The mysterious figure took in Takumi’s strong scent, still shaking its hips. Such casual movements concerned Takumi, who watched the being’s nose poke from the darkness of the trench coat. The two sniffs were enough to make its mouth water, as drool poured profusely down it’s stretched lips. “Almost like the smell of fresh mangoes… you wouldn’t happen to have a special liking to such fruits, hmm?” It hadn’t seen a Setsu like that before. Ordinary Setsus wouldn’t smell like this. It was far too exquisite. “I’ve had far too many rotten humans recently…”

Takumi observed, growing in anger when Jeel pulled out a small hand from his coat that he went on to consume. Though furious at what the Stray did, Takumi reminded himself to relax.

“It’s been so long since I last crossed a pampered Setsu,” the Stray said aloud. He tapped his lips with the tip of his long nail, pondering on the rumors he had heard of Honshu and its Setsu. Of all of them, there was one he was told to watch out for. One that came up the most among the rumors he’d heard through his travel to the region. A Setsu he hoped to encounter at one point.

“Judging by the scent and those haunting purple gems you call eyes… you’re a Rikuto. How lucky am I!? You’re the third Setsu tonight and a Rikuto at that-”

Front flipping onto the vent, Takumi engaged Jeel in hand-to-hand combat. Jeel avoided each swing with ease. Takumi all the while, attempted to get to the portal, but was grabbed and flung to the end of the vent, where he shot a glare over to Jeel who raised his hands up and pointed over to Takumi.

“Now, now that’s not nice! What would I be if I let you escape me? It’d be a shame if the others got a piece of you. I can’t let you through to them.”

“Complimenting me won’t save you if you stand in my way again,” Takumi responded, standing back up. His claws were aimed down at the ground. Takumi didn’t want to rely on his Setsu side, but went about emitting his Retsu.

The purple flames flowed down, burning the rubble that riddled the rooftop. The rubble melted while being pulled up along Takumi’s arm to form a seven feet long blade of molten rubble, which was thick to the core. To Jeel’s surprise, Takumi lifted the seemingly heavy arm. Dashing in, Jeel engaged the Setsu, who slashed right through Jeel’s tail, shocking the latter. The Stray retreated back to guarding the portal as Takumi flinched, realizing he wouldn’t be able to sustain the arm. The rubble soon scrambled off as Takumi took a deep breath, calming himself.

“Oh, that attitude, that response… it’s only gonna make you taste better when you beg to be devoured quickly. Could it be, you’re the notorious Alessandro I’ve heard about? The Stray Slayer of Osaka? That scent doesn’t lie… though you seem far weaker than I expected Alessandro to be. I thought he’d be a tall, dazzling gentleman… but you look like a teenage boy. Though I heard he was not in Osaka presently. Guess I was mistaken, since he also supposedly carries a small sleepy girl around his neck.”

Takumi didn’t respond. His glare remained on the being before him, briefly switching to the shrinking portal from which the sound of a blizzarding storm emanated. Jeel waited for the portal to close and then skipped along the ridge of the electrical retsu conductor and hopped off, splashing randomly into the puddles that were on the rooftop.

“You let the portal slip away. Could it be… you’re scared of me?” Jeel mockingly asked.

“No, but you mentioned others are past that portal, dumbass. I’m not one to rush into things. It’s fine though… you’re going to tell me everything you know, before dying,” Takumi responded over the sound of the rain pattering around them. The puddle at Takumi’s feet continued to grow larger. He kept his sight on Jeel’s movements as the Stray tapped his claws together, displeased by what Takumi said. Takumi was prepared to draw his pistol the second Jeel tried to rush at him, and Jeel took note of this, as their standoff was accompanied by the sirens of an ambulance off in the distance.

“My, my… quite the talker. You’re giving off a magnificent killing intent now, and it’s speaking to me so sweetly.” Jeel tapped his fingertips together.

“Blood lust… so it’s that type of Stray,” Takumi muttered, adjusting his glove. “The kind that gets strong by feeding off of what it takes from other creatures… parasite.” The momentary silence ended with Jeel’s loud chuckle. He turned over and jumped off of the second Retsu conductor, landing down onto the same ground with a graceful backflip.

“Three toes and one at his heel. A mutated Stray?” Takumi tried to figure him out. Twisting his head back, Jeel ended his laughter and whipped his scruffy red hair around while licking his lips aggressively as Takumi looked on awkwardly, squinting his eyes by the end.

“Don’t you wanna talk some more?” Jeel asked.

“Not really… you seem preoccupied with your chapped lips,” Takumi responded.

“They are not chapped!” Jeel tried to check.

“If I had enough Retsu, I could use the Berserk blade a second time… but this isn’t my Setsu body,” Takumi contemplated.

Jeel suddenly burst into casual laughter. “Maybe I should take you back with me and dissect you before making a meal out of you!”

“Take me where?” Takumi finally responded, as the rain continued to fall from the darkened sky.

“Take you to the fac-!” Jeel nearly gave out the location and quickly covered his mouth, then laughed some more. “Kaakakahahahaha, I see what you did there! Good one! You almost got me, ALMOST!”

Jeel clapped his hands together and added, “I won’t tell you that I keep Setsus like you from thwarting the Bakufu’s plans.” A screeching sound rang out through Jeel’s head, causing him to flinch from the pain. He chuckled, taking that as a sign that he was saying too much.

“Aghh!! I get it! I’ll add this then!” He bumped his fist up as if he were talking to someone. “Plans of a turtle, bud!”

Takumi stared at Jeel, checking out his footing. “What are you seeking exactly? Where do you come from? Why are you here? Or is it just vanity?” he asked Jeel, who continued on, blurting out more information.

“I am one of the abominations here to bring Honshu’s demise into fruition! And I’ll enjoy devouring all of you sheep while I’m at it!” A single red tail flicked from beneath his cape and swirled around his neck as it swayed side to side, as if it was checking Takumi out. “That’s all you’re getting out of me,” Jeel winked.

Takumi reached down to his pistol in a quick draw at that moment, deciding to just shoot him and take his memories, but before he could shoot, Jeel’s tail flicked over and wagged along with his finger signaling a “no.”

“Not so fast! I’ll say something else!” A wide grin formed across Jeel’s face, showing off all of his teeth. Takumi paused, maintaining his firm aim as he listened. “You will die in under three minutes. So, prepare to meet your END!” At those words, Jeel’s tail flicked up, twirling over head as a gust of wind blew down around him. Jeel’s wild cackle echoed all throughout the area, passing by Takumi in powerful vibrations that shook the rooftop’s foundations.

From the dark maroon spots on Jeel’s tail, daggers sprung out, striking down the rooftop’s concrete ground around Takumi. One had nearly slashed across his cheek as the violent wind that blew nearly whipped Takumi off of the rooftop. Takumi flipped backwards and stabbed his black claws into the ground to keep himself from slipping on the wet floor.

“The elements aren’t to your favor!” Jeel snarled, taking that chance to zero in on Takumi as the Setsu quickly recalled he had to be careful with his Incisor’s rounds. He couldn’t waste them all carelessly. Thus, Takumi raised his right hand up as his black claws elongated out and in one swing, met Jeel’s claws straight on. Their jackets flapped back violently, as the impact blew them both to opposite ends of the rooftop.

Rain continued to drizzle down, as a thick fog had been created. Jeel quickly used this to his advantage as his tail circled around, hidden, and tried to sweep Takumi off of his feet. Takumi hopped up, swiftly tethering his left arm around Jeel’s arm the moment Jeel flew up at him. He locked it in and whipped over, delivering a quick kick to Jeel’s chest as he had let go and the impact forced Jeel to crash back down to the ground below. Takumi landed and quickly fixed his composure, noting that the thick white fog was forming progressively faster.

Jeel let out a cackle, slipping back into the fog after briefly rising up. The fog mixed with white particles that were released out of the daggers. This cluster rose up, creating a white dome that brightened the entire rooftop and rotated around them, expanding thirty feet away from the rooftop.

“A Gando Zone?” Takumi twisted his head around, as he watched the darkness of the sky disappear. It wasn’t visible anymore; the only thing visible was a red blinking light that was stationed at the top of a tower. He was now stuck within a bright misty space, losing sight of the red blinking light.

Takumi closed his eyes, attempting to sense Jeel’s vibe. It was hard, due to all of the Retsu that surrounded him. This Retsu was white while Takumi’s was purple. In a sense, he was visible, while Jeel wasn’t. After a minute of no action, a red flash shot sideways out of nowhere, striking Takumi’s shoulder. It was Jeel’s tail, and it sent Takumi crashing sideways as he tried to catch the tail the second time around, but it had whipped away, disappearing back into the mist.

“Crap…” The young Setsu gripped a fist full of gravel and stood back up. As he did, a dozen daggers rushed past him, slashing into his thigh and shoulders. Right after the last dagger had hit, the red glowing tail had entangled itself into a fist and swung from the fog straight into Takumi’s gut, forcing him to cough up blood as he fell backwards.

“Danananalalalaaaa, la laa, la daaaaan, dalala,” Jeel’s humming continued messing with Takumi’s concentration. Being pummeled around, Takumi listened to the deranged Stray’s ranting.

“If you aren’t going to make this amusing, then I’ll have to eat you now! I love playing with my food, come on! PLAY WITH ME! It makes you TASTIER than the artificial food you feed humans!”

At that moment, Jeel’s tail shifted into a simmering red tip, and Takumi sensed Jeel’s killing intent. Pinpointing where the tail was, Takumi spun several times to his left, narrowly avoiding the tail that crashed down right through the building’s ceiling. The Setsu emitted a bunch of purple particles that swirled out of his claws and spun around him, creating a small circular purple see-through barrier. This barrier spread out seven feet around him.

A series of daggers shot out from the mist. As they passed the barrier, Takumi felt them pass in and with precision, slashed his claws all around, knocking the daggers aside. He now figured out Jeel’s position.

“MUCH BETTER!!! DANCE FOR ME!!! DANCE!!!” From within the fog, Jeel’s crazed smile became visible.

Takumi’s bangs flopped backwards as the Setsu rushed at Jeel once again. Jeel swung his hands up as his claws elongated and engaged Takumi. Takumi set his fingers and thumbs together and swung his arms to his side. His right arm shaped into a black spear as his claws further crystallized along his arm. Jeel tightened his hands, but kept his thumbs apart.

With each impact, Takumi’s claws slashed across Jeel’s claws, as Jeel redirected them and tried to get Takumi to slide sideways. After about three exchanges, Jeel finally managed to do this and swung his right palm up, planning to stab his thumb into Takumi’s gut, but Takumi guarded by rolling down before Jeel could, causing Jeel to front flip and avoid Takumi tripping him. At the moment Jeel had front flipped and turned around, Takumi’s claws nearly slashed into Jeel’s face, but it had only grazed Jeel’s forehead as his tail rose up from right under Takumi and smashed into Takumi’s stomach, blowing the Setsu up into the foggy sky.

“GGKKT!”

Takumi flinched, and looked around himself. He couldn’t see any landing spot or anything, just mist. It happened too fast and he crashed back down, as Jeel casually began walking towards him. Jeel suddenly stopped when he felt something trickle down his forehead. When he lifted his hand up and tapped it, his fingers were red.

Jeel lowered it and sniffed, realizing what it was. “My… blood?” Jeel’s surprised face looked like that of a pedophile’s, as he sniffed his finger aggressively and his heart rate started accelerating. He was getting a rush from it and started laughing again. Takumi slowly opened his eyes and slumped forward as he started to pull the white Retsu into himself. Purple flames splurged out of Takumi’s eyes, flicking on and off as his bangs were blown back.

“Ohhhhhh, how I’ve longed for this! AGHHHH!!!” Jeel found himself slipping into a catatonic state as he shoved his fingers into his mouth, sucking on the blood, and swiped his hand out to his side. The slobber formed around his fingers into a red sharp see-through sphere tip. In a flash, he sprung out straight at Takumi. Just as he was going to pierce the Rikuto, Takumi raised his palm up, setting his right hand on his left wrist. The white Retsu heated into purple and the tip of the sharp see-through sphere shattered, as Jeel’s eyes widened at how fast it happened.

Just when Takumi thought he had him, two dozen daggers that had been hovering from above rushed down, forcing Takumi to throw himself aside as he rolled over and retreated behind an AC. He felt the cold hard “thunks” coming from the daggers that slammed against the AC like bullets hitting a car door. More of the daggers that had been heading towards him impaled themselves into the other side of the AC unit, leading white Retsu to pour out and spread past the unit’s sides. Jeel’s maniacal laughter echoed over the sound of the simmering fog.

“You almost killed me! YOU ALMOST KILLED ME THERE AND NOW YOU WANNA HIDE?! Don’t tell me the great Stray Slayer of Honshu is afraid of little ol’ me? Come out, come out Alessandro!!! Midnight snack time is almost over! This is practically the highlight of my night,” Takumi heard Jeel sing. Laying on his back, Jeel sprung up with his arms behind his head, and his tongue flicked over, pointing in the direction Takumi was. All he could think about was his teeth ripping into Takumi’s flesh, getting a taste of the pair of eyes he had. “I want to hear the sound of your skull breaking like an eggshell already, give me that pleasure! I can’t wait to find out what sort of powers I’ll get from your heart gem!” Almost as if hyperventilating, Jeel’s breathing became louder and louder.

Takumi remained in place, thinking of how he’d finish things. After much thought, Takumi rose up from behind the AC. He lifted his forearms in front of his face to block the thick cloud of white fog that swept over him. When he swiped his arms aside to remove the fog that was covering his vision, he jumped up onto the AC, catching sight of a series of silver daggers a few feet from the AC. The white particles that twinkled down from the bright dome elegantly glimmered against the daggers. It seemed hypnotic enough to make any being gaze at them and lose sight of everything else.

Just when the daggers were shaking, ready to impale Takumi, the young Setsu grabbed his Incisor and aimed down. In a glowing purple flash, the blast along with the series of pebbles that were blown up stopped the daggers from going through. Takumi slowly tilted the Woshu weapon sideways to see how many shots he had left. “Two.” He stopped the gun in front of himself.

With the Incisor extended out and the pebbles raining down, Jeel couldn’t see what’d be coming out from behind this. Jeel took off straight towards the AC, as saliva slipped out from both sides of his mouth and his tongue flapped around in the wind like an exhilarated dog within a speeding car.

Focusing the shot, Takumi closed one of his eyes, forcing what he was seeing to slow down. The single eye he had open started to glow into a bright dark purple. Once more, the purple flame flickered in front of his eyes before quickly disappearing. He channeled his vibe that came from his mind, down through his spine, and over to his palms. The gun absorbed this vibe as purple particles twinkled out from within the black barrel, about to spread out into the blank space ahead that Jeel found himself in.

Jeel’s eyes widened when he had swiped the remaining cluster of debris, as he was met with the barrel straight in his face. “OH SH-” His heart skipped a beat, as his red skin shifted to a ghostly white. Takumi’s lips motioned, “Buzz off,” as he pulled the trigger. The blast heated Jeel’s surrounding and erupted out. Portions of Jeel’s clothes ripped apart, as he bounced against the ground repeatedly until he crashed up against a gigantic vent at the end of the rooftop, eliminating the foggy terrain he had created.

Takumi lowered his gun to his side and took a few steps forward, then stopped in place. Jeel’s entire skeletal face was slowly restructuring itself. He coughed up blood, visibly shaken up. His hands twitched as he raised them up and pressed them against the cool surface of the vent. He pushed himself out of it, nearly falling over, and tried running at Takumi only for the Setsu to raise the gun up again and blast him into the same position. The vent made a raspy clunking sound, which was followed by an “Owwwww…” from the groaning Stray.

“You’re going to talk now. I’m through with your games,” Takumi growled, sliding his gun back into his holster, believing the fight was over. Suddenly, he saw a bright light reflecting on the ground, indicating that something was above him. When he looked up, a series of daggers rained down, impaling him several times as his body dropped down.

Takumi’s body broke up into a series of bats that fluttered up into the night sky. Jeel laughed triumphantly and pulled himself out. “YES! I killed him! But now I can’t slowly eat him… and his body is gone?” Jeel messed up his hair and his stomach grumbled, forcing him to drop down on his knees and clench his stomach momentarily.

His phone rang, so he lifted it to see who it was. When he did, it was from an entity he called “Big Cheese.” He picked it up. “Big Cheese… oh, it’s only you Seilei?”

“What’s the hold up? I presumed you were on your way, yet the indicator tells me you aren’t! I’LL CHOP OFF YOUR BALLS IF YOU DISAPPOINT NEIFER, YOU SCALY PUNK!!!” An aggravated feminine voice bombarded Jeel.

“Hey! I killed a Setsu, no big deal.” As he rambled back and forth with the being behind the phone, Jeel turned away and didn’t notice the bats swooping back down and shifting into a total of two dozen Takumis, who stood by listening to him talk on the phone. The Takumis stared at each other, then to Jeel.

“I’m starving though, save me some of those candies for when I get back at the very least or I might just have to eat everyone there! Ahahahahaha! Hello? Cow Pillow?” Jeel cackled as the entity on the other end hung up the phone with no response. “They’re no fun.” That prompted Jeel to drop his head down in disappointment. Once he slid his phone into his pocket and looked back, he was met with two dozen silent glares. The mist had cleared over by then. A chilling breeze blew across the rooftop, fluttering Jeel’s hair around.

“Sooooo… this is awkward.” He forced a smile, as the end of his eyebrows twitched. “Did you hear all of that?” Jeel cleared his throat.

One of the Takumi duplicates slowly tried to slide into a running position as Jeel raised his hand up slowly, then yelled “BYE!!!” With that, he took a single step back and bolted towards the ledge of the rooftop. As soon as he had turned away, the two dozen Takumis ran after him.

Jeel sprung onto the ledge as they all stopped in their tracks. “I may have not eaten you this time around, but there will be more opportunities to do so! Toodles, Alessandro!” Two of the duplicates dove over in an attempt to catch his hands, but before they could grab Jeel, Jeel’s body plummeted eight stories down as he screamed.

Takumi pushed the two duplicates aside and glanced down, only to hear a loud shattering of glass, followed by a car siren wailing. Jeel had crashed down onto the hood of a hover car with his arm smashing through the car’s window. He groaned, regaining sensation through his body four seconds later, and pulled himself off of the damaged car. The Takumis looked on, seeing him limp down the block, disappearing out of view.

“Great, another one got away.”

“Maybe if you’d have moved.”

“Says the one that didn’t move his big bobble head in time.”

“It’s the same head you have, doofus.”

“You two should have jumped, at least then the hot air in your heads would have been put to use.”

All of the duplicates argued with each other as the real Takumi stayed silent, staring off to the skyline and it’s hundreds of city lights. He considered going after the Stray, but he couldn’t successfully jump down and chase after the Stray. He simply didn’t have enough Retsu. The duplicates shifted into small bats and entered his shoulders. Taking in the mess that was made on the rooftop, Takumi walked off and remembered what he saw through the portal.

“That factory…”