Hey guys! Again sorry about the wait! My health really has not been great recently but I'm hoping things are getting better.
Please leave a comment, review, and power stones! :)
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Loki stood in the desert with the wind blowing the coat tails of his jacket. Next to him stood Chrollo in a suit of his own, looking off into the distance.
Behind them, the rest of the Phantom Troupe stood by waiting.
"This could be a bit tricky, my friend… It would seem they have a couple of Nen users themselves." Loki said to Chrollo.
"I knew that, but only one is actually experienced, and the rest are beginners like us. We can all take the beginners, but can you hold off the one until we finish up?" Chrollo asked in a calm tone.
Loki stared off in the distance, focusing some aura on his eyes to glance at the abandoned factories in the distance.
"I'll try… It's not like we have any other options at this point." Loki said with a cold glint in his eyes.
Chrollo nodded slightly before turning around and speaking to the rest.
"Alright, everybody… Here's the plan."
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"Hey boss, you hear about all of the gangs around the perimeter getting destroyed? Seems like someone messed with the wrong group."
"Tsk… Barry, don't bother me with this nonsense. It's just a couple of small groups without any Nen users." The man in a suit didn't even glance up as he grabbed a bottle of beer.
"Aren't you worried they might attack us, boss?" another man asked.
"If they did, it would be their death day," the boss said flatly, twisting the cap off his beer.
One of the men was about to reply when screaming erupted outside the factory.
"Sheesh… Another group of crazy people. You guys go handle it," the boss sighed, leaning back into his chair.
Barry and the others groaned but got up to deal with the disturbance.
"HEY! BRING SOME MORE BEER AS WELL! WE'RE ALL OUT!" the boss shouted after them.
They grumbled but didn't argue, heading outside.
Michael, the boss, stood up and started to stretch lazily.
"Oh my… I hope I didn't catch you at a bad time, but I have some questions for you, sir."
The voice came faintly from somewhere in the factory.
Michael looked unconcerned, unbuttoning his suit jacket and rolling up his sleeves.
"So, I'm guessing you and the little group outside are together?" Michael asked, aura beginning to rise.
"I'm afraid so. We just have a couple of questions for your group. Care to answer for me?"
Michael's eyes landed on a figure in a red suit and white mask painted with a smiling mouth.
Loki.
"I don't think so, pal. I've got a tough mouth, you see." Michael grinned.
"Well then, let's start."
A burst of murderous aura filled the air.
Loki's eyes sharpened. Michael's body twitched with small, irregular jerks in his limbs.
'Let's gather intel first…' Loki thought, flicking his hand to hurl rubble with controlled bursts of repulsion.
Michael darted forward, sidestepping larger chunks but letting smaller pieces hit him.
Instead of slowing down, however, he accelerated.
'He absorbed the impact… unaffected.' Loki's eyes narrowed.
'Enhancer? No, he could be Transmuter or Emitter…'
Michael closed the gap fast. Loki stepped in to meet him, repulsion coiled around his fists.
Their punches collided with each other.
Loki pushed through, forcing Michael's arm back, until the momentum reversed. Michael's fist snapped forward with explosive force, sending Loki sliding back, boots screeching on the floor.
'He redirected my force back at me… He's storing kinetic energy and releasing it.'
'Almost like a spring...'
To confirm, Loki fired some weaker repulsion bursts. Michael took the hits without slowing, then vaulted high, rebounding off a wall.
'Definitely a transmuter with spring-like properties. He's using my own force to accelerate. There must be a time limit before stored energy fades.'
Loki's next volley of debris was absorbed the same way. Michael grew faster with each impact.
"Can you stop running around like a little rat and fight?!" Michael's voice cut through.
He launched into a ricochet assault, bouncing off beams and steel walls, each impact making him faster. The sound of his landings echoed like gunfire.
'This just got a lot harder…'
Loki braced himself, surrounding himself with a cushion of repulsion.
A triple bounce sent Michael rocketing toward him. Loki met the incoming blow, only to feel the energy rebound straight back, smashing into his guard and bruising his ribs.
Michael pressed forward, fists striking in rapid succession, each one a mix of his own power and Loki's redirected force.
Loki dodged narrowly, using Burst Step to avoid a punch that cratered the floor where he'd just been.
If I keep attacking like this, he'll only grow faster. I need to break the loop… hit without giving him energy to use.'
Michael, sensing the change, smirked and bounded toward him again, faster than before.
Loki's mask tilted slightly. 'Time to turn the spring against itself…'
Michael came in fast, ricocheting from wall to beam to floor in a blur, each rebound sharper than the last.
Loki stopped meeting him head-on. Instead, he slipped just outside the arcs of those spring-loaded attacks, letting the rush of displaced air graze his coat. Every time Michael landed, Loki sent a small, precise burst of repulsion. It wasn't enough to be threatening, but it was enough for Michael to absorb.
'He's taking everything I give him… good,' Loki thought, eyes locked on his opponent's twitching frame.
'To be absorbing everything must be burning through aura. Keep stacking it, and you'll bleed yourself dry.'
Michael grinned, mistaking Loki's smaller bursts for desperation. "You're just feeding me more speed!"
'Exactly.'
The ricochets grew manic, Michael's boots hammering steel and concrete in a relentless tempo. Loki could see the faint shimmer of an aura thick around his body, taut and overcharged.
'He has to keep storing energy. At this rate, he will either completely lose control of his speed, burn through all of his aura, or take me out.'
Loki thought with a smirk.
'Seems like this will be a gamble in my favor...'
He backed toward the far side of the factory, weaving between support columns, forcing Michael into longer bounces, awkward angles.
Every time Michael closed in for a hit, Loki would use burst step to take him just out of reach.
The clock was ticking.
By the fourth failed strike, Michael's smirk was tight, a flicker of frustration breaking through. His aura still flared strongly, but Loki could see his exhaustion.
'He's almost out of steam. Perfect.'
Michael lunged again, this time committing fully, storing and stacking all his remaining absorbed force for a single, killing blow. His body whipped forward like a coiled spring unleashed.
"STOP RUNNING! I'M GOING TO DESTROY YOU, YOU LITTLE RAT!"
Loki smirked before dodging one last time.
Michael's strike crashed into the floor, the stored kinetic energy splintering concrete and sending a shockwave up his own legs. His aura shuddered violently, the overcharge breaking against nothing.
Loki was already moving, his own aura spiking as he released a concentrated point of repulsion straight into Michael's exposed flank.
The blast hurled him across the room, smashing him through a stack of steel barrels.
Loki straightened, with his eyes narrowing behind his mask.
"With that temper of yours, I would have thought you were an Enhancer. If you had taken the fight a bit slower, I might have lost..." Loki said as he walked toward the pile of rubble.
Seeing Michael passed out, exhausted, Loki smirked slightly.
'The others should be finishing up soon as well...'
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Hatsu: Perfect Spring
Type: Transmuter, Enhancer
Description: The aura of the user mimics the properties of a mechanical spring: it can absorb, stock, and redistribute the energy from an enemy's punch, or from the impact with the environment (floor, walls).
Conditions/Restrictions:
Time Limit: a punch/impact can only be absorbed & stored for a given time period.
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