Starring:
Date: September 4, 2015
Summary:
A team of Suna nin are called in to clean up after a lab accident, and find something unexpected in the wreckage.
"Chemical Cleanup"
A chemical lab [Land of Wind]
C-rank: An accident in a chemical lab resulted in a widespread fire. Fortunately the fire was contained before it could burn down the entire building and nobody was seriously injured, but the sections of the building which were burned contained some volatile substances which cannot be left sitting. Ninja are needed to venture into the hazardous burnt-out area, retrieve a laundry list of dangerous chemicals, and clean up any spills which may have happened. Watch out also for any vermin which may have been exposed to toxic sludge…
It seems somebody was a bit careless with a Bunsen burner or something. A major chemicals lab suffered a fire recently, making a section of the building rather hazardous. Ordinarily, you'd let a firefighting crew ensure that the area isn't going to catch blaze again, then have a demolitions expert remove any unsalvageable structures, then bring in construction workers to restore the building, right? Well, there's a little problem in this case: since a chemical lab naturally works with all sorts of volatile substances and some of them were likely spilled from containment in the blaze, it isn't safe for any of the above-mentioned activities to proceed, and in a catch-22, it also isn't safe for a chemical clean-up crew to go in because it's structurally unsound! So, what do you do when there's something dangerous to be done and nobody has the specific training to handle all aspects of it? Send in the ninja! :D
Sousa is along on this venture because he actually does know a fair bit about dealing with volatile chemicals. He also has a personal interest in restoring operations to this lab, as they're one of his biggest suppliers. "I hope I needn't remind any of you of the delicate nature of this work," Sousa remarks, pulling on some protective gloves. "Even if you are durable enough to withstand the effects of these chemicals, and I assure you some of them are more dangerous than you likely think, a mishap could cause considerable further damage to the building, and very possibly the release of more substances."
"Well," Kuoroke asks, following Sousa towards the scene, "do we have anyone around who can provide us with basic intelligence - what compounds, what are they likely to respond to, and what their specific danger is to us? We should form an adequate plan before we go in. That said-" he glances at those present. "Sand is very efficient at stopping fires, and is usually not chemically active."
Jiro was curious about this whole thing, so of course he volunteered to go! Well that and Arika was going, so he was going to follow. Duh! The boy already has gloves on though he picks at then since they're kind of annoying and looks up to Sousa when the man speaks. "Yeah yeah, jus' tell us what we're suppose' ta do!" Then he falls silent and just looks around, arms crossing over his chest a little boredly at the moment.
Arika wrinkles her nose a bit at the smell of harsh chemicals in the air. "So what're /we/ here for?" she asks, pointing to herself and Jiro specifically. It's not like the pair can handle the chemicals! Arika is good at destroying things, though, so if Sousa wanted that…
"Hmm." Along with the party, Miyako is here. Since she has the ability to control sand in pretty large amounts, she can pretty easily assist here. "If the building is already unsound, they're probably not going to be able to salvage it as it is. I could make a cocoon of sand around it and compress it so that any chemical reactions happen within crushed sand and nothing is able to escape." A much less fun and adventurous solution, but an easy one. The only question would be is if there's anything in the building that actually needs saving.
Sousa holds up a paper. "I have a list of the chemicals known to have been in storage here. Neutralizing any spills will be primarily my task, as I am familiar with which chemicals are needed to counteract which others. The point about sand, of course, is quite correct, and will be utilized to deal with any emergencies which require quick smothering or shielding. I'm afraid crushing the building is an undesirable solution, there is hope of restoring it without the need for total reconstruction, and hopefully there should be plenty of salvageable materials still in the burnt-out area." Sousa gives Arika a two-fingered peck on the head, such as the monks who raised him might have given an accolite who fidgeted during meditation. "That is where you come in, or rather the two of you as you insist on interminable socialization with one another. Your task is to retrieve and catalog any chemical containers which appear to be intact. Kuoroke-san, I am entrusting to you the work of disposing of the waste material remaining after I neutralize spills."
Don't worry folks, it'll get a bit more interesting than that, because who wants to do an RP about just a bunch of busywork? ;) But let's go a round with that just to see how people handle it. Sousa works slowly through the burnt-out area, identifying substances which burst from their containers in the fire and salting them with complementary materials to turn them into more inert compounds. Cabinets full of bottles and jugs, most of them intact but many doused with the contents of their less durable neighbors, become reachable in Sousa's wake. And just to give Miyako something to do, let's say one of the puddles turns out to have more stuff in it than it appears and flares up in Sousa's face when he sprinkles stuff into it. o.O
Kuoroke follows the others quietly, and disposes of any spills efficiently: he appears to have a large supply of unused scrolls within which he can seal the spills away. If he can't find a safe place to dispose of them, he figures, unsealing them into someone's face is also always a possibility.
Jiro looks over the building as Sousa explains what they're all going to be doing before he rolls his eyes and says, "Soun's boring." But he'll do it because he doesn't exactly have anything /better/ to do at this point. The boy starts going through the building, scrunching up his face at the different foul stenches he can smell and even plugging his nose at one point. He starts looking for anything in tact and in the end finds a couple of bottles he picks up to carry out. "Did'ja find anythin' Ari?"
"Boring…" Arika huffs out, but she glances sidelong at Jiro and rubs the spot where Sousa poked as she makes her way to go and hunt down some chemical spill thingy that is salvageable. "Just these," she says, holding up a random jar of icky purple stuff. And a jar of green stuff.
Well, everything goes just swimmingly for a while, for a toxic waste cleanup effort. The lab is gradually cleared of hazards, and valuable chemicals are carried out to safer places in the building. Just as the end of the task seems within sight, however, a nasty surprise is revealed upon opening one of the cabinets. Rats! O.O Rats and mice and assorted other vermin! The cabinet is full of them! Until a couple of seconds after it's opened, anyway. The critters bolt through the opened door, scattering every which way. In the rush of fuzzy bodies, one can glimpse quite a few disturbing growths which ought not be where they are on the vermin's anatomy, and the inside of the cabinet is painted with a sickly-green, slightly-luminescent substance.
Sousa aims a quick shock of lightning chakra at one of the fleeing rodents. It squeaks in pain as it's hit, but proves resilient enough to remain conscious, and even turns briefly to vomit some sort of noxious bile at Sousa before scampering off again. Sousa catches the liquid on the hanging sleeve of his robe, then observes as the fabric begins to dissolve. e.e Sousa pulls out a kunai and cuts the contaminated cloth off into a sample dish sitting nearby. "Comrades, as likely as it is that these creatures have been rendered sterile by their alteration, it would behoove us to exterminate them before they have any chance to breed." -.-
Unphased, Kuoroke puts away his scrolls and switches to an entirely different tightly-packed roll of tags: he unleashes it, a quickly-spreading cloud that sucks chakra out of the various rats and draws it in, blowing up in a symphony of small explosions.
After retrieving a few more jars and beakers and vials and taking them wherever the safe place is they're supposed to take them. He just happens to be passing by when Sousa lets the dogs out…er, rats. The boy just kind of watches the wierd creatures as they start to skitter by before he pulls off his cloth from his waist with a little tug. It comes loose thanks to the breakaway knot and the cloth flashes out quickly in succession, decapitating two of the critters before they can get too far away. "These things'r gross."
Arika takes her jars of ick and hands them off to Sousa when suddenly… Eep! Rats! Arika is no stranger to them, at least, having been on a few extermination missions. But these ones are even weirder! "They look weird," she says, gathering wind. Wherever she sees a varmint, that's where there would be a faint breeze that acquires a rather sharp edge to it. Courtesy of being a wind-user and all!
When the flame bursts up in front of Sousa, he'd find a wave of sand directly in front of him to block it instantly. Miyako nods to him then peers at the rats as they start to escape. She ponders a moment then brings her hands into a seal. From that wave orbs of sand begin to fire off by the dozen at the rats with intent to squash and kill as many of them as possible in conjunction with the others' attacks.
Even killer mutant rats of grossness aren't much of a match for powerful ninja techniques. A good many of the rats are caught in Kuoroke's blast chain and splattered to giblets. Of course, the flip side of that is that their caustic juices splash all over! The other have similar success at dealing with a few vermin at a time, but there are plenty left. Some of them scrabble up onto the counters and unleash a volley of deadly spit, almost as if coordinated. >E Sousa yanks off his outer robe and uses it to absorb the quantity of the venom headed his way, then spreads his hands and launches tiny lightning bolts at the rodents.
Kuoroke rolls out of the way of the blasts, towards, after a brief glance around, Arika. A hemispherical shield pops into existence, covering the both of them with a protective field. He pauses, gathering chakra for the next attack.
Jiro watches the rats and starts to chase some, only to have them turn and start spitting at him. His cloth might block it with the chakra imbued into it, but why take chances? A barrier seal is withdrawn and held up so that the spit hits an invisible wall and just kind of…goops down. "Careful Ari," he calls over his shoulder, looking back to check and make sure she was okay!
Arika is perfectly fine! She has a Kuo in front of her, after all. "Hai!" she calls over to Jiro, focusing her chakra before she makes a hand seal, creating a shadow clone that darts out to try and grab all the rats by the tail. And then it can take its kunai and kill them! Hahaha. Ahem. And because it's only a clone, Arika doesn't have to worry about the yucky effects of whatever these rats have going on with them.
Miyako literally doesn't even try to avoid the toxic spit. It seems to just be absorbed into her harmlessly. "I assume you'll want me to keep a good collection of this so you can run tests and see what they were doing here later?" she asks with a glance over at Sousa as she nonchalantly absorbs the fluids into her sand-based form. Bringing her hands into a seal once more, she makes another wave out of the sand she's using to attack and defend, using it to send more orbs at the rats with killing intent.
"That would be profitable, yes," Sousa replies to Miyako while electrocuting varmints. "A live specimen or two would be even better, but we'd need to find a secure container for transporting them." The remaining rats, apparently realizing that they're on the ropes, converge together into a tight group. Their tails weave together in the center until they're connected by an intricate knot. Strangely, this bizarre union of rats all facing outward seems to increase their agility and ferociousness. The "rat king" pinballs about the floor of the lab, biting at ankles and toes in passing.
Jiro yelps as the rats all band together and start attacking, causing the boy to jump around but also get bit a few times! He lashes out with the cloth again a few more times to beat up on some of the rats but he's more worried about not getting bit more! He jumps up on a nearby chair, grumpy as he glares down at the creatures.
Kuoroke tries to move out of the creature's reach, surprised by its motion, but gets bitten none the less. He grabs at it, trying to get a hold of it.
Arika leaps out of the way from the rats, vanishing all-together from her spot and appearing in another place. Then she lashes out with more wind, forcing the rats to come to a halt due to a massive pressure from the wind pushing downwards. Hopefully her friends are strong enough not to get hit…
The rat king collectively squeals and thrashes at Kuoroke's attempts to grab it. It evades any permanent hold, but thanks to being kept busy by that, it cannot move out of the way of Arika's pressure technique. "Stand back!" Sousa snaps, tossing a tag into the air. The tag is swept into the current of Arika's wind and carried straight into the midst of the rats. *KABOOM!* A bit messy of a conclusion, but it efficiently finishes the matter once and for all.
Investigation into the source of the fluid which changed the vermin proves largely fruitless. It was a random cocktail of chemicals which ruptured from their containers due to the fire and mixed in unknown proportions. The temperature from the fire may have had something to do with its concoction as well. Whatever it was, mankind is probably better off not knowing how to reproduce it…although that won't stop Sousa from trying. ;)
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!
