Just outside the Front Gate of the Kaminokaze Estate, Julia stood across from her opponent. It was a strange man wearing a suit made of Sacks. Two large buttons and a smile were stitched into the hood covering his face. The rest appeared bloated, as if the sacks were full of something. He stared at Julia silently, tilting his head to the side slightly.

“Hey pal, I know I’m nice to look at, but don’t we both got somethin’ better to do?” Julia remarked, as she tapped her heel against the ground. “Besides. I got a Boyfriend.”

A small, muffled laugh came from the man, known in the Kaminokaze Family as Sandman. He slowly lifted his hand, and from the drooping Sleeve came a stream of Sand. As it fell, it then rose back up, forming into the shape of a Hand where his real hand would be. The sand hand wriggled its fingers, then clenched them into a fist.

“Sand, huh?” Julia questioned. “Never been a big fan of the Beach, myself.”

Sandman suddenly fired a stream of sand from his sleeve towards Julia! She quickly ducked under, and punched Sandman in the stomach! But to her surprise, it hardly had any effect! She noticed the inside of the Sack felt thick and dense. She then realized his whole suit was full of Sand, and if he was manipulating it, he could make it thicker! Just then, Sandman released more Sand, and morphed it into hands which attempted to grab Julia. She jumped back just in time, but the sand on the ground rose up and grabbed her ankle! As the other sand arms advanced on her, she activated her Ability, shrinking down and escaping from its grasp! She dashed in, and leapt up Sandman’s suit before returning to normal size, and hitting him in the side of his head! This blow shook him and made him nearly topple over, releasing Defensive Sand in response to make Julia back off.

“Heh! Called it!” Julia exclaimed confidently. “Your hood isn’t full of Sand, otherwise you wouldn’t be able to breathe without constantly using your Ability. That means you can’t passively protect your head!”

Sandman stood back up, his head leaning to the side. He slowly straightened his head, looking at Julia. The Sand gathered and whirled around Sandman’s body, rising and lowering, vague shapes forming within and dissipating just as fast. After a second, Sandman let out a sound resembling a sigh. Through the long sleeves of his suit, he grabbed ahold of his suit’s midsection, and ripped it open! As Sand poured out, it began to swirl and spiral around with the rest of the Sand! Julia looked up and gulped.

“I think I pissed him off…” She said to herself.

Just then, Sandman sent a massive wave of Sand hurdling towards her! The sand washed over her like a tidal wave, and lifted up into the air, morphing into a spinning sinkhole. Sandman walked over the center, creating steps out of sand. He looked around, confused, unable to see Julia within the sinkhole. He grunted, and made a large Hand around his sleeve using Sand constructs. He extended it into the Center, attempting to try and grab where Julia likely would be. In a way, he was correct. Julia had shrunk herself down as much as she could with her Ability, and leapt between the grains of sand! She moved up the arm towards him, and leapt out, returning to normal size above him! Sandman instantly tried to move all his sand up to attack her!

“Fine…here goes…” Julia sighed, already tired from using her Ability to that extent.

She then activated her Ability again, but this time she grew instead of shrinking, becoming 10x larger! In one swift motion, she threw a punch down into Sandman, pushing him through his own sand and into the ground below! The dust and sand cleared, with Sandman laying unconscious in a fist-shaped crater. Julia sat back, and shrank to her normal size. She fell onto her back, sweating and breathing heavily.

“Why’s getting bigger have to be so much tougher than getting smaller?” Julia questioned, starting to pass out from exhaustion.

Within the Mansion, Taberu crashed through a door, using his teeth to hold onto one of the guards! He swung and threw them into another guard, knocking them both onto their backs! As another snuck up behind him, he turned and kicked them in the side of the head! He then bit off the barrel of their gun, and ducked under the last Guard in the area, before opening his mouth and growing a gun barrel from his mouth, firing into the Guard’s face! The barrel retracted, and he let out a growl.

“Who else wants some?!” He yelled, gnashing his teeth and scowling.

After some silence, he just scoffed and kicked open a door. Inside was a short man, around Taberu’s height. They had long blue hair, long nails, looked decently old, and had one giant Eye on their face.

“Greetings.” Greeted the Man, Kotsukikan. “I am-”

Before he could finish, Taberu lunged at him with a bite! However, Taberu was suddenly teleported behind Kotsukikan, causing him to slam face-first into the wall and cracking it! Taberu turned back, growling with light scratches on his face.

“As I was saying, I am-”

Taberu threw a kick at his side, but was teleported and rotated, so that he kicked the ceiling.

“Ahem…I-”

Taberu bit a stud within the ceiling and threw it at Kotsukikan. He then teleported it behind Taberu, causing it to slam into his face and knock him to the floor.

“...Are you finished?” Kotsukikan questioned, visibly annoyed.

“You talk too much!” Taberu yelled, angrily.

“I’ve hardly said anything-” Kotsukikan replied.

“TOO MUCH!” Taberu yelled as he stomped the ground, making a shockwave that tripped Kotsukikan! He simultaneously lunged towards him with a headbutt! “HAMMERHEAD HUNT!”

Kotsukikan teleported himself out of the way at the last second, with steam rising from a graze on his forehead, just above his large eye.

“I believed the stories about the Legendary ‘Starving Shark’ were exaggerated…” Kotsukikan began, rubbing his forehead with the back of his hand. “But it would seem you’re just as violent as they suggest.”

“You don’t know the half of it, pal.” Taberu replied. “But you guys started it, so don’t complain when I rip you apart.”

Kotsukikan activated his Ability, teleporting in more guards. After a moment to get their bearings, they turned and shot at Taberu! Taberu, using some of the Body Armour he ate before, covered himself in layers of armour, blocking the bullets! Taberu began to think…

“This guy can teleport himself and others all over the place…how the hell do you get around that?” He thought… “He does it pretty fast too…I’ll have to-”

Just then, a vein bulged on his forehead, and he gritted his teeth. His eyebrows furrowed into a scowl.

“THE HELL! I’M NOT GONNA SPEND TIME THINKING ABOUT IT, DAMN IT!” He yelled within his own head. “I’ll just keep attacking him!”

He lunged towards Kotsukikan, who of course teleported Taberu out of the way, making him crash into a wall! However, he didn’t waste any momentum, immediately lunging at him again, to Kotsukikan’s surprise! Kotsukikan kept teleporting him around, making him slam into walls, ceilings, floors, and anything else to try and damage him! Even as the ceiling began to collapse and fall, Kotsukikan simply teleported the rubble to hit Taberu! But no matter what he did, Taberu didn’t slow down! The armour was protecting him from some of the damage, but even it was starting to fall off from the constant impacts! Despite this, Taberu kept going, it was as if Pain meant nothing to him!

Kotsukikan was starting to breathe heavily. He never had to use his Ability so much before in so little time before. Being untrained as well, he couldn’t keep it up much longer.

“Forget it!” Kotsukikan yelled, before teleporting Taberu into the middle of the room, and then teleporting a large piano above him! “PIANO HAMMER!!”

The Piano crashed down onto Taberu, who was no longer protected by any armour! It slammed him through the floor, and the floors below, until he hit the concrete above the basement!

“Phew…good thing I enhanced it with Aura…” Kotsukikan said to himself, breathing heavily and leaning with his hands on his knees. “Jeez, what a die-hard…”

Before he could catch his breath, Taberu leapt back up! He was bleeding from his head, and looked angrier than ever!

“DID YOU JUST DROP A PIANO ON ME?!” Taberu exclaimed, before leaping at him! “YOU ASSHOLE! TIGER HUNT!”

In a swift attack, he bit off Kotsukikan’s right arm! Kotsukikan yelled in pain, gripping his arm at the elbow! Taberu spat out the arm, and used the wrappings keeping his arms tied together to wipe the blood from his mouth.

“What…? Do I not taste good to you?” Kotsukikan questioned, already feeling drowsy.

“I don’t eat people, freak.” Taberu replied, looking at him. He seemed less angry, though still not calm. “Sharks don’t usually call Humans prey y’know.”

Kotsukikan blinked, and then scoffed. “Weirdo.”