"Crane!" Raven barks.
The Anbu captain's authoritative tone shakes the Medical-nin from his stupor, "My apologies, Captain, but no, I'm afraid I can do nothing. Her condition is beyond my expertise." Crane sighs, "I'd put Captain Mantis out of her misery if I could, but how do we kill someone without a pulse or heartbeat?" He removes the rebar, impaling Mantis's shoulder, then tosses it aside. "What baffles me is that her blood appears to have mutated into some gel-like substance; this could be what keeps her remains animated."
Pelican scoffs, "Disgusting…"
Parrot gags, 'I've had enough of this; I'm out of here,' he walks away, knowing this will be another memory to suppress deep within his subconscious. Parrot is no stranger to war; nevertheless, perpetual missions as a Grey Beret (Anbu) can wear down the strongest minds. Some even turn to illegal narcotics as a coping mechanism for the harsh realities of war, "You alright?" he asks, approaching Hawk.
"I'm fine; a bit winded, but I'll manage," the Hyūga responds, catching his breath.
Parrot reaches into one of the pouches on his flak jacket, "Here, it ain't much, but it's all yours truly has left," he whispers.
Hawk looks over his shoulder before taking one of the orange capsules and inspecting it. 'These must be the state-of-the-art Military Rations Pills the New Land of Whirlpools won't shut up about.'
"It's experimental—um, I mean a reverse-engineered product, ya know."
Hawk rolls his pure blank white eyes, "And they want a couple of guinea pigs to test these on, right?"
"No, no, no; It's not like that," the Uzumaki replies, shaking his hands. "We scavenged the recipe from a Syndicate of Socialist Republics narcotics lab a few years back. This stuff works wonders; I'm tellin' you!"
Hawk raises an eyebrow at this, "Those Syndi-narcos sure can make an excellent product. Alright, you've piqued my interest. Go on."
"C'mon, have I ever steered you wrong before? This pill will take all the pain away while producing pretty trippy results. Yours truly would know, you know." Parrot says, handing the Hyūga a Pepsi.
"Pepsi!? Most excellent!" Hawk gulps the capsule and takes a swig, "So, how long's it take to kick in?"
Parrot shrugs, "About five to nine minutes, give or take."
Sparrow, eavesdropping, rolls her eyes, "worthless junkies."
Hawk raises his middle finger at Sparrow, but she returns the bird. Parrot flips off Pelican for no reason, so Pelican returns the good old-fashioned California Howdy to all three.
SCMC (Sovereign Colonies Marine Contras) — Fort Firestorm — Rooftops — Present
Jimi adjusts his rifle's telescopic sights; he zeros in on his mark (accounting for elevation, wind, then parallax adjustment) and exhales.
Anbu 13 Alpha
Caramel and sugariness within the high fructose corn syrup stream down Hawk's throat—the Pepsi carbonation burns a little. The acidity has a citric taste; it's subtle but noticeable. Parrot and Pelican stare in astonishment as he downs a two-liter bottle like a champ. The Hyūga tosses the empty container, bouncing it off Sparrow's head.
Sparrow glares at Hawk, "Pasty scoundrel."
Parrot catches the empty bottle, upset, "A two-liter bottle ain't meant for just one person, fool! You fool!"
Before Hawk responds, a wave of Killing Intent washes over the Anbu, distracting them. Mantis lunges after Crane, missing his neck, yet she bites into his shoulder. Blood and chunks of flesh splatter the side of Parrot's mask; a round grazes the top of his head.
"Aaargh! My arm!" Pelican screams, gripping the bloody stump where his arm hangs from the bicep by a few tatters of flesh.
"Sniper! Get down!" Raven warns.
Hawk falls, landing in Parrot's arms; the baseball-size entry wound in the Hyūga's chest abolishes any hope of survival. Tears well in the Uzumaki's eyes as his childhood friend dies, with a look of shock forever dawning on his face. Crane plunges a kunai into Mantis's temple, then uses the blade's handle to wrench the zombified Anbu captain off himself. The medical-nin smashes Mantis's skull with his elbow to break free; Raven punts Mantis away, then dives into a window behind Crane. Parrot awakens from shellshock. He springs from the ground, grabs Pelican, and dives through the window after Sparrow. Another round flies by embedding itself into the wall.
"Dang, I missed," Jim remarks, 'They can't leave a main-house Hyūga laid out in the dirt. They have to recover the body sooner or later,' he notices movement before spotting his next target, "Oh no, you don't!" The Marine Contra chambers a bullet and fires. The skeletal framework comprising Mantis's gaping maw ruptures like a festering cyst full of teeth, stopping her from infecting Hawk's corpse. It terrifies yet amazes him how resilient the Red Zetsus are; nevertheless, 'a pristine intact dōjutsu ripe and ready for harvest lies in wait!'
Pelican writhes in pain over losing a limb; Raven applies pressure above the wound, halting the bleeding. Sparrow muffles his screams of anguish, preventing him from drawing anything to their location. Crane finishes patching the bite wound on his shoulder and rushes to Pelican.
"Parrot, restrain him!" Crane administers a potent custom-made anesthetic. Pelican's muffled screams and involuntary twitching cease; his pain becomes somewhat bearable. The Medical-nin sanitizes the wound before removing the fragments lodged within Pelican's arm. His mastery of Medical Ninjutsu enables him to work with Pelican's bloodline limit by creating new cells, skin tissue, muscles, nerves, arteries, and veins around the regenerating skeletal structure. The Shikotsumyaku (Dead/Macabre Bone Pulse) user recovers in minutes rather than hours, relying on his bloodline limit alone.
A droning guttural groan disrupts the post-apocalyptic ambiance as the lifeless mass drags itself against the ground. Persistent tapping against a metallic surface echoes along the adjacent window near the Anbu.
"What is that, ya know?" Parrot asks.
"Oh great, what now?" Sparrow wonders.
The Anbu captain slides a compact mirror at her subordinate and points up. Sparrow nods, then inches the mirror towards the window; she adjusts the angle and gasps as a round shatters the mirror.
"You've gotta be kidding! Another one!?" Raven hisses.
Jim chambers another bullet, then gets a cheap laugh at Mantis, head-butting Hawk's groin plate, struggling to consume the Anbu's remains.
"Their biotechnology's no match for our combined military might, they said!" Pelican mocks, "Expect moderate to low resistance with enemy morale at an all-time low, they say! Well, someone forgot to tell the SSR that! Or rather, what's left of it."
"Agreed, our intel regarding the Syndicate of Socialist Republics requires much revision," Crane concedes. "Seems those Syndi-boys weren't just cowering in the rainforests."
Pelican snorts, "They were fine chowing down upon the Village of the Bloody Mist's Hunter-nin divisions until we came along."
Crane slides down, sitting against a wall near Pelican, "That explains the disappearance of all those infiltration teams sent here over the years. The Socialist Republics may have fallen long before we secured a beachhead."
"Even still, the remaining Syndi-guerrillas technologically outclass us. Why haven't they pushed us back into the ocean yet?"
The Medical-nin groans in appalling realization, looking away in deep thought, "If I didn't know any better, I'd say they're biding their time. It may be why large portions of the continent are inaccessible."
"And by inaccessible, you mean—quarantined, right?"
"Exactly! Whatever this is," Crane says, pointing at his shoulder injury, "if this ever reaches the Great Shinobi Countries, it can spell the end for the Village Hidden by Rain."
Pelican nods, understanding the implication, "How long before you try taking a chunk out of me or anyone else, then, doc?" he half teases, leaning away from Crane.
Crane chuckles, "I don't know; it's hard to say. I've never had a chance to study one of the specimens with us constantly fleeing from them." He winces in pain, holding his shoulder, "A shame I may never learn the fate of my nephew now."
"We can at least make sure Malkhaz pays with her life before the inevitable," Pelican assures Crane, extending his new hand.
Crane pulls himself up with a sad smile, "A tragic way for it all to end, wouldn't you agree? But that's unsurprising given our career choices." They both laugh, reminiscing their days at the Academy. The day they passed their Chūnin Exams together and became Jōnin (high/elite ninja) two years later.
Pelican frowns, "And my conscription back into the military was so close to retirement."
A cluster of Smoke Bombs project from the windows before detonating, releasing a diversionary smokescreen. Jim scans the streets, surveying the perimeter around the haze for any signs of activity. He fires at a shadowy afterimage speeding behind a building but misses. The Anbu approach; Jim shoulders his rifle and makes a break for it, 'I need to stall for more—'
An onslaught of kunai and shuriken hurtle at Jim; he dives away as the shuriken change course in pursuit. The fugitive dodges, but kunai, armed with explosive tags, rain down, encircling him. His hands fly through a combination of seals, "Lightning Release: Jolting Jigawatt Jutsu!" Electricity surges inside the metal, diffusing the explosives. A second jolt launches the kunai, cutting the Wire Strings that control the shuriken. As two black blurs dash at him in his peripheral vision, he evades the projectiles. The Contra eludes evisceration and seizes a ricocheting kunai to deflect a beheading attempt.
"Release!" While dispelling an incursive genjutsu, Jim imbues the kunai with chakra, then Butterfly Twists (b-twist) between two incoming Fūma Shuriken. The bulky spinning blades veer and intersect, but he throws the kunai bulls-eyeing the guided shuriken's rings before they rebound, pinning them against a wall. The speeding afterimages reappear; another kunai slips from the war criminal's sleeve into his hand. He deflects a sword racing towards his abdomen, then elbows his rifle, nudging its barrel enough to deflect another blade racing at his jugulars. The Anbu dodges Jim's counterattack with the shoulder stock, yet he ensnares the kunoichi's wrist using the rifle's sling.
Jim charges the bolt handle, but she cuts the sling and diverts the barrel before he fires at the other Anbu. A shinobi slashes at the Contra with a downward swing; Jim kicks the kunoichi's sword sheath into the shinobi's ulnar nerve (funny bone), stunning the Anbu's arm. Jim stumbles the kunoichi with a heel sweep, allowing him to lean back from an upward slash. He spins his kunai midair to chamber another bullet; however, the shinobi grabs the barrel and lands a solid right hook on Jim's face.
The mass murderer recoils but catches the kunai, then cuts a tripwire, setting off an impromptu wire string trap. The kunoichi kicks the rifle out of Jim's hand and lunges onto his back. The shinobi swings his sword at Jim's mid-section; nevertheless, Jim halts the blade with the kunai ring before wrenching on the almost invisible wires with all his strength. Jim gasps; the kunoichi's sword ceases centimeters away from the back of his throat, scraping against the fugitive's teeth.
Both assailant's limbs are bound as Jim's rifle tumbles over the ledge. "No, not now!" he curses.
"You thought we wouldn't catch up with you? You thought you'd get away with everything you've put us through? You've had this coming for a long time now, Jimi!" Raven sneers, venom dripping in her voice.
"My my—you're pretty strong to hold us back like this, but I wonder how long you can keep it up?" Crane taunts, applying more force with his sword, "Your arms will give sooner or later; then our blades will be inside you. Hope you're into getting spit-roasted like a greasy pig."
Raven inches her sword toward the Contra's throat, "You have a choice, Malkhaz. My blade slides down your throat, the doc guts you like a fish, or you fall to your death!" the Anbu captain threatens, squeezing her legs tighter against Jim's ribs, "Oh, look, she's suffocating. It won't be long now."
"You know I'm a doctor, right, Malkhaz? If we capture you alive, I'm breaking out my surgical instruments and will take my time with you. Starting with that pretty little face of yours!"
"Tobirama said nothing about this flat-chested floozy being alive or in one piece! I like the idea…"
"Tch like you're one to talk," Jim grunts.
"Toasty~!"
Raven's eyebrows furrow. A snort almost escapes Crane, but he manages to suppress it. The two Anbu personnel restrain Jim using their body weight; his back can't sustain the pressure much longer. He tries salvaging his strategy before it goes FUBAR but knows he'll have to improvise. Jim curses himself for not refilling his pistol mags, 'Still, hindsight's twenty-twenty.'
With a slight twitch of his index finger, the wires hoist Raven's arms, enabling Jim to maneuver away from her blade. He snorts mucus from his sinuses, then spits the lung butter straight at the eyehole on her mask.
Raven shrieks, "Aah! You repulsive skank!"
Jim spins, redirecting Crane's sword before kicking him in the head. He pulls the Anbu captain over the edge, absorbing her chakra; the excruciating sensation forces Raven to disengage. He throws her through a window and readies another kunai; the Medical-nin dives after Jim like a hawk. They erupt into a flurry of strikes faster than an untrained eye can see while falling—sword against kunai and steel against steel match each other blow for blow. Crane's unnatural long arms give him an edge; he swipes away one of the war criminal's kunai.
They withdraw, then slow their descent using their chakra to stick to the building's surface. Crane stares Jim down, daring the Contra to make the first move. The thunderstorm intensifies; lightning rips along the clouds, brightening the sky in a blinding light as if God is watching the battle.
The Marine Contra disappears, reappearing before Crane as the lightning flashes—their weapons clash, emitting sparks that rain down like the tears of a weeping devil. Caught in a stalemate, they battle in pure strength, pushing each other back, bending their wrists, and trying to free their weapons. Standing at 222cm, the tall shinobi towers over Jim; however, Jim has a speed advantage. He forces Crane's fingers into a crude amalgamation of hand seals. Electricity surges inside his hand, electrocuting the enormous shinobi. Galvanic currents arc between Jim's palms; he tightens his fists before taping them together like jumper cables.
"By the way, dork doc—I'm a man! Lightning Release: High Voltage Vendetta!" Jim assails Crane with a rapid barrage of electrified punches to his abdomen. He uppercuts the Medical-nin, then sends him plummeting with a reverse roundhouse kick. Raven's hands breach the glass under Jim. She grabs his ankles, then yanks him into the building, throwing the war criminal through a wall. A volley of shuriken and kunai fly at him, but he dodges and deflects the projectiles with little effort.
A dim light gleams behind Jim; the room brightens. Heat soars against his back. He evades, but a fireball resembling a skull impacts a nearby wall, launching him across the room. He grabs onto the interior balcony railing, preventing himself from falling. Raven disappears from the doorway, then reappears behind the mass murderer, speeding over a string of hand seals.
"Fire Release: Searing Skull Salvos!" three flaming skulls accelerate toward the fugitive. He executes an Aerial Cartwheel off the railing, throwing a handful of shuriken. Raven parries and bolts down the hallway after him. Explosions rupture the walls behind Jim; the kunoichi swings from an intersection, surprising him with a powerful kick. He crosses his arms, blocking the attack, yet the impact sends him flying into a cubicle farm. He skids to a halt; a Red Zetsu ambushes him from behind.
"I like your cut, G!" Jim slaps an explosive tag on the back of the flesh-eating ghoul's head before kicking the abomination at Raven. She dodges; the Red Zetsu's upper body wedges into a wall behind her. Raven lunges at the fugitive; however, an explosion destabilizes her trajectory.