Post by BlacKitten on Aug 1, 2021 16:56:18 GMT -5
Pluto - 39
Followed by storming footsteps, the door burst open as a few men of the Revolutionary Army came to check in after hearing a sudden rumbling boom, “What’s going on?” Their jaws dropped upon sighting the large gaping hole in the wall with a large muscular masked man lying on the floor. Judging by the debris being scattered inside the room, it was clear that the man was thrown in here from the outside.
“Are we… under attack?” one of them hesitated to ask the unthinkable. How could anyone know their whereabouts when they haven’t done anything yet?
“Tsk!” Pluto stood at the center of the room with a look of irritation. While being disrupted out of the blue was quite unwelcoming, he was more annoyed by the clear and obvious signs and what it entailed. “Koneko Miu is nearby, huh?”
“Arugh!” the masked grappler let out a growl of distress as he kept covering his eyes with his palms, rolling, and writhing on the floor.
Ara and Rebecca could arrive to the same conclusion on who was responsible for all this. The signs were dead giveaways. First, there were scratch marks in several places on this man’s body as if attacked by a small, wild animal. Second, this man’s body was charred in blackish ash as if he had just been hit by an explosion. Third, it required a powerful enough force to launch a man of this size to crash in here. Only the Bakeneko could achieve such a uniquely identifiable set of feats.
Caelian stood up and let out a thunderous roar. His bloodshot, watery eyes forcefully glared across his surroundings, and immediately they locked onto the black-haired boy with violet eyes.
So! The cat went back into its human form!
Ara stood by the younger girl cautiously and on guard. She could tell that this towering man was abnormally strong.
Letting a battle cry, Caelian made use of his large body as he charged at the boy like a giant bull, aiming his right shoulder to tackle the much smaller and lighter human. “You damn cat!”
“!” Pluto widened his eyes as he hopped to the side off his right foot, landing onto that same leg.
“You think you can get away from me?” Caelian made a sharp swivel of his foot before lunging at the boy with the intent to grab him with both arms.
“I see,” the boy murmured in a serious tone. “So that’s how it is. That cat dares to take on my appearance.” As someone who tended to keep a low profile, a shapeshifter was as worse as it gets for him. Miu’s shapeshifting abilities made it easy for her to keep a low profile while simultaneously scapegoating others. That feline had the obnoxious combination of being the center of attention whenever she so chooses while also blending with the environment should she wishes to leave the scene. Someone so blatantly destructive but also deceptively stealthy, this bizarre combination made her an irritating adversary to deal with.
After experiencing the cat’s tactics that were employed on him, even he hesitated at the thought of messing with her. By shapeshifting into Ara, Miu completely defeated him on a psychological level, and he suspected the same would be true had she taken on Rebecca’s appearance. That feline made him painfully aware of the weaknesses he possessed. He didn’t fear her monstrous strength or explosive fireballs; he feared the mischievous potential of her shapeshifting. If that cat so chooses, she could plot and turn him into a wanted criminal by taking on his face and name.
That cat… worries me.
Leaping back, Pluto leaned back, spreading his arms out to the side as he jumped out of the gaping hole in the wall. He determined that a battle with this misguided man would only result in further destruction to their hideout. Since he was the target, only he can bait the man back outside.
From above, Caelian jumped out of the building, diving straight down from several floors up high, “Come back here, you coward!”
The boy pressed both palms onto the pavement, bending his arms to cushion his impact before pushing off the ground to gain distance away from the building itself. His masked pursuer landed in a squat.
“Hold it right there,” Pluto, standing with all his weight in his leading right leg, held up his palms in a defensive posture. “Your opponent isn’t me.”
“Enough with your trickery,” Caelian bolted forth with inhuman speed, a trait one would not expect from his bulky physique. One thing was for sure; he was built to be one heck of an athlete. “I see right through you! You’re pretending to have an injured left leg, but I bet it’s just a red herring.”
This guy is completely delusional.Miu - 34
Screams of horror flooded the streets as soon the name of Koneko Miu was uttered. Upon witnessing a massive explosive blue fireball, all doubts of her presence were erased. Any Super Rookie pirate was not to be trifled with. A squad of marine soldiers had marched into the desolated front entrance to a buffet, noticing debris scattered outside with scorch marks. They searched in the vicinity, yet the elusive fire-breathing cat was nowhere to be scene.
A marine officer informed his squad on the current events that has been transpiring around Sabaody Archipelago, “Koneko Miu has been reported to have launched an attack at The Emporium where many nobles and wealthy individuals were held in one room. She has also left Captain Hyomo in a greatly injured state. Thankfully, it seems no civilian was harmed this time around.”
“Sir!” A subordinate asked, “How could no one have seen where the Bakeneko went off to?”
The higher-ranking officer explained, “Captain Hyomo has reported something quite alarming. The Bakeneko was able to copy his appearance and alter her size. She can become monstrously big or as small as a kitten. She can even copy other people’s clothing and even their voices.”
“Seriously? How are we supposed to find and catch her then? She could literally be among the civilians as we speak.” Until today, the marines had only known the Bakeneko has a giant two-tailed cat with the power to create blue fireballs that can wreak havoc. That was the well-known description known by most who were informed about her recent uprise in the pirate era. The report that she could shapeshift as well was completely new information to them.
“Tch… what a dangerous set of powers she possesses,” said the officer, being at a loss on what they could do about the situation. They weren’t entirely clear on the Bakeneko’s motives. Why did she attack The Emporium? Why did she attack someone in a buffet? This criminal was too random and therefore unpredictable.
Meanwhile, the spoken shapeshifter was up on the rooftop, quietly overseeing the town at large. She remained in her kitten form with the same grey fur except her underbelly, chin, and paws being snow white.
Her large yellow eyes caught sight of a certain trio in the far distance. It was the black mouse and the blue mouse in hot pursuit of the eyepatch mouse.
“Hmm? Are they playing tag without me?” her tail straightened upward. That Isaac person did tell her to eliminate the bodyguard known as Caelian, and unfortunately, he only told that to fake Pluto. Now that she was a cat, her feline responsibilities didn’t include obeying the instructions of marines.
More importantly, her prey was finally locked in her sights. Blue Mouse. That blue-haired human with the golden stinger who dared interrupt her game and even steal her prey. She still could not forgive him for that.
No, it wasn’t just that. She could not forgive him for trying to kidnap Rebecca at slave auction house. The worst punishment one could employ on Rebecca was separating her from her brother. If the Blue Mouse wanted to capture the boy, then he should’ve at least captured both siblings. But instead, the poor sister was left with her precious protective guardian.
Miu had received her cooking, her love, her pats, and her sweet gentle words. She had grown to view the girl almost as if she were another kitten that needed to be protected.
She recalled that Blue Mouse even tried to knock out Ara as well, but it was simply harder to appreciate that fact since that version of Ara at the time was her shapeshifted self.
“I won’t let you touch Rebecca or Ara,” the feline muttered.
Crouching on all four, the kitten spring-loaded her hindlegs in preparation to pounce. “Stealth Hunt!” In a blink of an eye, where she originally stood was replaced by a puff of dust. From rooftop to rooftop, the silent hunter dashed closer towards her designated blue-haired prey, traversing the city at speeds surpassing that of a cheetah.