Mind Without

Now that Takako had the advantage return to her side, she regained her confidence. Grinning once more to herself, she jumped from tree to tree closing the distance with Yuki. The fight turned more cautious for him as she could destroy his armor with ease now. A fact that she tried to do everything to take advantage of in their fight.

It became a dodging game once more for Yuki as he couldn’t allow Takako to touch him with any of her attacks. Such a condition made it difficult for him to find an offense. ‘Switching powers around conveniently to counter is as dangerous as I expected. It’s like mine, but without the weakness. I have to plan ahead…’

Risking the attack, Yuki turned and rotated on his landing on the tree. He ran down the tree a little as Takako missed above him. Wood shards pelted his armor as he got clear. The window was small, but he had enough time to make a counter strike.

Thrusting off the tree, he threw everything into his punch. Striking inside her defense, his armored hand slammed into her stomach. Force alone shot her into the air and through the canopy. Yuki watched for a moment to know how she left before landing on a lower branch.

He lifted up his hand. Even though it wasn’t his real hand, he felt it through the metal. It was clear to him as it was the time before. ‘She said weak, but that’s not it…’ The confirmation only worried him more for the future of the fight.

However, he didn’t get much longer to ponder it. Alerts came up on his screen. “What?!” Something was coming and fast. He jumped out of the way the moment the sounds started to blare.

A long pole, of a material that he couldn’t immediately recognize, appeared shooting through the air piercing the tree with great force despite being blunt. Shuddering until the force, the tree shed leaves as several more poles split the tree in half.

Takako, already recovered, came floating down from the sky. She no longer seemed to be thinking about jumping around. “I thought I already told you that you’ve got a weak punch.”

‘Completely unscathed now… Before, when I hit her I could see the effects. That’s not the case now. It doesn’t feel like I’m hitting her, feels like I’m just hitting a wall…’

Chapter 357 – Mind Without

More poles shot out from Takako’s hand at Yuki. Their number and speed made it difficult for him to dodge on his own abilities. The superhuman part of her started to come out again. Most of them missed him as he could get out of the way in time, but not all of them.

His arm jumped as the armor deflected the pole. Thanks to the Addendums he had in place, it did almost nothing to his physical body. However, that wasn’t the worst part. He saw his armor melting again forcing him to drop parts of his protection around his elbow and forearm. His hand remained intact.

He dodged more of the attacks as she ripped the tree to pieces. Yuki watched the attacks continuing to take in the information. ‘Not only is she using different powers, she’s combining them together. Fumiko’s magic forest is still in effect in addition to this acid power and now the strange pole creation ability. Stolen from people, they’re both too different to be from one person.’

The poles he would have liked to examine a little, but he couldn’t even touch them. He wanted to know what material they were. It would mean a potential counter to her powers.

Looking for openings in Takako became harder. As Yuki already noticed, she improved throughout the fight whether she became aware of it or not. Such natural talent only made things all the more challenging in a fight he was already becoming the ant in a giant's fight.

Only his experience in fights gave him the edge still, he could find counters to slip through between her attacks. He threw Takako down to the base of the forest. However, she landed on her feet before there was even a risk. ‘Damn…’

“You’re getting more predictable,” she commented up to him.

‘She really does have another power activated. Her body is too hard to just be defensive strength.’ He clenched his hand thinking about his options. ‘I’m not going to be able to do anything with how I have been… Damn search is taking too long!’

Standing with confidence burning strong, Takako looked like she already had victory in her hands. A clear sign of her amateurish nature. One that Yuki took up immediately as he disappeared in a flash of light. “You think you can sneak up on me with that move?” Takako mocked as she turned around to where Yuki appeared. She grabbed him out of the air before he got close enough to do anything. “I thought I made it clear that I’ve already seen that move of yours.”

Suddenly, what she was holding disappeared thanks to the power of her negation. “What?!” She spun around getting a strange feeling behind her.

A massive energy blast completely filled her vision. The force of it shot her off her perch and threw her through three trees before coming to a stop. Yuki came to a rest on her tree with the blast over. “I know.”

Ripping herself out of the tree once more, she glared over at Yuki. “Bastard…still up to your old tricks.” She staggered a little with surprise taking over her face. ‘Something off about my body! What did he do?’

Yuki watched through his magnified image on the visor of his helmet. ‘Good, seems that I’ve still got something. Though, that power isn’t unlimited. The reactor can’t manage that powerful of a blast. Though it’s still troublesome that it took releasing the safeties and using the full power of the suit just to wind her a bit. That tough skin of hers is going to be trouble.’

Finding her legs finally, Takako floated back out into the air. Her body had cuts and scrapes thanks to Yuki’s attack. Though her clothes took most of the damage. It was only thanks to the reinforced materials used in the weaves that kept it from completely falling apart. “I’m not going to allow you to get another cheap shot like that in!”

“This is a fight with lives on the line. There’s no such thing as a cheap shot.”

Taking Yuki’s word to heart, a grin came across her face. Weapons suddenly appeared in the air around her, along with fireballs, black orbs and about five other sorts of powers that looked less offensive in nature. “Then you won’t hold this against me!”

“…crap…” muttered Yuki, looking at Takako taking their fight to a new level. None of which he was prepared to deal with. So many different powers were in play that he had no clue what to expect from them.

The attack immediately went out on him. Evasion was the only tactic. He needed to see how the attacks moved and damaged before even thinking he could take them head on with his suit. ‘If she’s smart she’ll be using the acid power lacing all of her attacks. Which means any move she uses will be deadly regardless of what the real strength of it is. It’s the only way I can think. I can’t assume she’s going to be stupid at this point. Not with the way she’s improving…’

As the offense by Takako went on the forest became more cut down leaving piles of massive chunks of wood on the bed of the forest. The fury of Takako began to leave large holes in the canopy with the moonlight breaking through. Rays of the moon tinted everything a soft blue as blood lust filled the air.

However, none of that helped Yuki in the fight. He struggled to keep up with Takako’s assault. The barrage became heavier as she grew tired of missing. Nothing was going to last forever. And he didn’t have the same sort of stamina as Takako. Even with all of the work of his Law kept him from feeling the effects of the fight, it only worked so well. A slip up was bound to happen.

Like a row of dominoes lined up, when it came it was a cascade effect. Takako jumped on the advantage to exploit every last bit. She wasn’t about to let him win anymore.

With three-quarters of the forest already gone and Yuki laying on the ground blood streaming down his arms and legs. He had run out of options. Most of his armor had to be thrown off, the melting power dealt with it too efficiently. All that remained for him were scattered pieces on his chest and legs with his hands and helmet still intact as well. Cracks lined his visor reducing the working parts of his screen.

He stood up struggling with his body. Fatigue clearly had started to take a toll on him. ‘I’m a little surprised I managed to go this long. This has already gone on longer than any of my previous fights. I guess the right Law does make a lot of difference. I would have keeled over long before I even started really fighting with her a month ago.’ Despite the situation, he knew that he still had more left in him. Feeling a little tired was hardly a sign of him quitting.

Fortunately, all of his stalling finally paid off for him. A beeping came across his screen. Half of the message was cut off due to the damage from the cracks in his helmet, but it was enough. He finally had what he had been waiting for since he started.

A way to bring an end to the fight.

‘This is going to be my last charge. The suit in its state can’t take another blast.’ He clenched his hands together, staring up at the next attack that Takako pulled together. It looked like a child’s toy box of random ideas. She wanted to end things just like him. ‘All or nothing now…’

Using the thrust that remained in the suit, Yuki hovered up over the ground. Across his screen displayed the energy build up. The metal of his armor started to shake from the pressure unable to maintain its integrity without the rest of the pieces. ‘Law switch, Rule Set #4b!’

A sudden light grew out of Yuki with blinding intensity. It was a pure thick all encompassing light that nothing could penetrate and painful. Especially to those with enhanced senses like Takako. She covered up her eyes, unable to see beyond the field her device negated. “What?!” The light bleached her entire body bathe in the white. Takako moaned in pain as her eyes screamed at her. “Trying to blind me?! You can’t win!”

Throwing out her attacks, it was no longer concentrated like before. She tried to hit everything, no longer sure where he would come from. However, it wasn’t long until she felt something different, yet familiar. ‘This feeling…’ She knew what it was, Yuki’s energy attack. ‘Why does it feel so strong? It wasn’t like this before!’

Tossed out of the light, she flew through one tree and continued on into the sky uncontrolled until she could stop herself. It stung her body feeling the attack. Her clothes smoked from the attack and there was even slight damage to her skin as blood gathered. “Damn you! Still got fight left you!”

As the white light faded away, Yuki’s armor crumbled away. It became completely useless. He was open and bare to Takako’s attacks once more. He hovered in the air with his mist around him, returned to his former powers. “You’re too far away. My hearing isn’t that good.”

Quickly jumping with her speed, their distance disappeared. Takako stood before him only meters away. “This better?”

Yuki stared at her unmoving. Anger filled her face, even more so since he lacked any sign of giving up. “Yes.”

“Your toy armor is gone. You’ve run out of options.”

“We’ll see about that. Try me.”

“You can’t beat me!”

“I think you have that backwards. You can’t beat me.”

“What?!” Takako started to laugh. Confused and amused, she didn’t know what his game was. “Is that so? Then let’s see about testing that!” She flung her fist at Yuki faster than he could even see. Yet it did nothing. Her hand stopped on his face, unable to move. “What?!”

“How’s that test?” he mocked.

“How dare you!” Takako threw up a barrage of blows against Yuki. None of them did anything to him. She backed up a little and threw everything she had in her powers at him. “Damn you!”

Recovered from his injuries enough to start moving, Hiroshi escaped to the ground during all of the destruction. “What is going on? How is he taking it all?”

“It’s not possible!” Some fear started to leak into her voice as she slid back. She didn’t understand why nothing worked against Yuki. In the last attempt, she threw a massive amount of power into a gigantic blast that obliterated any of the remaining trees in the forest. It turned the whole city into day with the intense light coming off of it.

Yuki narrowed his eyes at her desperation. “It won’t work. It’s pointless.”

“I’ll show you what’s pointless!”

Disappearing and reappearing in front of Takako, he swung his fist. Slamming into her cheek, a massive shockwave ripped through the school grounds tearing up the earth and debris. Takako flew backwards kicking up earth as she tumbled over the ground.

The blow dazed her, though only for a moment. She pulled herself free from the debris. Blood dripped down her cut lip. The pain felt worse than his other attacks. It made her grind her teeth together staring down the hundred meter long path she carved out. “How?!” She threw her foot into the earth sending out cracks as it got stuck.

“Tch!” she groaned as she ripped it free and sped back to Yuki. Her speed kicked up a gust that blew against Yuki as the only thing that seemed to affect him. “What did you do?!”

“My powers can truly be cheating when I want them to be. To the point of being unfair. Against someone like you, I can make them utterly broken.”

“That’s impossible! I can negate your powers!”

“Not anymore.”

“What?!” Yuki produced a small band-like strip of black plastic weave with a thin metal device attached around it. “My device!” she gasped in surprise. She immediately swiped it back from Yuki, who didn’t resist.

“It’s worthless to you now. I completely destroyed its inner workings.”

“When?”

“During the last attack I made. It was just a distraction. Thanks to the disrupting nature of the device, it took me a while to lock down its location. But without that, you can’t do anything to me.” A dark shadow quickly ran down Yuki’s face. “I’m normally all for fair play. But you lost that privilege the moment you started twisting and corrupting people, making them kill on your whim. This is the end, Takako!”