The Bogeyman & the Malevolent Girl

Apart from being separated from the others, there was one thing that they all had in common, and that was how they all expected to fall into a trap willingly. As Lanna ran throughout the woods it was expected something would happen, she didn't doubt that, in fact was hoping for it. When it did, the ground from under her gave out, sucking her down into the darkness. Falling and falling, it felt like it went forever, none the less it was a nice breeze. Once below she landed on her feet managing not to break her legs from the high impact of such a fall. It was pitch black in here, as expected when under ground.
"Well, that lasted longer than expected. Must be a long drop."
Walking around, she counted her steps to make sure how far astray from her post she left and lifted her hands out to feel around for anything. When touching something, it felt slimy, as if composed of saliva or slobber. She pulled her hand back and the feeling did not follow, so that meant it must have been a solid object that did not stick. Perhaps she was surrounded by a gooey substance? Concluding that there wasn't much other choice, she reached into her pocket pulling out a match and lit it. When the fire emitted, she saw what was in front of her. It looked as though it was a red-ish purple goo that was stuck onto the wall of this cave like place. There was a passageway just around it if she avoided it. Following to that route, she may have better luck of finding the other two, if they were even down here that is.

Walking down the pathway, a cold chill was sent passed her in the direction of where she walked, coming from behind her. She had not let it bother her, until she stopped and began to feel a warm breathing down the nape of her neck. A sly smirk crept upon her lips, she knew something was there and it knew that she knew it too. As she stood still, the creature would not walk, but slither around to the front of her. She stood firm and didn't move, but the grin on her face still remained. When it came around to face her, it looked like a large worm three times her size, but had many different things to it. It had scaly plates on it's sides, green spikes protruding from its back along with the tip of it's tail formed into spikes just at the tip, in which had sharp edges like a porcupine would. It's eyes contained slits, that starred back into her sapphire eyes. It's shade was of a dark swirling brown like mud. The snout had the nose of a dog, in which it sniffed her, while it's mouth began to open, letting the red-ish purple goo ooze out and slip onto the ground beneath it. Just as expected, as it touched the ground it began to solidify and become one with the ground, making it firm but not sticky.
"You're quiet the fellow, you have little to no manors." she chimed in, even as it was picking up her scent, which she took as rude on first meetings. Still, she took it as possibly a low life who had little to no brain functions besides the basics. It looked as though it couldn't speak, but it made a sour face when she said it, so it must have interpreted what she said.

Just as it was about to take action, the ground beneath them shook and gravel came flying through the passageway she was originally taking, creating lots of dust in her path. The walls shook furiously, as if there was an earthquake, but being this far underground it would be much more powerful of an eruption, so there was no way. While the creature was distracted looking up at the walls that looked like they were about to collapse, Lanna quickly ran out of it's view and dashes down the path towards the corruption. Possibly up ahead she'd find the source of the puppet master and a higher ranking monster that would prove to be a better specimen compared to the one she encountered.

In a quick dash she ran down the halls of the caves, unfortunately for her, the worm like creature pursued not too far behind, and in a fast manor. She had to be quick. Using a bit of extra spiritual pressure applied to her legs it enabled her to run faster. Seeing the shadow of a radiating fire cast over the walls into the entrance of an even bigger opening in the cave, she had high hopes that this area would serve as more useful. But to her dismay, it was and wasn't at the same time. As expected, lit candles on the walls around the room were lit and brightening the room, if they hadn't been there, there would have been no light what so ever and complete darkness would have shrouded throughout the tunnels. Upon entering, Lanna kid to a stop with bewilderment. In the middle of the opening, there stood a dark tall luminous man cloaked in black. Red strips hung over his eyes, looking like small crops. His attention drew to Lanna once he heard her pants from all the running, a small smile crept upon his lips, showing his carnivorous teeth. Looking closely, one could tell the red-ish purple goo stained his teeth and dripped from the sides of his lips in a messy manor. Which drew her attention to his side, in which lay on the ground a smaller version yet lifeless corpse of the same type of worm following her. It could be assumed by the worm being ripped in half that it's bodily fluids had been drained out and drank by this man. She hesitated to draw near him, but she could hear from the passageway behind her that the worm was catching up to her and in no time would be there to finish the kill. She had little to no time. Lanna cocked her head to the side, a sadistic smile shown in bewilderment at how fascinating this scene was.
"Tell me...Did you drain that thing's life force?" She could feel no spiritual pressure radiating off the man - or creature - but he seemed incredibly powerful just by the overwhelming aura he cast down upon her. He must have made the cause of the collision, from all the rubble surrounding him a fight must have occurred in here in order for him to kill the beast. It looked like he was triumphant as well from Lanna's standpoint. She waited for a response but he gave none. Until then a rather long pink looking tongue slid out from his mouth, as if in a way he responded to her by gesturing yes. She simply drew closer, curious of what this thing was, now it didn't even look human.
"You wish to know of what my prey is...That is what you seek..." He hissed almost sounding like a seductive voice, it pleased him that she was interested, ad in that time she heard him speak it literally sounded like he was a serpent.
Until then he removed the hood that covered his face. Just as suspected, she was correct. He was not human, and the way his tongue moved and his voice spoke, he took that form of a reptile. His skin was covered in green scale's, beady yellow eyes, and the red hair now swaying to the left side of his face so he could gaze at the girl that stood before him. He then moved his hand from his side, holding it out to her. Lanna took a look at it, and saw how his fingers were webbed together as well. "I smell reishi coming from you, girl. But human as well...You are unlike your kind, but a half breed, are you not?" He giggled with delight, still offering his hand out. "I can show you the true meaning of life and death, the answer which you seek. You wish to learn more about these filthy worms, because you seek to know the answer to every living being, but you cannot even answer the question about yourself..."
He had a point, and Lanna knew this. But he was also just a fool, to actually think she'd give in out of curiosity. As they did say, curiosity killed the cat, and even if she wished to know more about her and how she was human with spiritual pressure, now wasn't the time. She was on a mission, and that did not concern her personal interests. She simply starred coldly at him, contemplating what she should do in these circumstances. Besides, even if she did, what of Gin and Mayuri? Leave them here for her own selfishness? Lanna thought hard, but then began to reach for her Zanpakuto, giving off an evil aura.
"You seem to not realize it is what I truly desire...And you're leaving yourself completely wide open, and with no witnesses, as well as letting down your guard. What I truly wish for in life is murder..." And with that, her sword was removed and the battle had only just commenced.

Just before Lanna was about to strike the reptile like being down with her own blade, something zoomed between them, forcing Lanna to quickly jump back without coming into impact with it. When she caught her balance and stood still, she saw the reflection of herself in a piece of metal that divided her and the enemy. About to curse aloud, she stopped herself realizing what the piece of long metal was from. Turning to her right, she saw a smiling Captain Ichimaru standing in the pathway of the entrance Lanna had came from. His shikai had activated, extending all the way to the other end of the cave and piercing straight through the rock.
"Tsk tsk. What do we have here?" Gin walked forward, retracting his sword slower each step he took, until he was a foot away from the both of them. "Reckless like always, Lieutenant." He chuckiled sheepishly in a mocking tone. Then his attention was averted to her opponent. "Yer' pretty scary lookin'. What are you?"
No response. Gin only frowned in disappointment. Completely retracting his bankai, the sword was much more smaller, similar to a dagger but a bit longer. He did not sheath it, only walked up to the reptile holding his Zanpakuto to his neck.
"Oi, go find your Captain. I'll handle things here. 'Sides, if I let you have him to yourself you'd go all out and we'd have to drag you back a bloody mess...Unlike yourself I'll clean up."
"Should have expected you'd say something like that."
Growling at his insult, she disregarded the comment and threw it to the back of her head, obeying her superior. Lanna took the route that she sensed Mayuri's spirtitual pressure from, low or not, and as she got closer it only meant Gin's spiritual pressure became less detectable. Luckily enough, when she walked into the opening of the cave she found him but he was yelling aloud about something. He was working with chemicals and a dead worm, figures.
"Oh no. He found something interesting. He'll be hibernating for days down here!" She teased, plopping a squat between him and his experiment, observing the scene. If there was one thing she knew about the scientist, it was that he hardly ever had free time. Always busy with something.

Lanna rolled her eyes, seeing he was acting himself as per usual. Not to mention thinking of himself. Then again, Mayuri tended to be selfish a lot. "Slaves who will completely obey you? If you used that all the time there'd be no one to keep you at bay. Then again, maybe it would be interesting to see how that'd turn out. You might be even crazier without rules. Then again, you're fairly good at breaking them." She stood up and stretched her arms behind her head and yawned. Turning her head to the way she came she pointed a thumb. "Might want to hurry up. I have a feeling with Captain Ichimaru he's going to dispose of the body once he's done. I wouldn't be too sure to find your specimen once he's through."She watched as the worm slid past her at a fast pace into the hole of the cave into the other opening after the reptile. She didn't know if that was going to be enough to take it down without killing it, but considering one of the 13 court guard Captains were fighting it, she figured it didn't stand much of a chance.
"I don't think the reptile thing I ran into in the cave before is the main source of these worms. I think he's just a predator looking for food...If we want to find the core, I'd say look for the mother of these things..." Looking around, the goo stil dripped from the walls. Lanna wasn't an expert on worms, but if there was one thing she knew was that it burned in the sunlight. Then an idea popped into her head.
"If we knock down the ceiling with Konjiki Ahisogi Jizo, then the worms will flee from the sun and run to where they feel most protected. They'll lead us to their safe area. This cave is huge, it probably keeps running for miles. But I think they'll take us farther underground, to the exact place we're looking. I don't have any other plans off the top of my head, so this'll do unless you can think of anything else."

"Nice to know." Lanna popped her knuckles and looked up at the ceiling. The ceiling was hard and sturdy, strong enough to hold so it didn't come crashing down, but with his bankai activated and destroying it, the ceiling would surely fall inwards, meaning she ought to get out of the way before she was killed. When she heard the last statement she just sighed, typical statement of his. "Sometimes I wonder why I put up with you. " She pulled down her eyelid, stuck out her tongue and shouted. "Baka! You could at least be nicer." She said no more and ran for the exit, being careful to avoid all the rubble falling from the ceiling. She figured by now Gin had already taken care of the reptile man in the other section of the cave but by the time she had gotten there it had seemed for once the tables had turned. It was something she didn't think she would see but Captain Ichimaru had lost! Lanna blinked again just to make sure she wasn't seeing things, but she wasn't. The Captain was on his back on the ground unconscious with tons of battle wounds on him and there was no sight of the man from before anywhere.
"Captain Ichimaru!" She quickly ran over to where his body lay and checked for a pulse. He was still alive but just knocked out. This was bad news, especially if the enemy was strong enough to take down a Captain. She tried taking care of the situation as best as she could and aiding him but he was in bad condition. It looked like he had also been poisoned from the signs of yellow patches of skin on his hands and face. She knew her Captain was busy at the time and bothering him with this problem would only make him mad that he has more on his plate to deal with, so she had to take care of it herself. She wasn't an expert about poison like her Captain was, but she knew the basics which was sucking out the venom. If she was right, since he was a type of reptile it had to be some kind of venom, which meant there had to be a spot somewhere on him it was injected.
"If he wakes up during this he's going to kill me..." She groaned from annoyance just thinking about it, but if it saved his life then he shouldn't be complaining. Looking all over his body, she searched for the mark and soon enough found it on his shoulder.
"Let's hope this works..." Baring her sharp teeth, she bite aggressively into his shoulder worsening the mark. She began to suck and luckily the venom started to come out. It was slightly repulsive doing this as she spat out the poison on the ground next to her and kept doing it. She noticed as she did this, the patches on his skin began to fade and soon enough most all of it had been withdrawn from his body. Lanna moved her jaw around since it hurt from sucking so much as she rubbed it and sighed. Now that the worse was done, she could work on healing the open wounds.

From beneath her the ground began to shake and rumble and she knew it was the vibrations from the other side of the cave where Mayuri's bankai was digging holes through the ceiling up to the surface. She luckily managed to finish healing Captain Ichimaru, and just as she did, he woke up. But just as she was about to explain, there was a clapping noise from behind and they both turned their heads to see the Reptile man was back.
"So here's what I propose. Since I'm a lieutenant it doesn't matter as much if I die, but a Captain getting himself killed would be bad. I need you to report back to my Captain and tell him all you've learned about this thing during your fight. He works faster than me so he can probably figure out a way to beat him before I did. Besides, I can't think rationally if I release my bankai which I'm about to do, so it'd be better you tell him then come back with an answer."
Gin frowned hearing what she said, it was suicide but she had a point. He had only seen her bankai once and that was enough to know she was right about not being able to think rationally.
"I don't like the idea, but I don't have any other idea's...Just watch out for his tail, the two spikes at the end of it is what ejects the poison, that's all the information I can give you." Using Shunpo, he disappeared in a flash leaving Lanna and the Reptile man alone. Luckily her bankai wasn't huge like Mayuri's or Sajin's, so this wouldn't be a hassle fighting in a small area like this.
"Bankai? I can't imagine it's very powerful if you're only second seat..." he kept his eyes locked on Lanna while she started to pull out her sword that had Kanji written on the steal. Just to defend himself and getting ready, he got in a guard stance and put his arm in front of him, his scales growing larger until they formed a hardened shield in front of him.
"Satsu Menmen, Hitogoroshi..." She said quietly to herself. The next moment, everything went black.

(I'm stalling until I can think up an activation for Lanna's bankai...)

Her mind had been sent into a frenzy and her mind could not function properly when in this state, which was why activating her bankai was always dangerous towards herself. After saying the release, the air around her began to create a black aura wrapped around her but the source being her sword. The sword began to crumble into ash from the tip all the way to the hilt where it stopped. The ash began to form into a figure until in front of her stood a type of demon. It was much taller than her and because of that it was tall enough to hide Lanna behind it. The demon had burnt black skin that was partially peeling itself off, its eye's removed but inside and dripping out of the sockets was red blood. It was dressed in torn rags, barely hanging from its body. Its fingers were long and sharp, no finger nails, just long tips. A long scruffy tail extended from its tail bone brushing against the dusty rubble filled floor. Both arms were extended outwards, a long bow stick held in each hand. On the end of the staff held spikes going around in a ring, circling it. There was a reason her bankai was blind, but she wasn't telling the enemy the reason why. It was due to the purpose when angered, Lanna as some may say "blacks-out" and doesn't control all that she sees but blindly fights with rage. Her Zanpakuto is all her anger stored into a single sword. Depending on how much anger has put into it over the past time she last activated it, it determines how angry and dangerous this fight will be.
Seeing the creature, the reptile man still kept his guard up just in case it attacked.

"Let's finish this quickly while I still have a clear head..." Even though the man couldn't see it since Satsu Memen Hitogoroshi was in the way, behind him Lanna's eyes had changed from their regular blue to a deep blood red. This meant that the two of them were connected, but although the monster was blind, she wasn't. She controlled his attacks through her mind, and due to her vision, that was what gave her bankai vision.
Finally making his move first, the reptile man lunged forward in a quick flash going after its master and not wasting time on the bankai. The difference that he failed to realize was that the both of them were now connected to each other, meaning due to its advandced keen sense of hearing like a wolf's, hers had heightened as well meaning she heard the man before he even got to step on the ground behind her. In that single split second, the monster was above the Reptile and brought the staff swinging around and slamming him in the gut, the spikes embedding into his stomach as he went spiraling into the wall behind Lanna.

Satsu Memen Hitogoroshi's ears began to twitch under its hood, it could hear and feel the sounds of the worms carrying Gin and the lab on their direction along with an angry Captain following shortly behind. Though it had a second to hear the sounds of the incoming company, it didn't give the enemy any time to recover for once the reptile hit the wall he was upon him, scraping the staff downwards into the ground. Because of its enormous strength, it managed to lift a chunk of the rocky ground up into the air, brought his staff back towards him then jab the rock forward and slam it into the enemy. He made a grunting noise from the sharp rock puncturing his body in different places and squishing him like a sandwich from the wall and the rock pressed against one another.
Once the rock was slammed hard enough into the wall where it would be stuck there, prisoning him for a short time.
Though his body was stuck, his tail was still mobile which is what he used to his advantage. Something Gin didn't tell Lanna about was that he could extend it very far which is exactly what he did. The tail quickly went past the puppet and after the puppeteer, but before it reached her it had been bitten off. Lanna was surprised to see that it was the worm that attacked since she didn't have enough reaction time. Lucky that the worm attacked instead, because once the tail had been completely bitten off the poison had gotten into the worms throat and because of the high dosage, it instantly killed the worm within a minute. She was alerted that assistance was coming since she too could sense them, that way she could get all the information she needed from Gin to kill this reptile man once and for all.

These worms were getting smarter, and Gin was losing his mind as well. The worms were like robots in a sense, they learned from their mistakes and advanced, becoming stronger and more smarter after every fault. They learned from Mayuri's brainwashing method and adapted that quality. Gin being stuck inside of its body for so long began to become controlled as well, but because once he was spat out and no longer inside, his Reishi blew away the aroma that would seep into his brain, controlling his mind. He was under no obligation to take orders from Mayuri either but he knew he was busy and there was a slim chance he would go to Lanna's aid.

Even after the reptile's tail had been bitten off, the acidic poison spewed everywhere across the room. Lanna tried dodging it the best she could but it was no use as it touched parts of her bare skin, seeping inside of the pores on her skin. She could almost imagine Mayuri scolding her in the back of her head ["See! This is why you should use the same face paint as me to close your pores!"], the thought just made her roll her eyes. Even though she was poisoned, it didn't matter as much, because that poison would drain out from his tail as well as all his blood and he'd die of blood loss. Just as long as Satsu Menmen Hitogoroshi kept him there that is. If he got out, the plan would fail.

Gin showed up within minutes, and she wasn't surprised he was alone. He saw she was poisoned and knew that wasn't a good thing. The yellow patches scattered all over her skin but luckily since it wasn't injected, it took slower to sink into her skin.
"How do you stop the poison?!" Gin usually wasn't one to ask that question straight forward, but maybe he'd be nice and give them the answer since he was dying anyways.
"Why should I tell you?"
"..." Lanna knew it wasn't going to work, but then her eyes widened when she saw his scales on his skin break and extend, his body getting bigger, until it started to break the rock that held it in place, releasing it from its bindings. The Reptile man took off his cloak. His body not only was covered in just scales but armors and bottles on his belt with liquid in them. "I have the antidote somewhere on me...If you can find it, then it will save your life. But if you pick the wrong one, it might damage your body even more. You get two chances, one for each of you."
"Stop playing games..."
"I'm only having a little fun..." He wasn't attacking yet, so that's all Lanna cared about, but at the same time she needed the antidote quick before it killed her. Her body was growing weak every second and it was almost hard to stand on both her feet. "You have about 3 minutes until that venom kills you, if you're strong enough you might last longer, only time will tell." He teased with a snicker.

Everyone looked when a weak and sweating Mayuri arrived at the scene, asking if he could pick which one. It was hard to tell which one of them were more displeased to see him. Gin put on a sour face, Lanna was angry he was hurt, and the reptile man just felt like it was a nuisance having another shinigami getting involved.
"Oi, you don't look so good." Gin commented, it was hard to tell if he was being sarcastic or actually concerning. But either way it still didn't matter what his opinion was, everyone's injuries and lives were more important at the moment.
"You're not involved in this." He said calmly, plus the way he asked made it sound like he had a trick up his sleeve and he didn't want to take his chances with him being sly after giving him permission to chose. "Fine. But you weren't part of this originally, meaning you still only have two chances. Either take them both, or let someone else guess."
Lanna didn't like where this was going, and obviously this scenario meant that they were going to be tricked into picking the wrong one. He was being cautious about it and she didn't like how he couldn't just give them a simple straight forward answer. She then looked over to Mayuri.
"I swear, if you pick the wrong one, my last seconds of life are strangling you." She threatened. She cared for him sure, but when her life was on the line, he better know what he was doing and not get her killed because of his foolish mistake.