It's the thrill in the end. In that moment when something stolen becomes mine or is it? That's the bliss I desire.


"When Jin whispered to the court about a Mink who he'd spared during the last incident in this Palace... I was completely against it." Ra shouted, revealing his position behind a large mountain of treasure, about ten meters away from Jackal. Ra was a tall man, and he stood upright, carrying an majestic air around him, about eight feet in height, and weighing nearly two hundred pounds, mostly stripped in muscle. His long flowing waist length hair would be pinned up in a bun, as he'd carried his bow in his left hand, which he'd been shooting with since his time as a youth. On his back was a quiver, carrying a variety of arrows, mostly poisonous ones but about three other types that could've been used in combat to gain tremendous advantage over the unwary. "Oh. And what would've you had him do to me?" Jackal inquired. Stopping about eight meters away, Ra would smile, pointing to the belt around his waste. It was a dingy little thing, a belt made out of fur, which was what appeared to be from a feline. However, after Jackal inspected the buckle, the face that peered back at him and the scent his nose subtly picked up on, all pointed to one thing, the animal fur present had belonged to a Mink.

"I'm only going to ask you this once... Lesser Mink. Is that a Mink's skin your wearing around your waist?" Jackal inquired, as his grin expanded wider, not in amusement but frustration. "Lesser?" Ra scowled, breaking into an angry expression momentarily. "Why... yes... Yes it is. I'm of Royal Status. What I didn't garner in bloodline from my useless parents... I made up for in my skills as the top archer in the Kingdom." Ra stated, returning to a more nonchalant demeanour. "I didn't ask about you life story. And I've gotten my answer." Jackal responded, clenching his fist in anger. "I'll just ask one more thing... What did you do with my fellow Minksman's body?" Jackal inquired. "Well... He made a fine stew." Ra concluded, with an expression less face before breaking into a arrogant grin. "Fucking Lesser Minks... Your carnivorous in nature too. As if your greed as Lesser Mink knew no bounds." Jackal stated frowning, generalising all humans. "Don't get so wounded up... It's not all 'Lesser Mink'. Just me. My status gained me the ability to do whatever I want... Women... Money... A nice house... even exotic dishes. I gained it all with this bow and this arrow. And it's humans... Mink. We're not lesser in anyway to your kind!" Ra concluded scowling.

For the first time in years, Jackal's heart accelerated at a rapid pace, he'd never felt so angry before in his life. Probably when he was first kidnapped, and again when he'd been struck by his former masters for the first time but this time was different, it'd be what all the books he stole and read would've pointed to in fairytales, 'Seeing Blood Red.' Taking a deep breath, Jackal inhaled, filling his lungs. He'd learned a long time ago that being emotional got you killed, and quickly too. Returning to his usual grin, he'd default back to the mind games, he was so good at. "What I'm learning about you then is... Your just the Crown's Bitch. No Royal Blood... No charm to marry well... Looking at your coat, I'd understand why a female would reject you Lesser Mink." Jackal stated. "But what I've truly learned about you is... Your the worse kind of slave yet. One who does exactly what his master says without instructions... Congrats. Now go and fuck yourself." Jackal said, extending his index finger in as a taunt.

As the nerves in Ra's face tensed up, Ra leaped backwards clutching onto his bow tightly, averting to the right, to avoid the pillar of gold. Almost instantly, he'd clutch his right hand towards the quiver on his back, clutching onto the feathery end of one of his arrows. This feather was blue, and as such, all the following blue arrows would have the same effect. Jackal noticing the man's need to create distance, would've usually use this as a chance to escape but not today. Today, he'd have to retrieve his kinsman's coat, and burry it so he'd pass onto The Jungle In The Sky, as per Mink belief's among the Cat Tribe. The moment the man would've leaped backwards, Jackal would enter into a dash, trailing the man's position. After Jackal's stride had gotten him at least two meters out to Ra's former position, at Jackal's next step that Ra would fire off the first shot. The arrow came beaming towards Jackal's right leg, however, at this range, and speed, Jackal's Kenbunshoku Haki allowed him to see the projectile coming. Swaying to the left by a few inches, Jackal avoided the arrow to his thigh. However, what happened next caught him off guard. "Your Kenbunshoku is still weak... Mink." Ra thought. As the arrow made impact with the ground, a bright beam of light enveloped a five meter radius. Knowing that the flash was coming and having his Kenbunshoku Haki active, Ra had already closed his eyes from the time the arrow was fired. Jackal hadn't paid attention to enough details about the man's actions and mannerisms, as he'd usually do before entering into combat, and this time, it'd cost him.

As stated, the flash went off, blinding Jackal, causing him to by reflex, attempt to close his eyes from the flashes glare. It'd be at the exact moment that with his Mind's Eye, Jackal noticed the man's retreat had ended, and taking proper footing, two purple feathery arrows came flying towards Jackal's shoulder blade and left leg thigh. At this point, the arrows were literally three feet away, at the last moment, Jackal would've put up an electrical dome around his body attempting to shatter the arrows shafts, but he'd only manage to chip the one going towards his leg, the other arrow impaled the man's shoulder blade, pushing into the ground, raking against the floor's marble surface, two meters, crashing into the former pillar of treasure Ra had been hiding behind. Upon impact, the mountain of treasure, coins and heirlooms alike collapsed, burying the Jackal beneath in a sea of fortune.

At this point, the Bandits Jackal had infiltrated with at each position were engaged by the Royal Guard, with Bazil's stride stopped by Tut's Son, the guards used this halt in the assault to regroup. Jackal's men at the gate were overwhelmed by the increasing reinforcements from the city, and the ones remaining in the castle who'd been escorting the courts nobles to safety. The new influx of guards divided into two points, Jackal's position inside the Treasury and Bazil's point in the Throne Room. Of the fifty men Jackal had came with, twenty remained alive, the five he'd came into the room with dead, the former Bandit Kings alike, an arrow through each of their headd, caught off guard from Ra's covert assault. However, the Bandits he'd left outside the cell remained alive, and had no knowledge of what was going on in the Treasury Room.

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It's the thrill in the end. In that moment when something stolen becomes mine or is it? That's the bliss I desire.

"The King always used to tell us... 'The Crown Comes After The People' but his actions never added up. Consumed by his own desires, he'd have his way with my mother even after I came into existence as his bastard son." Ra stated, an arrow perched towards the pile of gold that Jackal was now buried about six feet beneath. Using his Kenbunshoku Haki, Ra had pin pointed the man's exact position, eight meters away, submerged in a tomb of sceptres, coins, heirlooms and more gold trinkets that the crown had collected over the centuries. The mountain was so colossal, that even at his position, gold had submerged his own feet, almost like wearing thick boots shoreside along a beach, his ankles became submerged in the Crown's greed. A waiting game, Ra would wait until Jackal's oxygen beneath the gold expired, whatever angle he'd emerge from and whatever speed it might be, with his zoned in Perception and Haki, it'd be almost impossible for Jackal to escape. Underneath the gold, Jackal had used the bag of treasure he'd collected, which contained Pluton's manual to act as a place-holder, creating more room beneath the gold to construct a burrow like structure. The arrow pressed against the bow's nocking point, had a purple feather attached, a venomous intent, geared towards Jackal's heart.

"You should be feeling the effects of the poison now... Mink. The venom comes from the most poisonous scorpion on Sandy. It has five stages they say, first, it's the sweats. You're body begins to heat up as if you'd been submerged in a body of coals. Next, headaches that make it feel as if your brain was about to explode. Vomiting. Nausea. Within the thirtieth minute, your nervous system begins to shutdown." Ra explained. "It's been about fifteen minutes since you'd been struck, it's only a matter of time." Ra concluded. As much as Ra knew where Jackal was, with Helios's own Haki, he'd pinpointed that archers position to eight meters away, using his Kenbunshoku Haki to pay attention to the man's facial expressions, manner of breathing, body gestures and paced breathing, which almost seemed mechanical. Much like Ra said, Jackal was starting to feel the effects of the poison, his clothes and fur were drenched in sweat, his tattered breathing became more constant and the first signs of a migraine had came into effect, which would've just been a headache if it wasn't for the stimulus of the blinding arrow. Jackal's eyes were disoriented from the flash grenade tactic, and Jackal had actually used his time submerge beneath the gold to not regain functionality of his eyes.

Controlling his breathing once more, Jackal centred himself due to the words from Big S during their last encounter. "The less calm you are... the Less effective Kenbunshoku Haki is. He predicted my movements almost perfectly... I'm assuming he can use Ken too." Jackal thought to himself, recalling a paraphrased version of the woman's tutorial on Haki. "Meaning... In comparison his 'Observation' is either much more superior than mine or he's attacking in much more calm state. Even now, I guess against Lesser Minks... my movements are still a bit rigid. In comparison to Jin, overall, this man... Ra is superior in a lot of ways." Jackal continued his train of thought. "Think! How can I win against an opponent whose stronger than me!?" Jackal thought feverishly. Jackal's mind flashback to a conversation he'd have years back with his mentor, Jewels at the time. A smirk filled the Jackal's face, as the woman's words rung even more true now than then.

Jewels wrote:


'What do you think a fight is about Jackal? Morales? Courage? Speed? Strength? The answer is this. It's all about who use their surroundings better.  

Strength means nothing if you don't have the right footing to capitalise on it. Speed is useless on terrain that obstructs movement. Morality looses to those who would do anything to win.

There's no right or wrong action in a fight. Most of the time... We guess our way through a battle, hoping that our morales and our strength is enough. Yes, your fast. Yes, your strikes aren't the strongest. However, using your mind... a well position flame will always burn more embers than gigantic burst.

Speed. Morales. Courage. Strength. A fight is a trail where all of these things come into play. The one thing you and your opponent almost never have control over... it's the elements that be.'

Covering his body in subtle coat of electricity, almost as close as a skin tight cloak, Jackal had remembered a line from a book he'd read about precious metals, just months before he'd been liberated from slavery. Every spark of electricity streaming off Jackal's body, became in synchronisation with his Mind's Eye, similar to the actions of a boxer shadow boxing, to practice his rhythm, the thin veil of electricity flickered like discharge from an exposed wire. Once again, Jackal would pay immense attention to Ra's position which hadn't wavered, his arm still clutched backwards holding the arrow in place, to the point that his finger tips bled from being gripped so tightly against the arrow's nock for almost twenty minutes now. Trailing from his upper body, down to his waist, to his ankles, Jackal paid attention to ever nuance of the man's biology. When every his muscles would shake from the strain of maintaining the stance, Jackal would notice a slight shake in the man's shoulders. Both Mink and Human were on a timer, Ra's grip was weakening and with Jackal unable to reduce his oxygen consumption, it'd be literally seconds before he'd need to surface for air. "Concentrate. Concentrate." Jackal thought to himself, chiming out his body's worldly desires and for one moment, exactly ten seconds to be exact, Jackal's focus was holistically on Ra. Just at the moment his shoulders shook, Jackal flattened his electrical dome's shape, thin like a mat, extending it out at Tertiary Speeds, covering a ten meter radius enveloping the gold treasures. Due to the conductive properties of the gold, it'd be the equivalent of sticking your hand into a bed of live wires.

Ra's ankles were paralysed from the discharge, as the electricity surged through his feet, extending through his legs, to his waist to his mid-section and then, eventually, his shoulders. It was that exact moment, Jackal gathered force in his legs, jumping skywards with immense force. Ra seeing the action coming, was unable to moving his arms from the quoted position but panicked from the electrical shock, his Kenbunshoku Haki temporarily disabled. As Jackal cracked the surface, the arrow was released but due to a lost of grip, the arrow stopped short meters before it even met Helios. Now, fifteen feet above the ground, Jackal exhaled, wheezing in the largest breath of air he could've possible mustered. Conductivity of the gold, left Ra frozen in a bed of electricity, it was if he was trapped in a sea of charged wires. Using his shear willpower force movement, Ra leapt sky bound as well, freeing himself from the gold, but his legs ankles and feet were damaged moderately and swollen. The pain made him wince but it didn't stop him from obtaining another arrow from his quiver, this one having a yellow feather at it's end. "FUCKING MINK!" Ra shouted in frustration, aiming his arrow towards the sea of gold. The arrow glowed a bright green colour and as it left the bow, upon impact a large explosion blasted the sea of gold apart, creating a crater from which Ra could land on, shock free.

However, while Ra was more concerned with his landing's safety, Jackal suspended in mid-air, had finally regained natural breathing patterns, or as normal as it could've been due to the effects of the poison. Releasing his dome once again, Jackal expanded it in his usual dome like fashion, reaching the complete fifteen meter radius within seconds. Descending from his leap, Jackal's feet had already touched down on what remained of the bed of gold. Pushing off the gold, Jackal closed the distance between him and Ra in an instant, head-butting the man directly on his forehead. The force of Jackal's head-butt broke Ra's stance, which Jackal followed up with grabbing onto his shoulders and attempting to slam his knees in the man's face. Ra countered the attack by covering his head in a black metallic colour, which Jackal was unfamiliar with, but it was if he'd been slamming his knees into an armour. Keeping his electrical dome intact, and delivering two Electro Strikes in his head-butt and knee thrust, the two men stared each other breathing heavily, with only two feet between them. Ra had a giant 'goofy' on his forehead, and a fractured nose which bled, violently. Jackal's body temperature had far surpassed fever levels, and his vision was becoming blurry from the intensity of the migraine. Paralysed from the electricity, Ra dropped his bow, unable to move.

Ripping Ra's prized Mink belt from around his waist, Jackal strapped the Wrestling Title fashion belt over his shoulder. Jackal turned his back away from the man, walking over gingerly to his stolen bag of goodies. "Shishshi... Did you know... Gold is highly conductive to electricity." Jackal stated, as walked away, finally making it to the bag which contained various heirlooms and most importantly, the instructional manual to Pluton. Once he'd strapped the gold around his right shoulder, using his trademark polkadot scarf, Jackal would walk back towards Ra once more. "Rilalala...." Ra bellowed out in amusement with an awkward pained laugh. "Now what... Don't leave me like this Mink. Losing to you is a disgrace to my name and the Crown. Take my life. Much like I skinned that Cat Mink I skinned for begging us!" Ra shouted, slurring on his words from the electricity convulsing the nerves in his jaw. Just then, the room behind the wall to the East of the Treasury Room, shook form a loud explosion. Ra's face looking panicked, he'd forcefully turn his jaw in the direction of the explosion, "The King!" Ra shouted, looking towards the room. At this point, Jackal expanded his Kenbunshoku Haki, thirty meters in the direction of the wall, looking pass the wall, to see the Red Haired Mohawk Man, mere feet away from the King, in what he could only describe as a Throne Room. "Shishishi... I guess it'd make sense for the Throne Room and The Treasury to be connected. That's how Ra got in here without us knowing. Bazil's going after monarchy again... Dude's crazy" Jackal said, talking to himself nodding his head in disbelief. Looking back at Ra, "Now... What will I do with you?" Jackal inquired, grinning as he'd begin his pick pocketing routine on the mannequin posed Royal Guard. Within moment, Jackal had found a small vial with a green serum in it.

"No way you'd be carrying around such a lethal poison and didn't have the cure on ya." Jackal stated grinning. "Though if I'm being honest, I located it when I was submerge beneath the gold. All of your hidden weapons like that dagger and this veil... it was like if I had X-Ray vision or whatever." Jackal stated. Popping the cork, Jackal would drink the green gunk, knowing that it was the cure, based on the way Ra's emotions started to fluctuate from Jackal's insinuation. Jackal's Kenbunshoku Haki had never been this sharp, it'd be like the man's emotional stated was like a scent his nose would've made out habitually. "This Mantra thing might be more useful than I initially thought." Jackal pondered to himself. "Don't you stand there Mink! Please! I beg of you! Save the King! You can take my life today... Just please... You've gotten the cure! You can keep that useless book that only foolish Talibah could've read! Save him!" Ra shouted. Shutting the door behind them, Jackal's men rushed into the room, only to find the former Bandit King's dead, and Jackal heavily wounded. "Boss!" the men shouted, fifteen in number, panicked by the situation. "Calm down! It's time to get out of here... Grab whatever bags the others died collecting. Our mission is completed." Jackal commanded. "But Jackal! The marines are out there... In your shape..." another one of the aids chimed in. "Shishishi..." Jackal began to chuckle. "Who said anything about exiting the way we came in? I just found something much interesting." Jackal said.

"First... I need to end this. Ra. Royal Guard to King of Alabasta." Jackal said, at his moment, Jackal's mind's eye had already seen the images of the dead King being tossed off the Throne with his Kenbunshoku Haki by Bazil. "On this day... The Crown has suffered an amazing blow. When you meet your dead brothers on the other-side... Tell them this." Jackal grinned. Leaping off the ground, shoving his claws into the man's heart, Ra's eyes expanded widely, smiling in delight, getting a rush off the pain. Pushing whole fist into the man's chest cage, Jackal's hands were hardened by a metallic black invisible armour, remembering the sensation from his strike against Ra's face. This allowed him to penetrate deeper into the man's skin, like a tapeworm wiggling through an afflicted's intestinal tracks. Sticking his finger tips in a clutch against the man's heart, a surge of electricity in his heart discharged, fading the light from Ra's eyes. Removing his bloodied hand, Jackal's right arm that stroke the deed of death, was shining a thick obsidian colour, contrasted by the bright crimson red. Separating from the tall archer, Ra's body fell to the ground and Jackal began to b-line towards the Eastern Wall of the Treasury. Thought the effects of the serum had began to kick in, Jackal had long ago cancelled his electrical dome, unable to sustain Electro any longer. Jackal's men watched as the Mink slain a figure that bandits had feared their whole life growing up in Ra. "Tell them... This is a New Era." Jackal concluded, devilishly grinning.

Motivation revitalised, Jackal, and his pack of fifteen travelled east for about twenty-five meters, before arriving at a blank wall. Th men thought Jackal was going crazy, but the Mink had began to tap his knuckles against the wall, locating a hollow area, he'd press inward a button like fixture, which revealed a door leading into a passageway. Directly ahead was the an open door, with a banner draped in front of blocking the entrance, and the only other path in the passageway was to the right. Unloading his Title Belt and Treasure to his bandit conspirators, Jackal commanded ten of his men to advance to the right, using his Kenbunshoku, he'd check ahead about ten meters to find, no one auras present. The other five would accompany him straight ahead, parting the banner, Jackal was directly behind the King's Throne in the throne room. At this point, the Marines who'd been chasing Jackal's men had broken down the room to the Treasury, only to find a dead Royal Guard, with his heart left by the bottom of his boots. Parting the banner, Jackal entered onto the platform, the King's Throne was hoisted on, and sitting in the seat was none other than Bazil, unconscious and covered in wounds. Jackal had nothing much to say, he'd tip his head towards Bazil's direction, signalling for his men to pick up Bazil. Taking the crown and the King's robe, "He seems to be the type to want a trinket or two." Jackal stated grinning. Scattered around the room, Jackal would noticed the room plastered with the bodies of unconscious marines, most of them with no wounds on them at all. Which, from his knowledge of Bazil, was nothing like him at all.

Kneeling down at the dead King, Jackal would pickpocket the man's contents, removing a series of letters, parchments and Royal Documents that the King seemed to keep on him. The flames in the room began to rage on, and in the distance, the marine core closed in on the entrance to the throne. "Sometimes it is said that Minks cannot be trusted with the government of himself." Jackal stated, as he'd retreated behind the banner of the Throne Room, leaving the King's position, stuffing the documents in his cargo pants's pockets. "Can he, then be trusted with the government of others? Or have we found angels in the form of kings to govern him? They say history will answer these questions." Jackal concluded walking down the passageway, down the staircase to the right. At the bottom of the steps, Bazil firmly strapped over the shoulders of his retreating men who fled ahead of him, Jackal followed the staircases path into an underground tomb. Keeping his Kenbunshoku Haki expanded, he'd noticed that complex nature of the space he'd just entered. Continuing North, Jackal would traverse through a room covered with sigils and language from a lost era. It was similar to the origin text in the first couple pages in the manual, he'd flicked through momentarily before being attacked by Ra almost an hour ago at this point. A mile into the chamber, away from the now flooded marine throne room and treasury, Jackal's Haki picked up on a fleet of stairs, which had sunlight at it's peak. This was one of the many paths that could've been taken into the tombs but Jackal really had no time to truly explore. Climbing the staircase, Jackal would've exited into a location in middle of nowhere, a mile away from Alubarna in the backdrop.

Plopping onto the ground, Jackal and his group of fifteen screamed of joy, as they'd finally made it away from the capital. With no auras in sight, Jackal's mission to obtain Pluton's Manual was successful. He'd secured one of the keys to the World's Most Dangerous Weapon. "Everyone... Lose your masks and those robes." Jackal commanded, discarding his own bloodied top. "Everywhere will be high alert now..." one of the bandits that remained stated, as he undressed disheartened. "True. That just means it's going as you calculated Jackal." one of the Bandits stated. Sighing, "This becomes the tricky part... Barron's Base won't be safe anymore in the next coming days. Those of our conspirator's who are caught will snitch. A Mink backed into a corner much like a rat will do anything to save his life." Jackal stated. "Let's get walking... We'll meet back up at the rendezvous point." Jackal commanded, before heading towards the steps towards the entrance to the Royal Ruins. "The King's Dead. We're Rich. Let's Feast Tonight At Barron's Base... If we keep North of here, we should make it their by nightfall." Jackal said. "What about the red head?" one of the men asked, Bazil in hand. "He'll come with us... If those guards hit with the poison I had running through my veins... He might die. Gilbard should be able to use my blood as a serum to cure the poison in his veins. Let's go." Jackal ordered. Within moments, scattered into the desert the part of fifteen travelled North Towards the Sandora' Graveyard. With the chaos thickening in the city, the rush to take care of the fallen monarchy, the fifteen bandits carrying the King Slayer, Pluton's Key, King's Documents and Treasure, had gotten out of this situation much more 'richer' than any of them could've imagined. Especially, the documents the King had on his person, those would... those would... be a story for another time.

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