Thief Against Traveler

[Takara Takeda]

Thread Title: Toraberā ni Taisuru Dorobō トラベラーに対する泥棒
Participants: Jacob vs Takara
World: Human World
Death Setting: Non Death Enabled
Rating: PG-13
Location: A harbor on the outskirts of a Japanese city. The docks of the harbor is covered in large hold cargo crates that have been used to transfer cargo across the sea to Japan. There is a large warehouse at the end of the harbor.
Special Conditions: N/A
Circumstances: Takara is out looking for other Mod Souls when she finds an individual that strikes her as potentially dangerous in the future.

[Takara Takeda]

Takara moved through the streets of this poor Japanese city unable to find a single Mod Soul. It seemed that actually trying to find them herself in person wasn't going to cut it. While she had figured this to be the case from the start the fact that it was now surfaced as a reality was still disheartening. Her people were spoken of as if they were at the brink of extinction and the only reason for it all was her existence. If she hadn't been created and shown off to the Captain Commander of the Shinigami then all of her people would have continued to work for them and lived on safely.

That was when Takara stopped and realized what she had just been thinking was wrong. "No I was made to lead them all and protect them while they're weak. Without me then we would never have had a chance to begin with not even a fraction. The Shinigami would have made the same choice regardless of me its simply in their nature as cowards to fear what they can't control." Takara felt the burning resolve inside of her as she had to justify her own existence to herself for the first time. That was when she sensed the reiatsu of some humans over by some harbor.

Takara didn't think much of it until there was another two sets of reiatsu in the same location. She closed her eyes and concentrated for a moment on all of the reiatsu and then her eyes widened in freight. There was a hollow near them all with dozens of humans right by it. She didn't care about the humans she was scared and worried for there was a single Mod Soul more then likely hiding in the pack of humans. That hollow couldn't get its hands on one of her own she wouldn't allow it.

Takara took for making her way inside of the harbor and by the large cargo crates. She kept going at a fast run on all four of her legs until she was just coming up on the reiatsu signatures. That's when she realized that the majority of the signatures were gone now wiped out by the hollow. She stopped for a moment and grew angry the reiatsu of the Mod Soul was no longer present. Takara moved throughout the crates which made maneuvering and seeing what was around her difficult. It was then that she heard a noise and began to make her way towards it knowing the reiatsu belonged to this monster that would soon be a pin cushion.

[Jacob Thorne, Hollowborn]

Jacob had problems with Xcution. Not like moral problems, but more of business problems. Problems such as they had had issues with giving him a high ranking position when he applied, and thus had rejected him when he threatened to kill people until he was given that position. And then, he formed other problems with them, such as they were competitors in the black market affairs that he had a tendency to end up involved in. Which made him have to deal with his problems in the one way that he knew how.

Which was kill them. Obviously. Jacob was good at that. He made it a personal point to execute any Xcution member that he came across, in particular ones that were directly competing with him. Which was the human traffickers. Jacob was caught up in that bloody business, largely because it paid well, was easy to do because of his energy sensory and strength, and gave him a lovely supply of food for his Parents if they ever got hungry. Which was constantly.

And so, when Jacob had encountered a group of people bringing strange, unmarked boxes, large enough to fit a human or five inside, into a warehouse in northern Japan, he'd been suspicious. And after isolating and torturing one of them, his suspicions were confirmed. Xcutioners. All of them. The second step, tracking them to their warehouse, was also easy. The man that he had tortured had provided him with detailed information. Fascinating what you can do when you offer a person a chance to keep 2 fingers, isn't it?

And he'd kept his promise. Instead of cutting the man's fingers off, Jacob threw him to his Parents, and give him the chance to survive there. The man hadn't, unsurprisingly. But Jacob had given him his chance, and given him the chance to survive to harsh conditions, which was rather fair, and even kind of him. If the man had survived, he would've been better off, as he would've grown in strength. Alas, not everyone is meant to evolve. Some people are destined to die as caterpillars.

Regardless, he'd made his way to the warehouse not too long after. Infiltration was easy, the idiots forgot to lock the skylight, and Jacob snuck in from there. He neutralized the first guard he came across, slitting the man's throat from behind, before acquiring his gun. Jacob wasn't that familiar with guns, but he was good at aiming, and had the energy sensory to back it up. And so, he quickly set to work. At the start of the break in, there had been 13 Xcutioners, one of which was a Mod Soul, the rest of which seemed to just be spiritually aware humans.

Less than five minutes later, as Jacob threw the gun off to the side, and delicately pushed his glasses back, accidentally staining the rims with his blood soaked hand, he evaluated the contents of the warehouse. Human cargo, and a lot of it. He would guess at least 60 people? Certainly more than he could reasonably transport back himself. With a sigh, he reached into his pocket, smearing blood along his pants, and retrieving his phone, which was in a waterproof case for this exact reason.

He'd need to call in some transporters to take the cargo to the people that he sold to. They'd deal with the situation, he'd get paid, and he would ideally make it clear to Xcution that they couldn't hope to do business in his territory. Of course, that was slightly unfair, as Jacob's territory moved constantly as he migrated from town to town, but still, the organization should know better. He checked the phone. No signal in the warehouse. he walked towards the doors of the warehouse, planning on calling his contact once he exited.

[Takara Takeda]

Takara heard the sound of something off in the distance and knew that she was coming up on the location of the reiatsu that she could sense. The reiatsu was still that of this hollow and sadly that was the only reiatsu signature that she could still sense. That left only one option to the out come of all those signatures being in one place at the same time. The Mod Soul and all of the humans that she had sensed must have been killed and more then likely eaten by the hollow. Takara couldn't care less for the lives of the humans that had just met there end yet a Mod Soul dying when she was so near to it was something that would bring down vengeance like a fury of a million gods.

Moving from the docks towards the reiatsu signature Takara sees a large warehouse and now being closer to the source of the reiatsu that she was sensing could tell that the hollow was still inside of the warehouse. "Got to get inside while I can or else I risk it getting away through a garganta." Takara knew all to well that the hollow was the one race that could actually move through the realms of existence of its own free will. Even though the Shinigami liked to believe themselves the strongest even they could only maneuver between the realms by the Senkaimon gates not by their own individual prowess like a hollow. Takara couldn't move between them either so her only chance to avenge her fallen sibling was to kill the hollow now while it remained in the world of the living.

It only took her roughly a minute to actually move from the docks due to the creates blocking much of her way to the warehouse. When she got near it she began to walk right towards the opening of the doorway seeing that it was alit inside and bright yet much of the floor was covered in blood. She was roughly about fifty feet from the very entrance of the warehouse when she saw that there was one human left and he was walking out of the warehouse. He had orange colored hair and dark skin yet had a very demonic like appearance in her belief. Strange even though Jak was a half Akki offspring he had looked less like a monster then this boy.

That's when it hit Takara and her gaze intensified. Although she was in plain sight right now the boy might not see her just yet due to him being inside of the brighter lit warehouse and her being outside in the dark of night. The contrast of brightness just might be enough to keep her from his notice yet more then likely not. It wasn't just that if the boy had really any type of skill in his eyes then he would more then likely notice her especially due to the fact that the doll she was still in possession of had white fur which while very beautiful clashed with the fact she was in darkness making her easier to spot.

Takara took a moment and sensed for the reiatsu of the hollow and was surprised at the fact that the reiatsu of the hollow was emanating from the boy in her sights. That meant that while he was human his abilities were far more tied to the hollow which must have attacked his mother. Some times being programmed with the majority of facts and knowledge that the Soul Society has on other races paid off all too well. Takara was a walking and thinking encyclopedia and while she had much knowledge of others in a general sense this boy was very interesting. It was a rather shame that he would have to die for the sibling that he had just so foolishly killed.

That was when the boy pulled out a phone from his pocket and began to type in buttons on it obviously making a call to someone. "There is no point in letting anyone know anything now boy. You have forced my gaze as well as my judgment upon you for the action that you have just committed." Takara although due to the doll was very small she spoke with a voice of authority and power. Takara wished to see this boy gravel for killing one of her own and that wish was going to come true very very soon. "I'd offer you a last request, but I don't show mercy to those that kill my kind. So are you ready to die filthy hollow bred human boy."

[Jacob Thorne, Hollowborn]

Jacob gazed down at the tiny doll in front of him. It looked like a pokemon plush, and talked like it was from some bad middle-ages fantasy movies. Seriously, who used the term 'boy' anymore? Regardless, he slowly lowered the phone, snapping it closed, and pocketing it. He raised his hands, defensively, and a concerned look appeared on his face. Jacob was a talented liar, and even though the doll was probably a spiritually aware mod soul, he could still bluff it.

"What? No, I..I didn't do anything. I'm just an intern of Xcution. This thing, a scary Hollow, came barging in and killed everyone. I survived by playing dead. I'm just calling for help. Please, don't kill me!" Honestly, his voice was pretty convincing. It was full of emotion, and a legitimate air of fear. The fear was real, he was slightly worried about fighting this plush. Mod Souls were usually very deadly, unless you ganked them before they could do anything.

Like the one he had killed inside. He had shot it through the head before it had the chance to use any of it's powers. In general, the only reason why Jacob had pulled that killing spree off was the element of surprise. Without it, he was just an athletic boy with decent spiritual senses. Which was pretty solid, especially given his knife proficiency, but not really what was needed at the middle tiers of spiritual combat. But what he lacked in skill, he made up in sheer number of weapons.

On Jacob's body at the moment were no less than 6 knives. One located in a quick draw position up each sleeve, one in the back of his left shoe, and three in various inner coat pockets. He was prepared to fight, to kill. But if he didn't have to, he wouldn't. Especially not against someone who could probably beat him. Although, the two of them were relatively close to each other right now, and Jacob had vastly superior strength, not to mention the difference in size. If she continued to monologue, he could try and Bringer Light to close the gap, and stomp her flat with a single slam. 

[Takara Takeda]

Takara kept stationary watching every motion that this dark skinned boy's body preformed just in case he happened to be more powerful then his reiatsu was suggesting. It wouldn't be the only time that Takara had encountered someone that was m ore powerful then she had thought simply due to being naïve and believing that reiatsu signatures would tell her everything. She wasn't that naïve anymore and knew that most physically talented practitioners of combat wouldn't have supreme reiatsu signatures yet very faint or average. Yet if she let her guard down around them she would more then likely die to them.

Well it seemed that the boy had heard what she had said and when he did Takara took a slight notice that his body posture changed ever so slightly. Now as he turned towards her and began to speak it was obvious that there was rushing fear flowing throughout his mind. Yet it seemed he wasn't surprised at all by seeing her in this doll body which meant that the boy was spiritually aware along with being knowledgeable of races. The boy went off stating that he wasn't the one that had killed everyone, but instead a hollow had arrived and killed them all and he only survived by playing dead.

It was quite an amusing little ploy to deceive her one that the boy more then likely had only thought of just then at the moment when she spoke and he knew that he wasn't the only one in the area. It was more then likely due to this rushed sense of urgency that had caused the boy to make a story not backed up by facts and then try to act his way through the role he had just created for himself. Takara was an actor as well yet she knew that when acting you had to go along with the story. The boy it seemed didn't realize when a character went off facts that others would know the story crumbles.

Takara wasn't moving just stationary still when the boy finished speaking and Takara's unblinking gaze lay upon his soul. Her gaze didn't seem to hold aggression or hate not even any form of rage yet weren't apathetic either. They held very few clues to what she was feeling at this moment yet they then revealed something that the boy might be able to pick up on . . disgust. "Quite a enjoyable ruse. Sadly if it wasn't you that killed everyone and only a random hollow . . why is your reiatsu so repulsive. The reiatsu of this hollow you claim to have outsmarted is your own you're the culprit be man enough to at least admit it boy."

"If you had only kept the Mod Soul alive this wouldn't have come to pass. You're quite unique . some sort of human hollow offspring? No perhaps your mother was attacked during child birth? It's quite possible you could have been bathed in the blood of a hollow as an infant. So boy which is it? What is the cause for your ugly face and disgusting reiatsu? Why are so such a filthy reject of a two races?" Takara had gone off rambling while watching any motion of his body testing what type of self control this boy had over his emotions. "Well it doesn't really matter your time of being unique just like your time alive is over. It's a pity you really shouldn't have killed one of my people."

It was at that moment that Takara called on the Omega Arsenal and activated the second level of her connection to it. On the right side of her plush doll body suddenly a long lance manifested into sight. It was golden and shined from the light of the warehouse. At the same time a long trident made of what appeared to be some sort of crystal manifested on her left reflecting the light off of it. Finally there was a long sword that manifested above her yet everything about the sword was pitch black and the light of the warehouse did nothing when it hit the sword. The boy would see the lance and spear move forwards right for his abdomen.

SPOILER: Click to show

Strength: 50 (38)
Speed: 100 (75)
Spiritual Pressure: 120
Reiatsu Strength: 50
Light Aura: 50
Dark Aura: 50
Instincts: 100 (150)
Senses: 50 (75)
Energy Sensory: 50 (75)
Healing Expertise: 0

Acting: 1
Focused Eye: 1
Battle Focus: 1
War Strategy: 1
Anti-Stealth: 1
Battle Analysis: 1
Charisma/Leadership: 1
Mathematical Implication: 1

Remaining Reiatsu: 1125/1200
3 LvL 2 Weapons: {-75}

[Jacob Thorne, Hollowborn]

Damn, she had better energy sensory than he had expected. That, and she didn't seem like the type to take excuses. Jacob had an inkling feeling that even if he had been innocent, the mod soul would've still tried to kill him. All he could do was just hope that she wasn't particularly good at it. As Takara sentenced him to death, and mentioned her fellow Mod Soul again, a knife appeared in Jacob's hand. Unlike her, he hadn't pulled it out of hammer space, but rather had just done a quick sleight of hand trick.

The knife was thrown with fierce force at the Mod Soul, just as the lance started to emerge from her side. Potentially she would dodge, if she could. If she couldn't, however, the knife was easily as big as the plushie that the Mod Soul inhabited, and Jacob had the strength of a football linebacker, with the accuracy of a professional darts player, so without dodging, she was dead. That simple. There were some major disadvantages to being small, and Jacob was prepared to exploit them. After all, he'd killed mod souls in the past.

Another knife appeared in Jacob's hand, this one ready for defensive purposes. As Takara produced a trident and long sword, he recognized that she would likely go on the offensive, based on the way her reiatsu was flaring. And yes, he was right. The long sword and lance launched, and they launched fast. Jacob's eyes widened, and he dropped down, there was no way he'd be able to step aside in time, not with his reaction time and speed compared to the weapons.

But even dropping down wasn't entirely enough, as the long sword passed over Jacob, it sliced open his back. The wound was shallow, but it hurt, and was bleeding. He rolled on the ground parallel to her, trying to ensure that he was a moving target, and making sure that he didn't get any closer or farther. Depending on how Takara had reacted to the knife that had been thrown at her while she was concentrating on the weapons, Jacob had a chance to win this fight, but things weren't looking great.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Stats and Skills}
Stats:
Strength: 82 (103)
Speed: 50
Spiritual Pressure: 40 (30)
Reiatsu Strength: 45 (56)
Energy Sensory: 60 (75)
Healing Expertise: 0
Senses: 45
Instinct: 68 (51)

Skills:
Battle Analysis: 1
Acting: 1
Charisma: 1
Knives: 1
Strength of Will: 1
Focused Eye: 1

[Takara Takeda]

Attention and planning will always be two things that play a major factor in the determination of a battles outcome. These two things were aspects of Takara's fighting style more so then mainly anything else. Takara as an individual that played off her intelligence to decipher the foes fighting style and abilities was watching everything before her gaze in order to make sure that this first attack would be the avenging blow for her lost family member. This boy had killed off one of the few Mod Souls that might be left in the world of the living. One of her family that she was meant to lead and protect. This boy was going to pay with his own life.

Takara watched as she mentally launched the lance and sword towards the boy. What she saw was a slight body motion on the boy's arm. The next thing Takara saw was the boy's arm move forwards and then his body dropping to the ground. Takara wanted to watch the sight of her weaponry ripping through the body of this hollow tainted human. She had to make sure that no matter what though she survived that much she couldn't risk. Without her the species known as Mod Souls would surely fade into extinction and revenge against Soul Society would become an unrealized dream.

Luckily for Takara the knife that the boy had thrown moved far slower then the lance and sword she had launched at him. In the short amount of time that it actually took the knife to reach Takara she summoned another trident in front of her. Both tridents were spinning around at the fullest speed that Takara could managed. It was just after they started to spin that Takara heard the chink of the knife striking the second trident that she had summoned. In that next moment Takara watched from the corner of her right eye as the knife fell to the ground. "So that's his tool." Takara's gaze stiffened further towards the boy.

Glancing over his body Takara saw the clothing was cut on his back and there was evidence of blood. The lance and sword that she had summoned had already smashed into the cement ground causing two large indents and cracks in the ground. There was also the obvious spots where the blade of the sword and the edge of the lance pierced into the cement leaving the puncture wounds on the ground itself. It seemed that the boy was either far more skilled then she was giving him credit for or he got especially lucky. Takara wasn't going to allow such survival not for this boy.

The two tridents stopped spinning suddenly stopping with the head of each one up pointing at the night sky. They were both perfectly vertical and parallel to one another as four shuriken appeared around Takara. She starred at him in a manner that was unlike her normal personality. The only thing that it could really be compared to by another was that of a mother starring at someone who had just killed their child. "Die" In that moment the four shuriken launched from their positions each one aimed to strike at the four corners of the boy's position.

Remaining Reiatsu: 1085/1200
4 LvL 1 Weapons: {-40}

[Jacob Thorne, Hollowborn]

So, apparently, the throwing knife didn't connect. Which made Jacob's life harder. He had hoped that he could kill the Mod Soul faster than it could kill him, but it's ability to endlessly summon weapons made his throwing of knives mostly ineffective. Potentially he could go for a head on attack, but it seemed far too likely that she would just impale him at close quarters. The speed at which she could conjure weapons, not to mention make them move, was absurdly high.

On the other hand, he had confirmed his initial suspicion that she couldn't move while controlling weapons. Which would've been helpful information, had he possessed the ability to act upon it. Unfortunately, however, he didn't really have that option, since she so clearly outclassed him in spiritual powers. Beyond his knives, his strength, and his energy sensory, Jacob had very few tricks up his sleeve. Other than Soul Command, of course, but that wasn't really something to bet on.

Jacob hadn't practiced Soul Commanding in a while, he had no real skill for calling upon the elemental souls that he could sometimes understand were present in the world around him. He understood the basic principles and tricks of it, he'd seen enough Xcutioners do it, certainly, but he had little practical experience. But right now, with his life on the line, he felt compelled to try again. His back hurt, due to the cut, and he was pretty certain that moving would be hindered by it, but he didn't have a choice.

The lance and longsword seemed more or less abandoned, impaled in the concrete behind Jacob, as Takara utilized the tridents to defend herself, and started to summon 4 shuriken in order to launch at Jacob. They flew through the air at amazing speeds, curving around to strike him from different angles. His gut instinct was to move, to run, but he saw the trajectories of the shuriken, and had a feeling that movement would be a horrible idea. But standing still would be even worse!

And so, he took the final option. He didn't go forward, or backward, or left, or right. He went up. Jacob pushed off the ground with all his strength, which would normally have been capable of winning him high jump contests, but that wasn't enough. He also called upon the spirits in the air, and caused the soul of the air to push him up, which ensured him an extra few feet. And that's all it took. Jacob lept high, over all the shuriken, and landed maybe five or so feet to the right of where he started.

Jacob hit the ground running, and started to actually use cover. He strafed around Takara, hiding behind crates for as much time as he could. His current goal was to exhaust her, although he was starting to feel fatigue himself, and to lull her into a false sense of complacency. As long as she thought she was hunting him, she wouldn't expect a turn around attack. Throwing knives at her while she had those tridents up wasn't worth the time, but now that he was starting to call upon spirits, starting to actually utilize reiatsu, an idea was slipping into his mind. And this idea could work incredibly well. 

[Takara Takeda]

Watching her weaponry soar through the air was something that Takara felt deserved the term of beauty. The shuriken that she had summoned were made of a clear crystal that reflected the light cast out from the warehouse off of them. It made the light sparkle throughout this dark area that was most ugly. Like he human boy that she was facing off against this place was dark and sickening. Nothing around her, but cargo crates filled with things that had no importance to her. All of it was just a bore and now Takara had something to attend to after killing this boy. She would have to find a way to bury the Mod Soul that this boy had killed it was her duty to at least do that much for it.

As her shuriken flew through the air she watched the motion of the boy's body analyzing every little thing about the way that he moved. From what she could gather based off of how he moved she could tell that even as the shuriken moved and the boy was able to still keep up with them visually. Whether or not he would be able to avoid them again was another question all together that she was watching get answered. "He's bending his knees. He's going to jump above them. The probability of success based off what I've seen so far is low yet not below twenty percent." Takara kept her gaze as the tridents stayed perfectly still awaiting her usage.

That was when the boy jumped above and Takara saw that he did in fact manage to evade her weaponry for a second time. This time though he hadn't been hit at all which mean that either smaller weaponry even when the numbers were higher was less effective against him or he was learning how to adept against her current usage of the Omega Arsenal. When the boy landed on the ground Takara heard the sound of her beauty crystal shuriken clashing against each other and then vanishing away before they could even fall to the ground.

She starred intently at the boy now thinking over what he had just displayed and assessing her knowledge of humans and their abilities. The boy was running away now and Takara watched as he went around one of the cargo crates. This meant that he was either going to try and use the advantage of not being in her sight or he was simply being a coward. Either way the end result was not going to change no matter what this boy choice to do. By the end of this night the boy would be laying on the ground his body torn to pieced and her fallen brother avenged.

The only problem right now was that Takara wouldn't be able to find the boy more then likely since she couldn't move all that well while maintaining her control over her weaponry. This meant that the boy had the advantage of getting the first attack and unless Takara could make sure to block or evade every single knife he had in his possession which at this point was an unknown number she still had a slim chance of being defeated. She couldn't allow such a thing so there was only one place that she could go to in order to make sure that he couldn't pull something off against her.

However, that didn't mean she couldn't attack and have some fun while she made her way over there. So slowly Takara began to step through the ally way she was in between the cargo crates. She was slowly making her way over towards the warehouse where there would be light cast out over the area. Thanks to her energy sensing though Takara could still sense the location of the human. She closed her eyes for a moment concentrating on his location and where he was moving. "Optimum speed average for standard humanoid of size." Takara had analyzed the speed at which this boy was able to run by sensing his reiatsu and measuring how fast he was moving away from her own location.

Now with the knowledge of his speed on her side of this onslaught Takara was better suited to end him prior to her reaching the warehouse. Above her two broadswords appeared accompanied by two spears. Finally there was a single large scythe that appeared above Takara. The broadswords and spears seemed to match one another with one of each being a blood red color all along the body and the other being a carbon like blue opposing the coloration of their twins. The scythe though seemed to have the appearance of the legendary figure known as Death's own weapon. The thing being more then five feet in length with a four foot long curved blade and all of it being a pitch black.

As Takara stepped through the darkness her weaponry was raised further above her until it just barely was above the height of the cargo crates. Takara then determining the location of the boy fired off the two broadswords at the same time at his location. As that happened though Takara stopped moving and concentrated as much as she could while keeping her eyes open. The moment that the boy would dodge these swords the spears would be launched at his new location. That would then be followed up by the scythe moving at him. All of these weapons would more then likely move downwards at him at a forty five degree angle unless he was atop of one of the cargo crates at which point they would be angled straight and go right for his chest.

Remaining Reiatsu: 985/1200
4 LvL 2 Weapons: {-100}

[Jacob Thorne, Hollowborn]

Jacob loved predator/prey dynamics. He was a hunter at his heart, and was very much used to killing people in order to feed them to apex predators, his Parents. Of course, he didn't eat them himself, he was a murderer, not a cannibal, but the principal was pretty similar. Jacob understood how predators functioned, because at his core he himself was a predator. And he knew how prey worked, because of how much time he'd spent around prey.

Sometimes, prey was good at deluding itself into thinking that it was invincible. That just because it was powerful, as far as prey went, that somehow elevated it to the status of predator. Those prey were the most obnoxious, because they simply refused to give in, even when they were cornered and injured. In this moment, Jacob was absolutely certain that Takara was one of those types of prey. She overestimated her strength, and underestimated his. For that, she would pay.

From crate to crate, Jacob ducked between, constantly staying mobile. His heart was pounding, but the adrenaline negated most of the fatigue that would've started to hit him. And his mind was still sharp, still aware, because there was blood in the water. Jacob's hands were covered in the blood of the people he'd killed in the warehouse, and that allowed him to focus, gave him hope. He was ready to counter and dodge anything that the Mod Soul threw at him.

The Mod Soul clearly realized the danger of sticking around in the same place, however, and started to step a few paces towards the warehouse. If she got inside the warehouse, Jacob would probably call the fight a draw, and bail. It simply didn't make sense to continue hunting her if she had initiated the fight, and then wanted to escape it. She closed her eyes, and summoned five more weapons, causing Jacob's eyes to widen. Christ, that was some serious weaponry.

She launched the two swords in his direction, at the crate, before stopping in place entirely. Again, to fire the weapons she had to concentrate. Jacob reached his hand out towards the crate, Soul Commanding it, causing the wood to shift so it was reinforced more than usual. That would buy him a half a second as the swords ripped through it. Then, he jumped once more, straight up into the air. The broadswords would shatter the crate, but miss his position. However, that action put him out of the frying pan into the fire.

Two spears were hurled at Jacob, as was a spinning scythe. All three of those would kill him if they struck, and he was in the air, with an inability to maneuver. Situation wasn't ideal. However, this moment, as Takara launched the weapons, would win Jacob the fight. Simple and cleanly. Takara, right now, had no weapons, and was concentrating very hard. She had her eyes open, of course, and was looking at Jacob. She wanted to win the fight here and now.

But because of this concentration, because of how hard she had to focus, and because she was looking at Jacob, expecting an attack from that direction, because she had to pay attention to the swords she was launching, Takara had made one simple mistake. She turned her back on a trap that Jacob had laid a while ago. See, the thing about Soul Command is you couldn't affect things that other people owned, but you could affect things that were yours. And so, without warning, a knife would erupt through Takara's plush back, and stick out her chest.

Jacob had called upon the souls that made up the knife that he had thrown a while back, and that Takara had deflected simply, and brought it towards him. Unfortunately, there was a mod soul in his way. And that mod soul had paid the price of underestimating an Apex Predator. Since she was focusing solely on Jacob, and her energy sensory was tuned to his actions, rather than the world around her, and since her concentration was entirely devoted to manipulating the weapons, there wasn't really a way she could've expected the attack, nor could she have blocked it. 

But what about Jacob? Wasn't he certain dead from the spears and scythe coming at him? Normally, the answer would be yes. He was in mid air, and couldn't step to dodge. But, as the weapons drew close, Jacob would suddenly shoot downwards, at 150 speed. Not faster than the weapons, yes, but it was in a direction that wouldn't have been expected. The spears would cut open his shoulders, and the scythe would fly right through where his head was a second ago. He was hurt, but not dead. But how?

He had Soul Commanded the air, and forced his body to move because of it. This technique was known simply as Movement, and any Fullbringer worth their salt knew it. The motion wasn't something that was easily predicted, because Jacob's body was basically being ragdolled around by his will, and not by the laws of physics. Jacob would land on the ground shortly afterwards, softening the concrete as he fell. He'd land, and be mostly unharmed, although moving his arms would hurt like a bitch.

The mod soul, however, couldn't quite say that.

Reiatsu: 275/300 (-25 for Movement)

[Takara Takeda]

Takara continued to step forwards slowly only able to take minor paces of movement while she maintained the ability to connect with the Omega Arsenal. As she launched out the swords and positioned the spears to be launched as well Takara felt the minor surge of reiatsu throughout the body of this hollow like Fullbringer. Takara wasn't sure what this surge meant though. It didn't fell massive enough to contribute to a technique so what exactly the boy could hope to accomplish with so little she hadn't a clue at the moment. She listened in that direction and heard the sound of her swords piercing through the cargo crate.

As that happened though she saw the boy above where he had been and launched the spears and scythe like she had planned prior. Her brain however was sorting through files of information on the abilities that humans possess and then crossing that over with what she had just heard. There was only one thing that she could assume to have happened. The boy had utilized his reiatsu to strengthen the cargo crate long enough to get away. She knew that the sound of the swords piercing through went on for just a bit too long and that had to be the reason behind it.

It didn't really matter right now the spears were nearly upon the boy and with that this battle had been won in her favor. Takara closed her eyes believing that this skirmish had been settled yet as she did that the same sensation of reiatsu moved throughout the boy. He was doing something again with his reiatsu something that didn't require enough reiatsu for it to actively spike high like a technique. It had to be something specific to a human something that she had missed since he was in the air and had no way of increasing a defense. The only explanation was a counter offensive strategy against her, but what did he have?

In the next instant Takara realized the flaw of her strategy and the plan that this boy was going for and began to turn around. As she shifted to the side she saw the movement of the knife flying right towards her. Her brain was a super computer yet right now the spears and scythe would be just about ready to collide with the boy and shred him to pieces. She couldn't jump to the side or else the weapons would vanish so she had to sacrifice the pretty doll she was inhabiting. So she did one of the only things possible she moved her head to the side just enough and in the next moment felt a rush of pain as she stepped backwards.

The black horn like scythe appendage of the wolf like doll she was inhabiting had just been sliced clean through by the knife that the boy was calling to himself. Takara felt the pain just as the spears would be cutting up the boy's shoulders. She turned around again and starred at the boy as he began to fall downwards to the ground. Takara was anger now the beautiful doll was now damaged and this boy was going to die ten times over now. The weaponry that she had just launched at him had already vanished returning to the Arsenal.

The boy was still falling down to the ground while she suddenly manifested four lances. The type that many would have seen in older times during a jousting clash between two men on horse back. They were both very long yet thick metal and the points sharp enough to pierce right through the side of a cement wall. Takara was done talking and this boy was done living. All two of the lances were launched off towards him as he fell to the ground while the other two were held in position awaiting for him to use a step technique or evade in some way yet again. If he just managed to maneuver around the lances the other two would be launched off towards him.

Remaining Reiatsu: 885/1200
4 LvL 2: {-100}

[Jacob Thorne, Hollowborn]

Shit. His trick hadn't worked out. That was a pain, especially given that it was his primary hope, and he had put himself in a very bad position to be able to pull it off. As Takara had started to walk forwards, she clearly had noted the hole in her strategy that Jacob had decided to exploit, which said more about her intelligence than it said about his. She was good. Maybe not as good as she believed herself to be, but cockiness didn't detract from someone's spiritual power. 

She had to make a decision: sacrifice her weapons, or herself. But instead, she chose neither. She ducked, while maintaining her conversation, which was very impressive. The weapons shivered slightly as she did so, and Jacob's body was even less damaged than he had originally expected, as they shifted in flight. However, Jacob didn't get much more than a vanity blow. His knife cleanly removed her horn from the silly pokemon doll that she was inhabiting, but that was really the extent of the damage.

And, quite honestly, Jacob realized that his ability to keep up in combat was rapidly ending. As she got better at predicting his movements, the dodges would start getting sloppier. The more tricks he used to try and put her down, the less he'd have to get away. And that was a dangerous situation that he didn't want to put himself in. Even now, as he was falling, Takara was preparing to cut him to ribbons. He had one last trick to escape, of course, but it seemed like it would only work once.

And so, he had to make a decision: rush in, try to kill her, or escape with his life for now, and hunt her down later? His gut response was the first one, in all honesty, but as he started to assess the situation, and rapidly realized the dangerous thing about this decision. If he died, who would take care of his parents? Who would ensure that they were fed, and not killed off by random asshole Shinigami? The terrifying answer, of course, was no one would.

And did killing Takara grant his parents more food? Or more safety? Absolutely not. It was a selfish thing, and something he'd do if he only cared about his own life and experiences. Which, in all honesty, wasn't the case. And so, he resolved to live, and fight another day. Of course, deciding that was the easy part. Actually pulling it off was the hard part. As the lance twirled at him, Jacob aligned himself, using Movement to adjust his trajectory. This allowed him to slow down while falling, and not end up directly in the path of the lances.

By doing so, he was able to land on one of the lances as it was traveling, moving past his location. Of course, Takara could follow up with other lances, but Jacob had an escape plan. "Bye, dear. It was lovely meeting you, and I very much hope that you aren't done evolving. I want to see you fully grown, down the line." A smile appeared on his face, an almost Cheshire smile that grew wider and wider, until it seemed like it'd consume him.

And then, as Takara focused on Jacob, she'd notice his reiatsu flash, bright enough to be slightly shocking. And, simultaneously, her eyes would be consumed with a sudden flash of light, that'd put spots in her eyes. And when the light cleared, Jacob would be gone. He used Bringer Flash to escape, launching himself backwards, off of the lance, out of sight, and overloading her senses while doing so. Could he have used that to go aggressive and potentially earn a kill? Maybe. Or maybe she would have just killed him as he approached. 

But it didn't matter. He was gone, and running as fast as he could, using other step techniques as needed to maintain his speed. Takara had won this fight, but Jacob had lived on to fight another day, and that was ultimately what mattered to him.

[Takara Takeda]

The sensation of the knife that this evil hollow like human had just somehow called upon to move back towards him cutting through her horn was a pain that Takara hadn't experienced in her existence until this point. In all of her battles so far Takara hadn't been hit let along a section of this beautiful doll body torn off. Takara liked the body that she was currently possessing and the fact that this hollow like savage monster of a human had just ruined one of the most unique parts was infuriating. Takara turned around preparing the additional weaponry.

It seemed that as she had felt that pain coursing throughout her body infecting her mind and attention the actual precision of her aim had been lessened. That meant that this scum of a human was still alive standing there just awaiting another chance to kill her like he had done her fallen brother. Takara wouldn't allow him another chance to claim victory so now as the new weapons manifested into time around her Takara starred angrily towards the boy.

So now as the four lances manifested around her Takara was ready to launch them and watch as they all tore through the body of this boy. Watching his organs and flesh spill out over the ground would give her a sense of cruel justice for her fallen brother. Even if this person was human she couldn't show mercy not to someone who had killed one of her people and had then defiled her doll body. So now as he fell to the ground Takara launched her lances knowing where and when he was going to reach the ground and meet his death.

That was when Takara felt the surging spike of reiatsu coming from the boy and knew that he was going to be preforming some sort of technique again. She could swear though that she had just felt the same exact spike only a moment or so ago and that's when she realized what he was going to do. He then landed on the surface of one of the lances and grinned in her direction. Takara had been right with her assumption and now saw that the boy had just preformed another sort of step technique.

It was then that the boy began to speak and Takara knew that her focus was being challenged. Well maybe not so much her focus as much as her tolerance and self control. All she was doing was firing off weapons and hardly landing a hit on this boy. There was no doubt that the boy had potential and all Takara wanted to do right now was snuff it all out. That was when his reiatsu spiked again and Takara was just about to manifest another set of swords only to then sense that his presence was leaving the area.

Takara had one of two choices. She could follow the boy and risk falling into one of his traps again or she could give her fallen brother a proper parting. She decided on the actions of a true Queen. The boy could be found at a point in the future and pay for his crimes, but her lost brother had to be put to rest here and now. So making her way over towards the warehouse Takara located the fallen body of her brother. It only takes her a moment to find her pill and the rest is history.

[Kyomei Kuchiki]

+490 to Takara
+390 to Jacob.