ANCHOR-9 - "D-Block"

[Jae]

Tension thickened the air, and every fleshy tap from Ue's bare feet felt magnified in the relative silence his cell provided. While he himself seemed oddly at ease, the men before him noticeably lacked his cool assurance. The youngest apparent had fear in his heart. His wears rattled loudly in trepidation, and his blade wavered unsteady. The other was much more resolute, both in hand and in eye; he was the quintessential samurai.

"It's no use; attack!" The words came as promptly as his own blitz, the wail of his blade filling the steel cell with all it's wielder's ire. Ue was just as quick to smile as he was to react, pivoting just enough to the side to feel the slash's wake brush lightly against his front side, but not as soon as he moved did the dog bite again. This time he cut horizontally in an attempt to cleave the prisoner, having anticipated his dodge.

Even then they moved together, fluidly. Ue stepped forward, so that when the slash reached the end of it's course they stood shoulder to shoulder, but only for a moment. Another pivot put the shinobi behind his assailant. His arms flashed forward bringing the metal chain that linked his restraints beneath the samurai's helmet, onto the fragile flesh of his throat. Ue's fingers weaved together behind his exposed neck, pressing down so that any breath he drew was stymied.

"Are you learning anything," he hummed. "Do you see that underneath this garb, you are only a man?" Standing a head above the samurai allowed him to cast a short glance at his young ally, who looked more afraid now than ever before. The captive gripped fiercely at his blade, shifting his handle to send a futile thrust over his shoulder at the shinobi's head.

"Have you learned," he called, evading the strike, and bearing down on his clutch with every word. "That your instinct to protect this meek, fragile, shell of flesh, has corroded any sense of duty you have?" The hostage's grip on his weapon began to wane, as did his breath, the latter having reduced to guttural chokes. Ue leered back at the upstart samurai.

"Do you understand that convictions are the only things that separate us? You cage us like animals and assume we are your prey." A loud ring filled the steel chamber; the samurai had finally relinquished his sword. With the last of his strength he stretched a pleading hand out to his subordinate, gasping where words should have been.

"I am an animal," Ue droned, half smiling as he hoisted the man as high as his arms could reach.

"But I am certainly not your prey."

Traces of resistance came by way of the samurai's legs and arms; they flailed and spasmed as he hung, fighting to survive. Such a display was enough to give any coward reason to act. The young samurai, washed with fear, bore his teeth down and charged forth. His blade rose and fell to slash at one of Ue's protruding elbows, but the shriek of metal striking metal caused him to freeze. Beneath the cut was his ally's helm; the shinobi had shifted, so that one elbow pointed north and the other south, all the while keeping his captive's head in tow.

"Captain!" His surprise gave Ue the window he needed to relinquish the hold and a strong kick sent his captive barreling into his subordinate, forcing them out of the cell and into the prison atrium.

To a witness they'd seem to explode from out of the chamber in a disheveled pile, one scrambling to rise and the other barely conscious, and in their shadow, stalking them with a menacing gait, emerged a shackled beast. He stood tall and proud above the fallen samurai, like a predator stalking his game, ready to deliver a finishing blow.

[Naitome]

---

"Tch. Samurai. Fucking bastards."

Shin had a point. They didn't have time to waste dealing with this warriors dross; larger prey loomed out, predators roamed the nearby countryside and reinforcements could appear in overwhelming numbers at any moment. Though their prowess with chakra had seemingly been returned, there was little guarantee it would remain as such, as they nothing of the Samurai's capability to effect it. Naitome did not wish to take leadership of the group, it was a simply a rush of unusual comfort to speak and have others understand what he was saying. He tried not to think about how much he relished the extermination, the revenge and requital malevolence. He would yell back in response to Shin's concerns only once sure their current batch of 'handlers' had been felled.


"It is strange to have shinobi from so many nations attempting to work together. But if there are any old grudges still standing between us, now isn't the time. Let's mo--"

BOOM.

Not an explosion, a crushing. Metal warping metal with pressure bent beyond breaking, a smothering of weight. The dense bracing that had formed the elevator itself was pounded through by incredible force from above as the shaft - their means of escape - seemed to be choked by an unknown power and collapsed into little more than a junk obstruction. Where they would have been able to circumvent the elevator's interior and simply climb up the inner-shaft area to freedom, such chances became moot. One of the many cell-blocks scattered across Anchor-9's massing collided - no - ran through the shaft, the elevator, and their current floor, seemingly forcing them into an ugly bubble of compacted imprisonment. They hadn't been fast enough.

Dust and blood, flesh and bile, it gathered and was swept up and erupted in disjointed fractal clouds drowning them in sightlessness. Tremors would shake the entirety of their level, of every level, of Anchor 9 as the prison itself was readjusted by destruction, given new forming by a section of near impermeable bulk. When the vibrations of the massive shattered drill-bit-building settled and it was clear that the shinobi within D-Block had survived their impromptu tossing, a familiar voice shuffled clear of a pile of rubble and limbs.

"Err...I guess we won't be using the elevator shaft. Uh...anybody else got any ideas?"

They seemed to be free of Samurai counterinsurgency for the moment, but for how long?


What exactly were they going to do?

---

[Frozen]

The group’s efforts of staving off the samurai had proved to be relatively pointless. The structural integrity of D-block was compromised somehow and the ice princess found herself doing her best to dodge flying bodies and metal. Aside from getting slammed right in the stomach, she seemed to be alright albeit winded. There was little nothing Elsa could do but clamber over the wounded and try to regroup with the others before she could be caught off guard. One thing was clear, they weren’t escaping through the elevator. So what would they do?

“We could always try blowing a hole through the wall,” Elsa would offer. If she knew anything about shinobi it was that some of them packed enough force to level an entire building. How hard could it be to go through the side? “If ya’ll are down I can lower the temperature and perhaps make the walls brittle enough to break with enough force.” Of course, if this idea wasn’t plausible or ideal, Elsa was down to try anything at this point. They needed to get out of here before this thing dropped to the ground. Who knows, the samurai might figure killing them all off would be easier than trying to traverse all the rubble.

[Mamushi]

    Mamushi heard an ominous rumbling, then the long, low groan of metal being stretched. Something creaked. Again, she heard the metal groan.

    "It is strange to have shinobi from so many nations attempting to work together," Naitome said. Mamushi was convinced that he was Kagehebi, like her. He went on, "But if there are any old grudges still standing between us, now isn't the time. Let's mo--"

!

    The ceiling collapsed. The sounds of crumbling stone and ripping steel were almost deafening, echoing loudly in the enclosed space. Still humming that infernal tune, Mamushi danced a dangerous dance, flitting this way and that to avoid the worst of the falling debris. She twisted and bent, ducked and dipped, spun and twirled. The danger came not from the collapsed ceiling, but from the dust. It floated thick in the air, threatening to choke her, gritty in her mouth.

    Eventually, the dust settled. The whole place was a mess, and the elevator was completely destroyed, but they were all relatively safe and unharmed. Mamushi stopped humming, thought for a moment, and spoke.

    "Technology is known to malfunction from time to time. When the elevator doesn't work, how do the samurai get from level to level? There must be a stairwell, a ladder, something." There was no going up the elevator, but maybe the shaft up on the next level was still more or less in tact?

    They could maybe escape through the vents too, she figured, if they were large enough. She wasn't so sure about trying to blast through the walls, though. Anymore structural damage might collapse the whole prison, and beyond that, there was no telling what was waiting for them outside. What if snow-girl found herself out of chakra when she needed it most? Mamushi didn't care if the woman lived or died, but she figured her own chances of survival were all the higher with more shinobi around.

    Then again, if someone could break through the wall, it was probably worth all the risks involved.

    "I'll check around for a way out," Mamushi declared. "In the meantime, maybe one of you might come up with a better idea." She went to search the walls first, for any latches or knobs or buttons to press, then up to the floor revealed by the collapsed ceiling; even around the ruined shaft.

[Yox]

Well, that sucked.

Shin watched as the elevator shaft fell through, along with their plan to escape. Once again the shinobi group became trapped within the cage of Anchor-9.

He turned to Elsa as she mentioned her ability to use her ice-style techniques to freeze the walls down to a relatively fragile level. This would allow for any one of them who had any ability to create pure brute force to demolish through the walls without too much difficulty. It was fortunate for the group that Shin packed quite a punch with his taijutsu-styled techniques.

“If you can lessen the intensity of the wall with your jutsu, then I should be able to provide enough force to create a shatter point within it. Then we can move through there,” Shin suggested as the group became silent.

It was worth a shot. After all, they were really trapped down here now. The only logical means of getting out had been cut off from them and now the shinobi would have to improvise; even if that meant re-arranging some of the architecture in this joint.

“Let’s go Elsa. We don’t have time to waste.”

SPOILER: Click to show

{290/300}nil.

[Naitome]

---

Everyone seemed to scatter, each offering a plan of action layered atop the unannounced ants of the next person. Leadership dissolved, and to Naitome's knowledge, there was one member of their little group who hadn't spoken at all. He stood with his arms folded, eyeing the devastation D-Block had become, and with his han---

Naitome-kun.

...ja...jashin...sam-m-m-ma--


The room is red. The other bodies blow away, living or dead, billowing petals, a flower too large to--

Naitome doubles-over, coughing a burst of dark blood, a snake removes itself from his throat slowly, as if choking him. The freed snake is white in coloration, and navigates the rubble and the gathered shinobis confusion with ease, disappearing into a gore soaked corner of crushed platform. He falls to one knee, his eyes...their normal golden coloration seems bizarrely off. Too intense. The other sounds drown out, fading from large to small and from small--

to large, too flower, petals billowing dead--

"ja...shin..."

The voice had changed. Raspy. The rest of the things to kill came into view. He stood slowly, allowing his head to swivel unnaturally on his neck, as if testing its breaking point himself. The pupils of his eyes were slits that moved in independent directions. Everywhere around him...so much..


...blood.

---

[Frozen]

Elsa liked the optimistic nature of the group. One decided to try finding a way out, one decided to help her, and yet another just sort of sat there looking kind of crazy. Perhaps he was having trouble registering what was happening? Well that didn't matter much. Elsa performed a flurry of handseals and placed her hands against the nearest wall she could find. It only took a few seconds to cover the whole surface in ice which would ideally make the metal brittle enough to break under enough force. "Your move Shin," she would say as she maneuvered back a few feet. D-block gave another unsuspecting lurch downwards. They had to escape soon, else they be dropped to their doom!

130 chakra remaining

SPOILER: Click to show

Kyuusoku Touketsu (Quick Freeze)
Rank: A
Range: Close (0m ~ 5m), Mid (5m ~ 10m), Far (10m+)
Type: Supplementary
Handseals: 6
Chakra Consumption: High

Kyuusoku Touketsu is a Ninjutsu technique which utilizes the Ice Element. After performing a string of handseals, the user sends out a burst of chakra that flash freezes the terrain around them. Because of the unnatural coldness of the ice, it will not be effected by local temperatures unless they are in extremes, such as the desert during the day.

Note: Freezing range is 30 meters. This jutsu does not create any new terrain of any kind but rather freezes whatever inorganic material is nearby. Some terrain types (lava, heated water, unnatural terrain) cannot be frozen in this way.

[☆ F ☆]

☆

"the everyman"
_{speaking from the pa, current location - command center}

Given the plethora of prisoners kept in here for so long, it would be hard for the Everyman to track every single last one of them - or care less, for that matter. While he had been kind enough to extend an open hand to these lesser fortuned shinobi, his true intentions lie beyond simple charity. He wasn't just here to free the slaves and end the Samurai injustice; no, there was something else ANCHOR-9 held...

However, the freedom of these otherwise doomed shinobi could heavily change the tide of this battle, as well as the overall momentum of his group's search extremely in his favor. And he certainly knew that. As such, he had made the freedom of certain key priority prisoners his current objective, prisoners that were otherwise housed and kept locked impossibly, making a fixed break on just them a highly unrealistic and dangerous affair. Given the chaotic nature of a prison wide break however, the escape of these monsters was all the more plausible.

They were all key players in his plans, and although he intended to use them much like the other prisoners he just freed, given their power, he'd approach them with more tact. He hoped offering them freedom was a good first step. With currently one in his stead - THE Valentine! - he was assured the others would soon fall in rank. And best of all? Through his constant surveillance, courtesy of his successful takeover of the Command Center not too long ago that left him in control of all Samurai technology which controlled ANCHOR-9, he had began to spot certain groups of prisoners that had appeared to band together in their escape, doing well and plowing through Samurai scum as they fought for freedom. While none appeared initially recognizable - in reference to his list - their power jumped right through the screen. It was quire obvious these were no ordinary prisoners of war...

Perfect. Perfect! Things could not have gone any better. Though a certain prominent group - there were four of them, including one whose current prone position was due to an apparent chakra and/or spiritual influx, a prominent ice user, a destructive fighter who demolishes opponent with swift strikes, and a hood-wearing snake mistress - was currently in a tough position for escape, it just so happened he had reinforcements nearby. Were they worth the trouble? He did not know for sure, and with time being of the essence, his choices were limited. However, he felt confident in this group. Something about them...he knew they'd help him get what he needed. He's speak through the PA, and although everyone would hear his voice as it cut though the odd music, only one would understand. The one that currently scaled down ANCHOR-9's outer walls, not too long from the frost point Elsa had created.

"DAISY, MY DEAR..."

"...I NEED YOU TO DO SOMETHING FOR ME. BE A DEAR AND HEAD OVER TO D-BLOCK FOR ME, YES...? WE'LL GO AND BUST KOU AFTERWARDS..."

"NOW GO. GO AND MAKE DADDY PROUD!"

[ ... ]

MADE BY ♔KOJIHIME

[☆ F ☆]

Congratulations! You have survived PHASE-1 of this event, and have successfully been ushered into the second round! Be prepared, for more excitement awaits! I will grade your progress for now, award you for the first phase, and give everyone a chance to update their characters as their prepare for PHASE-2. Expect the thread to be up in a day or so, so update your character quickly!

Again, nice job everyone!

• Naitome : 40x2 = 80 EXP + 10,000 Ryo
• Frozen : 30x2 = 60 EXP + 10,000 Ryo
• Mamushi : 30x2 = 60 EXP + 10,000 Ryo
• Yox : 30x2 = 60 EXP + 10,000 Ryo
• Jae : 20x2 = 40 EXP + 10,000 Ryo

Stand by for additional, bonus rewards, as well as the round ending post...