"Larch Da—" duel blood-curdling screams paralyze Pelican halfway through his jutsu. The temperature plunges below freezing; the air becomes thick and heavy; proportional spikes in gravity inhibit the Anbu's mobility as the invisible frigid phenomenon constrains their bodies. A bony hand slaps Sparrow's shoulder; the ReDead, clutching the kunoichi's wrist, restraints her over a stone block. A triune of gut-wrenching shrieks blares around the circular room, prolonging the paralysis.
She opens her eyes; the two ghoulish creatures flanking the shinobi lurch towards him as another approaches. The ReDead before Sparrow clasps her head with its cadaverous hands. Anxiety grows as she wonders what cruel, painful demise is in store for her. The ReDead adjusts the kunoichi's face towards itself; the frightening figure is even more hideous and grotesque up close. She closes her eyes, awaiting the inevitable.
"Grawmp," a flat, spongy surface strikes Sparrow in the face.
She recoils, "Ouch."
"Grawmp."
"Ow!!" the kunoichi scowls at the ReDead standing there, gripping her head with its fingers.
The ReDead behind Sparrow grabs her hips, "Grawmp." A swift, vigorous collision shoves the flabbergasted kunoichi.
"Oof!" her eyes widen, "Di-did you just…"
The ReDeads stare through their wooden masks before, Grawmp—Grawmp, Grawmp—Grawmp, Grawmp—Grawmp, Grawmp—Grawmp" administering a vicious series of pelvic thrusts. She rages, swearing up an unclear garbled mess of a storm at the ReDead, beating her in the face with its genitalless crotch. The ReDead behind the uproarious kunoichi smacks her rear end; she gasps. They hive-five above her. Their rhythm, coordination, and speed expedite, inundating Pelican with a deluge of cheek-clenching dread.
He screams, struggling against the mysterious force weighing him down; however, a ReDead surprises the shinobi from behind with a bear hug, "OH, AH FU—ARGH!!"
"Grawmp, Grawmp, Grawmp, Grawmp."
The ReDead goes to town on his hindquarters like a jackrabbit in the middle of spring, hopped up on barbiturates and fuck-thunder. Anger washes over Pelican's face as it contorts into an all-consuming rage. His nostrils flare, the shinobi's eyes twitch. He spasms and drools, spewing pent-up emotions and unintelligible slurs into the darkness. His mask falls off as another ReDead grabs around his neck for leverage. It lifts Pelican's leg, resting his thigh between its forearm and bicep.
"Grawmp-Grawmp, Grawmp-Grawmp, Grawmp-Grawmp, Grawmp-Grawmp."
The anterior ReDead palms the back of the shinobi's head, pulling his face closer to itself. Its mouth opens; he gags as death, sun-baked dumpster, and fifteen different flavors of heinous anus assail his nostrils. The ghoulish creature's tongue flails about before the unthinkable happens. The perverse fiend's masked face lunges forward, muffling Pelican's screams as it shoves its tongue down his throat. The shinobi's eye twitches in sheer repugnance; a warm, putrid sensation arises in his esophagus. A tear streams down Pelican's cheek as the ReDead swashes its long, slimy tongue in and around his mouth, guzzling every last bit of vomit.
Fort Firestorm
A torrent of inhuman figures catapult off a distant war-torn skyscraper, crashing onto the streets. The waterfall of contorted corpses expands; the steep surge pours from the tall structure, hammering the mutant hordes below. The bodies burst on the ground, splattering gore and limbs. A surging centrifuge of pulsating chakra hurls the cannibalistic fiends nonstop; however, several of them smash into the walls. Raven maims, butchers, and pulverizes her way through as the Red Zetsus persist in their relentless assault.
Crane uses Water Release to dismember or blast them away with a high-pressure cascade. The endless waves of mutants force the Anbu to withdraw. They sprint down the corridors, slashing their way up the floors, lacerating the abominations attacking from within or above the numerous rooms lining the burnt-out halls. An industrial door opens at the end of the corridor; a monitor emits a horrible white noise above the door. The low image resolution renders the audio through the static.
"Is the reasoning behind the quarantine now apparent?"
The industrial door closes behind Raven and Crane. They rush past the quasi-endless halls, evading the random flesh-eating ghouls wandering about, immobilizing any that pose an immediate threat. Around the final corner, the next door opens. A blurry display projects onto a nearby screen.
"There's no turning back."
An unending rumble, then constant zombie-like groans echo within the walls and vents. The Anbu Captain activates her dōjutsu (Eye Techniques). The medical-nin keeps pace as she navigates the treacherous aisles along the open paths. They stumble across an intersection; more Red Zetsus stampede down the halls.
The shinobi chains a quick series of hand seals, "Secret Jutsu: A Thousand Needles of Death!" The rusting pipes bend and creak before razor-sharp water droplets erupt from the walls, cutting the stampeding abominations into quivering slices of rotting flesh. A hazy image appears on a monitor near the industrial door at the end of the junction.
"Nothing can *ever* be allowed to escape."
The window shutters flanking the passageway close one after the other. The halls change and contort, resembling an endless spiral extending the gateway farther away. Crane extends his index and middle fingers at eye level, "Release," The illusion fades; the halls straighten, the doors are within reach, and they dash through.
"All that awaits is a fate worse than death." They detect a chakra signature nearby; the blank canvases along the walls alter into the dying moments of their respective late colleagues, relatives, and loved ones. "Red Zetsu is a sentient cancer that consumes and assimilates until nothing remains."
Crane and Raven dispel the genjutsu; the paintings fade to blank canvases. Rather than demoralize or torment them, the act of cruelty strengthens their resolve. They rush past the final door, breaching a one-way window, almost catching the Marine Contra off guard if not for them radiating with killing intent. Glass scatters throughout the bar; Jim executes a back-walkover, preventing them from tackling him. They lunge from an adjacent vertical surface, not sparing the mass murderer the slightest chance to draw a weapon.
As the window shards shower the ground, he evades the swift blurs, using their momentum against them. Jim sidesteps the Anbu Captain's axe kick, then b-twists above the medical-nin's follow-up attack. They assail him with short jabs and kicks. He dodges, deflects, or counters the rapid onslaught with teleportation and substitution jutsu. Crane and Raven try incapacitating him using takedowns, submission holds, and sealing tags. He maintains his distance in constant motion to circumvent their flank attempts. Despite the war criminal's dire plight, he searches for available openings or weaknesses in their defenses.
Jim shifts stances while minding his footwork. He maneuvers them across each other, but this backfires. The Anbu are adept at fighting in tandem; their teamwork is almost flawless. They sustain the pressure with perpetual tag-team combos; nevertheless, Jim discovers a flaw in their coordination that he exploits without hesitation. The fugitive diverts them before initiating his counteroffensive. The kunoichi blocks and deflects rapid jabs, pokes, and knife-hand strikes before transitioning with Crane.
Jim deflects a volley of light kunai thrust and swift, long-range kicks; he parries a low kick with the side of his boot, then launches his forefoot into the medical-nin's axilla. The shinobi drops the kunai before he can plunge it into the Contra's temple; he grapples the tall Anbu's arm, then drives his knee into Crane's abdomen, doubling him over. Jim extends his legs, windmills on the medical-nin's back, and batters Raven in the head with a whirling barrage of kicks.
She tumbles over a sofa; he swings one leg after the other around beneath his torso, performing a head-scissors throw. The shinobi crashes behind a bar counter, collapsing the shelves and shattering the liquor bottles. The Anbu Captain lunges from behind the couch, drop-kicking the mass murderer across the bartop. The tall Anbu springs up from behind the counter and kicks him through the air.
"Toasty~!!"
Jim crash-lands onto another sofa; he catches a glass cup and bottle of whiskey falling towards him, "Oh, you finally hit me," the war criminal says, serving himself the alcoholic beverage. "Fantastic." He tosses back the whiskey in one gulp, exhales, then washes it down with an adjacent beer. Raven and Crane scowl with utter astonishment at his audacity.
The Anbu stalk toward him, drawing their swords; they disappear, rushing Jim at full speed. He leans back, flipping over the sofa; their blades pierce the fabric, centimeters away from his head. He springs from the ground, dashing away as they give chase; the fugitive uses the tables and chairs as cover to elude an assortment of hurling projectiles.
He slides under the tables, dodging swift strikes and sword strokes while projecting random furnishings at the Anbu as a diversion. The Contra spins on his shoulders, revolving his legs like a pinwheel; he trips Crane and knocks the Anbu Captain off balance. Jim pushes off the ground with his hands, catches her head between his legs, and slams the kunoichi with another head-scissors takedown.