minds young (Halloween Mission, p)

Goro was immediately bummed to find out that none of his typical lab equipment was included in his funeral cosplay. He has coins, no jutsu to his name, and unless someone wanted him to put something in a scroll, he doubted he was of immediate use. The ninja blinked at the second signal, momentarily stupefied, before spurring into the action and finding the (maybe?) dead guys.

Oh, fuck. They're actually heavy. He looked over to Mitsu, and should the other accomplice go with him, he'd... End up finding no trash can, and end up shoving his body into a ditch. He couldn't find any duct tape, so he ripped off a few pieces of fabric and wrapped it tightly around the mouth. Yeah. 105 IQ genius mode.

"So like," he spoke up, affecting a whisper loud enough that it probably wasn't stealthy anymore, "do we just go in?" he rubbed his bare arm, having utterly destroyed most of the sleeve. It wasn't particularly impressive. It occurred to him that he could probably transform as well, but- hm. "What if you just said I was your prisoner? I imagine following, uh. Any other screams wouldn't be that hard. And. If they try to attack us, you can just totally kick their ass with your awesome ninja skills." Notice how he said 'you' and not 'we'. The genin title really do be just for show.

"Unless, uhh... You have a better idea, or something." Should the group elect to go with the 'prisoner Goro' plan, he'd comply as much as he was able.

WC: 261
Total WC: 1,168

Fair enough then if he didn't want the sword. Mitsu hooked both on his hips as he waited for the signal. Watching the whole affair with his dojutsu still active. Atleast it seemed Murata was capable here. Even if he fully expected Pinocchio to end up dying somehow once again. The flashes of his deaths in his mind honestly becoming less and less worrying. Though that was worrying in its own way to the young shinobi. With the signal given by Murata Mitsu moved out, taking the bodies and for a moment the thought flashes in his mind. "Why not just kill them? Theyre attacking the village." But the thought leaves as soon as it comes. Mitsu reasoning that it would be senseless and pointless.. and because If Murata wanted them dead she would have likely done so already.

Mitsu settles to tying up the figure with cut scraps of their own cloaks. Cutting off the sleeves with kunai and hog tying their hands and legs to one another. Dumping them into the ditch with goro afterwards. However as he does so he peers into the Pagoda with his dojutsu. The size is honestly staggering. Gilded and adorned in macabre artwork depicting their horrid god, the interior adorned with bodies upon bodies worth of bones. From the walls, to the light fixtures they hold the bones and skulls of possibly even hundreds of corpses. The pillars painted with black and white ash to represent Jashin and his sacrifices. The sight of it makes Mitsu gag beneath his veil in disgust. Along with the other creatures roaming the decorated halls of the pagoda, worry sinks like a pit into his stomach. Worry if any of them will even get out of there. But he had to steel his nerves. He had to calm down and relax. If they couldn't get to the bottom of this they'd not be getting out of here at all.

"Honestly having you pretend to be a prisoner would probably get us to where they're holding any other captives. Though they might also try and take you away themselves." Either way Mitsu would defer to Murata on their next plan of attack. "Whatever we do need to be careful. Theres alot of those cloaked people inside. Might have some way to tell each other apart too if we're unlucky."

[825]

Eager to continue to prove himself to these new ninja, one of which seemed super powerful, Pinochio peeked his head into the pagoda in hopes of finding some super neat secret awesome ninja plan that would impress his new friends. He had so much to prove and so little height. I have no clue what his height had to do with this honestly. He was just really excited for me to make the joke and assured me over and over that you, the listeners would get it.

"Prisoner plan could go well. Anyone actually know what we're supposed to be looking for? I feel like there should have been a jutsu scroll or something, but I don't think this is a Mizukage sanctioned mission so like maybe not? I do have an alternative idea though. Mitsy you said there were a ton of people right?" For several moments he stood out of sight of the people inside, counting something or the other on his fingers. THen, all at once brilliance struck.

He took a step forward, stance widened in the well known "ahah!" pose, with one finger pointed to the sky in emphasis, when uh. Well some of the blood from the guards they'd beaten to unconsciousness was on the floor and he wasn't paying attention sooo.....

Long story short he slipped, feet flying in the air, and fell pretty hard onto his back. After this though.... Well he got back up BUT after that, he explained his brilliant plan.

"What if, we just like. Sneak around as best we can, and then if we get caught we can try the prisoner plan to get some extra information but instead of giving our teammate over or hoping they just let us go by right... What if we use the prisoner plan to get real close to them so we can figure out what to do. We can pretend to be really clueless cultists who barely passed their cult exams--are there exams to get into cults? That would probably be a really bad way to recruit. ANYWAY So we get real close to them so they can explains stuff, and then We beat them up real bad. Like really beat the hell outta them. " He would give it a moment to let the brilliance of his plan sink in. His chest puffed out in pride as he watched their faces for the signature sign that they were impressed, and then he continued.

"The way I see it, they got alot of cultists and I got alot of hands. Where alot is two for me but more than two for them I assume, BUT I can recycle these hands and once we knock a cultist out they can't really be recycled. Geneva convention and such. What do ya think?! Good idea? If it will persuade, I can totally open another gate. I've got like five or six of these things!" The jutsu that had turned the ball on the end of his weapon into a net shifted again, simply extending the range of his chain by whatever the jutsu actually says he can do it by.

(TWC 1297 750 towards first mission 547/1k for second mission)

"I don't have a better idea, no," Murata whispers (whispering for real), putting a hand on Goro's shoulder. Forming the Seal of Confrontation with her other hand, she summons her kusarigama to match the aesthetic, wrapping the chain around Goro's arms in such a way that looks decently convincing at a distance but that he can easily shimmy out of. As she does this, Mitsu's quiet gag draws her eye, Murata's mouth turning to a line of worry at the implication.

Meanwhile, Pinoch is poking his head into the pagoda, where he finds oh so many bones. Where do you even find that many bones?

Murata steps carefully forward into the pagoda with Goro as her 'prisoner', looking carefully around the macabre set dressing and mulling over the suggestions from her teammates. Getting Goro to the top of this tower will involve an uncomfortable amount of bluffing...

"Stay here for a moment. I'm going to show you all a trick."

Leaving Goro in the care of the other two, Murata slips forward in silence, tracking the signature of one of the cultists elsewhere on the same floor. Moments later, the group hears a quiet 'thump'... and then Murata returns with a cultist over her shoulder bleeding from their ears, beckoning the group into a secluded corner. With all of the bones and skeletal pointy bits and overall overdecoration, there are plenty of places to hide.

Murata peels the cultists' unfocused eyes open, forming several handseals and going quite quiet. After a minute, her head snaps up, and she shoves the cultist aside into their dark corner of choice.

"We're going straight up to the top floor. If anybody asks any questions, here's what you say..."

...and she launches into a whispered in-depth elaboration on the structure and security of this particular Jashinite sect, it quite clearly becoming apparent that she'd cracked that cultist's brain open like an egg and possibly fried it.

322
TWC 1073, 323/1,000 second mission

"Well getting to the top of this place odds are there will be an answer to where we are, and how to stop coming back here." It was becoming a bother, coming back to this horrid place. At this point he was beginning to have a difficult time differentiating between the waking world and the sleeping one. He worried it might just end up here forever. He tries to shake off these thoughts though. Mitsu follows along Muratas lead. Tugging Goro along by the chain of Murata's kusarigama. Cringing just a bit on seeing Pinocchio. Though honestly at this point he felt like he should just expect this kind of thing to happen with him. Honestly.

Once Murata is back however with the information extracted from the cultists mind Mitsu helps to lead the group deeper into the bowls of the macabre palace. Though... he takes a moment before moving on. Talking to Pinocchio.  "Pinocchio if you could Id rather not draw attention to us. Ill be using my Dojutsu to keep us safe from the patrols but if one slips past then please let murata or I do the talking."

With that all stated Mitsu would help to lead the party along, his sandals clicking along the polished tile of the pagoda. Keeping himself away from the walls or the occasional splatter of blood. He would pull the group away every now and then into other halls or closets to hide away from patrols and other cloaked figures. Hiding them away before giving a signal once more that they could move past. 

[1088]

The look on pinochio's face was absolutely priceless. This ninja he'd never met before offered a trick, and absolutely did not fail to deliver. He followed murtata to the secluded area, glancing about for any sign as to how exactly she'd subdued the ninja. There was a trail of blood flowing from his ears, but how would that have managed to do this much damage? Maybe she did that like. Ear boxing thing he'd heard about. Early in his incredibly long two and a half month martial arts career he'd taken a self defense course that taught about how to subdue enemies. Was she just that efficient at the ear boxing method?! Maybe she was hecka strong. That seemed right. He made a mental note to add her to the list of people he wanted to train with. She seemed much higher rank. Maybe even a jounin?!
 
"Top floor. got it. Hyopothetically, can we just dispose of any question askers like you did instead of...." He paused as his question was totally answered by the long detailed explaination of the jashinist sect. She was nothing if not thorough, he thought to himself as he practiced the secret hand shake. It was absolutely like a secret cult to have created this elaborate and honestly physically taxing set of maneuvers to use to ensure there were no spies in their midst, but pinochio was always up for a challenge. It took him three tries before he got it, and then he nodded, following the plan to a T.
 
The trip to the top floor was mostly easy. With the information Murata gathered, they had the tools needed to pass quietly through the halls, dealing with anyone that might think to stop them.
 
"Hey mike! Hows the kids. Just heading up to the can. Yanno how these long shifts can be." He waved to a cultist guarding the third floor. Mike played poker with the now dead cultist who Murata gained all this information from every wednesday night, so it wasn't dificult given the wealth of knowlege they held to play it off like they were just one of the gang. Continuing past, He would be stopped, Mike having quite the sour look, but after a three and a half minute long hand shake that involved quite a bit of jumping about on one foot and two instances of doing the dance called the worm where you literally roll across the ground, bouncing up and down as your body roll gives you momentum, they were past him with no question as to their motives.
 
Plus side: it seemed like they'd be able to handle this entire situation without another casualty. Down side: it looked like they would be able to handle this ENTIRE situation without another casualty. As Pinochio approached the door, whatever happened with the rest of the team being dealt with, He grumbled a bit to himself. He really REALLY wanted the chance to bust a few more heads, but the opprotunity never came up.
 
FInally, they would be standing in front of a black painted door. In the center seemed to be the jashinist symbol painted in red paint. Or blood. Honestly it was probably blood. There were no guards, which stuck him as odd until he noticed four different steel locks that held the wooden door into the wooden frame. Well that was a pain.,
 
"So. I could totally break this door down if you want with my huge strength, and then we break in and deal with the problem. Easy peasy. Just say the word miss Murata. " IN emphasis, he gave her a thumbs up, mentally preparing for what he hoped would be the fight of his life.
 

(TWC 1917 1k/1k towards second mission 167/1250 for last mission)

"We could... but that could get out of hand quickly," Murata murmurs in response to Pinoch's question as to why they don't just beat everybody up. It seems that it's going to be the two of them doing the heavy lifting, with Mitsu scouting and Goro being shepherded by them safely through all this mess. That suits her just fine. They will forge forward and Murata will get them all out of these nightmares safe and sound. As she considers all of this, she practices the secret handshake with Pinoch, voice hushed as they speed through the ludicrously complicated password-motions. "You've almost got it. You need a little more curve to the throat-slitting motion, and wiggle your other hand at the same time - yes, the eyes bug out just like that, there you go. It's right when you do the eye bug that you start the tapdance routine, you need to get the timing just right."

Now, Mike. There's trouble. Murata pantomimes the appropriate moves from just over his shoulder while Goro and Mitsu presumably stand there awkwardly... and after a few close saves she switches to simply performing the routine herself for Pinoch to mimic. Luckily, due to Kirigakure's Silent Killing technique, she is able to launch through the tapdance, breakdance, and Worm segments while making literally zero noise, a marvel of modern physics. 

Compared to that, the extended conversation he forces them into about the poker game record is easy - getting out of having to do a second poker game there, on the spot, is pretty tricky though. Apparently these vampires - oh, did she mention they were vampires? They are all vampires - don't have much to do up here. They skulk around with their red eyes and hissing, avoiding the slivers of light coming through the narrow and oddly-shaped windows, occasionally delivering distant soliloquys on the nature of immortality and having to drink lots of blood to stay alive.

"Really, you all should just sit down for a little vhile, ve vill have a vonderful game," Mike drawls, staring pointedly at Goro's neck. "Yes, and the sacrifice - oh, can I eat him? I mean, they do not need so many up on the top floor, do they? They have plenty. I can eat one?"

"Mike, we've been over this. You need to stop eating the sacrifices." Murata crosses her arms, serious, chiding. Of course, they have never spoken before, but Mike doesn't need to know that. They're all hooded cultists, so she could be literally anybody, so she just does her best to communicate boss-esque energy.

"I am not even eating them. I am only eating a little. Just the blood!" Mike says, gesturing with his fingers to indicate just how little he thinks blood matters in the scheme of an entire sacrifice. 

"That's Lord Jashin's -" Murata pauses to do a complex set of signs upon uttering the name of their gruesome lord " - blood, and you know it. He doesn't appreciate loopholes. You remember what happened to Gustav, right?"

Mike pouts. "I do remember what happened to Gustav ...just a sip?"

"You say you remember what happened to Gustav, and here you are, asking for just a sip. You are shaming his undead memory right now. Gustav eats the sacrifices, and Lord Jashin -" another pause for complex gestures - "Has his still alive head mailed to Wind Country in a box. You are aware of how much sunlight there is in the Land of Wind? It's a desert. We're leaving."

Murata turns away with a noise of disgust. She's overacting, not much for subtlety in these matters and not one much for theater, but Mike is sufficiently humiliated that he does not seem to mind, skulking back into the shadows whence he came.

They continue upstairs, the setup getting more surreal and elaborate the further up they go. Murata ponders the information they've gained, and the frankly ridiculous interactions she's had. Even if the source of these dreams is itself within the dream, it does not appear to have the kind of... basis in reality that would imply they're really getting to the bottom of things. Perhaps it is a layer, a red herring meant to fool them, and the true source is altogether out of reach from within the nightmare. If the goal is to make them simply go insane, they have succeeded in spades.

Where is the true Yugakure? The Land of Hot Water, isn't it? That is what the dreams have indicated. She owes the country a visit to see what is going on there in the real world. 

At the top of the final set of stairs lies a mysterious black door painted in the circle and triangle. Foul, nefarious chakra emanates from behind it, so thick that it seems to seep along the ground and under the door, dripping down the stairs like the cover of a Goosebumps book. Gross, that's why she felt like she was stepping in rank Chakra all the way up. From behind, they can hear vague chanting, as well as the voices of many different kinds of creatures, monsters - perhaps even ghosts and/or ghouls. The door is locked... poorly. Pinoch could definitely destroy this door.

A hunched, ruddy vampire appears behind them on the staircase, panting, evidently not used to going up thirty flights of stairs while also dragging a struggling sacrifice behind him. 

"Erm, do you all mind? I have a sacrifice I need to get through here, soooo, are we going to like, knock, or..." he says while the sacrifice sobs and begs for help, bleeding somewhat from their throat. The vampire casually wipes blood from his mouth, which does not do much to conceal the rest of the blood covering him. 

"Alex... why do you have one of the sacrifices? Aren't you supposed to be guarding the staircases?"

"My associate was indisposed. I brought them the rest of the way."

Passionlessly, Murata turns to Pinoch, gesturing with a head towards Alex.

"I think we have an impostor on our hands, my friend. We must test him with the triple secret forbidden handshake."

"N-no! Nobody could possibly remember that, come on.."

1,025
TWC 2098, 1348/2000 for second mission in the event Goro and Mitsu drop out

"Right. Thats why I was totally thinking that would be a horible idea. I uh. I just kinda threw it out there to confirm with you that it wasn't a great plan... and stuff... Or whatever." Murata was smart. Unlike pinochio, she seemed to have the strategy and experience of a true ninja. It honestly made him rethink his "hit it until it dies and rush forward into combat" plan for a moment. But only a moment. He listened intently as Murata studied his secret  hand shape form. Through the intricate explaination she gave, Something in his mind clicked. He was trying to do the throat slitting motion like he were sawing through someones entire neck, severing the spinal chord and removing the head all together, but that wasn't needed now was it? Really all he needed was to target the soft parts of the opponents body and split the skin enough to let blood flow do the job. THat would be a helpful tool to help him both in his secret hand shake practice as well as in life at some point. The bug eyes part was a bit of a problem though. It's just that he's so small. His body, his arms, even his eyes were just like. Tiny in comparison to a normal sized person. It was the trouble with being made literally in the likeness of a puppet that resembled a childs toy--well. Technically he WAS origionally a childs toy, so it wasn't as much a resembling thing as it was in the likeness of--no thats the same thing too. Words are hard. Thats why Pinoch really enjoyed his fists. 

He felt rediculous, but impressively this wasn't the most rediculous he'd ever had to be. As much as he hated whoever had created this routine to ensure the cultists could confirm exactly who was who, he couldn't help but feel grateful that at least he didn't have to do it in front of a large crowd while singing. After a few more minutes, He found his stride. His hand was the wiggliest it had ever been as his thumb curved across his throat in a slitting motion. His eyes were the buggiest in the room for a moment, seeming to grow so large that they might even pop out of his skull. He tadded all of the poles, but then realized that he wasn't meant to tadpole he was meant to tap dance. That was an absolute game changer. He'd been studying tap since Saya was like. Three. It was the first style she was taught when she was very young as a way to expent the extra energy that she had as a child. It never worked, but it gave the whole team a knowlege base that made this last part a sinch. 

The breakdancing was immaculate. WIth his lightweight body he floated across the ground effortlessly, even managing to throw himself so high in the air that his weapon came loose, floating upwards for a moment before cracking him on the top of the head. He caught it just in time to save the sound that might let someone in the area know they were there. They were still safe. 

It was important that he backup his teammate. He followed closely, Trying his best to look tough to give off a cultist body guard appearance. As they began their conversation, Pinochio had to fight against the look of confusion on his face. 

why were they talking so wierd. Did they have a lisp? was he a jerk for mentally commenting on these guys lisps?! It was almost like they were characters out of a really bad vampire mov...i...e....OH SHIT ARE THESE GUYS VAMPIRES?! There is a centerpoint that Pinoch lived in for sevearl minutes as Murata took care of all the talking between the terror of realizing they were in the presence of the undead, whom he wasn't sure he could actually fight even if he tried, and the excitement that he was actually in the presence of vampires. Real. Life. Vampires. What the actual heck. Why couldn't he talk to Murata the same way he talked to the twins. This would be such a great time for a convorsatio--This would be a horible time for convorsation. Focus pinoch. Focus. 

"Don't worry mike. I totally took a small taste when she wasn't looking... This one tastes aweful. Too much tofu and quinoia. One o them--uh. vhem vvegans or someving. " He wasn't supposed to talk, but murata seemed like she could use just a touch of help. He was helping!!!! He glanced at his team leader for a moment before putting on his best sasuke 'i hate everything' look to get fully back into character. They had to be careful. 

Natrually just as quickly as he butted in, The convorsation turned in a way that made his comment completely unhelpful. 

"Uh. I mean. There was a cut. the sacrifice had a cut so I just took a small taste simply to make sure that it was good for the lord Jashin, then I asked for forgiveness because it was all to make sure the blood was pure enough for our great lord and thats why im ok to not be killed and stuff.... V sounds. AHEM. I have already prepared reparations for the decision I've made that would be acceptable to the master, But it was very untasty either way. " 

With Pinochios incredible speed it wasn't dificult to follow the intricate movements that Murata did when speaking the name of their lord jashin, only a step behind the motions to give the illusion that they were doing them in tandem. Thankfully Murata played her part well enough that it was clear that any attempt to actually question pinochio's performance was shamed out of him. As they headed towards the stairs, The dam burst. 

"Holy crap Murata those were real vampires. That's actually rediculously cool. I cannot believe it. Did you see how good my vampire immitation was?! You were all like 'i can't believe you would do this' and I was all like 'goro is a vegan yuck yuck.' and then we did that cool motion that you somehow know--which is totally not creepy. We're a great team. Maybe when this is all over we can talk to the Mizukage about teamming up more often. If you wan't i mean" He would whisper the words, making sure the convorsation was done at a point where no one else was around to overhear. It was brief, with Pinochio speaking at Saya speeds to get everything out while they were safe. And that quickly, they were on to the next. 

"Oye. Alex. What she said. Why you gotta be taking what be for the great lord jashin n shit. Wha' good you tink that'll do eh?" He'd swapped his character up a bit. The more he got into the role, the more he kind of understood what Saya liked about all of this. It was kind of fun. 

"Nobody he says. What a mook. You thinks we should really give him the tripple secret forbidden handshake pal-o? yanno. They say anyone who fails to follow through when given the triple secret forbidden handshake is damned to an eternity of drinking pigs blood from a silver cup. I hear it burns like a jamook. You really think we should do it to em?! Alright. Lets do this." He'd prepared for this. He was born for this role.... And also They'd practiced quite a bit. He counted on both their earlier practice and the low speed the handshake was performed in comparison to his own ability to react, preparing to show this guy up with his teammate at his side. This. Was. So. Cool. 

(TWC 3292/4872 total assuming the other 2 drop out)

The handshake begins. As a triple secret handshake, it requires three participants - the two guards, in this case being Murata and Pinoch, and the petitioner, Alex. As it turns out, vampires can get very, very sweaty. They get particularly sweaty if they've recently fed or if they don't have the triple secret handshake memorized. God forbid both circumstances are in play, don't even get me started on how sweaty a vampire gets then.

"Are you alright? Alex? You're sweating."

"Fine. Fine, I'm perfectly, totally fine."

"You're fine? You've missed the penguin dance, portion, Alex... if that's even your real name."

"No... no! It's me, I'm the real Alex, I swear! I -- nooooooooo!!!"

Anybody who had truly memorized the triple secret handshake would have noticed the secret code between the guards, only utilized when it's time for one of them to throw the false vampire out of the window. That responsibility is left up to Pinoch, and if he fulfills his duty as a fake guard, Alex's scream will last for a comically long time, gradually becoming quieter and quieter for a full minute before fading out.

Just then, there's a click as all four locks barring the door unlatch, seeming to detect the death of the vampire and finding it an acceptable sacrifice. With a long creeeaaaaaaaaaak, the door opens to the dark room beyond. Faint candlelight does little to show the source of the foul chakra and chanting. Murata unwraps her Kusarigama from Goro, charging him and Mitsu with protecting the rescued hostage. Herself and Pinoch will forge forward to end this layer of the dreams, and hopefully unwrap their village from this cult's mysterious clutches. 

"You ready?" Murata asks Pinoch, twirling the chain of her kusarigama and dispelling her transformation, leaving her clad again in funereal white. If he isn't ready, she will forge forward herself to face what is in store... but she's pretty sure that he's going to be ready. Wildly, exuberantly ready.

Upon walking in, the candlelight flares - and the walls light up with orange writing, as though written in flame. All around them are dark figures, staring with grim, horrible eyes - several grizzled-looking missing-nin, a few tidy-looking robed figures with long knives, and several of what can only be described as... monsters. There is a great upright wolf there, leering - and a handful of zombies and vampires. What can only be described as a gigantic upright cricket is among them, wearing a tophat, a screeching low-toned song piercing the room as it rubs its legs together. 

Then, in the center of the ritualistic circle, is... Saya? A twisted imitation of her, with pale hair and red eyes, greeting them with an exuberant smile.

449
TWC 2547 / 4872

Dang. It was dificult for Pinochio to fully focus on the intense hand shake shared between the three totally legitimate cultists who weren't pretending to play the part at all due specifically to their third member. Alex's triple secret handshake was... Well it wasn't great. While pinochio lagged behind, it was only barelly a step, not close to enough to actually be noticable but Alex... How could he have missed the entire penguin section. Then he noticed the sweat. After taking a moment to log a mental note that vampires could in fact sweat, which he didn't think possible(all of his current knowlege on vampires did happen to be from an old copy of vampire the requiem he skimmed at 2 am when he couldn't sleep though), he really took the time to realize the rediculous ammount of fluids coming from this vampire. Like it was a LOT! In hindsight, it was probably for the bext that Alex had failed to remember the secret penguin dance portion of the handshake. All of the waddling around in circles and spinning could have really caused a fall risk with the volume of sweat that was pouring from Alex's body. Also. Who the heck named these vampires?! Next thing you know, they'll be meeting the big bad named charlie or something. Rediculous. 

"yea alex. Are you alright?! Looks like you're sweattin like mook. " His accent had devolved. Inwardly he was kicking himself for not actually finishing that one episode of the sopranos series. It would have helped him say more than like three phrases if he ever had reason to use that accent. 

"Why didn't you get your waddle on with us ALEX. Too good for the penguin dance?! Or should we call you.......Windy for short........SHORT FOR WINDOW!" He didn't actually have time to finish his statement. He was about a sentence and a half into trying to convince them that he as in fact the real alex when he found his body hefted up by a three and a half foot tall man and effectively defenestrated. 

~+~Fun fact of the day~+~

Defenestration is the act of throwing someone out a window.

~+~ nooowww youuu knoooowwwww~+~


For all the good he'd done, Pinochio was falling into a not so great habit. He simply repeated everything Murata said to the other two right after she finished saying it, unlatching his kasurai gama from the leather frog at his hip. 

"WAIT!!!! TWINSIES!!!!" He yelled this part, but in a whisper. It was a whisper yell. All the excitement of an exclamation with none of the sound. After a moment of glee at the realization that his new favorite ninja used the same weapon he did, he gave her a nod, face going full serious mode as he prepared for what was ahead.

He was not prepared for what was ahead. 

Walking through the doorway, He noticed the group, the wierd creepy cricket, and then his eyes landed on Saya. It was clear immediately that Ai must have been off doing something or the other. Her hair looked a mess, and she wasn't in even close to the level of dress she would have been with her older sister around to look after things. It was only after this thought that he realized this wasn't the real saya, it was some sort of creepy twisted imitation of her. 

"Nope." And just like that he walked out of the room. There was no way in hell he was going to fight against Saya right? I mean. He wanted to best her since he became a real boy but like. She had powerful ninjutsu and stuff. What came next was a very quick mental pep talk as he tried his best to convince himself that there was no way he could leave murata in there alone, followed by him walking back in. 

"Alright. Lets do this. " 

(TWC 3939/4872)