Pop Princess, Metal Rescue - CH. 1, Pt. 2 [Mission]

[Coal]

Entering the City of Dante was like entering the slums of Hell, a rather mild hell considering the lack of flames, but a hell nonetheless. Dilapidated buildings dotted the streets, with boarded up windows that still held a surprising amount of foot traffic in and out, and other buildings in such a state of disrepair that they should have been condemned long ago. Even the air held a filthy feel to it, as if it would leave a film on your skin from it, a taint that would seep into your soul if you lingered here too long. Destitution was the currency here, backed by the tears of youth, and minted by crime and a desperate need to survive. It was a choked city and it was the place that he would find Pilar, hopefully before they used her or sold her, to spare her that kind of trauma.

Just as it had been years before when he had visited this cesspool, garbage still littered the alleyways, clogged the gutters, and walked the streets in the guise of humanity. Clouds had started to roll in from the coast, hinting at a storm to come, and Kyuushu could only hope it would wash this place away; so long as it waited until after he had Pilar in hand. On foot, because he had left Souten outside of the city to roam the much safer countryside, he eyed those who eyed his backpack with black piercing eyes. Only a fool did not sweat under his gaze and, fortunately for these thieves, they were not also fools in that regard. The best place to start would be the local watering hole, which fortunately not many set up shop in this city, leaving only a few options for Inns. He picked one at random, reading The Inferno on the sign, and stepped within to a sea of noise.

Men and women, all with the hard look of the citizens of Dante, cheered a caroused around a raised platform in the common room that acted as a stage. Sawdust covered the floors, along with many a drink, and a bit of blood from a fight or two. Two men with arms the size of tree trunks leaned on either side of the door, cudgels hanging from their belts as they watched the crowd, and it was clear they had bounced more than one patron today. The music that came from the stage was provocative and heavy, played through an electric guitar, drums, and an electric bass. The singer was very good looking and her music would make less filthy men blush to hear it. Making his way across the common room was not easy, but he found a seat and dropped himself into a sturdy wooden chair, which felt kind of new for this kind of bar. The last was probably broken over someone.

A keen-eyed plump woman appeared next to him, having snaked through the throng of people to take his order, and her wide white apron marked her as the proprietor of the establishment, introducing herself as Moira. “So what’ll you be having sir,” she queried in an accented voice that held a drawl. Kyuushu ordered a pint of a stout snowberry drink that was popular in Yuki no Kuni for the flavor, one that he had always enjoyed as well, and decided to ask the question before the Innkeeper vanished. “I’m waiting for a friend of mine who was supposed to have already made it to town, would you have seen her by chance? Pink hair, cute, goes by Pilar?” He was aware of several eyes regarding him from his opposite side, where a few tables of a rougher looking crowd sat previously buried in their drinks. Good. They probably have the information that I need. He could see them out of his peripheral regarding him coldly, wondering if they could take him. The innkeeper had a tight grimace as she shook her head, an obvious lie, and went to get his drink. It appeared a few moments later, always ice cold due to the snowberries, but Kyuushu did not take a sip yet. He was sure he was going to need it soon though.

He chanced a wave at those across from him, the hard-looking men and two women, which was a surprise, that regarded him earlier and pretended they had not been caught now.

{Continued from narutoforumrp.proboards.com/thread/114098/pop-princess-metal-rescue-mission }

[octonauticus]

Kyuushu was a man of renown—as soon as he approached the crumbling gate of Dante, eyes from diverse places had been boring through him. The man would come to find that the tavern he once knew as The Inferno, had been renamed as Fireball; had he the chance to spot the large and dark coliseum to his right as he pushed into the threshold of Fireball, he would then guess that that had been the true Inferno, as even a faint heatwave ebbed forth from its general direction before he found a seat at the bar.

The innkeep had not lied about the knowledge of Pilaf, she had honestly been shaken, as witnessed from how she dropped a glass upon mention of the popstar. Moira would tell Kyuushu that Pilaf had been a role model she admired for her daring acts; the woman himself was hardly a badman at all in this dark realm of brooding powers. Once his drink arrived to him, the Jounin would notice a group of men and another exchanging looks with him. They spoke words, but low and amongst themselves as he brazenly mentioned the missing pink-haired rockstar. One roared at the timid innkeep for another round of drinks—Flame-Wheels, which had been shots of Katon-kept liquors. Some of the finest alchemica brewmasters dwelled in the doldrums Dante and kept strong concoctions at the ready... perhaps a clue, if the nobleman didn’t fall victim to the vices of this city.

Moira would bring the lurid liquors to the table of men and the one who had ordered on his tab, slapped her bottom as she blushed and hurried back to another set of patrons. There would seem to be little information regarding the guitarist of PINK. Kyuushu had his work cut out for him.

SPOILER: Click to show

overseeing the b-rank mission in the stead of the otokage

[Coal]

Kyuushu smiled to himself as he took a sip of his drink, eyeing those men again as one smacked the bottom of the waitress quite hard, like someone used to those kinds of acts. His friends did nothing either, allowing those kinds of antics to fly, despite the clear dislike and embarrassment of it from the waitress herself. Well, at least I know which is probably the leader. Easy enough. Taking his drink in one hand, he would make his way over toward their table, staggering just a little even from that small amount to drink. His thoughts were still clear enough for this though. Once he arrived at the table, a grin would spread on his face, those black onyx eyes glittered as they gazed down at the men, and he produced a seat from a nearby table to sit without asking. After this, I’ll head to the Coliseum. Women are often trafficked through there.

“You fellas look like you know how to have a good time!” He would take another drink, clapping the leader on the back, who sat to his immediate left. “You don’t mind if I join you, do you? My friend is late and I’m getting bored, if you know what I mean!” He made eyes at the waitress who had her bottom smacked, feigning that he was leering, then turned back to the man he assumed was the leader. “I’m Kyu by the way. Don’t worry, I’m off duty and just trying to enjoy myself, just like y’all!” He knew that the people here in Dante knew of him, being the only Jounin active in Otogakure no Sato currently, not to mention one of the few survivors of the Coup on the former Daimyo. Maybe it would work in his favor, or maybe someone was about to get bloodied. Hopefully, it would not be him and he could get some information at the same time.

“You wouldn’t happen to know where any is, would you?” He would smile mischievously at the whole group, “I prefer pink hair, but any will do as long as the carpets match.” He laughed at his own words, although the mirth never touched his eyes, focused eyes that waited to see what would happen next. He began to take another drink to keep his buzz going.

[octonauticus]

The boulder of a man folded his arms over his chest as the Jounin came and joined his ranks at the drinking table. All of the others present turned to swift whispers and shared glances as the ninja of Otogakure began his liquid-fastened spiel. Of course there would be no easy answers in the dismal Dante. It would be even a difficult task for this high-ranking shinobi to read the faces of these murderous men who opted to not reply to anything that he had said. All but one remained silent. The largest man present, with arms still pressed against his massive chest, stared the man in his deep black eyes.

"Get the fuck out of here." No warning. No threat. No reply to the jounin's inquiry.

Amidst the group, there had been a frail looking man, who had put his stone-cold faced allies in a bit of a bind. He was sweating in a rather cool place, for the lights had been awfully low and the current temperature was far from inducing humidity within the tavern. Hopefully, he thought, with Kyu so occupied with his burly leader, he wouldn't notice the rat-of-a-man squirming in his seat. He would push off of his chair and excuse himself from the table and darted for the latrine.

[Coal]

Kyuushu frowned at the burly man, but the rat-like fellow did not escape his notice [Observation: 150], few things ever did. The weasel darted from the table with an audible scrape of his chair, a hasty retreat to the bathroom, and Kyuushu laughed. “Not a bad idea that guy has,” he said with his best smile, pushing out of his own chair, “I would hate to be that squirmy from holding it. Looks painful.” Using that as an excuse, he removed himself from the company of those unsavory types, taking his drink with him and sipping it as he staggered toward the bathroom. Pushing open the door, he stepped through into the latrine, gathering his surroundings quickly before moving in further.

His ears picked up a scraping sound, like boots on brick, and Kyuushu smiled as he rounded the corner. The Rat was trying to climb out of the window in the restroom, but it was just a little bit tight, although he almost had the second arm through if he could just have a little bit more time. Unfortunately, he could not. Swiftly, he placed his drink on the second sink, then moved in and grabbed the Rat by the waist of his pants, yanking him out of the window. A small heave and the Rat hit the wall partition between the doors and sink, four open stalls to his right with nobody in them, meaning that he and the Rat were alone for the moment. “Going somewhere? You seemed in an awful hurry there.” Visibly in pain, the Rat began to scramble to his feet, but Kyuushu put a boot on his crotch.

“I don’t think so.” [Intimidation: 70] He grinned at the fellow, aware of the Naginata still on his back, partnered with the bow and the quiver on his hip. Pulling out an arrow, he pressed the tip to the Rat’s throat, boot adding pressure to the man’s crotch as he leaned in. “You seem to know something. Where exactly is the girl with the pink hair?” The Rat looked like he was not exactly ready to answer, but Kyuushu had ways of fixing that, and moved the arrow from the Rat’s throat to his crotch, pressing hard enough to punch through the pants the man wore and feel the flesh underneath. “Still have nothing to say?” Suddenly the man was a flood of words, quickly spoken through fear, about the locations and the girls and a jumble of other crimes. He did not say anything about Pilaf though, only the location of a brothel near Inferno, the Coliseum instead of this bar; which apparently had a name change.

Before he could get more details out of the man however, the door exploded open and the Boulder walked in with his 4 cronies. Kyuushu backed away and took another sip of his drink, keeping his buzz going. “Well, fancy meeting you gentlemen here.” He chuckled, knowing that it was going to be a rumble.

[Coal]

Kyuushu put his drink down, bringing his hands up in a classic boxer stance, but then he began to weave drunkenly from side to side, shaking his head. Boulder and friends looked at each other and grinned, knowing that a single drunk, no matter how strong, was still a drunk and they were sober. The first took a single step forward and Kyuushu staggered forward, a long step like he had to catch his balance. Lightning quick the uppercut came, striking the man in the jaw, and sending him flying out into the wall that was between the doors to the men’s and women’s restrooms. He didn’t move. Immediately after, Kyuushu woud fall to the ground as if he lost his balance, spinning as he did so, he leg coming out and sweeping all of his assailants. As they fell, he would roll out of the door and back to his feet, moving into the common room proper, glancing over at the barkeep and shrugging with a grin. “I’m always making new friends, I guess.”

Turning back to his foes as they scrambled out of the restroom, the first of the friends rushed forward, just one of the cronies. Kyuushu kicked toward the man’s face as he got close, a high kick that was slightly off, and the crony bent backwards in order to avoid what looked to be a kick that would penetrate through his face. Before he could recover, the heel of Kyuushu’s foot came down on his head, right between the eyes, breaking the man’s nose and possibly face as it folded him. Two down, three to go. Two rushed him this time, the last two cronies, one a little faster than the other. The quicker one was kicked directly in the chest, a strong enough kick to fold him over as well as he slid passed. A quick arm up blocked the punch of the second, who received a punch to the throat for his trouble, then a powerful overhead punch to the temple that put him down. Only the Boulder was left. “So what’s it gonna be?” For a man shaped like a boulder, he was surprisingly quick on his feet when fleeing.

Dusting off his hands, it was time to get moving, since the real work was about to begin. With his back to the bathroom, he offered a powerful rear kick, connecting to the chest of the Rat, a blade dropping to the floor as he sailed backward and slammed into the wall. Shaking his head, Kyuushu left the bar, exiting onto the street, the eyes returning to watch him once more. They’re gonna know I’m coming. I’ll have to be quick about it before they move all the girls. Picking up a light jog down the street, he headed toward the true Inferno, where he hoped to find Pilaf, but would settle for freeing some captive women and getting some information. At least now he had a lead.

[octonauticus]

A sultry heat embraced the realm of Dante, and as Kyu moved through the citystreets of the place, men and women retreated at his advance. He was a jounin--one well-known within this forlorn world and none would aid him in his plight. As the clamoring grew louder, Dante's Inferno came into view. The thick smell of ichor filled the area wherein lay the death-trap coliseum. With several guards now coming into the man's view, Kyuushu would have to decide how to enter into the gates of hell. All who dared entered knew that there had been little chance of escape. What more, a man on a mission of inquiry and search would have a hard time sticking to those strict proclivity while navigating the hellish battleground that is the Inferno.

The Dark Scorpion, those five men that he had subdued in the tavern, would not further pursue him after regaining consciousness. They instead sunk into the deep shadows of Dante and would left far more sinister powers deal with the troublesome Otogakure jounin...

[chimecho]

Before Kyuushu made it to the blistering hot gates of the Inferno, a man housed in deep blacks approached him. It would seem that the foot soldier had manifested from nil, and in doing so, he presented a singular message to the Oto-jounin—

“By order of the Otokage, you are to return to the village tower at once.”

—and just as quickly as he came, so he went into a chasm of darkness and shadow.

SPOILER: Click to show

PINK mission detail is put on hold for the time being, mission credit approved, but mission is left incomplete.