stood their watching. Masahiro ran inside with a frightful look and began to pull her away. "We need to go Hana, we'll have a ceremony for your parents later, we need to get you safe from whoever did this." he said in a quite a believable actors voice. Hana seemed to shut herself away as the man picked her up and carried her away to the carriage...
Meanwhile, Hayata Shin laid on the street, bloody and looking up at the faces of strangers wondering what had happened. "You people are all so useless." he said, before standing and making his exit without a trace.
It was a silent ride back to the headquarters, Masahiro didn't dare speak to the girl who blasted half of a house away. No, it was her who spoke first. "It was-- it was the Raikage. He said he had come to take me away." she said in a seemingly emotionless tone. Masahiro sighed, as a voice chimed in his headset.
"Tomomi has reported in sir, she said to give the kid a compliment for such destruction. Crazy bitch also wants to know how her acting was." Masahiro had to restrain a smile. He shifted across and sat next to Hana, placing an arm around her shoulder.
"We're going to keep you safe--" she started, but we immediately cut short by Hana.
"I'll keep myself safe."
The man in the suit smiled from ear to ear. This was just the response he was hoping for...
1 month before Ascension...
Southern Construction Station
Former Acreage of Hideki Isao
…1500 Hours
"Steady! Steady!! Less tension in the back!" called the landing crew. The words "Flying Dutchman" were painted on the back of the slowly lower ship. It was being directed via ropes into what appeared to be a cradle of sorts. The crew worked steadily as several worked at the site stopped to watch the amazing feat. Yuna stood aboard her ship, looking down at a face she had grown acquainted to in the time she had been making trips for Titan. "Hoy Taro." she called with a smile on her face.
The engineer waved his hand lazily as he spoke to one of the shift captains. There was a creaking of wood under stress until the vessel touched down onto land once again. "All right boys, hoist the nets and get this crap off me ship." she ordered with a jolly smile before tossing a rope ladder down the side and climbing her way down to talk to the man. "How're things going 'ere ground side. Everyting on schedule?"
"For the most part, you're making good time on your deliveries and that keeps the men busy. But I'm having trouble getting materials for the text two vessels. How's she been holding up? Not running low on power I hope?" he questioned, turning to face her.
"Aye, seems to be goin' well up der. She turns like shit, but not like we got icebergs to avoid." she said with a single laugh. "Just one more shipment and we be ready."
"That's good, we're coming to the end I guess. Hopefully I'll have the next two units installed by the time you get back." he continued with a frown. Yuna smiled and nudge him with an elbow.
"What are ye even doing up here, I tought dey had some guy managin these folks." she asked.
"After the second cave in, I decided it was time someone who knew what the fuck they were doing was put in charge."
"Since when did you become 'n expert at minin?"
"Last night."
Yuna shook her head and looked back at her crew off loading the dozens of crates of TNT, leaning her butt against the work bench for support. "You really think this is gonna work?" she asked. Taro stood up and moved next to her in the same fashion and shrugged.
"I've done the calculations. Technically it should. But if there is one thing I've learned not to underestimate it's mother nature's unpredictability. Besides, the Dutchman's a prime example of the technology working. It'll work." he said with confidence.
3 weeks before Ascension...
Administration Wing
Aesculapium
…0300 Hours
"Do you ever wanna catch me...I'm feeling ignored..." Hex's head bobbed along to make believe music playing in her head. The halls around her were empty for the most part, and should the stray late night worker show up, she was in a lab coat looking all professional. She'd already said hello to two of the cleaning crews and no mishaps yet. She was on her way to the big bad wolf's office, the one place that was sure to have what she needed. Not being from Kumogakure, she didn't really know the whole situation with the branches and the new sennin. Though the people they had on the inside, which weren't many especially inside of the medical branch, had noted that there had been a recent change in leadership. Whether that was good or bad was yet to be seen.
"What do we need here, is a little bit of panic~" she sang along, skipping to the beat in her head. She turned the corner and found her prize, a door with the name Kaguya Daisuke on it. "Jackpot!" she exclaimed and hurried over to the door with a giddy little smile. Hand on the knob, it didn't budge. "Drats! Locked, however will I get through a locked door?" she pouted, pulling out the Tomikan bolter from her belt. "Look's like I'll just have to go back home." she sighed, pulling the trigger. BAM! "Oh my! It just opened up on it's own! I better go make sure there aren't any intruders!" she called with a hysterical laugh. "God I'm funny~"
Pushing the door open, she skipped her way to his desk. The room was nice and orderly. Hex hated nice and orderly. "We'll have to fix that later. First on the list is...." she looked at writing on her hand. "Find the 'kinjutsu list'. Whatever that is." she said with a sigh and began to pull draws out from the desk. If they were locked, well, she would employ the same tactic as earlier. Drawer after drawer and no such luck. "Ugh are you serious, I have to go through the file cabinets?" she whined and cringed. She was already bored out of her mind. She looked down at the piles of papers on the desk. "What if I missed it, I'll be here all night..."
It took another fifteen minutes, but after the near death experience of boredom, Hex discovered she had missed it and cheered happily when she found it. "All right, let's get out of here. But first... I'll leave the sennin a present!" she giggled. From beneath the lab coat she took out four of her iconic grenades. She stepped out of the room and pulled the pins with one hand and threw them inside, and dashed quickly down the hall to the other end. Shooting her way into another office, she broke the window and hopped outside just in time for the four explosives to go HAM inside the sennin's office.
There was an innate darkness in everyone but sometimes something worse just got put there. In this case it was the cursed seals that plagued two people of the Cloud Village. The Demon Sage Akkuma came here and left his mark on the fellow villagers scarring them for life. “Doku” would never come to trust another foreigner he’d be more skeptical and more on edge each time. That was an understatement for the man who took his eye. However that man had now been identified although the shell was something foreign. Then there was the simple child Meka an idiot.
She had fallen for Akkuma and she barely knew him. Meka clung to his existence barely moving since the demon Sage had left the gates. She wanted to keep the seal until her “brother” came back. If he came back he’d meet a swift death at the hands of Yuuto. She’d probably go insane at that point too losing all sense of reality if it wasn’t already gone. Just what did he do that made her shift her mind so much? How did he change her so quickly? The Demon Sage was still plaguing Yuuto, if one thing was sure he’d definitely left his mark.
How could he criticize the man? Yuu had done something similar and foolish as well taking on the destructive power of the Cursed Seals. He wanted to engrave himself experience what it was and now the runic sigils had taken form stretching over him far greater than their initial sealing. It was painful but still not as bad as when they were first done. To think none of this would have ever happened if he never joined fell into desperation to Uza. Did that demon even have control over his family or was that all a lie? In a week he’d be fighting his first Primordial Lord, and it could very well be his last day alive.
The weight of responsibility and the pressure of his decisions were beginning to get to him torturing his every thought. The plague of fighting for something greater than you was just too much sometimes. At least for a twenty year old barely able to go on an Anbu mission without feeling weighed down during the task. Everything was just too much and he needed air not this stabbing nightmare in his head. He’d walk out of the hallway heading away from the patient’s rooms. The halls were so quiet you’d be able to hear a coin drop like it was on a speaker. There were a few staff members prowling the halls, the security light as usual. He’d wave to some people he saw signaling his leave from the building. Maybe I just need some fresh air… and a little relaxation.
Yuuto pulled out a small object. It looked like a hand rolled cigarette but the contents were something completely different. An urban herb grown in the mountains that brought a cool sense of ease and relaxation to the mind and body. Some said an urban legend others praised it like a drug. Yuu himself was in the middle an occasional user. A flame would extend from his finger as he lit the paper and began to inhale the smoke. His exhale was like magic forming an ‘o’ shape as he played with it. It was then that something blared from inside the office. As if by reaction he activated his third eye tracking the any aura signatures. It didn’t seem like anyone was dying or laid out, then he caught a glimpse of a single person fleeing from a side close by. Clearly this person knew something and Yuuto could not waste time.
He darted after the mysterious person never breaking stride. On the way he formed handseals to summon an Umbra Serpent (Ebony Nightmare). With his amazing talent for summoning jutsu, he was able to summon two of them at the same time. Both creatures went full speed ahead traveling through the tree lines with ease. Emerald flames would spew from their mouths a distance ahead of the runner to make them stop. They should have known better by now, a cloud shinobi was always near by.
”So mind telling me, why you set of a bomb in the Hospital not to hurt anyone but to do damage? Who are you and what do you want?” The words were simple and any moves were entirely up to the mystery assailant.
While a person who valued strategy and the mind game would simply deny involvement. After all, Hex had not seen the man directly in her escape so for all intents and purposes she might have looked like a fleeing victim. But, our darling blue haired bandit was not this type of person. No, Hex was the type to spray paint her name on the wall of her destructive pieces of art. In fact, during her run through the trees she was cursing herself for not doing so!
But in her idle thought, she was nearly engulfed in the green flame that was being spit out by the. Skidding to a stop on the backs of her heels, she stared at the creatures with a disapproving frown, stomping her feet. "Here I though I made a clean getaway!" Turning around to face the man on her tail, she folded her arms across her nonexistent bust and shook her head. He had things to say, and she had places to go. A combination that Hex hardly liked to deal with.
"Well for some fun of course! Taking some silly old papers is BORingggg!" she exclaimed. Next came the proud smile. She was never really allowed to introduce when chased down. It was always, shoot first, ask questions later. "Why don't you just call me Fourty-seven for now; maybe I'll give you my name if you play your cards right." she enticed with a wink, believing without a doubt that she was in control of the situation. "As for what I want, well... I've already got what I came for." She said, waving the few pieces of paper in the air. "Gonna be a good man and let the lady go? Or are we gonna have to get... physical..." she concluded with a menacing tease. Normally she would have just aimed for his head and pulled the trigger, but she was specifically ordered not to kill anyone on this mission. One of the few reasons she hated taking jobs within the village walls. So all that was left was to stall long enough for either back up to arrive, or to maybe convince the guy to let her go.
She was remarkably sarcastic and childish stomping her foot as she exclaimed that she almost got away. She was confident definitely, the woman though that she would get by with her antics. She had stolen some papers probably sensitive documents on people or patients. She was too giddy in her response, clearly she had something up her sleeve or she was just one screw loose. The woman claimed her name was 47 before making some odd pass at Yuuto. He smirked for a moment not wanting to play any games but not wanting to give her reason to believe she had something over on him.
"Nice to meet your 47, I'm Masaru Yuuto and whatever you took I'm gonna need you to return. See people who have permission don't blow up rooms in the hospital. So there's that.." He'd begin to observe the forest a bit with his third eye while keeping the other two focused on her. The split vision still not perfect but definitely helping. There were no other energy signatures yet if this woman was solo she was probably a top operative. However this entire operation was just sloppy. The two serpents began to circle the area around Yuuto and 47 trying to block off the perimeter.
She had the papers and they were small but definitely had to be worth some form of effort. She asked if they would have to get physical with one another, assuming that Yuuto would just let her go. He smiled some more before opening a black pool of shadows. He'd reach in pulling out a sword with a skull design prepping for a battle. "Now as convenient as that would be for you 47, you know I can't let you go. You can be a good girl and give back what you took. You could be 20% cooler if you told me why you took it too."
He brandished a fancy sword from the depths of the shadows and Hex's eyes took on a slightly psychotic glint. The large red orbs peered down at the shining blade in the light of the moon and focused on it. "Fancy trick!" she giggled and her vision shifted rapidly onto his eyes. "But If I kill you that means Hex has been a bad girl and I'm gonna get in trouble. How about we make a deal! I tell you just what I am doing, and you can let me go, kay!?" she replied in a very excited manner. "After all, these ARE just pieces of paper, I'm sure there are plenty of copies if they came from the sennin's office. Gotta be important, right?"
Meanwhile, Tomomi awoke from her sleep to the sound reverberating from the radio that was on the desk in front of her. It was the exchange of conversation coming from Hex and Yuuto. "Awh shit, what'd she do this time." grunted the other woman, shoving the chair to the side to open the window. Currently located a few blocks from the hospital, Tomomi threw on her personal headset and dropped down to the ground a few stories below her. She began a slow walk towards the escape route that had been planned by the pair, from the sound of things, it didn't seem like she needed to hurry.
She started to get excited. She was coming off like a psycho wench and she probably got off on the threat of battle. She claimed she would kill Yuuto, how cocky she was. He was already thinking about the first six moves he'd use to lock her down and then overtake her. He'd rip the very soul from her if given the chance. However it seemed that the woman began to have a change of heart relaxing herself but retaining the excitement in her voice. She wanted a deal, information for release. Yuuto smiled at her pleasantly while allowing her to finish her sentence.
"Wonderful deal but allow me to make a counter offer. You hand over what you took, and then I let you go to an interrogation room, instead of calling more shiobi here to ensure you get put into the ground. You're on my territory lady I'm sure I can arrange that." His face didn't change much as he kept the pleasant smile on his face. Although he could have easily agreed to her terms, he doubted that she'd let the info go that easily. Having had enough time to assess the situation further, Yuuto brought up a seal summoning ten shadow bodies (Corpse Soil). They were dark emitting pure black energy.
One of the Shadow corpses would move forward to the woman holding out it's hand for the papers. He hoped she'd surrender the documents not making this matter even worse. If she didn't realize it by now she could take the time to realize that he had set up twelve additional allies. If Yuuto wanted to he could summon clones to top things off, and overwhelm her. She'd likely have to start breaking out the tricks but it wouldn't be enough to get away at this point. "Just hand them over 47, we can work something out. It's not too late yet you haven't hurt anyone."
Hex listened to his words, hoping that he would comply. Unfortunately, the childish whining and pout that followed his words signaled that he wasn't for her little deal and instead was just going to take it all and make her go to an interrogation room! What a horrible idea! Then he had to go and summon the goons of the underworld to top it off. Her eyes and senses opened up to the world around her. She was becoming serious...
"For someone with so much power, you sure off showing me all the tricks you have up your sleeve. Not to smart on your part. In fact, this list pertains to your little parlor trick." she said, holding the list up in front of her face. A very real danger, taking vision off of a potential threat. But Hex wasn't worried. He was the one who was showing his hand, if he was going to attack he would have already. Then again, this perhaps was the chance he was waiting for.
"If you think I'm some foolish girl with a love for fun, you'd be right. But that doesn't mean I'm ignorant." she continued, her snapshot jutsu going off silently. "I'll give you these. But I have no interest in acquiring time in an interrogation room. Not that you could get me to say anything~" she said with a smile. The look in her eye said she wasn't bluffing. Besides the fact that Titan agents were trained for it, she just loved all things kinky.
"Or I can burn them. And with his office in tatters, you'll never know what I've picked up." she winked. "So what's it gonna be? I'm open to more... negotiation. I'm not planning on hurting anyone, because you are a reasonable person are you not?"
She was beginning to become serious. This was good, she was going to reveal little by little about her objective. She started off chastising Yuuto about his hand. His smile did not waver, it was quite simple that she was trying to unnerve but 47 would find that it was not so easy. She said that the list there pertained to his parlor trick that was when his face changed to that of something more questionable. He was intrigued now by the list she stole but if she was referring to the Dark Techniques then he had something to hold over her as she did him.
She was smart though, as she believed there was a check in her words. She was short of the mate however. Sliding into a safer position but one that would still leave him vulnerable Yuuto responded. "You misunderstand me, an interrogation room is for gaining information. You won't sell out your people that's fine, you've already given me what you sought. You've also revealed a little about yourself but not much." He'd keep his composure but the smile was not there anymore they could both agree that the conversation was hitting it's apex.
47 then threatened to burn the documents and claimed that she'd burn them keeping Yuuto from finding out what it was that she was doing. He cocked his head to the side wondering if she'd do that. It must have meant that she'd knew running was out of the option at this point. She'd have to fight her way out and chances of that were slim however something she said had intrigued him and brought back flashes of Akkuma. "You can burn them but then we'd both be out of answers. You claim that the list in your hand reveals my parlor tricks? I urge you to read the list of whatever, I can guarantee you won't find my name on there. Masaru Yuuto go ahead look it up. The only two people who know the true nature of my techniques are Hayata Shin and that man has not made a report. Miroku Akkuma a criminal in my eyes and a nemesis I will kill. He and I have similar skill sets and this dark nature is not one of my choice. Now I wonder why would you get a list about dark techniques? He had mentioned to me before about Kumo's shady dealings in this department. Shinobi are full of dirty secrets but these things..." He'd pause for a moment glancing down at his chest where the marks from the seal had been rising.
Yuuto brandished his hand rolled herb and began to re-light with a small ember. He'd take a quick drag and blow the smoke out before extending his hand. "You didn't hurt anyone, and you don't want to hurt anyone right? If you did then you'd have taken out all those night shifts on your way up. You blew up Daisuke's office big deal he'll get another one together. However this list you have I want to see it. How about a trade. I promise not to attack you if you don't attack me. Let me see the list and I'll let you borrow this. If that's not good enough for you how about no calls, no reinforcements if we have a civil conversation. I think that list and why you want it interest me more than a silly battle." He was offering mountain herb, who wouldn't love it? Only a square and this lady didn't seem like one. However the biggest mystery was what she took and why. If this could give him leads to what Akkuma was really talking about then this could bring him a new insight. 47 was becoming an interesting player in this entire scenario.
As his smile disappeared, she lowered her hand to look at him as he spoke. Things were getting meaty!
"Masaru Yuuto go ahead and look it up." she said, confident that what she said was a lie. While it was true that she simply know that the list was about kinjutsu, and his technique was similar to that of a particular kinjutsu and put two together, what happened next was quite a surprise. As she resumed looking at the list, she kept attentive on the words that continued to come out of his mouth. Her search for his name stopped short when he mentioned the name Akkuma.
"Akkuma?" she began, thinking back to that night she was sent to... strike a deal with him. That was quite the night. It brought her smile back, her pearly whites flashing towards Yuuto as he spoke about their skill sets and how similar they were. There was a moment where he stopped talking and Hex took that moment to speak on Akkuma. "The man you spoke of, the criminal, he can't die just yet. But if you seek his death after I am done with him, I might be able to help you out in arranging that." she said, throwing another bid into the pot of goodies.
Her eyes went back to the list to search for his name, flipping over a page, and then another as he continued to speak. Whether it seemed disrespectful or not, Hex was now just hoping to find his name so she could come out as a victor in that regard. After all, he spoke so highly of himself being able to avoid whatever was on the list.
Once again, a proposition was put forward. One that she normally would have refused. However her smile grew even wider as her eyes found something on the list. "Sure, why not!" she said with a devious grin. Hex walking towards him, her hands out before her. One to hand him the documents, and the other to receive this... herb. If he was honorable, it would be given to her, and she would bring it to her lips and slowly draw out the smoke. She was relishing in victory. Underneath the header "Watch List" Masaru Yuuto would find his name recently written in.
47 was scratching for a lead on Yuuto. He didn't think she would find one but it seemed she had a response prepared as usual. Akkuma apparently was someone she knew and someone she could not allow to die. His fist clenched for a moment until she told him that it could be arranged. She wasn't hurting anyone and clearly wanted info. She could just be trying to expose the truth which honestly wouldn't be too bad. He could learn to like this little lady if she became this cooperative more often. It was a great turn around she finally accepted the bargain. 47 Gave up searching, and took the herb with a glorious drag. She was seeming better, and Yuuto could look through the file.
However the page she was on immediately gave his eyes a double take. His face had changed becoming more serious. It said "Watch List" and his name was the newest addition. Shin didn't care about this being a curse he was to be collected at the end of his time or seen as a threat. There was a bit of anger that coursed through him. For one these techniques weren't genetics so poking through his body wouldn't give them much. Instead he'd be better with discussing it with him. Shin took the effort to write his name down in a list but not collect people like Akkuma or Hoshikata. He was being slightly irrational and he knew it but it sucked. To be labeled as a "Potential" without even being informed. Yuuto began to track back looking through the files looking for one name in particular.
He found the name Kushin, a high ranking medical official with a spotty history for cruel public methods. He was sadistic in this report and they viewed him as a iron fist. Someone like this was allowed more privilege than they should have been given but he was. It made sense the village would collect their dead and examine them but did the families know? Was their even a choice given? It's one thing to treat your enemies like items, but your villagers? It felt wrong for some reason. Why did they need to be taken apart when there was centuries of research on people's origins? It was understandable if they were one of a kind but this seemed like any dead body was good for desecration. Yuuto sighed before grasping the bridge of his nose. He needed to know more and he wasn't going to get answers from the higher ups. He needed to meet with 47's people and get some concrete answers on why they wanted this.
"Wow, I definitely didn't see this coming. 47 I was wrong, I'll give you that. I need you to do something else for me. Take me to your employer, I want answers on what this is and how much they know. Please do this for me and I'll let everything that happened be by-gones." Right now answers about Kumogakure's potential corrupt policies and secrets would be something invaluable to him something that he'd need far beyond any measure of meaningless battle. Not to mention he knew nothing about this woman but she was confirming things he'd never heard of before. It was one of those moments where you were so lost you needed any answers to lead you to the right route. One that you could form on your own mind and not the mind of your commanders.
While Yuuto toiled over what had been revealed to him, Hex was happy with the little bit of mountain herb that she had been given. She was relaxing, and that was something that was nearly impossible for her. Despite how they met, Hex was liking this young man! She wasn't the type to hold grudges nor remember past events for the most part. With her it was the next gig, the next job.
It seemed that the next gig was going to be taking Yuuto to meet up with her boss, at least that's what he wanted. But by this point, she was getting tired of him using her assigned number and that took priority. "First of all, just call me Hex or Blue. Secondly, under the circumstances I can't just take you to see him! You gotta have an appointment and he needs time to do his fancy schmancy espionage thing on your past before he would meet with you. Now, I'll give my good word of course, but it's up to him. Why don't you... give me your number," she winked once again. "And I'll give you a call when he's ready to meet, or maybe when I'm feeling lonely..."
She smiled and batted her eyelashes. "Oh, and are you gonna keep that list? I might get in trouble if I don't bring it along. Think of it as a sign of trust!" she finished. No doubt the man would hand it back, a smart move on his part. Hex took the final drag of his herb and then skipped past him humming her usual tune. "I'll see ya around!"
1 week before Ascension...
Cell Block G
Tarterian Specus
…2100 Hours
A guard walked with purpose through the halls, each step in those boots reverberated as an echo in the cells nearby. A familiar grin played on his face, one seen only by the few people who had the privilege of working with him. It had been a long day, so most of the guards were tired and ready for the changing of the guard; busy with packing up their gear and checking on convicts. Our guard however was on a mission to a very specific cell. When he arrived, he turned very officialy and looking inside the cell to the pair of prisoners inside. "Yamane Kinuyo. You are coming with me. Step forward inmate." he said in a very...peculiar tone. The Demon Maid did so with a frown and put her hands through the hole in the bars. A pair of handcuffs were put on her and the door opened to let her out.
The guard pushed her forward to a space between the cells and then left close to her neck. She gasped in surprise and then growled, as if he were going to molest her. No doubt that happened to these prisoners. Instead what he said was quite opposite of what she was expecting. "Listen to what I say, and do whatever I say and you may walk out of here alive." The young woman looked back at the guard in confusion and was pushed forward again. "I said move it inmate!" he shouted, shoving her forward again. Kinuyo begrudgingly moved forward. Even if this was a escape he didn't have to be a dick about it.
Their walk was in silence for a while, up some stairs, checking in at guard stations until they finally reached a supply closet in which she was directed. Inside she found the body of another guard, one whom looked exactly like the man who was escorting her. "Who the hell are you?" she asked. He laughed and shook his head, crouching down to pick up one of the man's hands.
"Give me your arm." he ordered. The demon maid hesitated and the fake guard glared at her.
"Don't pin this on me." she demanded.
"Do you wanna rot here the rest of your life? Or get out? We can get you out of the country with a new identity." he responded coldly. He was lying, but she didn't know that. Reluctantly she put her arm forward, and the man scraped the dead man's nails along her skin. He'd then take the handcuffs off of her and throw them on the body.
"What about the collar?" she asked.
"We'll take it off at our facility where we can disable it safely. Now keep close." he ordered and then left the closet with her following close by. The nameless guard checked his watch. "5 minutes... Right on schedule." he thought with a smile. He approached the final check station with a smile and entered, signalling subtly for her to remain out of sight. "Ready to head on home guys, been a long day." he said before dropping the sleeping grenade. In a matter of moments, the rest of them were asleep and he had kept the nearest guard from triggering an alarm. Instead, our hero hit the switch to open up the gates prematurely and the pair left silently.
There was only one guard waiting on the outside, but he was quickly silenced by a blow to the head to knock him out. They were home free...
Later...
Titan Laboratory
Kumo's Business District
…0100 Hours
"Why did you take him from me..." Kinuye said in a lifeless tone. "I only wanted to serve him..."
Our guard had reverted back to her original form with a hysterical laugh. "You don't deserve power if you are caught by those imbecile shinobi of Kumogakure. He's gonna be made to serve us now!" Tomomi exclaimed with passion.
"Don't antagonize her. Hurry and put her out of her misery so we can get this thing packed up and out of the village." said Kitami. Looking down at the ground he nodded his head in pride. "I must say, this has got to be one of the best seals I've drawn in a while."
Tomomi rolled her eyes as her arm transformed into a cannon, aiming at the woman who was in chains at the center of the sorcerers circle of exorcism. "You and your fancy magic got nothing on sheer power." claimed Tomomi, whose cannon fired a rail of energy through the center of Kinuye's head, rendering her inert immediately.
"Yea yea, come on. Let's pack up and head out. Boss wants us there ASAP." concluded Kitami who was throwing straps over a very large piece of cargo. Tomomi frowned and slowly made her way over to help...