Starring:
Date: Unknown (log received October 23, 2012)
Summary:
Shuuren was order to get a time to dead with the pumpkin that said to have be alive.
Poster's note: Foul language filtered in obvious places.
"Evil Pumpkin King"
Village close to the land of lightning cost line
It was the dead of night and tiny squad was deployed to take off towards the little town off the coast line. It is in this town that a man was growing super pumpkins the size of most large houses. Shuuren would be the team leader and handpicked Akechi, Nakaken, and Eri for this mission. The young Akehci would have his noises in a new scroll he got that might come in handy with dealing with the oversize pumpkins. Time was rapidly escaping as the sun fell behind the mountains and the night sky would now be the new setting. Call it dumb luck but on this night it was rather moonless and made travel that much harder. Sighing the group would have a choice to make wait until morning and risk the people they're going to save being killed or keep pushing through the darkness and risk their minds being taken over.
After rolling the scroll up and putting it away he would smirked and speak softly towards the group "so, are we stopping or are we going to keep goingI won't lie I can't see anything. I can't even see my hand in front of my own face." The pair couldn't see him pout which was good for him as he pulled his hands from his pocket and rubbed them over his eyes. "I hate weird mission like these." Shaking his head, Akechi found his arms have become rather stiff from holding the scroll so close to his face. "So what's the mission detail again?"
Nakaken would grab his stuff that was for travel when he was told he was assigned to a mission. Helm donned, he'd move with the group as they started towards that location of the enlarged pumpkins. Glancing over at Akechi when he started to complain about not being able to see, Nakaken would draw a scroll from a pocket and with a quick focusing of chakra, cause a lamp to be summoned on top of that scroll. It was a bulls eye lamp, so with the lid closed it acted much akin to a flash light and focused the light within. Silently, he'd offer the lamp to Akechi as the scroll got put away. Once that was handled, he'd look to Shuuren, preparing for whatever orders might be given for the situation.
Handpicked… If that's what one calls naming the first three names that come to mind to be the team for something like this, sure, they were handpicked. Of course, Shuuren wouldn't actually tell the team that, but hey. Walking along the dark path at the head of the group, the former Jounin moves at a steady pace toward their destination to begin cleaning up this mess. While Shuuren doesn't normally assign himself to such menial tasks, this particular mission drew his interest. If he take a few samples, he could plant some of these pumpkins in a private field and make a nice profit off this venture if done right. "Afraid of the dark, Akechi?" the Medical Ninja asks with a smirk as he reaches into his pocket for a scroll, quickly unraveling for a more open lamp to be presented to help light the path ahead better. "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of healing."
"Some Tenjin tried to make a giant pumpkin. He succeeded. The problem is, it exploded and plastered the countryside with seeds that are growing quite rapidly. We're to extract all the seeds and giant pumpkins to be destroyed. I should have a few caravans on their way to handle carrying them away."
Eri skipped along happily humming a merry tune to lighten things up. This was probably one of the more advanced missions Eri was called upon, and she was very excited about it. She was never really afraid of the dark though, it just never seemed to bother her. She winked teasingly over at Akechi "Don't worry Lemon-drop, if anything scarey pops out at you I'll hold your hand." Remaining vigilant she looks around although she could still start a conversation while keeping an eye out. "Suit-san can I take a pumpkin home with me if we find lots? I wanna try carving it into a scarey face and leaving it on my window.." She looked over to Nakaken and nudged him slightly "Can't let the people over in Suna have all the fun with this Halloween thing right?"
Akechi quickly notice that everyone was on his case about being a fried of the dark and such a sigh escaped his lips before speaking. "*sigh* look I'm not afraid of the dark, it just it's hard to do the mission in the dark." Once he grabs the lamp from Nakaken, Shuuren thought to out do it with a mega lamp; this allowed the team to see what was really around them. The horrific view was something in which they never thought they'll see on this mission. Akechi saw a woman that appears to be ripped in half; her guts would be spilling out onto the ground. The smell was a horrible one and thus the young man would turn away before speak. "Okay I think we're getting close." Akechi would try and focus a little chakra before slipping his gloves on. It pays to be ready or so he would be thinking before speaking to Shurren again "so we keep going or turn back now?" Akechi would keep walking with Shuuren as the leader the more and more they walk the more things they started to see and smell. It's clear that they were rapidly approaching the village.
"We go. We're shinobi, there is no backing down, Akechi-sensei." He'd glance over at Akechi for a moment, before shaking his head. Scanning his surroundings, he'd frown at the number of bodies that were all over the locale, both in the trees and the shrubbery. Eyeing one particular corpse, he'd keep track of it as they continued their approach towards that village. In the end, he would do what he was told to do, unto death. Of course, the cruel and grim reminder of exactly how close death could be was always a sobering reality when sent into such a moonless night.
As they walk along, Shuuren spots a few gory sights of his own. Bits of flesh and brain matter decorate some of the trees as if someone had been repeatedly bashed upon them. However, he doesn't cringe at the sight or even avert his eyes quickly. He's probably seen worse. "How festive," the former Jounin says, smirking as he glances back at Akechi as he speaks. "Turn back? This is just getting interesting. We keep going." A brief glance is then cast toward Eri to answer her question, "You'll need to carve it in a contained environment so we can be sure none of the seeds escape and start this mess all over again." With that, he looks back again as he sends out a pulse of chakra in an attempt to see if there are any actual living bodies around the area that may need healing or may be spying.
Eri stops in her tracks she could hear something, a dripping noise? She turns to the noise and opens her mouth to say something but the words just won't come out. It was a scene out of only what could be described from a horror story told around a bonfire. Dozens of limp bodies hang by their necks on the branches of a large barren tree. Each of their faces was locked in a silent scream, and the color of their flesh was still fresh and warm. Their glassy eyes were open, still pleading to whatever could have done this to them to please stop. They couldn't have been up there for very long with them still leaking blood the way they were. Tears came to Eri's eyes and her chest heaved from silent sobs as she could see some of the smaller bodies were children. "N…no…not…kids…they didn't do anything…you hear me you sick savages!?! They didn't do anything to you!" Her voice cracked as she tried not to scream out the last of her words. She spots not all were dead however and notices a small child crying over his dead mother at the foot of the tree. She didn't hesitate and immediately ran over to the child pulling them close to her in an attempt to comfort them "Shh…please don't cry sweetie. Everything will be ok…we're here to help you…I won't let anything harm a single hair on your head…We have a doctor who can look over you too…Suit get over here NOW." Eri didn't even bother to look over her shoulder after she had ordered Shuuren to get over to them. The stunned child looked at Eri but did not pull away crying onto her, "M…my mommy…s…she's dead…"
Akechi would keep on the move as with the rest of the team, there girl would be holding the hand of Eri as they started to reach the village. As of now the gate could be seen and what appears to be a rock or a huge turtle, however it would be moving. Akechi was starting to get into the zone of blocking everything out and replacing it with enemy ninjas. "Hey anyone else sees that?" Narrowing his gaze he would try and scope it out himself, however due to the laps of judgment and the horrible smell the young man failed. Shrugging his shoulders and eyes close he would try and calm himself to better help the group.
Nakaken would find that it appears to be a sealing formation around the roof of the village as for Shuuren who notice the Tenjin all balled up and rocking as he spoke softly to himself "I never wanted to turn out like this." as for Eri should could hear a dark creepy voice whispering into her air "you'll be next girl…I'm going to peal your flesh and hang it from the church." The voice would be whispering over and over again. The kid would squeeze her hand tighter as if she could hear it too. Then before long the child lashed out trying to bite her arm, it appears the young girl was drooling a purple substance.
Nakaken would immediately call for a stop to the group with that hand sign. Studying the roof across that village top, he'd frown as the scroll with his blade in it was pulled forward. "There is a summoning script up there.. so there may be more." He'd look around for a moment. "I'm thinking that this.. whatever it is.. is more than just a pumpkin blowing up, hai?" He'd point out where he saw the summoning line, then look to Shuuren for instructions. Hey, team lead was team lead and if anything, the samurai was entirely about structure and discipline when on a mission, at the very least.
As the diagnostic information comes back, Shuuren's eyes narrow slightly as he looks up closer to the village where he can feel Tenjin. "Everyone, on your guard," he instructs his voice suddenly much more serious than one normally hears. "You three stay here for now and deal with the girl and be prepared for whatever might jump out of that seal. I'm going to get some answers from this guy." With that, the Jounin reaches into his coat and withdraws a golden pill the with inscription 'II' on it. He quickly chews and swallows it, and one could feel a rather massive surge of chakra building up in him just as he flickers away. "Tenjin," his voice rings out as he reappears in front of the man. "You've got about five seconds to start telling me what the jack-o-lantern happened here and what you are doing." Today just might be the day these guys get to see what happens when Shuuren gets husked off.
Akechi would notice the bite and wince as well before he started to flash though seals, pausing for a short moment he would dashed in to tag the child with a seal to keep it in place. "Nakaken don't kill it! Don't kill it! I have a theory and we need it alive in order for me to know for sure." Akechi would make sure to glance at Eri before looking back to Shuuren who was out of sight. Eri could feel the evil suggesting starting to come over her, tell her to infect the group. To bite them at all cost. Shuuren however would be obtaining all the information he needed from the scared Tenjin.
Nakaken was just shy of unloading that blade on the kid's face. Glancing over at Akechi, he'd sigh silently. Instead, he simply rushed forward with a hand sign, the mass of metal and man rushed forward suddenly to pluck the kid up and throw her over his shoulder. Glancing at Eri, then Akechi, he'd nod at her. "Take care of her. I got.. this. It'll be under medical watch back at the village." With that, having rendered the source of the infection moot due to his armor, he'd take off full tilt for the village. Akechi might have a theory, but Nakaken knew she'd need to be studied to be taken care of fully.
After getting a sob story from the Tenjin about how he stole a scroll with a secret stealing technique to use it to try to win over the love of his life, Shuuren lifts an eyebrow and is probably thinking about ripping the guy's head off anyway for what he did here. "Forbidden techniques are forbidden for a reason, you idiot. I suggest you get up and do what you can to undo this, or I'll kill you before that thing has a chance to." As he spots Nakaken running toward the village out of the corner of his eye, the former Jounin lifts an eyebrow and looks to him and then to Eri. His eyes widen a bit before he looks back to the Tenjin. "This is now officially my problem. That girl can't be the main problem. What are we fighting here? I need to know what it is or at least what it looks like so I can take it down."
Eri clung to her wound and closed her eyes as the evil voice range through her mind. She looked desperately at Akechi, she had to warn him while she still had control. "Lemon-drop..you gotta restrain me..or something..It isn't going to be me much…longer.." Her voice trailed off and she remained silent for several minutes. She climbed rigidly to her feet, her arms hanging limply at her sides. An evil smile would creep onto Eri's face and she licked her lips. Her left eye twitched and her voice was a much darker tone than it is usually is "This isn't so bad..Come on Akechi let's play..You'll be begging for me to turn you.." She went through her handseals whispering to herself as she tried to make a connection between herself and Akechi to try and make him helpless. "Love at First Sight.."
Akechi found himself falling deeply into her, dropping his guard and everything. A huge smile would creep across his face as he stood there. Shaking his head and trying to cause some physical harm but nothing happen. All the love struck ninja could do was pray that Shuuren got back in time. Nakaken would find his travel back to the village rather easily with no trouble since it lack any means to advance. Eri however was about to deliver the killing blow when Shuuren was learn things the pumpkin king didn't want him to know. Thus she made a B-line towards Shuuren in attempts to deflect him to the other side. Akechi would be thanking the heavens as he stood there trying to break the grip of the genjutsu.
After getting all the information from the sappy Tenjin, Shuuren would turn back to what currently draws the most attention… Eri with Akechi trapped in a Genjutsu. "Amateurs," the former Jounin says with a smirk as he flickers to wind up behind Eri. In a flash of movement, he goes to place a hand on Eri's neck, intending to grab at certain pressure points to put her to sleep and incapacitate her for a while. As he does this, his other hand moves to catch her to lay her down if successful. "Why don't you take a nap for a while, hmm?" Looking back to Akechi, he says, "There's a giant pumpkin in the center of the village. Get there as quickly as you can and start slapping tags on it. If it won't go back home peacefully, we'll blow it to bits."
As Shuuren attempted to force her to sleep Eri's form would fade, merely an illusion, as the real Eri stood between Shuuren and Akechi blocking their path to the king pumpkin. Eri grinned insanely, she was obviously still not in her right mind, and the purple drool ran down her chin "You cannot harm my master..please just give up..you will learn to love serving him as I do.." She went through the hand seals whispering "Love At First Sight.." Shuuren was a growing problem to the king. She had to try and get him out of the way as she did with Akechi.
Akechi still couldn't move that much however he would however regain the movement of his fingers. As he started to form seals before he touched his skin, a large amount of chakra would be sucked from his however he would fell the movement coming back. "A little help Shuuren…it seems they infect you by DNA swapping." Eri was doing as the great pumpkin told her to protect it and keep the ninja out. Sounds from around them could be heard as the more and more villager started to show up. Most of them had regular house hold items in hand, brooms, table legs; some had old swords, etc…However one thing for sure the ground situation was looking kind of slim.
Eyes following Eri, Shuuren just smirks as she attempts to use the same Genjutsu on him. He brings his hands into a seal, pushing a bit of chakra through himself to purge any foreign chakra as he calmly says, "Kai." With a wink, he steps into stance as he says, "I told you, love. Wrapping me around your finger would be a near-impossible task." With that, he flickers, going to trip Eri and make her fall back into him as he goes to place his hands on her shoulders. It would seem he's actually massaging her in the middle of a fight, yet its purpose would become quite clear, as she would begin to become rather groggy and momentarily unable to move from this. "Get going, Akechi."
Eri blinked and tried to escape from Shuuren, but lost track of him as he flickered and tripped her into his grasp. She growls attempting to struggle and escape Shuuren, but relaxes as he continues rubbing her shoulders. She shivered slightly and finally stopped fighting against him as all the tension and pain just seemed to melt away, the real Eri's voice ringing through, if not for just a moment, "Suit…is it over yet?.."
Akechi now able to move once more would note that Shuuren had everything under control and with clutch fist the young man would toss down a single scroll before nodding his head and taking off. Each break from one he tossed down another one to advance his steps before he was just inside the gate. Looking up at the huge pumpkin from this distance would cause a little tiny alarm to echo in his head as he started to slowly take off his gloves, "I think I'm going to need better gloves." Akechi would narrow his gaze as he formed a seal and created a clone, Akechi clone would start to meditate as well as mode the chakra needed as he stood in front of the giant pumpkin. "Whoa you're a huge piece of work…I guess it's time I take you down to normal size." Akechi would be feeling the stress from his technique and thus the pumpkin would start to speak back. "What is one ninja that's on his last leg going to do? Your friends will die and I will branch out into the ninja world…and there is nothing you can do to stop me." Akechi would be holding three explosives tags at the ready for now they would just be on a stand still.
However the techniques would Shuuren would have used on Eri would be wearing off thus the pair would fight with Eri leading the army of civilians. Shuuren could feel himself being watched the number was great it had to be about 30 people out here not counting Eri. They were all drooling from the mouth as well as eating each other as they started to attack him with full body swings. Some even hit each other.
With the infected girl now in his arms, Shuuren keeps her held there for now, continuing to massage her shoulders to keep her calm as long as possible. "It will be soon," he reassures her as he holds her, trying to allow her to be at least somewhat comfortable as he restrains her. As he feels the presence of about thirty infected people around him, the Medical Ninja's eyes narrow as he quickly ponders a strategy. The best plan currently is to just keep them distracted so Akechi can set off his tags. "My, my, love, you didn't tell me we had guests," he says as flickers a bit away from Eri and reaches into his coat to grab a scroll and unravel it to retrieve his sword cane. Leaving the blade inside its casing so as not to needlessly kill any civilians, he steps into stance and prepares to strike. "I would have made some tea."
As Shuuren flickers away Eri shakes her ahead vigorously managing to regain control of the muscles in her body, although her mind was taken ahold of again as a result. She cackles and claws slightly at her cheek still fighting the pumpkin's control with every fibre of her being. "It was a surprise sweety..A Welcoming party! After all we are welcoming many into our folds on this bloody night..You being one of them..Hear me now." Going through her hand seals she attempts to project an illusion of her voice to distract Shuuren while the other infected tried to get closer to him in an attempt to bite the Jounin.
Akechi would be standing there before taking a deep breath and jumping off the building he was standing on as he did this he would toss two kunai towards the pumpkin that would explode on contact as he him however he thought fast and tossed a seal that blocked all incoming attacks. He would fell a slight shock that sent him crashing through a window, standing up he would tap his he foot onto the ground before finding a nice place to hide. His clone would be chanting however no one else could hear. "My life is an Illusion…Glass is my heart, and the eternal wind is my blood…I have copied countless seals…" His clone would be glowing as he chanted away. However at this very time Shuuren would have his hands full as the army started to attack him. All sides they came swing with all they got repeatedly they movements where awkward and hard to dodged.
"Aw, you shouldn't have," Shuuren says with a smirk as he brings his hands into a seal to purge himself of Eri's chakra again. He glances to the incoming villagers and chuckle a bit as he starts to flicker and strike at vulnerable points on their bodies in a light-speed flurry, attempting to start knocking them down until Akechi can take out the overgrown festive plant. "You should remind your guests to keep their mouths to themselves. They don't seem to be keeping up their hygiene very well."
Eri giggles disturbingly watching as Shuuren goes past the infected villagers left and right "You know me Shuuren, always thinking of others.." She cracks her neck loudly before sarcastically pouting "Unfortunately that is one thing I cannot tell them to do sweetheart, there -is- something I can do to accommodate you however..I will be sure that they keep in mind not to get any drool on your fancy suit..I would hate if you looked a mess at your own party. Now hold still, you do not want to keep me waiting now do you? It would be quite rude for a young gentleman to do such a thing." She held out a hand beckoning Shuuren closer focusing on him again attempting to put him under her spell "Love At First Sight."
"Unknown to love, nor known to hate…Have replicated many blades, and suffered from it…There is no other world to go back to.." Akechi clone was working hard as he could feel that Akechi was in a battle for their lives as he focused on the sealing technqiue before flashing back to Akechi. Once Akechi got the clone back he smirked as he raced to the rooftops once there he started to focus his chakra like a pillar. Shurren however would again have his hands full, however he was able to knock out a hand full however the rest was still coming. "SO AS I PRAY! UNLIMITED SEAL WORKS!" Akechi eyes flashed open as a seal started to blanket to sky it would be gold in color and could be seen over there by Shuuren. "THE END!" Akechi would start to drain the huge pumpkin with great skill than ever before as he smirked and started to clear piece of glass from the back and hair. Smirking he spoke again "So as I pray."
As he continues to fight the swarm of infected villagers, Shuuren isn't quite able to pull off Genjutsu Kai in time, and ends up being frozen in a new infatuation with Eri. This, in turn, gives one of the villagers time to manage to bite his hand. "Of course," he says, though manages to jerk his hand away before the venom takes full effect. However, as he seems to begin to fight against himself, it becomes apparent that it did manage to get enough that he doesn't have complete control. He takes a few steps toward, obviously trying not to, yet the venom is overtaking him. "Allow me to thank you," he says as he reaches his hands forward to take hers and bring them up between them, still some amount of struggle written in his face as he attempts to fight this infection off. "And in turn complete my preparation for the party." What he means becomes obvious as he leans forward to gently press his lips to Eri's, which will in turn expose him to the venom fully to complete his 'transformation'… Which means Akechi is pretty screwed if he doesn't hurry up because what happens to people when Shuuren actually fights is not pretty.
Eri smirks slightly as she was finally able to 'convince' Shuuren to come over to the her and the King's side. She watches as Shuuren takes her hand in his, smiling softly at him "Of course. I would not expect any less from a gentleman.." She gently returns the kiss to Shuuren nipping his lip before turning her attention to Akechi. She glances back at Shuuren thinking for a moment before displacing the chakra around him to free him from her genjutsu. Now that they weren't on opposing teams she would need his..expertise. "Come love, we will need you to protect our Master..we do not want to leave Akechi-san out of the party now do we?.." She chuckled darkly to herself and ordered the rest of the villagers to focus on Akechi and protect the king pumpkin. "This is almost over.."
Akechi would see the demonic chakra being sucked right out of it, standing there with him holding his arm before tossing the last kunai that when it hit he would turn his back. And start to walk back to the group; it's clear that the crash through the window was something that greatly hurt him. Arm would be dripping blood but it appears that the pumpkin madness was started to fade on the victims. Shuuren and the other could feel themselves lighten up and become back what you could say is good. Everyone would awaken in a daze not recalling what happen the moment after they were taken captive by the great pumpkin.
