Outside the Tower: KAN(T) REMEMBER

[Raizo]

Continued from here: https://ninpocho.com/threads/friends-enemies-frenemies-what-are-we.66200/page-2#post-367771

Recap:
Yukina would watch as Raizo would return back to his office before turning her gaze to Kanmuri. Something seemed very off, much more so than when he had originally entered the floor. Whatever was happening to him, or had happened to him, seemed to be getting worse.

"Of course, take my arm and follow me. If you feel like you need to stop, rest, or sit down just say so. Otherwise, I think you might need to exit the tower and get some fresh air."

If he did not put up a struggle, she would lead him back to the elevator, where she would glance at him on occasion to see if he showed any signs of worsening. Upon hitting the ground floor, she would escort him out of the tower and into the pathway that intersected in front of the building. She would then turn to him...

---

"I wish I could provide a little more tender care to all of this, but your behavior is erratic--what is going on? Are you drugged? Injured?"

She knew badgering him wasn't going to help, but with his news and his behavior, she wasn't sure how much time she had to gently lead him to answers. So, making up her mind, she decided to just push through and hope for the best.

"I want to help you, Kanmuri, and while I would like to focus on the individuals you discussed with the Kazekage, I am not certain if I could trust you to be reliable in a tense situation at this moment. Help me understand what's wrong and then we can carry out Lord Raizo's request."

She knew this was all counterproductive to their assigned task, but she refused to go any further into the field with a potential ticking time bomb of uncertainty. They would sort this out here at the end of the street, in a visible area, or she would dismiss the young man for medical care and would handle to mission alone. All she could do was hope that whatever was troubling Kanmuri would work itself out before further, more drastic, steps of intervention were needed.


OOC: Topic entered with NPC Yukina

 

[Sand Council]

A sharp pain would begin to pierce through Kanmuri's brain, causing the rest of his body to feel the tremors of the pain reverberate throughout. Slowly, sloppily, and painfully, pictures would begin to flash within his mind. Images that would at times turn into almost a video, all of it disjointed, hazy, and confusing:

[Memories taken from this night]

He would remember being called during the night, being surrounded by figures in masks...

Spoiler: memories of a meeting, a mission

While panic was ensuing within the Daimyo's home estate, a typically thought of impenetrable fortress, 6 figures would emerge from a secret passage; 5 members of the ANBU (Tenken [Roku], Ruin [Kaen], Bodybag [Teke], Psychosis [Kanmuri], and Gluttony [NPC Kousuke]) and a shackled member of the Sovereign, Taro. Outside of the Palace, three more members of ANBU, 'reformed' prisoners known as Zero Squad, would be causing anarchy to provide a diversion for the infiltration team.

A voice would give orders followed by the voice of another...

Spoiler: voices of authority

"Ruin, take your team, and head for the Storage. Retrieve or kill whatever you find. You decide the best method based on the situation."
"Psychosis. Body Bag. Let's go" and with that command, the ANBU Captain and his two ANBU soldiers would disappear.

He would see them approach a door, as ominous doors would stand before them, a sensation, an image, a glorious flame soaked body...

Spoiler: a body washed in flames

Ruin's team would come upon their target location, a location simply known to them as "Storage". While that name was not a misnomer, it didn't fully detail just what they were standing in front of at that moment. Upon the other side of the massive doors would, from what they had gather intelligence-wise, be members of the Earth Court, living Ancients that were once thought extinct.

"They... or something of them... are really behind those doors" Ruin would comment. As a Hybrid, one awakened thanks to a gift bestowed upon him by the Queen of the Earth Court, Mother Suna, his blood would begin to react to the proximity to the Ancient powers. His chakra would begin to grow wild and burn forth from his body involuntarily, giving him an aura of a raging flame. Body Bag and Psychosis would notice, but holding their own latent powers, would not be mystified by such a display. That said, for both of them, it would be their first time seeing the true Ruin, the true Kaen.

More unfamiliar, but still feeling somewhat familiar, faces would appear. Aggression, hostility... opposition...

Spoiler: faces of opposition

"Sorry, can't let you, little trouble makers, through those doors." The words would come from Hachi as himself and Shi would suddenly appear from the shadows before the group of ANBU. From the body of Shi, tendrils would begin to seep out of her body as her joints would start to pop out of the socket. Hachi would merely remove two bladed knuckles. A liquid would drip from the tips of the blade, hitting the ground and instantly burning through the tiling of the floor.

The pain would continue to surge throughout the body of Kanmuri but would become even more tense in his skull. There was more that was coming, more that needed to be seen, but would he have the willpower to outlast the pain?

OOC: Kanmuri called "even" and rolled a 36; he has unlocked a side story to recover lost memories. For the next portion, a roll will be made to see if Kanmuri can withstand unlocking new memories, the success rate will start high and continue to get lower with each round. Should Kanmuri fail, he will fall unconscious, should he succeed, he will unlock new memories. Kanmuri can also elect to not have new memories unlocked

To elect for a roll for new members: add "Kanmuri pushes to unlock new memories" at the bottom of your post
To elect to take a break (increase success rate by 5%): add "Kanmuri rests his mind" at the bottom of your post

Good luck, @Kanmuri, and I hope you enjoy this side story!

 

[Kanmuri]

The pink haired Yukina would take his arm, and that would be all the support Kanmuri needed before his body shut down. Maybe it was the comfort of having someone around, or maybe Yukina’s inner love and care, if it existed, was able to penetrate the innermost portions of Kanmuri’s soul. Either way, he felt safe, and it was in that safety that his body shut down.

First it was his vision. Instantly the floor became tendrils of tree roots, and the white lights above would dissipate into a cloudy fog. Following this, his sense of touch was pulled away. As his body heated even more, his body would grow goosebumps and chills would run down his spine. As the sweat ran down every single goosebump littered across his body, a sense of humidity would overtake him. His surroundings were now a dazed, dewed fog making his way through a forest of some kind.

Unfortunately for Yukina, she had to deal with this. The amount of stops they—well she—took and readjustments she had to make to, essentially, carry this grown man would be more than “significant.”

Whenever he came through—if he came through—Kanmuri would owe her. Big time.

Eventually, Yukina would make her way out of the building with Kanmuri and into the bright Sunan sun. This was unknown to Kanmuri however. To him, all that happened was that the forest fog getting a little brighter. He could, however, hear voices. But it wasn’t Yukina’s…

“Drag him?”

“Injure him?”

The buzzing in his ear resulted in Kanmuri only being able to decode those words from the muffled sounds. A clear indication of his hearing going well on its way to being completely clogged.

To the ghastly ghost of a man left, all Kanmuri could will himself to respond in protest was “….No…”

More muffled words would echo throughout the forest, but only two heard.


Understand….REMEMBER


With the last word, a nail would be hammered into Kanmuri’s brain as his eyes opened wide and the forest was blown away. He’d fall to his knees as he could see the world for what it truly was. The end of the street in an extremely visible area. That vision, however, would be replaced by grainy, blurry videos playing out in front of him. As if Kanmuri’s vision had been replaced with the footage of an old movie, all the man could see was the images and sounds that clicked in front of him.

The first image consisted clearly of six individuals. Five were masked, and one was chained like a prisoner. One of these figures was him, but he looked…different. Very different from the way he was now. But he knew. He could feel that this different body…was him. A past him.

Words would then thunder in the background:

"Ruin, take your team, and head for the Storage. Retrieve or kill whatever you find. You decide the best method based on the situation."
"Psychosis. Body Bag. Let's go"

Psychosis…the name he referred to himself as earlier. That was him, but in what he could only assume to be ANBU attire. But what was he retrieving…or potentially killing.

The next image, an image of towering, grimy, and dark doors overlooking the group, would click with more words drifting in the background. Kanmuri couldn’t focus on the words. Not when he felt this familiar sensation. It was the same sensation he felt earlier.

It was that same man. That red headed devil with the aura from hell.

And Kanmuri was one of his soldiers. A part of the pair of his fallen angels of death.

And there they stood, him and Bodybag, next to the Burning Man from beneath.

As the next image clicked into view, all the hairs on Kanmuri’s body would rise on end. Hostility. Aggression. Fear. Destruction. Death. Demise. These were all words popping up and littering the picture in his mind. He could no longer even see the image at this point as it was covered by the words. But what Kanmuri could make out was the bordering of the words. Almost as if it was artificially and artistically created, the words were surrounded by either black, almost tar-like, tendrils or brass knuckles dripping liquid fire.

This would only appear for a few short seconds, however, as the pain in his mind would once again quake through his body and split the images in half as if they were paper. His senses would now return—heightened by the adrenaline rushing through his blood—coupled with an ever-growing unfathomable seed of pain that felt like it was only growing. Like an exposed nerve, the more he tried to remember, the more his body screamed out in painful protest.

Pushing further felt like a road to an eventual stake through the heart, and Kanmuri would feel the sub-zero icicles spreading from his shoulder down his body as the spirit of death tapped him…waiting to welcome Kanmuri to his domain.






There wasn’t a question. And with his inner fire not yet frozen, Kanmuri pushes to unlock new memories.

 

[Raizo]

Yukina would watch on, as it seemed a sensation of pain was overtaking Kanmuri. She would back off a bit, giving him space, as her eyes would dart around the area.

"Damnit, I should have brought him to an alley first before pushing too hard."

Still, this was the place and it seemed that this was the time, for Kanmuri to push through whatever was happening to him. She would continue to monitor and keep the area around him secure, but with one hand ready to make a call to assist.


OOC: Yukina won't post again until needed to!

 

[Sand Council]

The young man would press his luck and would continue to dig into his memories. Lucky enough for him, the memories he was currently digging for were still close to the surface. This meant, that even though there would be pain, there would be rewards more immediately, and more clearly. It wouldn't always be this way, but for now, he was simply remembering the easier parts of a murky night...

He would remember an order, a warning, that would come before the fire...

Spoiler: pillar of fire

"Stand back." It wouldn't be much of a warning as a pillar of intense fire chakra would erupt following the words and slam into the doors before them. The two Sovereign would dodge the attack, its power being enough to even make Teke and Kanmuri place some distance between themselves and Kaen, but the attack would find its mark and serve its purpose as the doors guarding the Storage would be rocketed off their hinges.

"Damn doors... it felt good to get a little vengeance."

He would recall a fight, he would recall blades... and claws... and a feeling of transformation...

Spoiler: the wolf within

Shi and Hachi, with now a panicked look on their face would quickly begin to engage Kanmuri and Teke. The tendril-enhanced Revenant known as Shi would square off with Teke, who would sprout wings upon her back as an electric current began to run around her in sudden flashes. Meanwhile, Hachi would begin to slash wildly at Kanmuri, would suddenly transform into his awakened Fang Mark state, giving him claws that easily rivaled the bladed weapons of Hachi, allowing him to move from parrying the attack to blocking and get his own counter swipes in. While the battle would rage on, Kaen would slowly make his way towards the opening to the Storage.

He would recall confidence and reverence... before panic...

Spoiler: panic in the storage room

"Come, children of Mother Suna... I have come to free you..." the Ancient half of Kaen seemingly feeling more in control, but the response he would receive from within the room would not be the one he was expecting. A guttural roar would bellow forth, shaking the portion of the Palace they were currently within. Instantly Kaen would notice something was not right. "Shit--TEKE, KANMURI GET OUT OF---"

He would recall a surprise... a hand of a god...?

Spoiler: the hand of a monster

He would be unable to finish as a fist would quickly appear, one that was roughly the size of his entire six-foot frame, if not bigger, and connect with him and send the Hybrid flying backward.

These came quickly and clearly, but would Kanmuri continue to push deeper into what waits further in the depths of his mind?​

---

Fatigue Meter: 100 -15 = 85 (if roll is 15 or lower, Kanmuri will pass out)
Roll:

Rolling dice!
[d100 : 49] In the end, the result was: 49

Fatigue meter for next Roll: 85 - 5 = 80 (a roll of 20 or less will result in passing out)

 

[Kanmuri]

As Kanmuri fought for more memories, lightning would race down his spine—forcing his head to jolt up towards the empty blue sky. He’d see his soul, seemingly, sparked out of his body and ejected into the heavens. With glossed over eyes, Kanmuri was no longer on the Earth. His location now? Somewhere in the spiritual realm.
Rocketing at supersonic speed, Kanmuri would be surrounded by memories on all sides, but they were blurred. He was traveling much too fast to make sense of them.

But what he could make sense of was what he was headed toward. A wall. And with every millimeter he drew closer, the more he’d feel needles being slowly stabbed into every inch of his skin. Closer and closer he came, deeper and deeper the needles. And although he was moving quicker than sound, the feeling of the pain lasted longer than eternity.

Wherever he was, nothing made sense. Wherever he was, his existence was fleeting. Wherever he was, he’d soon die.

The faster he flew, the clearer the wall. Another projection. A memory. The faster he flew, the closer he grew to the sheet of glass—the closer he grew to himself. Soon, he’d be one puzzle piece closer to his true image…to his true self.



BADOOBOOMCRASH!



Like a bowling ball falling on a stationary skull, the sheet of glass playing his memories disintegrated into nothingness, and behind that glass was nothing but a void of darkness. As if put under a verse of darkness, Kanmuri would neither feel or see anything. That was until the fire ants arrived.

Although the white haired man couldn’t feel or see anything, he could tell that he was lying helplessly on the ground—unable to move. He lay there as a red snake slowly made it’s way toward him. The snake would glow a fiery, crimson red rhythmically every second or so. And although it moved slowly, it was surely headed towards Kanmuri.

A slave to eternity, Kanmuri watched as the snake began to glow in resonance with his heartbeat. Closer it got. Clearer it became. This entity was no snake. This “entity” wasn’t even a “this.” It was a ”them.” A “they.”

And they were ants. Ants made of fire incarnate. Ants carrying the will of fire. Ants swarming towards Kanmuri wishing to deliver whatever message satan himself sent the satanic spawns to supply. And like a prisoner in Dante’s Inferno, Kanmuri waited as they marched tortuously, slowly towards him to deliver his torment.

Soon they were upon him. They swarmed him. Every crevice and crack. Though, they weren’t harmful. They didn’t burn. Not even singed. They just stood still in unison—still glowing…still burning. Eventually, Kanmuri’s vision was nothing but the beating, glowing red as they filled his sockets and lids. There he sat…watching the beating glow as if it were a countdown.

As if on cue, the ants, composed of fiery flames, would lift their heads up in unison, protract their mandible and grip every exposed nerve, ligament, tendon, and muscle they could grab. And with their bites came yells of pain. Pain that would cause Kanmuri’s real body to yell out in an equally horrifying fashion.

But as his soul was set ablaze by the ants, the memory would come to light.

A force would then blast away all the ants from his body. The source was a pillar of fire blasted at a door. There they were again. Ruin, Bodybag, and who he believed to be himself…Psychosis.

The force of Ruin’s fiery blast would cause the door to rip off its hinges like a gorilla ripping off a man’s arm. Fast and scarily smooth. Soon, the enemies would turn their attention to Bodybag and Psychosis. The tar-like creature sprouted tendrils and flung itself at Bodybag in an netherworldly manner. Though, similar to the unworldly creature, Bodybag would display their ability to ascend to godhood. As lightning encapsulated their entire being, wings of electricity sprouted from the back of Bodybag. They had become a heavenly creature, and with the grace of such terrifying power, the title of Queen of Thunder, would only be fitting.

Though more eye-catching was the transformation Kanmuri watched himself undergo. As he was attacked by the bladed weapons of his assailant, Kanmuri saw his bones begin to crack and grow sporadically. He’d see his elbow dislocate, bend, and repair itself. His own jaw would jut out from his skin before new skin quickly regenerated over it. His hair, and seemingly every follicle on his being, would sprout thick weeds of hair—all with the roughness of a wild beast. And that’s what he saw. He was a living, breathing wolf-man, and had grown in size…considerably.

Before the soul of Kanmuri could even make sense of anything, he’d hear Ruin yell out two names: “Teke” and “Kanmuri”…that all but confirmed Kanmuri’s feeling that he was the wolf-figure. The Queen of Thunder must’ve been “Teke.”

A guttural roar would shake the entire workings of wherever they all inhabited before a fist bigger than size of Ruin, and potentially even bigger than beast that Kanmuri had become, connected and sent the fiery Ancient out of view faster than a jet plane.

And then everything paused immediately.
Alone in the zone, Kanmuri’s soul found itself able to move. As he stood up, he could feel the bite marks from the thousands of ants burn with every subtle movement. Though he could move, the memory he was within, oddly, didn’t move with him…at least not in the traditional sense.

As he moved, the memory moved with him to reject any progress he could make. If he turned left, the memory and surroundings turned left with him. He couldn’t get a new view. He couldn’t get a new perspective. He couldn’t understand anything about the situation. He was doomed to a lack of further insight…or so he thought.

Soon, Kanmuri’s devilish left hand would erupt in brightness. It was now that he could see that his left hand was in a similar state to the clawed arm of his transformed form…but not quite there. It was almost as if it was in a stage of a half-transformation, though Kanmuri was uncertain.

The only truth he knew in that moment was that his cursed hand was now blessing him with an opportunity. Instead of a hand that dragged him down, it was now helping him towards a new destination.

As he outstretched his left hand, a mirror materialized in front of him. It was intangible to any part of his body but the cursed hand, and as he pushed against it with his beacon of light, it would crack more and more and more before eventually reaching a critical point, where it would no longer crack under any pressure. A message then appeared in the glass.

Breaking this glass will break your mind.
But a memory you shall find.
Moving forward, you’ll flirt with death,
Is becoming whole worth your last breath?

Although there was no way to answer, Kanmuri knew the choices presented to him. Turn back and stay sane…or break the glass and have his mentality slain.

He had already come this far, he had nothing to lose.

With a crash, the glass broke, and with it was Kanmuri pushing to unlock new memories.

 

[Sand Council]

A sensation of anger, fear, and concern would wash over Kanmuri...

Spoiler: Threats, Threatening, and Distance

"Oh, should have told y'all... Nao decided the samples were a little too malnourished, so he decided to... combine resources" Hachi would say with a smirk on his face as Kanmuri would quickly unleash a flurry of swipes upon the Sovereign member, pushing Hachi to back away and provide some distance between them. This would allow the Fang Mark the chance to check in on Kaen while Teke and Shi would continue to fight.

A sickening sensation would hit Kanmuri's stomach as a shadow visage would begin to come to light... a figure, a voice...

Spoiler: Do gods exist...

"HUNGER...." would be blasted from within the Storage room as a horrendous, deformed creature would emerge. A being that was roughly six meters tall, 6 meters wide, composed of eight legs that would work to scoot the creature along the ground, and six arms. It would have three-ish faces with each one having various and a random number of features, with each having at least one mouth. Lastly, there was a larger mouth within the midsection of the blob-like creature that seemed to act on its own, with a tongue frantically lashing about.

A mountain of madness...

Spoiler: A broken god appears

A burning confidence provides light in a darkened moment.... (taken from here)

Spoiler: Burning bright, burning light

"You two finish those two and then join me... if anything is still left of this thing" Kaen would say as he pulled himself up off the ground. His wild flame aura, the aura that embodied the Court he represented, would begin to burn once more, this time burning brighter than it ever had before. His hair seemed to turn to fire itself, as his eyes began to burn a bright glowing orange. Yelling, he would launch himself at the Ancient abomination.

A friend ascends, the power of heavens come to earth...

Spoiler: Holy lights and unholy sights

"I hope you enjoy a DIVINE RAILGUN UP YOUR ASS!!!" the Kami empowered Teke would scream out as a powerful bolt of lightning would blast forward and consume a chunk of the mass of Earth Ancients before them. Teke, having already pierced the heart of Shi, assumed that fight was over and had moved on to help Kaen battle the mutant Ancient. She would not realize that the body of the Sovereign female would have already disappeared leaving behind a destroyed heart. Teke, however, only cared about one thing and that was charging up for another blast from her heavenly arsenal.

Yet... the pit in the stomach of Kanmuri would continue to grow. Surely these last flickering images were hopeful? Inspiring? Then why couldn't he shake the feeling of mounting despair? A door would appear before him in his mindscape, but the door would be small and for some reason, a series of much larger doors would appear behind it. The first door, the door right before him, would give off an ominous feeling but would not have chains or locks upon it, something the doors behind it would. Was this the door, his memory, welcoming him to continue to open... or was it a dare to tempt the Fang Marked into a mental trap?

---

Fatigue Meter: 80 ( a roll of 20 or less will result in passing out)
Roll:

Rolling dice!
[d100 : 64] In the end, the result was: 49

Fatigue meter for next Roll: 80 - 5 = 75 (a roll of 25 or less will result in passing out)