CHAPTER 31: CAT VS FINGERS

Sosa stares at Bukkaru, confused. Then he looks over at the group of guardians, specifically Liz.

Sosa: Hey. Why am I actually fighting a cat?

Liz: I don't know! Do something!

…

Mausho looks at Minaro.

Mausho: So why is he fighting a cat?

Minaro: The cat offered to fight.

Mausho: What do you mean? Can it talk or something?

Minaro: … Something like that.

Mausho laughs a little.

Mausho: And it's got Skills too?

Minaro nods.

Mausho: … Wow, an animal with Skills? That's super rare. I don't think I've ever seen one.

Iza: That's so cool! I'd love to have a pet with Skills!

...

Sosa: I'm not fighting a cat!? What do you mean, do something!? Do you want me to hit it?

"Hit me."

Sosa hears that, not sure from where. He looks back at Bukkaru who is staring at him aggressively.

Sosa: What?

"Hit me, hit the cat."

Sosa: What the hell?

Both Minaro and Liz can hear Bukkaru's voice as well.

"Huh, where is this voice coming from?" Liz thinks.

"Hurry up and hit me already, I'll be fine, hit me, hit the cat."

"The cat is telepathically communicating?"

Liz: Hit the cat, Sosa!

Sosa crouches down and gets closer to the cat.

"Yeah, hit me, just attack."

Sosa: Are you talking to me?

"Yes, hurry up and attack me, nothing will happen to me."

Sosa: Telepathic cat, wow … I… still don't want to hit an animal.

"Just hit me! I'm trying to fight you, I'll literally turn into a human if you do."

Sosa: You're crazy, I'm not hitting an animal! Even if it's telling me too.

"Fine, I'll force you to hit me then."

"... Huh, Sosa is attempting to conversate with the animal, how odd!" Kofron yells.

Bukkaru scratches his foot against the ground like a bull getting ready to charge.

Sosa stands up.

"The cat's getting feisty!"

Bukkaru runs towards Sosa and jumps onto his face and holds onto it, not causing any damage but being annoying.

"Let's hope Sosa's not allergic to cats."

Sosa stands still and slowly removes Bukkaru from his face, then puts him down.

"Heh, okay, now I'm actually gonna try to hurt you!"

Bukkaru quickly jumps up to Sosa's face and scratches his cheek which surprises Sosa. Small amounts of blood leak down his face as Sosa touches his cheek.

"Hurry up and hit me or the scratching will get worse."

Sosa laughs.

Sosa: You barely wounded me! I'm still not hitting you!

"Okay fine, gotta do it myself again, should I bash my head into the wall or…"

"... Minaro! Come and kick me, as hard as you can!"

Minaro quickly stands up.

Minaro: As hard as I can!?

"Yes, as hard as you can, launch me to space!"

Sosa: What?

Minaro dashes up to Bukkaru and kicks him away.

Everyone looks stunned as Bukkaru heads far into the sky.

"Oh my god! That guy just kicked the cat! What the hell!?" Kofron exclaims.

Guardian Defei taps on Liz's shoulder, she looks at him.

Defei: Hey, we should probably stop the battle and get that cat. I don't think it can actually fight… This is blatant animal abuse, bro.

Liz: No, no, it's fine, the cat told him to hit it, I heard it.

Defei: … You heard the cat tell him to do that?.. Did you snort something before coming here?

Liz makes an annoyed face, Defei chuckles.

Defei: …. What do you mean you heard it?

Liz: I'm pretty sure It can communicate telepathically.

Defei: Oh, okay then… I wonder what that cat has in mind then if it's asking to be hit.

...

Bukkaru finally hits the floor, a little far away from the battle, and doesn't get up.

…

"Was that too hard? He might've underestimated how hard I can kick." Minaro thinks.

Sosa is stunned then angry. He looks at Minaro and flexes and stretches only his hands.

Sosa: What the hell is wrong with you, this battle should be between me and you. Why would you kick a cat!?

Minaro: ...You heard the cat talking, right? it told you to hit it, you should have. It told me to hit instead.

Sosa: I'm not hitting an animal. Unless it's deadly.

Most of the guardians spectating look very surprised, 2 or 3 do not care. The guardians who did though were no longer surprised by Minaro or Sosa, or the interaction that just occurred but instead because of something they could barely see but recognized that had risen and was heading towards them.

Sosa raises one of his hands and puts two of his fingers together then quickly swings his hand back down like a sword.

Minaro doesn't move as nothing seems to come out of what Sosa just did. Suddenly Minaro receives a big slash wound on his chest, blood pours onto the floor and out of his mouth, his eyes expand too.

"That guy has been heavily damaged by seemingly nothing!"

Minaro's rifts appear beside him and Sosa raises his hand again. Sosa then senses something coming towards him and turns in the direction.

Bukkaru in his buff black man form appears in front of Sosa and throws a punch, Sosa quickly swings his open hand, and Bukkaru is strongly smacked by an invisible force away before the punch can land.

Sosa stares at Bukkaru confused, who quickly stands up.

Bukkaru: I told you to hit me! Look at me now!

Sosa stares at Bukkaru condescendingly.

Sosa: What is that!?

"The cat turned into a buff dude!?"

…

Mausho laughs hysterically, like a dying hyena.

Mausho: What the fuck?

Iza giggles.

Iza: So that's why the cat offered to fight.

Mausho: … They put steroids in its cat food!

…

Bukkaru: Alright, Minaro. Thank you for the help.

Minaro: Uh-huh. I'm gonna go.

Minaro quickly runs away from the battle over to Liz.

Liz: Wow, that is something else.

Minaro: Yeah… Yeah … It's odd.

Liz starts to heal Minaro.

Defei: How is that even possible? Did you get the cat to kill someone for Skills?

Minaro: … I really don't know how it's possible. I think he was just born like that.

…

Sosa: … I thought you had rabies, you really can turn into a person.

Bukkaru: I wouldn't have you just hit me for no reason.

Sosa: How unusual...You'll pay for deceiving me.

Bukkaru laughs.

Bukkaru: Okay? I didn't deceive you though, I told you I was a human.

Sosa: Why didn't you just start the battle as a human?

Bukkaru: Because I can't, dumbass!? That's it, I'm beating you up.

Kofron looks concerned.

"Bruh! I just realized I was petting a grown man. Gotta go wash my hands!"

He puts the megaphone down and runs off.

Sosa quickly raises his hand and makes a fist then swings it back down.

Bukkaru dashes, something invisible hits the ground behind him.

Bukkaru: You almost got me!

Bukkaru tries to punch Sosa, Sosa opens his hand and swings it like he's swatting a fly.

Bukkaru is smacked away by something invisible.

As he is standing up, Sosa has both of his hands open and starts swinging them around like he's swatting flies.

Bukkaru is aggressively smacked back and forth by an invisible force. Then Sosa stops swinging and makes both of his hands into a fist and quickly brings them down.

Bukkaru is slammed and pinned to the ground by an invisible force.

Sosa's hands shake as Bukkaru manages to lift the invisible thing off of him.

Bukkaru: It wasn't as heavy as I thought it was.

Sosa: But it sure packed a punch when it forced you to hit the ground right?

Bukkaru: Uh, yeah? But I wasn't really affected.

Bukkaru then punches the invisible thing for fun which he notices causes Sosa to flinch and open his hand again.

"Hmm, he felt that?"

…

Minaro returns from Liz and takes a seat next to Maya.

Minaro: Hey, what's that guy's skill?

Minaro is pointing at Sosa.

Mausho: Magical weapon fingers or some shit like that.

Minaro: … What does that mean?

Mausho: Iza can you explain, please... I'm still processing the buff cat dude thing.

Iza: I got you, Sosa can create a shape with his hand or hands that is supposed to depict a weapon which allows him to use an invisible version of it.

Minaro: Oh, I was confused as to how he did so much damage to me just by swinging just his finger.

…

Bukkaru dashes towards Sosa ready to punch him, Sosa intertwines his hands and stretches them in front of himself to create an invisible shield.

Bukkaru punches the shield once, then releases a barrage of punches onto it. Sosa's arms start shaking more and more as more punches hit his shield.

Sosa puts one of his hands down, he's pushed back as his shield has become weaker.

Bukkaru: I can do this all day, man!

Sosa uses the hand he dropped and raises it back up, makes a fist, and swings it back down.

An invisible hammer lands onto Bukkaru, but he is unfazed and continues punching.

Bukkaru grins.

Bukkaru: I expected it this time. So I was ready!

Sosa opens his hand and swings again, Bukkaru is smacked by an invisible frying pan.

He is unaffected.

Bukkaru: I expected it again, baby!

Sosa quickly drops his other hand which causes Bukkaru to stumble forward as he is confused.

Sosa lifts both of his hands and connects two of his fingers on each hand then swings them down in an X formation.

Bukkaru tries to block whatever is coming his way. Blood spurts into the air, Bukkaru's arms have been slashed and the wound is deep. Sosa then quickly raises his hands and closes them and puts them beside each other as if he was holding a stick. He uses an invisible spear to stab Bukkaru in the stomach.

Bukkaru: Ow, Jesus christ.

Sosa: I told you, you would pay for deceiving me.

Bukkaru: Heh, whatever, now I have an excuse to show off my brand new form.

"This might cost me a lot, I'm probably gonna lose this battle."

Bukkaru's body suddenly starts to slowly disappear and turn into a black but transparent gas. The gas takes the shape of a ghostly menacing cat.

Sosa steps back, confused.

Sosa: What are you doing?

Sosa raises an open hand and swings, Bukkaru is pushed around by the invisible frying pan.

Bukkaru: You can't hurt me… I'm gas.

Bukkaru floats around Sosa.

Bukkaru: I can't hurt you either.

Sosa: … What's the point of the form if you can't do anything?

Bukkaru: I am immortal until I choose not to be.

The gas quickly reconstructs back into a solid human form, Bukkaru then appears right in front of Sosa.

Bukkaru punches Sosa in the stomach and launches him away. Sosa lands and starts swinging his hands back and forth.

Bukkaru quickly becomes gas and then becomes human, he grabs Sosa and lifts him.

Sosa closes his hand and puts one above the other to summon an invisible spear that is behind Bukkaru.

Bukkaru realizes and turns into gas, Sosa hits the floor and opens his hands then creates the shape of a square using them.

An invisible cage has now trapped Bukkaru.

"Damn, I'm stuck in here, gotta get out of gas."

…

The brand new Bukkaru form would be overpowered if it weren't for its one flaw. It's one rule. Once you've stayed in the form for more than 30 seconds the amount of energy it will start taking will be a lot. A whole lot.

…

Kofron has returned from washing his hand, he lifts the megaphone up to his face.

"Buff dude can turn into gas! What would happen If I inhaled him?"

Bukkaru becomes solid and hits a wall of the cage, Sosa then starts shaking his hands, Bukkaru is flying all around the cage.

Bukkaru quickly jumps off a wall after hitting it and crashes out of it, Sosa's hands jerk a little.

"Buff man is out!"

"Damn, I can't go into my gas form anymore, I'm already somewhat close to getting exhausted."

As stated before when Bukkaru goes into his gas form he can stay in it for 30 seconds without losing energy if he was used to using the gas form.

But considering it is a new form he's only had for about 3 days, it is not fully honed so the longest he can stay in it is about 10 seconds after that a large amount of energy is taken.

Bukkaru dashes towards Sosa, Sosa lifts both of his hands and makes a fist on each, then slams them down repeatedly.

Bukkaru is slammed down, and as one of the invisible hammers goes back up, he punches it, then he dashes.

Sosa opens his fist, then starts swinging his hands.

Bukkaru's eyes widen as he burns the movements of Sosa's hands into his head.

Bukkaru looks away and starts to punch the invisible frying pans every time they get close to him. Then he starts throwing punches in every direction.

"The buff man is going crazy!"

Sosa stops swinging then claps his hands very hard and holds the position. Two pans hold Bukkaru in place as he tries to push them away.

Sosa moves his hands away from each other then uses one of the pans to slap Bukkaru into another pan then slap him away from everything.

Sosa puts one of his hands over the other and summons an invisible spear, Bukkaru runs towards him.

Sosa moves one of his hands and summons a hammer while his other hand still had the spear. Bukkaru punches the hammer away.

Sosa tries to impale Bukkaru with the spear but Bukkaru grabs it and throws Sosa.

Sosa lets go of the spear and lands, he puts his fingers together on each of his hands and starts swinging.

"... How will the buff man get past this!?"

Bukkaru tries his best to dodge the invisible sword slashes coming towards him but he is cut repeatedly.

"Fuck! What am I supposed to do when he does that? I literally can't see the attacks!"

Sosa starts swinging faster, Bukkaru realizes that the closer he gets the harder it gets to dodge the invisible swords.

So in one last spurt of his full energy he dashes extremely fast towards Sosa, he's cut even more but manages to catch Sosa off guard. Bukkaru punches Sosa in the face and knocks him down to the floor.

"DAMN!"

Bukkaru then starts releasing a barrage of punches on Sosa. Sosa grits his teeth as he's punched, through the pain he does another hand formation, his hands are holding an invisible rectangle.

"How is Sosa still conscious!?"

Suddenly Bukkaru and Sosa are lifted high into the air by an invisible elevator. Bukkaru stops punching and looks around because he almost falls off.

"Yoo, where are they going!?"

As he's looking around, Sosa quickly creates another hand formation, a closed fist dangling with another hand grabbing something long above it.

A giant invisible mallet swings down and slams into Bukkaru.

Bukkaru is hit but manages to hold onto the mallet as he is lifted. Sosa stands up and uses his ultimate skill.

…

"Phantom body multiplication."

This skill allows the person using it to multiply any of their body parts but they do not appear solid but ghostly.

…

Sosa gains 6 ghostly arms around his back. He makes the mallet disappear and then quickly uses all of his hands to create hammer formations.

As Bukkaru is falling he is slammed into the floor by 7 different hammers stacked onto each other.

"Oh my god, he just got hit by the entire empire state building."

Sosa uses his remaining hand to make himself a trampoline. Sosa bounces a little off an invisible thing, then he makes all the hammers disappear.

Gas quickly appears in the air and Bukkaru forms and punches Sosa in the face then collapses.

Sosa hits the ground but quickly stands up, he stares down at Bukkaru while breathing heavily.

Bukkaru: I can't get up anymore.

"The winner is Sosa!"

Sosa stops his ultimate skill and walks away from the field back to the guardians.

Bukkaru turns back into a cat, and Kofron picks him up and takes him to Minaro.

Kofron: Here's your cat.

Minaro grabs him, stands up, and starts walking to Liz.

Liz is healing Sosa, Minaro approaches her.

Minaro: Can you heal the cat after?

Liz: Of course!.. Minaro, you're fighting next, right?

Minaro: Pretty sure.

Liz looks over to the group of guardians.

Liz: Who's fighting against Minaro?

The guardians that haven't fought are Zeph, Defei, Zizin, Osora, and Kofron.

Defei: I think Zeph should go since he's the strongest out of those who haven't fought… Unless anyone else wants to go.

Osora: I'll fight after this one.

Zizin: … I'm gonna go last.

Defei: Kofron is the best with the megaphone, so I don't want him to fight yet… Hey, Zeph, you're up I guess?

Zeph is sitting down with his arms wrapped around his knees.

Liz finishes healing Sosa and starts healing Bukkaru.

Liz: Do you wanna go, Zeph?

Zeph looks at Liz, he has a very bored, serious expression on his face.

Zeph: … I'll go.

Zeph stands up and makes eye contact with Minaro, Minaro stares awkwardly.

He looks away and walks to the battlefield, Minaro follows.

"This guy seems weird."

TO BE CONTINUED…