20th Exploit: Slight of Sight Zaine 3

The battle between Zaine and Antonio rages on as Jason and Clarice struggle to pass the seemingly immovable and determined Bo Lucas. Meanwhile Jace admires Clarice's collection.

20th Exploit: Slight of Sight Zaine Pt. 3

Jason whips his gloved hand downward, the ball-spikes fling toward Bo. Bo swipes his hand down and away to the side, redirecting the stringed projectiles without touching them. Jason follows up with a step-forward and a palm thrust from his other hand; this hand is sparking with electric ki. Bo slides a foot back and leans into the palm, ducking his head just enough to slide past Jasons strike and goes for one of his own. Jason is pushed back as his chest is hit, but its a light blow as he steps backward as the fist connects. Clarice contemplates coming into the battle and cutting Bo down; this obstacle has already taken a good bit longer to deal with then she had thought it would.

"Jason."

"I know!" 

Jason skips behind Bo in what looks to be a blink of an eye, leaving a very brief static outline of where he was standing a second ago behind*. This maneuver brings the string between his spiked prongs and his gloves between Bo in an arch, ready to pincer him, but Bo somehow anticipated this and thrusts his aura imbued elbow back, nailing Jason hard in the gut. Clarice decides to make an action and moves her hand toward the hilt of her blade, but Bo anticipates this as well, perhaps hearing the impatience in her voice a moment ago, and has flung a pebble from his pocket toward her hand almost immediately after hitting Jason. Clarice just barely shifts her body out of the way of the projectile. The pebble pops a hole into the asphalt a couple dozen feet behind her. Jason takes a step and a half away from Bo.

"You're definitely not just a common TC associate!" Jason brings his gloved fingers in and retracts the spiked weights back to his hand. Bo of course avoids getting entangled and snagged. The spiked balls all land in Jasons palm and he clenches his fist around them. "How is it a guy like you ended up taking the barking orders of a deranged hyena like Clark?"

"That's a matter of pecking order." Bo's face remains as stoic as ever. "I'm not officially under his division, as a matter of fact Clark's personal associates are few and far between, but hes my bosses boss. I'm sure you can figure out what that means, and I'm not willing to elaborate, Kafer."

Jason lowers his head and glares through his shades. He's underestimated Bo and he knows it, however he's still quite confident he can overcome him without assistance, as is his desire at this very moment.

"Clarice." Jason brings his balled gloved fist up by his head, just under his horn, and lowers his other arm down to his waist, his palm aimed upward to the sky and his fingers aimed at Bo Lucas. "I'd like to finish this without interference."

"Hmph." Clarice moves her hand away from the hilt of her blade and crosses her arms. "Your pride will do us no good right now, but so be it. You have thirty seconds." Bo almost laughs at the statement. He brings his hands up to his waist and makes a stance of his own. His body begins to exude a calmness to it as his ki lightly dances around it.**

"Thirty seconds? Interesting. That's my time limit before this turns into a fight I wouldn't be able to win-"

"You won't win regardless!" 

Jason 'warps' an inch forward with the same technique he used to get behind Bo earlier and quickly tries to thrust his ungloved hand into Bo's ribcage. Bo effortlessly swats it, and the 'third arm' that immediately follows in suite away from his body. Jason feign's a fourth 'arm' and steps into Bo's personal space as Bo tries to slap the fake-out away. Bo's right hand roars past the afterimage at a speed matching Jason's, but hes able to step past it. Jason follows through and tries to slam his left knee into the side of Bo's hip, but Bo stops it by striking the knee cap with a 'third arm' of his own. Jason ignores the shock of agony shooting through his leg and doesn't retreat, instead pushing forward and once again using his bare hand to attack. This time going for a chin strike with the ball of his palm. Bo once more swats the attack away, this time with his other hand, and finally makes a move that isn't counter based. 

Bo tries to circle past Jason, but Jason is exceedingly quick to cut him off and shoulder thrusts into him. Bo gasps as he finally loses his footing, as well as his intense focus, and Jason sees his chance. Jason's gloved hand roars forward toward Bo's chest. Bo goes to block the punch but is surprised when Jason suddenly flings his hand open. The five balled spikes launch forward in a form of a star and past Bo's guard. They come to a point at Bo's chest. Jason quickly clenches and unclenches his hands, sending the prongs in five directions. They slash through Bo's ki and flesh. The electricity stored in them sends shudders through Bo and he is sent hurdling backward onto the pavement in defeat***. His phone slides out of his pocket and clanks a foot away from his body.

"Sixteen." Clarice uncrosses her arms as Jason wipes the sweat off of his head. 

"Huh?" Clarice walks toward Bo's barely conscious body. She stomps on his phone as he struggles to reach for it.

"You took sixteen seconds of the thirty. Not bad, especially given how skilled this guy is. However-" Clarice looks past Jason. Her stone cold demeanor is somehow more threatening then Bo's. "-We've wasted enough time here."

---

Jace looks in awe toward where the fireplace in Clarice's home resides. Lined above it is a relatively long row of sheathes, all empty save for the one directly above the unlit fireplace and all with a variety of different designs. None look as 'standard' as the sheathe Clarice carries on her, clearly these are a collectors hobby. The interior of Clarice's home is in general wood and bamboo themed, including perhaps most interestingly a rather big television set with a bamboo skin around the screen. Of course, the television set was the last thing on Jace's mind. His gaze is fixed on the one sheathe with a blade in it. 

Jace laments ever so slightly, resting his hand on his own sheathe. In spite of being a mere aesthetic at this point Jace refuses to relinquish his sheath and blade-less hilt. The sheath he is eyeing so intently is of bamboo skin, of course, with a slick dark red paint job on it and a rather miss-able silhouette of a bird near the hilt end. Jace desired strongly to see the grade of the blade itself, and catches himself reaching for it. Jace slaps his hand and pulls it away.

"Control yourself Jace." Jace sternly lectures himself. He reluctantly turns his body away from the fireplace and crosses his arms, thinking of the current situation his friends are dealing with. "I hope Sarah's alright." 

Jace sighs. He begins to pace around the place before finally seating himself in front of the television set. He unconsciously thumbs the locket around his neck. He looks to be reminiscing about whatever past is involved with it.

---

The cloud's coming from Zaine's right arm form a massive fist through ki manipulation, and his left palm spewed cloud is the shape of a wall, mostly protecting his front-left side in an arch. Antonio pays neither any mind and charges straight toward Zaine. The great cloud fist comes barreling toward Antonio but Tony swats it to the side with a ki imbued backhand. As he had assumed it was more a play at intimidation then being any sort of threat. 

The ki in the fist disperses and the cloud becomes a formless harmless mass. Zaine strengthens the aura around his wall and reforms it into something of a half igloo around him. Zaine tries to push Antonio away again like he had when he first formed the wall but Tony propels himself forward, overpowering Zaine's aura with his own and breaking through the fortified cloud wall. Antonio's airborne momentum is suddenly halted as Zaine begins to smirk. He's been 'grabbed' from inside the cloud and is swiftly ensnared; all four of his limbs held in place*. Zaine springs forward and clenches his right fist. The clouds that had formed a giant fist earlier ceases to exist but Antonio's prison is still held materialized by the left hand. Zaine's fist begins to rumble with Ki and he thrusts it forward while twisting his arm. 

Antonio manages to break free from his shackles but not in time to stop Zaine's attack. Zaine screams a 'kah!' as Antonio is sent sailing backward while spinning in a spiral**. Antonio manages to keep his head from slamming into the pavement with a well placed handspring. Antonio flips backward and plants his feet safely on the ground, much to the chagrin of Zaine.

"Damn!" Antonio stumbles a little before composing himself. He smirks arrogantly at Zaine.

"So, taking to stealing my ideas now, eh Zed?" Zaine grits his teeth. "I guess whatever works. Gotta commend you on your defenses too, even with your crappy ki strength."

"Keep making your wisecracks! I'm still standing a*****e!" Zane grins. "And you won't get near me again unless I will it! Now-" Zaine opens both his palms and forces the clouds to wrap around his arms and jut eight extra limbs from his back. Its all ki and cloud work of course, but the image is rather intimidating. "-I'm gonna rip you in half!" Zaine springs forward, using his cloud hands to help propel him faster then usual. Antonio tilts his head.

"A direct attack? Against Me?" Antonio smirks as he grabs his right forearm and puts intense ki focus on it. The ki around his right forearm begins to throb with power.

Zaine doesn't stop. Antonio suddenly releases his forearm and darts forward in a move to throw Zaine off of whatever he was planning. Two of the cloud arms grip the pavement and fling Zaine around to Antonio's left side, away from Tony's highly dangerous arm of destruction. Surprisingly Antonio didn't anticipate this. Zaine rotates himself to face Antonio and releases a barrage of punches from his cloud hands before Tony can turn to counter***, making sure to keep his actual hands open. As he's staggering Antonio with his assault hes also beginning to focus his ki into his two physical arms. 

Antonio meets the barrage with his left arm, intercepting about a half of the attack until he sees an opening. Antonio throws his destructive right toward Zaine's direction, exactly what Zaine's been waiting for. Zaine quickly uses his weakening cloud arms to move him to the right and around to Tony's backside, just narrowly avoiding what would've been certain defeat. The air in front of Antonio's fist caves in before a fist shaped wave launches fiercely from Tony's arm and slams in front of one of the vacant houses. The 'fist' erupts into a 20 x 20 dome of aura, enveloping the yard and half the house; destroying all that it touches****.

The destructive force stuns Zaine in awe for just a moment, but Zaine refocuses instantly and uses his own aura imbued attack, slamming both his hands into the right side of Antonio and using the cloud hands to push into the ground behind him, adding more force behind the attack. Antonio is sent flying into the debris of the house he had just decimated*****.

Zaine grits his teeth as Antonio stands back up and brushes the debris off of him. The attack definitely has effected his posture. "Oh come on!" Zaine bellows in disappointment. Antonio turns to face Zaine. His eyes are inflamed with intensity and there's a smile on his face. "Just what the hell did you do for three years?!?"

"You're honestly surprised." Antonio smirks, mentally patronizing Zaine. "There's always been a gap between us, ever since we've been feuding, and its always been growing." Antonio takes his index finger and thumb and slowly begins to separate them, as if to visualize his statement. "It would stand to reason that gap would only grow regardless of what kind of training Ive been doing, especially if all your training went to those s****y clouds."

"You..." Zaine clenches his fists. His cloud arms vanish. "You damned-"

"The next attack." Antonio balls his fist and points it at Zaine. Zaine continues to glare at him. "The next time I attack you this will be over. You'll be on the ground unconscious and I'll be in that apartment, freeing Sarah and letting her know damn well you were involved in this. She'll be disgusted but not surprised, I'm sure."

Zaine begins to laugh. "Your next attack?! You're having terrible luck even touching me! What makes you think you'll be able to even come near me, Tonio?!"

Antonio smirks. "I'd bet on it. If my next attack doesn't send you into sleep I'll give you a full hour. I won't defend, attack, or even use my fighting spirit as a shield. You'll have an hour to do what you will. It'll be a guaranteed loss for me, even with your weak fighting spirit." Zaine's eye twitches. He begins to laugh. "However-" Zaine's laughter slowly dies down. "I'm not just going to make such a bet for nothing. If I succeed and you're knocked cold, even if its a minute, then I want your martial arts certificate and whatever mercenary or bounty hunter or whatever license you might have, and I want them made null and void. I want you exiled from ever using your abilities for personal gain, whether it's good or bad. You'll live a boring life of honest labor."

"PAH! And how would you enforce such bullshit?!"

"My brother knows the right people." Antonio grins. "And there are reliable people in inizioville who are willing to spread the word. If you'd want to continue your life as a martial artist or mercenary you'll be a disgrace, shamed throughout all of Norot and maybe even the other Nations. If nothing else, I'll see to that personally."

Zaine considered Antonio's bet and comes to the conclusion he was full of s**t. "Just remember, you said an hour. Fine. I'll accept your 'bet'!" Zaine almost seemed relieved. The back of his mind was telling him he could not beat Antonio, not after seeing the destructive capability of his fighting spirit and his insane endurance. Zaine had already hit Tony with his hardest attacks and he was still only a little battered. Zaine on the other hand is still feeling the assault from when the two had first started battling. Zaine furls his brow and yells out at Antonio. "KNOCK ME OUT IN YOUR NEXT ATTACK, YOU F*****G IDIOT!!!"

Zaine extends his hands forward and shrouds himself in clouds.Three layers of ki walls form inside the thick clouds, all relatively weak, and several ki 'clones' are also formed within the veil. Zaine slowly steps away from the blatantly obvious walls and away from any form of protection, concealing his presence as much as humanly possible as a final act to throw Antonio off. "Remember Tonio, hitting me isn't enough, you've gotta knock me out too right?!"

"Right. But before that-" 

Antonio takes out his brand new smartphone and hurls it upward into the air, toward the shrouded area. As it begins to descend Antonio rushes toward where the ki walls are. Zaine, only noticing the phone, completely disregards Antonio as his old habit begins to nag at him. Zaine instinctively catches the phone with both his hands, closing them together and immediately cutting off the lifeline of his trap. The clouds vanish out of existence. Antonio's initial hunch as to where Zaine was may have been wrong, but his intent to launch toward him remains unchanged. 

Antonio slams a ki imbued foot into the ground to change his momentum and launches toward a now panicking Zaine. Aura dances around Antonio's arms and to his palms as he rears them forward and twists his wrists outward. His hands slam hard into the gut of Zaine******. Zaine gasps and is sent hurdling backward through the apartment. He lands hard on the floor in the lobby. Zaine struggles hard to remain conscious, but darkness swiftly overtakes his vision and he collapses in vain. Antonio catches his phone before it can hit the ground and smirks.

"To think you would've actually won if you'd grown out of that habit, Zed."

Author's Note

Jason vs Bo
* Skip Lightning (Jason)
** Clear Mind (Bo)
*** Sparking Star (Jason)
-
Tony vs Zaine
* Dark Chamber (Zaine)
** Corkscrew Bomb (Zaine)
*** Dark Hail (Zaine)
**** Rio Grenade (Antonio)
***** Scatter Bomb (Zaine)
****** Rio Drill (Antonio)