FREEDOM! (Mission S rank)

[Kairyuu]

This is One Sick Kid​

She had proven herself capable, atleast, of remaining silent and keeping fast when it was required. The Seer watched as two men fell to a mind trick, and a third seemed suddenly smitten. Hoshikata chuckles and calls his staff to him, stepping around her and hefting the weapon like a club. With a solid swing he sends one man into an eternal rest, and without pausing spins around and slams the pointed cap through the chest of the other and out his back. It was a quick death for each, but nonetheless a brutal method of execution for two people.

”I see you do wish to help. We are looking for a man. The most unique man in this prison.” The guard, waiting on Akane to agree, would lead them. As they marched through the hall he began to wonder where the prisoners were. A simple question the guard reveals this to be the long term holding, the most vile inmates being held here. Well...there were only a dozen in all. Good.

And soon they were there, a cell housing a single occupant. The man was standing by the bars and not making a sound, simply smiling at them. Hoshikata checks the guard's movement, nodding to the man. The guard nods. ”Let him out.” And so he does, the man grinning and trying not to giggle.

Spoiler

”They told me I would get out. But that was yesterday. It's already tomorrow!”​

Hoshikata ignores him for the moment, taking the key the guard used from him and gently pushing the man into the cell, before locking the door back behind him. He looks to Akane. ”Drop the control. A man should be himself when he dies.”

Once she complied, he reaches through the bars and grabs the guard by the throat, yanking him close. ”Fear not the darkness. Your death will not be in vain.” His other hand was making seals, and this he presses against the head of the now protesting guard. The effect was immediate, sweat breaking out as the man stumbles back and begins stumbling. Within seconds he would burst into flames, his clothes falling to tatters as his very body consumed him.

He looks to their new friend and smiles. ”I felt it prudent to wait for dark. Shall we go?”

And indeed, they would leave. And as they left, each inmate who saw them would have the Seer reach into their cells to touch them. And they would fall. And come dawn nothing would be left but ashes and the charred, smoked walls of the cell.

 

[Shiruko Makoto]

Tatsuya tried to shake off his discomfort at his actions. He knew just about anyone he associated with would tell him not to worry about it, that he ought to have done that. Hell, a few months ago he would have told himself the same thing. Why was it a problem now?

Because he was expending his will on holding the void open, he realized a moment later. The strain was getting to him, inviting in thoughts he'd dismissed or discarded years earlier. Or maybe the void was just filtering itself through him more than usual, reverting him to what at one time had been his natural mode of thinking.

I reject it for now. I'll go through this thoughts later, since it will make me. But for now, I reject it with the same will I use to hold this gate...

It took even more effort to do that, and he shook his 'wings' with the frustration building up in him from it, remembering to scatter gold and grey crystals everywhere as he did so. It had to be almost done, right? It had to.

But he still couldn't pull the void in yet. Even the armor had to remain on, for now, though he did let the scales ripple a little in the moonlight and turn a dark blue. He really wasn't in the mood to remain stable, so fortunately that was even more frightening.

There were people writhing on the ground some distance away, blinded. He frowned, then reached out with his genjutsu senses and knocked them out, to keep them from suffering too much. No point in it. He didn't see any point at all to pointless pain, in fact.

But sometimes, as mother told me, you have to torture people...I don't think I'd ever enjoy it, though.

He was starting to realize what his mother had meant when saying they had done him a disservice in taking so long to educate him. But for the life of him he couldn't figure out how to fix it. The idea that human life didn't mean much unless you cared about the specific person or they were useful to you had been ingrained in him for a long time...but maybe not long enough to overcome his natural instincts, although the void had helped with that.

I do need to fix it, though, he thought distantly as he used Temple of Nirvana to knock out a few more screaming civilians. This isn't going to be an easy path if I don't.

 

[Akako]

The chaos escalated quickly as guards from the prison and civilians alike, the brave ones anyway, started a counter attack. One tried to hit Akihiko with a sledge hammer but, knowing his defences weren’t as strong as Tatsuya’s as the metallic armour was merely transformed skin, he caught it with a clawed hand before it could hit him. Yanking the weapon away, he swung it back to hit the guard that had tried to attack it with him and he was quite sure that was the sound of breaking ribs.

Akane hummed, “Do as he tells you please,” she says, still in that sweet, melodious voice, still with that smile of hers. The guard looked disappointed that it wasn’t her to do the ordering around but dumbly complied. He led the way, through winding corridors towards the long term holding cells. All the while, prisoners around them were screaming to be let free. At their destination, the guard fumbles with the keys and let out what, she supposed, was their client and the guard takes his place.

The girl is quick to drop the control with only a questioning look, having hoped to use the man to fight his colleagues during their escape. It is apparent when intelligence return’s to the poor sap’s eyes and there is confusion and rage there, until his death. Burning, burning, until there is nothing left, she turns around to head back the way they came now that they have their target with them. As they walk, the prison quickly turns to hell on earth with death increasing in the numbers.

Akihiko, still in his monstrous form, stills and looks to the prison walls. He could feel his sister’s subdued satisfaction, meaning they had attained their goal. At least one of it; they still had to break out. He lets out another monstrous roar, hoping to get the attention of the other two monster in disguises and starts to make his course towards the prison.

 

[Kaguya Jikan]

Temujin laughed as part of the prison collapsed and all the prisoners reacted in horror. Well, some reacted in horror, some took the chance to flee and some were rather bold. One even went so far as to pick up debris and swing it at Temujin, but he was made quick work of as Temujin sent four tendrils through his body rather quickly, ending his life. 'I don't think anyone will miss him, If they do, Oh well. He started it. Wait a second, he looked like a ripe specimen Let's check out his heart' It felt good to break the rules and kill, especially when a heart could be attained. Swooping over several prisoners on the run Temujin moved in closer to his victim, impaled, right through the heart. 'Oh well, but now that I think about it, wasting this time killing without taking hearts would be, unmotivated killing, not that I'm against it, it just seems a little, ignorant if I do say so myself.'

So there he was on the hunt for a heart, a living one still beating in a man's chest. He looked through the cells, wavering through the prison one tendril before the next with tendrils reaching to the roofs for extra support. When he spotted a guard fighting with a prisoner he weighed them both, they both looked very healthy but in the end the guard had more height and looked much more healthy than the prisoner, specially considering the slop they feed prisoners. With one fell swoop Temujin had his tendrils around both, choking out the prisoner he maintained his focus on the guard. Getting extra close to him he pulled out the Tanto his brother threw him before they they started this excavation.

"You look like a fine specimen to add to my collection" Temujin began to laugh maniacally as he stabbed the tanto to the upper left of the guards abdomen, blood squirted and stained the floor. It was a gruesome extraction but the deed had to be done as he dragged the tanto in a circle around the guards heart. Using his tendrils to pry open the incision he collected his prize in his tendrily tendrils. Before ingesting the heart he studied it making sure it was good for implantation. Deciding it was he opened stitches over his own heart and placed it inside. Tendrils quickly wrapped around it and took it inside for the capture.

Hearing a loud howl Temujin looked over to his party, it seemed the deed they came to do was almost done so he tossed the guard and the now dead prisoner away and returned near Akihiko and Tatsuya

"Any sign of the other two? I got carried away, but always the victor." He was covered in blood from the extraction, his overcoat was definitely going to need a wash after the mission.

[OoC: Grabbing a heart for the Revenant collection - 480 words]

 

[Kairyuu]

He aquiesence was noted, as was her lack of understanding when he mentioned killing the guard. As they exitted the prison he would note further damage, and the departing figure of his brother as he exitted the building. The only sign it was him would be the overcoat, since it looked so ghastly right now. He stops, looking out at the three wreaking havoc and wondering curiously if they really didn't know how to transform. No matter, this was much more effective. He looks back to Akane and their charge, then motions to the cliff wall rising up just past the building's limits. ”Up.”

Without another word he runs to the wall and steps onto it, chakra holding his boots to it as he begins to ascend, running up the sheer face as easily as one would go down a road. His robes did well to hide him in the shadow of the wall, and the people below would be too busy to look up there anyways. Should they do so he doubted they would recognize him as anything more than another demonic attacker.

Only one he, their charge, and Akane were at the top would be release his own signal. A few quick handseals and a massive fireball erupts just outside of the town, a lot of heat and sound spreading out. And as it does, all of the skeletons stop cold in their tracks. They begin to decay before the villager's very eyes, turning into soil and tumbling to the ground in mounds. He motions the other two away from the edge as he leads them to the spot they last saw their comrades and waits on them.

In all it had been a good mission he felt.

 

[Shiruko Makoto]

Tatsuya's head jerked up when he heard his little brother's roar. He cast a last Temple of Nirvana off behind him, and headed off in the direction of the prison. Well, that was a viable enough signal at that.

He kept his wings flared out behind him, though most of the townspeople who would have been between him and the prison were either off screaming out of the way or unconscious--or possibly dead from the others. He took a running jump and kept the wings out, using chakra to make it look as though he were gliding for a few seconds. He heard a few more shrieks as people took off in the other direction if they could see him, evidently thinking he was pouncing.

Good. I can't stop the others from killing them, but...

He put the one he'd killed out of his mind.

He reached Akihiko and Temujin as he landed, but didn't say anything to either of them, just stepped toward the starting point of the mission as the skeletons started to fall apart. Holding the void open was draining him, so he gladly let it go bit by bit. The despair and blindness left first, then the cold, and lastly the chakra eating. The area would grow gradually lighter as he did both in visual and feeling.

It was much easier to put weighty thoughts out of his mind as he no longer acted as a human conduit to nothingness, although there were still wisps of it here and there around him, and would be until he slept that night.

No point in letting on he was exhausted from that, though.

"Hi there," he greeted, stepping up to the group on the cliff. He let the metal disguise melt away gradually, reabsorbing the chakra he'd used to make it. "Sorry, I don't know Transformation so I improvised. I feel this worked out much better anyway, and you seem to have succeeded."

He glanced at Akane.

"Have fun, sis?"

No hint of his moral strife showed on any part of him, and he only appeared physically tired from a bit of chakra exhaustion. He estimated having used up most of his supply, but he was regenerating rapidly with all his jutsu dropped now.

 

[Akako]

One guard didn’t flee at his roar though and, feeling his sister and the Isaki draw closer, knew he had no choice. They could not be seen after all and it meant death for this man. At the very least, he would make it as quick and painless as possible. The monster opened its mouth to let out a bolt of energy, a Storm Bolt, that struck the guard and paralyzed him before he crushed him with his arms, utilizing the Fist of Gaia still in disguise.

He was finished with the poor sap by the time Temujin came around and he jerked his head in the direction of the prison walls. They were there, he could feel that much, and they were coming with a third person, most likely the guy they were busting out of here. So much death and chaos for one guy, really.

The girl was quick as ever to recover from whatever moral crisis may possible be going in her mind as they scaled the prison walls. She lagged behind though, so that the red haired man was running in between her and Hoshikata. And, unlike Hoshikata, she did not release her own army of skeletons just yet, sending them into the area to make sure none approached them during their departure for even the slightest chance of seeing them. But they would decay soon after when there was none close enough to even see them from afar.

Akihiko only dropped the Transformation when he saw that his big brother did at the other team’s arrival. Although he gave the prisoner a glance, he quickly put his attention on his sister, hurrying to her and holding her hands in his. “Are you alright sister?” he asked, peering into her eyes and feeling for the connection they shared to make sure.

“I’m fine brother,” she nodded, looking at Tatsuya and Temujin to make sure they were fine too. She gave Tatsuya a wry smile but did not answer his question with anything more. Which it seemed they were, the blood soaked Isaki especially thrilled at what they had done. Although she shot her older brother a worrying look. “Come on, I think we should leave the town before anyone else shows up.”

 

[Kaguya Jikan]

"So this is the guy huh, still wonder what's so special about him, wonderin' why we just smashed up a town." He chuckled, "Not that I'm complaining, it was fun and I scored a little extra something on the way through." Temujin patted his chest with some tendrils as they scaled the wall. To be honest, he was drained of using his tendrils and sorely needed a little rest, under normal circumstances he would be fine - but the void that Tatsuya willed around him left him in somewhat of a despair. He couldn't control it half as good as Tatsuya could and usually succumbed to the nothingness himself. Though he scaled the wall fine, and as soon as he reached the top he went for his backpack.

He first took out his flesh and used the tendrils to sow them back onto his body intertwining flesh and tendril to make it look like normal stitches a doctor would preform. As soon as he was done with that he went for the water in his backpack to regain some energy. Making sure to drink the whole bottle he simply tossed the empty container over the edge when he finished. Looking down at his overcoat he frowned. "Well look at me, I'm a bloody mess, sorry for the blood everyone."

He then looked over to Hoshikata, "I'll explain later about the stitches and tendrils and things. A lot of things happened when I was close to death, but I came out the better. At least I believe so." He shot his brother a smile and tried to begin smearing blood off his overcoat.

 

[Kairyuu]

The look he gave them was a mix of disappointment and admiration. He was unbelieving that they didn't know one of the most basic jutsu, something they taught everyone in school as a test to learn how to use ninjutsu. The admiration came from the manner in which they made up for their obvious lack of shinobi skills. He holds a hand up to stall any further talk, then looks to the man they had just let go.

Hoshikata had only been told to free him, not what to do after. He shrugs and motions for the man to move on. ”You're free. Whoever wanted you so will likely find you soon enough to handle why they wanted to.” And watched as the man ran off, sighing and shaking his head. This whole mission was a mess from the outset but thought things had come out as perfect as they could considering all the variables.

”You don't know the most basic of ninjutsu? Fix that, please. Past that I'd say all went exceedingly well. Your sister helped me remove the threats inside the prison itself while you all handled things externally. That man was indeed the target. Now, let us go collect our payment. And remember, we were never here and none of us know a thing about this place.”

He looks to his friend with a soft smile. Tatsuya could hide much, and his connection to the void allowed him to hide things even from Hoshikata, but as long as they had known one another and with the Seer's unique gifts, he could tell when something was off. And he could guess what.

”Put it out of your mind. It's not important.” He turns and walks away, leading them to the pay drop.

(Topic left)

 

[Shiruko Makoto]

"Screw you," Tatsuya said pleasantly. "I make do even without knowing those things, thank you very much. As you may have noticed--and I doubt we would have come up with something half so effective otherwise. Knowing those jutsu can be a crutch, you know--and since I made it through the Academy without them, you don't have much room to speak."

Gone without saying was 'made it through the Academy in the days where that meant something,' of course.

His expression twisted into an odd, off-colour smile and he batted away a void wisp.

"Why, whatever do you mean?" He spread his arms. "There's nothing to let go at all. You're slipping."

I'll think on these things on my own time, old friend. I know very well you'd rather me stop caring quite so much, but I have to examine things for myself before I decide whether your course is the right one.

He stretched, then made to follow, silent as the night, the pockets of void muffling his footsteps by absorbing the sound entirely with a flick of his fingers.

Given that our ideas of sanity, reasonableness, and what's worth risking diverge, I have a feeling this one might too.

[Topic Exeunt]

 

[Akako]

Akane watched on as the prisoner they broke out just left like that. But she supposed that was only the mission objective, a strictly literal prison break out and nothing more. No escort to some mysterious location, nothing. She sighed and crossed her arms but spoke no more as she watched the rest of their merry little fucked up band.

She no great concern over Temujin’s strange anatomy, seeing it for what it was, a dark medical art but having no real moral dilemma over it. And she had no dilemma over the eldest Shoukyou not knowing such a basic thing when those kinds of techniques could, indeed, be substituted with a little creativity.

Walking out towards the village exits, Akihiko trailed behind her silently as he tried to calm himself down from the rush he felt in the mission. It was hard to do so, the adrenaline just pumping over him despite his small part in the mission proper itself but he would probably sleep soundly tonight. “Ahh, do you think we can have some tea tonight?” he asked, with a scratch of his head. Tea did help him calm down.

All in all, it was a good mission.

• OutOfCharacter | Topic Left; Mission Complete!

 

[Kaguya Jikan]

Temujin nodded to his brother, it wasn't important how he survived, just the fact that he did survived, he took many innocent lives to survive. It was in the past now and there was no going back, it was also a relief for Temujin because he didn't exactly want to recant the tale, it was a desperate and grim time for him. Shrugging his shoulders he looked back to Tatsuya and chuckled, Temujin was in the same boat not knowing transformation and liked Tatsuya's response, Why did he need to transform when he can just turn into the abomination that he is. Though it may come in handy in more tactful situations, he'd do it later, or the dreaded soon.

The prisoner left without a word though Temujin could care less, it was the yen he was after. He still had no idea why they had free'd this prisoner or what he would do after, but he guessed it didn't matter.

That was that, the mission was over so he followed suit and followed his party home to collect payment. Although it was fun and getting a new heart made him extremely happy. So all in all, it was a great night for Temujin and crew.

[Topic left]