We're Going on a Bug Hunt (Medium-DP)

[Ilya Argentum]

[ OOC: I'll just skip out on a posting layout for now and keep things single ]

Ilya frowned. What she had assumed was her blade going through them... She tried again, stabbing her blade down at one of the corpses. Yes, it definitely felt and sounded like her blade was going through them, but looking closely, she could see her blade just being deflected off the hard chitin, sliding alongside it to create the noise and feeling but not penetrating it. Her frown deepened. Thing to note later, as the conversation occurring with the others took her attention momentarily.

She turned her icy eyes towards the other group of men, disgust plainly written on her face. "Broodne Svyinya." She muttered to herself in her native language from when she was alive. It loosely translated to 'Filthy pigs.'
She returned her attention to the corpses, crouching down next to one. She tapped the body of it with her fingernail, a dull 'tik' noise emanating from each contact. The chitin was definitely really hard. She kept tapping it in different spots, trying to find a weakspot, when the sound suddenly didn't happen in one spot. Something sticky made contact with her fingertip. Ilya only hesitated for a moment before quickly rubbing the substance off her finger on the ground. You could never be too safe when it came to unidentified liquids. She inspected the liquid sticking to the body then... Almost like it was oozing out. Was it blood? Or something else? She looked around for any port or opening where it would be coming from, unable to find any.

She stood up after that, walking back to the other bodies she had passed. Just as with the last one, she really hadn't managed to penetrate them. Faint lines were visible where her blade had slid along their chitins, but it was less of a scratch and more of just an impression left by the contact. These bodies too, were oozing the same green liquid, which looked very viscous and unpleasant to say the least.

"Can one of you come over here and try to run your blade through this bugger?" She called over to her group, to no one in particular. Her blade probably wasn't sharp enough to cut through the chitin. She wasn't the strongest in terms of spiritual density, so maybe one of the others could have a better chance? It would also provide answers if the green gunk was actually their blood or something else.

[Yetsuna Yishnir]

Yetsuna's fist connected with the woman and caused her to stumble forward and break her gravitational pressure before she could do any real harm with it. A moment after it stopped she heard a thank you from the kid she had mentioned the moment before, he didn't sound worse for wear, but she could tell it wasn't exactly pleasant for him, "Don't sweat it," she replied kindly. As she turned back to face the squad 11 guys and the clansman(clanswoman?) she heard the leader of the shinigami group open up his mouth with some rather dumb lines.

Generally speaking Yetsuna wasn't the type to really get angered with derogatory or suggestive comments, hell she threw them around a lot herself, but something about this guy just annoyed her, not to the point of anger, but enough to wanna deck him. Maybe it was his cockiness despite having no ability to back it up and attacking a mother with her children. Yetsuna would give the guy a nice smile in response and the use a shunpo to quickly move herself in front of him, her fist on track to nail him in the solar plexus. It was gonna hurt. A lot. 

After striking him she'd give another warm smile, the kind of smile you give when you're threatening someone, "The last thing you want is me in your bed. I play rough and you might end up with something broken," the implication of her statement made it fairly obvious she wasn't talking about a typical bone breaking. She'd look up at the other two, she didn't expect them to be dumb enough to retaliate, but she was ready to hit them two if they tried. Assuming they didn't address them, her voice flat, "Grab you your friend here and go back to the seireitei. And if I catch wind of any of you doing something like this again I will put you in the ground." 

She'd turn around afterwards to address the bear woman, "I'm sorry you had to deal with them," she apologized sincerely after the mother had said her piece. "I wish I could offer some healing, but kido isn't my forte I don't think any of us have it," she'd turn to the group to see if anyone spoke up before continuing, "Do you know anything about the bugs? We're trying to track them down, we've been attacked as well. If you can help us maybe we can stop them from attacking anyone else."

[Rafael]

This marry little band of shinigami was definitely not one that functioned all that well together. Yetsuna seemed to be taking charge with the handling of authority as she addressed Angel's rash decision to use her gravitational pressure. Not to mention she was then quick to strike the large man of Division Eleven in the chest. She would hear a grunt from the man yet he didn't move or even bend over. The man simply grinned in a mixture of perverse anger. "Tic for tak sexy. You break something of mine I smash something of yours." The man laughed brushing off everything that was done against him.

This man was an unknown shinigami yet it seemed he was definitely trouble and possessed the potential to become a truly frustrating subordinate. Him and the others were quick to leave with Angel accompanying them back. "Don't need help from you. Just need leave quick. Bugs growing in number. Attacking more and more packs. Wiping them out and using them for food. Soon they take over all of wilderness and then kill you all too." The bear Beast was speaking with absolute fear letting the shinigami know that things were far worse than any of them likely ever imagined.

She would be quick to grab her sons picking them up in her arms and then vanishing with a shunpo. That was that then the Shinigami group didn't have anymore reason to stay in this area or even in the wilderness now that they had come across the bodies of the bugs. What had been planned to be an entire week had been accomplished in only a few short hours. Was this really how everything was going to end.

When Ilya asked for assistance in dealing with the chitin skeleton of the bugs though the others would see something truly bad. Behind her without warning was one of them. A very large insectoid beast looking right down at her. Gva was quick to act ready to charge at the bug to strike it before it could do anything to Ilya. He was struck first though. A bug had managed to come from the side punching the massive shinigami in the side and sending him flying through the air dozens of meters away. The others would have to act fast as now two bugs were in the area and the one was reaching out to grab Ilya's head and squeeze it like a berry.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Appearance}

SPOILER: Click to show

{Roach's Stats & Skills}
1000 SP Fighter V1
Strength: 300 (450)
Speed: 300 (450)
Sppr: 100
RS: 40 (30)
Instincts: 200
Senses: 60
Energy Sensory: 0
Healing Expertise: 0

Learning: 2
Calm Mind: 2
Analyzing: 2
Imitation: 2
Focused Eye: 2
Anti-Stealth: 2
Lack of Fear: 2
Pain Tolerance: 2
Damage Recovery: 2
Battle Analysis: 2

[Connor Greaves]

Nodding at the response the redhead gave him, he decided to let her handle the dealing with the bear family and other shinigami. There was little he could do in that situation, and felt that someone of a higher rank could deal with underlings better than he would. Thankfully, he was not left to wander, as the third member of their squad was requesting help with something. He strode to the woman, towering over her and whatever it was she was trying to stab. It appeared to be a dead bugman, lying lifelessly on the jungle floor. And she was for whatever reason trying to run it through.

"What are you hoping to accomplish by stabbing it?" He asked, sounding slightly confused. If it was alive or twitching, he might understand, but this just seemed like beating a dead horse. Or, stabbing a dead bug in this case. Though, before he could reach her, he saw another insect man. This one very much alive, and right behind the Soul Reaper. Connor moved, quickly drawing his blade and swinging it at the beast behind her. Their leader was quicker on the draw, however, as the Eleventh Squad member showed he was no slouch. His fist crashed into the face of the bug, and was cleanly ejected from the area, Gva quickly pursuing.

That was sadly not the only one, as two more emerged from the thick jungle foliage. They were tall, dark, and extremely creepy looking. He was sure he would have nightmares for weeks if he managed to survive this place. Blade out, he stood next to Ilya, ready to face this threat like any other. These bugs were fast, but not fast enough that he was unable to react. He swung his sword at the hand of the beast, hoping to cut it in half. He doubted his ability to kill even one of these insectoids without suffering heavy injury, but luckily he had Ilya at his side to assist him.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Stats and Skills}
Strength- 200
Speed- 250
Reiatsu Strength- 50
Spiritual Pressure- (210+50%) 315
Senses- 50
Instinct- 50
Energy Sensory- 0

Dark- 100
Light- 0


Skills

Strength of Will- 1
Weapons
Swords- 1
Weapons
Guns- 1
Street Fighting- 1
Acting- 1
Disguise- 1
Crafting- 1
Charisma-

[Ilya Argentum]

It was the sense of foreboding, that weird feeling in your gut instincts that you get when you feel like you're being watched. Everyone had that primal instinct built into them but it was so subtle that it was easy to overlook or ignore. That, combined with how her teammate's eyes suddenly fixed behind her, spurred Ilya into motion as her training kicked in. She had no idea what was behind her or what it was attempting to do. Was it going to try to attack her? Slash at her? Shooting at her? Trying to grab her?

The most reasonable thing to do when faced with an unknown threat too close for comfort was to gain distance. So she dove forward, not wasting any time, bringing her arms in front of her, landing into the ground with a hastily done roll so she ended up in a crouch, twisting around and readying her blade to look upon whatever had been attempting to grab her. As she had rolled, their leader had been punched clear out of the area, leaving them to fend for themselves for now. Her glacier eyes fixed upon the threat at hand as she winced slightly in disgust. It was one of the grotesque insectoid creatures. She liked bugs as much as the average person did, which was not that much. But she straightened up to a standard stance, holding her zanpakutou at the ready as she formed up next to Connor, who was already right next to her, standing somewhat sideways towards the Insect Beast so her back was to Connor, switching focus between the two insect beasts. A standard two-vs-other stance, using the teammate to cover her blindspot while she covered his.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Stats and Skills}Strength - 30 (60 x 0.5) Points



Speed - 263 (150 x 1.75) Points



Spiritual Pressure - 100 Points



Reiatsu Strength - 40 Points



Light Aura - 65 Points



Dark Aura - 45 Points



Instinct - 125 Points



Senses - 125 Points



Energy sensory - 100 Points



Healing Expertise - 0 Points


----

Memory 1



Analyze 1



Learning 1



Strength of Will 1



Weapons 2



Battle Analysis 1



Battle Focus 2



Acrobatics 2



Focused Eye 1



Stealth 2



Anti-Stealth 1

[Yetsuna Yishnir]

Huh, well that was unexpected, seems the guy did actually have some strength behind him after all, "I'd say you're welcome to try, but I have too much pride and sense to even give you the attempt. Now leave, you've done enough damage here," she said flatly. She expected the guy might feel a bit cocky from tanking her punch, but even someone as dumb as him was more than likely smart enough to realize that if she got serious she could royally fuck his day.

With the rogue shinigami dealt with she turned back to the bear clansman, who rather quickly refused her help before quickly leaving the area with her kids. Those bugs had a lot of people spooked, what exactly were those things that made everyone so nervous? Even she was starting to kinda feel a bit concerned about them with the way everyone was acting. She remained where she was for a moment, mulling over her thoughts and how to move forward when a loud smack brought her back. Gva just got sent flying a few dozen feet to her side.

Well shit.

The redhead quickly spun around, her zanpaktou already melting from her back and reforming into her gauntlets. She saw the two kids with their swords drawn looking at three bugs. "god damn it," she exclaimed mentally. If those things just laid out Gva they likely didn't have a chance in hell if they took them on one on one. At the fastest speed that both her mind and body could muster she quickly used a shunpo to cover the distance between her and them, placing herself in the front of them. No sooner had her foot hit the ground then she unleashed a giant wave of reitasu, part of it was to establish her home field advantage, the other to immediately establish herself as the dominant threat on the field meaning that she should be their prime target.

"The two of you take one, I'll get the other two." she ordered as stone started to crawl up her person forming into boots and gauntlets to cover what she already was wearing. Her order was more out of cautiousness for them then anything, she didn't know anything about them, she honestly didn't even know if they had releases, so the safest bet was to have them take one on together. She was fairly confident she could handle two on her own, even with the stories about them, but even if she couldn't she knew she could buy enough time for the two of them to take down their target before taking some of the heat off of her. 
 
-500 for conversion
-50 for shunpo
Reiatsu 7450/8000
Total area conversion: by paying 500 reiatsu Yetsuna can convert a 50 foot radius around her into fortified stone.

SPOILER: Click to show

{stats}
Type: Perma Release level 2
Shikai Class: 3

Strength: 250
Speed: 300
Spiritual Pressure: (400 x 2) 800
Reiatsu Strength: 50
Light Aura: 80
Dark Aura: 20
Instinct: 200
Senses: 150
Energy Sensory: 50
Healing Expertise: 0

SKP: 16/18 (0/8)
Pain Tolerance - 3
Street Fighting - 2
Strength of Will - 3
Weapons: Swords - 2
Damage Recovery - 3
Battle Analysis - 3

[Rafael]

The time for arugemtnts, threats and simply planning was over. The enemy had found them while they had been frustrated with a supposed ally. The bugs which they had found so far had been killed so what challenge could these new ones pose to a Vice Captain and a seated officer of the Eleventh Division!

Gva was now off in the distance several hundred feet away fighting against the bug in what the others would only feel as almost a constant wave of shockwaves and ground trembling blows between the two of them. As for what the group was facing they had their hands full even with the bugs matching them in number. It was a small group against small group match up with Gva now to far away dealing with a Bug that seemed to have been waiting for him. Yetsuna was without a doubt the strongest of them in the area willing to face off against two of the bugs now that her shikai had been released and the ground altered.

They didn’t have long to speak to one another as the Bugs simply turned looking over Yetsuna for a moment as she flared up her reiatsu. Despite gaining their attention the look of pure apathy never shifted, did these things even have emotions? Connor was the first to act slashing out at the one that he and Ilya had been told to face off against together. As his zanpakuto struck the hand of the insectoid he would see the sparks fly upon impact. This things chitin was simply to tough for his zanpakuto to cut.

Connor would be in a pickle as the big reached out planning on grabbing him by the fabric of his uniform around his neck only to then lift and throw him against the ground. He or Ilya would have to do something or else Connor would definitely suffer from some serious blunt force damage across most of his body, but especially his legs. How were they going to stop it or better yet kill the damn thing if he couldn’t get through it’s chitin?

As for Yetsuna well she was facing off against the other two bugs, which just so happened to be standing on opposite ends. One in front and the other behind her. Both didn’t get into any sort of fighting stance nor move really at all for the first few moments until the one from behind rushed forward at full speed. The bug closing the small distance of a few get almost instantly with a shoulder bash positioned to strike Yetsuna in the back of her head. If she stopped the one she would still have to deal with the other which happened to be moving forward now ready to punch at her skull the moment after the other bug made contact.

[Yetsuna Yishnir]

Two bugs focused in on her, one in front, one behind. For a normal person that would likely be a bad spot, for her? not so much. She turned so that she was perpendicular to both, she couldn't keep both in view at the same moment, but it exposed her less when she look her eye off of one. She was eyeballing the one that was in front of her when she heard the ground shift to her rear, it made the first move, a not unexpected move, why would the one she's looking at move first.

She quickly turned her head and saw it in a shoulder tackle position, surprisingly fast thing too, though she had fought faster. About 5 feet out from her a wall would materialize from nothing with another burst of reiatsu, preventing the bug creature from being able to get near her unless it could break something with a durability of 1600 and even if it did manage to, most of the force of its attack would still be gone. At the same time she summoned the wall the other bug made its move, again predictable, though this one she'd let close in. She watched as it's fist reeled back ready to strike her in the head. 

Using her stone encased limbs she'd bring her hand up to catch the fist before it could make contact, her hand closing around it with a force of 800. With her free arm she would swing into the bugs gut as the stone gauntlets shifted to form a blade as she would attempt to gut the creature where it stood. She was weary of the bug behind the wall, she may not be able to see it, but she was still listening for it, ready to react if it tried to do some kind of trick

[Rafael]

Yetsuna was outnumber while in a dangerous position stuck between the two dangerous enemies that were these strange Bug Beasts. She wasn’t a Vice Captain for nothing though which she displayed by crafting a wall of stone to block the shoulder bash intended for her. The bug struck the wall shaking it violently yet proving that despite its monstrous strength it wasn’t nearly tough enough to get through to Yetsuna.

The second Bug wasn’t blocked off by a wall of stone though. Yetsuna was quick to counter the bug by meeting the fist of the creature with her own stone covered hand. Thanks to the durability of her stone Yetsuna’s hand wouldn’t suffer any sort of damage however her shoulder wasn’t so lucky. The force of the bugs strike did very little compared to what anyone would have assumed yet it would still result in Yetsuna’s arm being shoved back straining her shoulder. In the next moment though the bug would feel his fingers being crushed as his chitin cracked. Green blood began to pour from the hand that was now broken.

She didn’t waste any time shifting the stone of her opposite hand into a blade that was then shoved against the stomach of the bug. It would take a moment and Yetsuna would find that it was immensely more difficult to stab something with her stone than to simply crush things. The chitin that covered the stomach would after a moment crack only to shatter and the stone blade to sink into its flesh. The beast would howl in pain for the first time only to reach out with the left hand to grab Yetsuna by her head and attempt to slam her against the stone wall that she had crafted as a defense against the other bug.

Meanwhile the other bug was already quick at work jumping over the stone wall to reach the other side. Yetsuna as the first bug reached for her face would see the other landing a few feet behind the one she was already engaged against. It would be only a moment before the bug quickly pushed off the ground utilizing every muscle in its legs to send itself backwards towards the both of them like a rocket. Yetsuna would have to deal with both of them attempting to slam her against her own wall.

[Connor Greaves]

Connor was starting to panic. Something you thought was dead coming back to life tended to shock the ill prepared, and Connor was more than a little unprepared for this. The Beast had managed to grab the collar of his stupid uniform, and was ready to slam him around. Connor did not want to die like this, but in order to save himself, he was have to do something he would regret. As the bug swung him over its head, Connor made up his mind, and focused on his Zanpakuto. He could hear the two spirits, gleefully waiting in anticipation for what was about to come next.

"Curse the world, Tamashī!"

The release created a burst of energy, forcing the bugman to release Connor, sending him flying into the air. In his hands was no longer the steel blade he once held. Replacing it was an inky black weapon. The weapon radiated malicious intent. The Soul Reaper let out a mighty yell, and swung the cursed blade at the Beast Clan. A crescent wave of poison was released from the sword, killing the bug before it could react, easily cutting it in two down the middle. The two halves began to fall to the sides, before both sides shook violently, before they both glued themselves back together. Connor could only cringe at what was about to happen.

While he had never killed a beast clan, he knew enough about what Tamashī did to know that it was going to be bad. "Vice Captain, we need to go!" He yelled out to her, a bit of panic in his voice. Suddenly, the roach man grew. The expansion was swift, as the sound of screaming and cracking came from the mutating animal. Where there was once a Beast Clan bug, there was only a twenty foot cockroach, further spreading the zombie poison of Tamashī. The Poisoned Wave Connor had used to kill the bug turned the ground beneath them into a large patch of dead earth, now as hard as steel.

Connor landed on the giant Cockroach, softening his fall, before he was violently thrown off, as the bug started screeching in pain. He landed twenty feet away, watching in horror as the roach made a beeline towards the closest living creatures in the area. That being Yetsuna and her opponents. The bug would immediately try and kill what was once its allies, grabbing at one in its newly acquired mandibles, before trying to split it in two. Aside from that, all those that were within ten feet of the bug's feet would be consumed by Tamashī's poison. If they died, they would also transform. The bug has the same stats as it did when it was alive.

The twenty foot fall Connor received had him cringe in pain, still not used to such damage. He knew this was getting bad, but was sure Yetsuna could survive his poison, if only for the moment. Taking a look at the situation, he figured that a scorched earth approach might be for the best. "Vice Captain, I suggest we retreat! This forest is about to turn on us!" Connor then released several poisoned waves at the surrounding trees. The ability cut through them like butter, with each attack chopping down upwards of twenty trees. Sixty fell, and before Connor could do anything else, a chorus of screams made themselves heard.

The fallen trunks magically came back together, mutating, much like the Beast Clan. Evil faces twisted into existence into the bark, before the trees all uprooted themselves. They all matched towards the fight that Yetsuna was in the middle of. The army of trees spread the poison with each step, infecting the ground and other infected trees. Each of these zombie trees were forty feet tall, and had 200 in each of their stats. Connor wanted to leave, as the infected would only chase after the living. Not counting himself, that only left the Vice Captain, and any Beast Clan in the area. If they left now, the zombies would kill the Bugs, and die off shortly after. He waited at the edge of the newly made clearing for the woman.

Poisoned Wave x4: 600
Total Reiatsu Remaining 2,550/3,150

SPOILER: Click to show

{Poisoned Wave}Poisoned wave: This is Connor's only ranged attack in release. By charging his blade with a bit of reiatsu, some of the poison will gather on it. By flicking his blade or slashing, a large crescent wave will fly in whatever direction he attacks at. This blade will cut anything it touches, as well as spread more poison. The crescent flies at a speed of 800, and cuts with the force of his highest spiritual stat. Anything it makes contact with will have its infection accelerated by three posts. This will also turn weaker abilities into poison. Costs 150 reiatsu, and can also be used in shikai.

[Rafael]

This seemed to be a first for the large insect Beast that had only a moment ago was ready to pummel Connor against the ground, breaking his body until finally he could no longer put up any sort of resistance. Releasing his shikai had caused a sort of shockwave to separate them successfully. the Beast looked down at its own hand wondering just how he had been forced to release his grasp. It didn't seem like it had much chance though as Connor unleashed a projectile crescent towards the Beast.

Throwing up its arm the crescent would break off the chitin of the Beast yet the hard body was cracked by the force of the attack from Connor. The Beast wasn't one to simply stand there after being attacked. It would close the distance between them almost instantly raising its left arm to strike Connor in the head only for it to suddenly stop. Connor would likely notice first that the large blank pupils of the Beast were shaking violently as his poison took effect and the bug began to mutate.

It seemed that Connor's zanpakuto could be the key to surviving the sudden ambush although it was also potentially bringing about their failure. The mission had been to capture or secure the body of one of these bugs. His zanpakuto was mutating them meaning that whatever the higher ups wished to gain from obtaining them was likely no longer possible. The march against the other bug though that began soon after.

The mutated one along with the trees rushed both the Beast and Yetsuna which the Beast surprisingly actually noticed rather easily, jumping high above into the air to avoid the surrounding threat. Based on how they had acted and what the Bear Beast had described them as these Beasts weren't living up to the threat. Especially considering that everyone seemed more than capable of defeating them one on one. Truly surprising though was that the bug that had been fighting Yetsuna seemed to be retreating over a nearby hill now that it had landed. What were they going to do about him, pursue or leave be and deal with Connor's own violent creatures while accepting that they may have just failed in their assignment.

[Rafael]

Leaping through the air and landing right beside Connor just as his mutated creatures rushed towards Yetsuna was none other than the leader of the small party. Gva indenting the ground by a fair amount turned placing a hand on Connor's shoulder. "Whatever you can do to stop them from attacking us do it now. We need to leave immediately. There's more coming." Gva had always spoken in a very calm manner yet right now it was more than apparent he was afraid. He had seen something and it had pushed the member of the Eleventh to flee it seemed. Rushing over the giant of the man grabbed a hold of Ilya only to turn back to Connor for a moment. "Waste no time we need to move NOW!" He'd than vanish through the usage of Shunpo. The search party had failed to acquire a live Beast, but whether Connor or anyone saw it Gva had seen over the ridge. Little more than a couple miles away moving towards them even now was an army of the Bugs so numerous in scope that the ground beneath them was all, but covered. The Rukongai of the South was almost certainly doomed.

Number of Pages that should be credited for participants are below.

Angel: 2

Ilya: 2

Kenji: 0

Connor: 3

[Shizuka Sanamizu ✮]

Participant Rewards:

• Angel - 400 TP, 800 Ryo, 1 automatic lock pick (explanation found in Urahara's Shop)
• Ilya - 400 TP, 800 Ryo, 1 shaping crystal (explanation found in Urahara's Shop)
• Connor - 600 TP, 1200 Ryo, 1 flashbang grenade (explanation found in Urahara's Shop)

Thread Leader Rewards:

• Rafael (or character of your choice) - 1500 TP, 15,000 Ryo