Chapter 1(pt.1):Enter The Mouth of Azazel : Team B

Its not like much had change for indra, or the events she'd would choose to take. her eyes would glance over to Kozzen, who prepared to make a move to defend the shinobi dogs however it didn't seem like she was fast enough to stop him. Afterward she would simple pace her hand on his head and speak to him in a lower tone. so no one without decent hearing would hear her "Remember that we will have to conserve our energy, however, good job."

While the first scene played out for Tabi, the puppy was also very fortunate. Most of Team B didn’t care about anything other than the mission but not Kozzen. He managed to save the couple from a terrible mistake and more importantly, he saved Little Woof Woof.

Little Woof Woof was beat up but still did all he could to repay Kozzen with a few good licks on the face. He wouldn’t do this too much since Kozzen also had blood covering his body from the rebels that he mercilessly murdered. Needless to say, team B probably isn’t bothered in the slightest by this.

The puppy then hid himself in the bushes as the sound of MP can be heard just shortly behind. Ciaoshin would gesture for Kozzen to hurry along when something unexpected happened. Mei began to squirm around a bit in pain. Ciaoshin hadn’t the slightest clue of what to do. “Hey, new girl! What’s going on with Mei? Did she get hit with something?!”

He was so worried that they were being ambushed. They already lost Sidonie he didn’t want to lose another member before they could even get to the perpetrators. Soon after, she seemed to be ok, but her eyes were different. “Are you alright” ? he’d ask honestly.

After Mei gathered herself, they’d bush forward until they finally arrived at the hidden entrance of Azazel. Upon arriving, Ciaoshin would notice a body at the entrance so he’d hop down from the rock dragon to investigate. He’d check the body’s pulse and with a deep sigh of discouragement, he’d turn to the team.

“We’re too late” . He’d have a distant look in his face, surveying the team before him. But when he’d look at Kozzen, he’d smile. “You know, I didn’t believe Elias could be alive. I’m the one who really saw him, Meiani just saw the traitors run. He didn’t look in good shape at all. So, it’s fair to say that I came in with no faith. But ya know what? I think I’m wrong. Maybe y’all can save him like you saved some of the others” .

He’d take his hand out of his pocket and throw it in the middle. “No matter how things go down in there, I’ve got your backs and I know we’ll get him and us out this shit alive” . Because of the questionable nature of their saves, If and only if they decide to throw their hands in the middle as a sign of unity can they receive a moral boost (everyone must do it). If they do not, then the team will earn their moral decrease. After which Ciaoshin would give the team a little space to discuss a plan before going in.

Things to know:

Travel Log:

Auri was still riding Mei's dragon and such would only frown when they saw a body up ahead, thanks to her intense meta awareness she knew this was a flag and under normal circumstances it was the type of thing that would make her turn around and run for her life. Unfortunately this was a mission that she was forced to continue to participate in and as such she would just nod stiffly and once more go over her shinobi tools and other equipment to make sure everything was secure. However when their guide decided to try to get them to do some group togetherness thing Auri would have an internal debate on the pro's and con's of joining in. If she put her hand in she was becoming part of the group which due to her lack of main character appeal would surely get her taken out first. But if she didn't then she would stick out and she didn't have enough skill to pull off the anti-hero role in their merry band of five. Ugh it was truly nerve wracking and as such she would wait to see if everyone was going to put their hands in before joining in, if even one person seemed hesitant she would refuse to put her hand in simply because it was her best chance of survival and in those situation they might be the sole survivor while the ones who wanted to unify would all perish.

With Indra, she was the only one that spoke to Kozzzen in regards to what he did or was willing to do in order to save those people. It was kind of loose besides killing those guys for the dog.

"Thanks."

He was appreciative of the small showing of appreciation for what he did. But when they arrived at the entrance, it was a different vibe.

"damn..."


Kozzen looked down at the body with a look of disappointment.

"This is pure chaos...."


Kozzen looked around with a bit of a straight face, nodding finally at Caioshin.

"But what else is new? We have a job, search, and rescue. We get the boy, and we get out. Save that other guy Tieros or whatever his name is to the hunter ninja for crimes against Nazogakure. Our ranks aren't built for this, but we can save at least one person, right?"

Kozzen then placed his hand in the group in a show of a team effort.


"I don't know any of you that well, but you must have some brass balls to endure all of this and still go deeper. I'm in."

indra's eyes would examine the corpse for any useful information, however this wasn't something that she specialized in, her job was usually be the other side of the spectrum. She let out a sigh, know that they were way too late to save the guy, her eyes glanced at diana who was previously a member of team 9 with her, however things change. "Diana, how fast is your reaction?" she questioned knowing that the stolen technique she possess could potential be faster than diana's reaction however it was quite a drain on her chakra. She went to crack her neck and her fingers before putting her hand in the group, she would look to Auri.

Having arrived at the entrance, Diana would hop off the dragon before surveying the area. Though there was a body there it didn’t seem to be too dangerous but in truth, no one knew what would happen once they went through. Chewing on her thumb she contemplated biting down and summoning Vivaan but she had decided it was probably too early to bring him out and made her way towards the group. “Hm? I’m average when it comes to my reaction I suppose. Why?” She asked a confused as to why Indra had asked her that. Regardless of the answer she simply put in her hand in with the others so that they could continue on with the mission.

Spoiler:

Ciaoshin was feeling hopeful, although this wouldn’t be the model team in terms of enthusiasm, he’d appreciate their seriousness and professionalism. He’d have his hand out for quite a while before Auri,Kozzen, Diana and Indra decided to join in. When they did he’d break into a big smile from ear to ear. “This must be what it feels like, to be part of a big team”, he’d  think to himself as he looked towards Mei waiting for her to join in. He'd flash his reassuring smile towards her to encourage her participation. “All things considered, this is still kind of...” His thought process would halt then be redirected towards a moving figure coming from the entrance of Azazel .

Ciaoshin’s eyes widened and before he could even utter a word a massive skull raced towards the group. It was too fast, it’s size was drastically disproportionate to the entrance it emerged from yet it was able to squeeze through easily without causing any destruction to the labyrinth. The ground began to quake, dropping anyone without an S-rank balance technique to the ground. The team was doomed, or so Ciaoshin had thought, but whatever that thing was it had a specific target in mind, Mei.

An arm emerged from the ground , grabbing hold of the entire dragon with Mei on it. Just like that, she and her dragon were tossed into its open mouth and seemingly devoured. With careful observation the team would notice that the skull was attached to a vertebrae that seemed to be leading all the way into the walls of Azazel. “S..Stay away! Don’t fight it, your “ ,Ciaoshin shouted But fell silent from the loud crushing sounds. Just as quick as the monster came, it vanished.

Ciaoshin cursed under his breath and look towards the team, knowing that this might’ve caused them to piss their pants. He needed to say something and he needed to do it fast. “She’s probably still alive! I.. that’s just what this place does, it fucks with your heads"! He’d discreetly slide his thumb into his own fist and squeeze hard. This was a weird habit he had , something he did to calm himself down. “Listen, I can’t tell you guys a lie, because I need y’all to help me and the only way you can do that is to trust me".

Once his nerves began to calm he’d begin. “Over a century ago Medjay and shinobi came together and created this hell on earth. They call it Scapegoat also known as Azazel. Some religions believe that Azazel is the name of a demon, I think it’d only be fitting. Look I’ll spare you guys the big stories and get to the point. That Labyrinth that you see there is the entrance to hell. If you die within those walls your soul like Mei’s will be trapped forever. That place is dangerous when asleep due to its vastness and man made traps. But when awake it’s damn near impossible because of its supernatural traps all geared towards devouring souls. Stay with me and we will get out alive, but we can not waste anymore time".

He was about to get into formation but then realized that Team Leader Diana had not given them any form of a plan. So I guess this will be all of them improvising in there. “Alright let’s go, the others have probably engaged the enemy by now“. He’d walk into the maze entrance nervous and hoping that this team isn’t going to lead him to his death.

Once he stepped in he waited a few moments before what looked like stone walls seemingly transformed into a graveyard. The floor on the other hand was not made of soil, rather the ground was best described as a massive bed of bones. Every step came with the sound of cracking bones. Along those bones were pieces of rotten flesh being eaten by a heard of rats. They seemed too preoccupied to worry about Team B.

That was until Ciaoshin accidentally stepped on one. It’d squeal in pain sending a disturbing cry out to other mice who’d now be aimed at devouring the team alive. They were obviously not ordinary rats, and although they were small they still ran at C-rank speeds and can bite through C-rank defense. Ciaoshin ran at the same C-rank speeds point at one large tombstone which can seen from over 200ft away. “On that stone is an image of a key. We’ve got to reach it quickly".As he ran millions of rodents chased him and the rest of the group. He'd take this moment to direct a question towards Diana, who seem far too quiet for his liking. " I noticed that when given a chance, you chose not to prep your team with a plan. Or am I just out of the loop?"

Rules Change:

Bed of Bones:

Despite acquiring Q's skills and technique, there wasn't much she can do to help mei, who had been dragging into the cave by herself. without asking much questions she would rise to her feet and rush into the entrance of the labyrinth without much instructions. If diana's job was to lead the mission, hers was to ensure the safety of the team. "Fuck" She muttered as she fell to the ground after entering the labyrinth there was something about this place that made her legs and stomach weak, she would draw a large 2 dimensional plane slightly above the ground, therefore she wouldn't have to walk since she wasn't exactly feeling her best. The platform was large enough for all of them to stand on or sit on whichever they decided to do once they entered "Come on, lets go." She announce knowing that she would have to protect those of them who are here more severely if she wanted to ensure their survival.

Spoiler:

Auri would be knocked on her ass and would whimper when she saw Mei get snatched up getting back up and getting onto Indra's co ordinate platform. She would lean over the side and proceed to throw up, seeing as a main character like Mei got killed so quickly this didn't bode well for her own survival. "Whoever gave me this mission I hope you die a hundred deaths... she muttered under her breath and then let out a shrill scream when she saw all of those rats. She would run through hand seals before breathing out flames which would spread from rat to rat incinerating them en masse due to all of them being bunched up together. To say she was frightened was an understatement as she was beyond tgat level of scared but she was the type to care about her survival and she knew at the very least her fire technique was extremely good against bunched up enemies. "Higher we need to go higher! she saod tugging on Indra's sleeve to get her to bring her platform higher in the air as she didn't wanna be ambushed by leaping rats.

Spoiler:

Diana wasn’t sure what to make of what just happened but it was horrible. She had failed to protect Mei from being devoured and it left a sour taste in her mouth. There wasn’t much she could do now, however, what’s done was done and now she had to focus on leading what was left of the team out of this nightmare so that they could go home. Thankfully with Indra being here, they wouldn’t have to touch the floor and avoid any other critters, and hopefully make it safely to whatever it is we need to. “I would’ve been able to properly prep the team if we actually knew what we were facing. I can’t give prepare with no information. You waited until whatever the hell that was to devour Mei before you started talking about what the hell this place actually was. Maybe, just maybe that information would’ve been useful prior to this. ” She said a tad bit annoyed at what he had said to her. It was bad enough she was feeling demotivated about this whole thing but to be berated by someone who’ve they’ve been blindly following for the past couple of hours was starting to get to her but she needed to keep it together for the sake of the team and their survival.

Spoiler:

With the rats heading his way, Kozzen was still trying to snap himself out of the fact that one of their teammates were swallowed by the maze.

"But what about mei? Is she really dead? "


He did ask the question out of concern with how quick it all happened, jumping on the platform with B rank speeds. In all honesty, Kozzen didn't know what to do at this point. They simply needed to get Kozzen and get out of here.

"Which way then? To the Keybox? Can this platform move quickly or are we just going to jump from platform to platform?"

Team B was beyond fortunate to have a team mate such as Indra. She immediately formed a platform for the team to stand. This even saved Ciaoshin some energy too once he hopped on with the rest of the team. Ciaoshin’s heart was racing as he looked back at the endless number of rats. Although Indra provided the team with a bit of a reprieve, the terror of seeing their once lively teammate get devoured kept them in constant panic.

Auri reacted to such panic by barfing over the edge of the platform, which was quickly licked up and eaten by the rats. The area smelled so bad that her throw up did nearly nothing to contribute to that. Immediately after losing her lunch and breakfast, she’d complete her hand signs and turn towards the herd of rats. A burst of flames then rushed out of her mouth and onto a large number of the rodents below the platform.

That led to screeching and squirming , the rats that caught on fire would stop moving and other rats would try to eat them while they were still on fire. Subsequently that just led to more rodents being set a blaze until they’d wise up and break away from the fire. For a few moments the place grew very quiet and all the team could see behind them were scorched rat bodies and bones that were on the field. They could also notice the rats retreating into the bone filled ground.

All that could be heard in this moment was Diana scolding Ciaoshin for not giving them enough information to work with sooner. “Look, if you don’t communicate what you need, then how would I know what to tell you? Despite that I imagine you could still assign roles so that we’re not running around with our heads cut off. There’s a lot I don’t know myself. Like that shit that happened outside, I’ve never seen that happen in my life. But what I can say is that you don’t want to be in here when it’s awake. You also definitely don’t want to die here, because then your soul is trapped. “

The realm remains quiet while the team raced forward towards the tombstone at C-rank speeds. Ciaoshin continues in hopes of better explaining what a guide role is like in a place like Azazel, “Meiani and I are put on as guides because we know what to look for, but knowing that isn’t as simple as drawing a map, rather it’s very situational. Like a pet with a lot of bad habits, we look for behavioral patterns and it tends to lead to ways out of the situation. When this place is awake it’s like taking the leash off and allowing it to do what it wants. It’s at times unpredictable. Look if Mei is still alive then she’d be buried under the bones at that tombst...”

The realm began to shake, but the quaking would not affect those on the platform. Despite that the rough shaking below was very noticeable and moves like waves. Within a matter of seconds, millions of rats burst from the bones below, using each other to climb higher and higher from all sides. Their formation was resembling a large hand trying to grasp the team in motion at C+ speeds. The massive hand of rats was about Large(S) in size(70ft) and as it gained on the platform it’d close up to entrap everyone in those hungry creatures.

This left the team with few options outside their own creativity. One would be to increase the platforms moving speed to outpace the incoming hand. Second would be to fight there way through the rats in hopes that they don’t take any damage(this must be done carefully) . Ciaoshin looked towards Diana and Kozzen on what the team should do, all he’d offer her was the little he knows, “This place was made over a centuries ago to best those far better than us. Beating Azazel isn’t the objective, we need only to survive”. He’d then point at the tombstone again which is now only 50ft away.

All the team would have to do is not get trapped and they’d get to where they need to. “All we need right now, is to touch a little key symbol engraved in the tombstone to get out of here. But we’ll need a bit of time if you want to dig up your friend and bring her with us.”  Assuming the team would somehow make it in one piece, the rats would continue their charge, since no matter how many is killed, their numbers are countless due to over a century of breeding.  Unless driven by insanity, the team will quickly learn that staying in this realm any longer is not a safe option.  But upon getting to the tombstone, it’d take quite some time to dig deep enough through bone and reach whatever lies beneath it. This was time that they were already pressed on(chance for two auto hits, depending on how y’all do this). Ciaoshin would keep his hand as close to the key symbol as possible, so that once given the symbol , they’d be warped  out of this realm.

The tombstone read:

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

Letting out a soft sigh, Diana would close her eyes for a minute to drown out the words of what’s his face since there wasn’t anything really helpful coming out of him at this point she had to take matters into her own hands. After all, the death she had imagined was one in the heat of battle against another swordsman not some cave with a bunch of people she had no real connection eaten some near-infinite number of rats. Opening her eyes she would form the appropriate seal to summon Vivaan on the platform. “Indra, Auri. We need to hold these things back for as long as possible. It seems fire is their weakness so that’ll come in handy. Right now I need Indra to try and knock them back as many as possible. I’ll then set a trap for them to come across and Auri can burn what’s left of them while Kozzen digs out Mei so we can leave.” She said before drawing out her two blades and charging them with lightning. Diana would wait until Indra got her Wind Trick going to blow them away before combining with Vivaan to create an electrified pool of syrup to trap the rats that would attempt to rush them again after Indra had blown them away. She had hoped that would be enough to stall them out for Kozzen to do what needed to be done and so that Auri could save her chakra but if not she would have to stall out with fire.

Diana and Vivaan:

Going at B rank speeds and clocking his displacement aura to a high degree in order to protect himself, Kozzen raced out for the tomb stone  in order to try to dig out mei. He knew that this would leave him exposed but with his A tier displacement aura, he should be unable to be touched as long as the rats were unable to break through his  A rank defenses. "This is nuts, how much deeper are we supposed to go inside of here. We can't just give up but I have to be honest, I feel as if we were a little unprepared here."

Hopefully mei was safe.

Spoiler:

6 feet a rank shield

When all of this had gone on Auri had initially froze out of fear knowing fully well that even if she could body replace with something it would just relocate her somewhere in this hell-scape whihc would only end up in her getting killed by something at a later date. This would end up putting her at a loss on what to do, thankfully Diana took charge and started delegating out instructions to the others and thus she would prepare herself to have to defend herself though she was actually hoping that she wouldn't have to join in as her techniques weren't as effective against large groups except if she were to repeat her use of the Dragon Fire technique. Either way she would either make hand seals and use it when some came after other to protect herself otherwise she would would hope that with Kozzen digging out Mei they could escape in time.

Spoiler:

Indra eyes swiftly went to watch the instruction which she was given by her former teammate however she had a better idea then what was given to her ”I’ve got another idea for that...” she stated leaving a pause after that statement so that the other could ask what, however she wouldn’t give them an explanation to the idea. She would snap her finger at B-rank speeds, despite the thing being bigger than them it would be enough to create a gap between then so that she could create two cubes and seal them at B-rank speeds hopefully his was enough to reduce the size of the hand of rats, however auri’s fire would do the job if this didn’t.

The Hunt:

Ciaoshin waited a few moments as he watched the rats approaching the platform he was on. He didn’t understand what was happening and why the group wasn’t springing into action until he’d get a load of the expressions on their faces. Yup, they froze. He couldn’t believe it. He’d turn away in wait of the terrifying screams of everyone being devoured to come next.

Maybe that’s what should happen, but not today, not this time. Diana stepped up, giving the team their instructions. It could’ve been the authority in her voice or maybe her sheer will to survive, but everyone seemed to snap out of it just in time. Kozzen end up taking a huge risk that would prevail by jumping off the platform and racing towards the tombstone at high speeds.

His pace was definitely fast enough to force the rats to trail behind him, therefore buying him a bit of time to dig Mei out. The others also increased their pace thanks to Indra and before they knew it, they were in final position defending the tombstone.

The rats kept coming and Ciaoshin grew anxious. He wanted to tap the symbol soo bad but he couldn’t live with himself if he’d abandon Mei out of fear for his own life. ”Please hurry.” He’d say to Kozzen with urgency. As the rats quickly approached them, Diana readied a few traps with the help of Vivaan. The concept of this trap was interesting. It was as if she and Vivaan had created sticky glue for these rats to blown into by a powerful blast of wind.

The trap worked on some of the rats coming forth by ground, but the ones climbing on top of the other would be spared. This is where the application of a wind technique would’ve been great but instead, Indra had another plan. She’d use her cubes to seal away a great number of the rats but not all of them. This would be where Auri’s Fire style comes in but before she could even waste her chakra , Kozzen had uncovered something. It was a body. It’s face was ripped up and eyes gauged out. Her hair was red, she stood about 4ft tall and her skin tone was exactly the same but covered in dirt and feces.

Caioshin was completely disgusted by the sight. He needed to act now before the team froze up again , so he’d tap the key symbol on the tombstone. When he did this, nothing happened. “The hell is this?! “ he’d think to himself, while continuously tapping and getting no results. This realm will have the person it claimed was next! Kozzen would then feel a little pressure near his hands. It was a rat attempting to bite through him, but couldn’t generate enough to even harm him in the slightest. That’s when the team could notice the body that’s been shredded began to shake.

Rats were digging their way out of the dead body and as it’s chest opened up a golden key shined it’s light revealing it’s location to Kozzen. He’d need only the touch the key in order to spare his team from a possible gruesome death. Assuming he, or anyone on the team would hesitate, Ciaoshin would leap at the opportunity for them to escape.

The realm they were in would stop moving, the rats for a moment stood completely still. Then from out of nowhere a loud screeching sound resonated throughout the realm and the floor of bones collapsed, causing the team to fall into a pit of nothingness .

Spoiler: