some assembly required

Here we find the scientists warlock, Takumi the Falcon in the middle of southeast Asia. Here in Hong Kong he is searching for a rumored black market dealer who trades in soul related artifacts including a device which can house the soul of a human exactly as a body does.



Sitting atop a rooftop, Takumi take sin his surroundings searching for the place he was told of; the last place the black market dealer set up shop. Some clue there would lead him to the next location where he was this week.

"Damned wild goose chase is making me loose valuable time I could be spending studying Kuro..." He said to himself as he jumped down to the ground two stories below. With a muffled thud he set off amongst the crowded streets, looking for the small sign, and the orange lantern with the symbol of the tiger. "I'll be at this all day and never bee any closer.." he said to himself, scratching the back of his head.

Heading in the general direction of the area he was told to look, Takumi, frustrated, cannot find the sign, nor the lantern. " I might as well head back home, no way i'll be finding this black market dealer..." He said with a sigh, leaning against a wall to his right. It was then that he spied the sign and lantern, down a small back ally that shot off in a diagonal direction from the main road. Had he not leaned against the wall, he would have missed it.

The head of a familiar lizard popped out of one of Takumi's pockets. "Heya bird man. I hope you don't mind, I hitched a ride in your pocket." Kuro said with a small snicker. The voice was clearly recognizable as Kuro due to the drowning effect his voice carried. Honestly Kuro had been a bit worried to leave Takumi to go find someone who sells soul artifacts from somewhere so hidden. So, Kuro hid in his pocket in case Takumi ended up in need of a weapon.

"you know they eat lizards here as a delicacy..." takumi said as he searched the area for any sign of the dealer. he had hidden his surprise well but still, how had he not noticed the lizard in his pocket... he was becoming blind lately, rushing into his work. He had to stay vigilant or this could all blow up in his face. it was during these thought he spotted the characters. "you speak mandarin lizard?" he remarked, making fun of kuro as he wrote down the characters on a small tablet. it flared to life and the strange symbols became words. "crap...." takumi whispered as he read them aloud.

"DWMA outpost... south end of the city, under the bridge."

Kuro chuckled a bit. "I'd like to see them down this lizard." He said, mockingky sticking his tongue out. He was going to comment on the mandrin when Takumi said something that caut his attention quickly. DWMA outpost? The words registered in his head. "Is that nearby? We shoukd be careful..." Kuro said, a bit more serious now.

"it's not too far away.. the problem is a black blooded stowaway..." he said pointedly before leaping into the air, taking flight. "luckily there isn't a large miester presence here, and this vendor deals in illegal merchandise.. so more then likely he's taken precautions." takumi explained as they landed, a few short minutes later. Skirting the edge of the outpost, they made their way to the bottom of the bridge, a sewage encrusted channel ran along the bottom and an old man sat on a rug, covered in a cloak.

"Nǐ shì hēishì jiāoyì shāng (are you the black market dealer?)" takumi asked him, using his best accent.

"no need for that, i speak English just fine.." the old man said looking up. "why don't you have your pet introduce itself as well.." he said, pointing his stick at my pocket, where kuro was.

"Your a pretty smart old guy aren't ya? How could you tell?" Kuro asked, a bit surprised that the man knew he wasn't normal. Maybe he had soul percept? Maybe it was the black eyes? Who knew, maybe he'd just taken a wild guess. the lizard's tongue stuck from it's mouth in a childish way.

"heheheh.." the old man laughed as he folded his arms. "you foolish lizard... I can tell bad blood just by the smell.." he said laughing for a few moments before focusing on me. "now why are you here..." he asked, his voice turning a bit more clear.

"I hear tell you have a soul cradle, I'd like to purchase it.." takumi said, reaching back into my bag and pulling out a jar, stuffed full of souls. "I have quite the payment for it."

the old man could barely help the small laugh of glee that escaped him. reaching in his coat he withdrew a medium sized black crystal sphere, with cross-laced gold bindings. "is this what your after?" he asked, a wicked grin on his face.

Just by the smell...? There were people like that? "That was a neat trick old man." He noted, allowing Takumi and the man to talk. When the man pulled out the object Takumi was after, Kuro looked amazed. That was capable of holding a soul? That little device? Technology had sure advanced a bit...

"Heeee...hehehehe... when you get as old as I am.. you learn a trick or too..." he said laughing as he rolled the sphere between his hands. "i'll let you have the sphere... for.. two of those jars." he said, his black eyes focused on the jar.

Reaching back into the sack, I pulled out two more jars, making three. "how about three.. and we never met you?" I asked, him knowing he could not resist.

"A bargain.. a bargain, my dear fellow. he said, taking the jars and giving me the sphere. it was exactly as described in the texts.

Kuro liked this old man. Too bad they'd never see him again. Probably? Kuro tucked back into the pocket. "Great! What's next? That can't be all, right?" He asked, eyeing the orb through the lizard's black eyes. It was too easy, Takumi hadn't come all this way for one thing. Did he?

"No, it's not all......" takumi whispered as he turned back to the old man and lunged forward. He struck the old man in the chest with a short sword, a silvery blade in the rough shape of an eagle's feather. He then pulled it out and slashed him in two. The man crumpled in on himself, transforming into a kishin egg.

Staying his stoic calm, takumi retrieved the jars of souls and replaced them, wrapping the cradle in a cloth covered in ruins and placing it with them.

Looking down at kuro, he muttered quickly. "the old man knew and saw too much. If the miesters had investigated we would both be killed. Besides one less soul taker like him in the world. Cannot stand them." He said with contempt before turning on heel and walking back down the path towards the outskirts of the city.