Clementine Jr.'s Story

|Clementine|

|Somewhere in the city of Éclos, 4:36 AM|

The dawn of the day crept closer between the time it took for Clementine, a high class assassin, to strike his next victim and meet his deadline. He knew there was a mother harboring a child in the house across the road from where he sat, a rebel to bring the adults down. He also knew that if he failed to kill her he would have to report to the head officer and master assassin and admit his failures, or wait another day to commit his kill. These were not options.

He waited silently above a two story apartment building, a shabby looking thing with only one light flickering inside. This part of Éclos was the poor section; there were many abandoned buildings and the houses that dotted the area with small, grotty looking cottages and tired residents. These adults were often the trouble, the traitors in which Clementine was assigned to get rid of.
It wasn't the first time Clem had been assigned tasks to kill mothers, in fact he had killed quite a lot of women to make it almost shameful. But after failing the Abigail Nora case, where Clementine ended up unconscious due to unwelcome circumstances, he knew he couldn't give too much emotion towards his victims, after all, he would prefer not to report back as a failure to be mocked.

Soon enough, morning light slid over the city, covering it in a grey light that made things easier to see.
Clementine could not kill in public, he could not let anyone else see or be killed, the Adult Government did not want there to be a panic, they did not want the adults to know that the children may be a threat, that there are people trying to stand up for themselves and the children. This is the way it was and will stay, and Clementine did not question or take sides, he needed money and they gave it to him, a lot. They also gave him a name, something to live up to, and that is all that Clem wanted. He did not care for anything else until it presented an opportunity to him, in his face. It's how Clementine worked, and the Government knew that.

This assignment was a young adult, a single mother in her early twenties, who had a young child of some description. A neighbor of hers had recently spotted the child within her home and reported it to the officials, wanting the reward of money for reporting suspicious behavior, but also not wanting to be around when the Government found out in the end. They always did after all.

Eventually Clementine stood from where he sat and crawled his way down the building, his eyes not leaving the silhouette of the small house where his destination was. He made his way silently to the house and scanned the windows for one easy to break in through. One he had found one he pried it open as quietly as he could and crawled through it.
It was the woman's bedroom he had found himself in. It took Clementine a few moments to adjust his eyes to the dark, but when they had he saw the woman sitting up in her bed, staring right at him.

"You're here to kill me?" she asked shakily. She did not move from her place, but watched him intensely as he moved closer towards where she sat.
"Yeah," he answered, a ping of guilt filling his voice for only a moment. But she had noticed it and sighed, a long, drawn, sad sigh.
"Is this how you truly want to live?" the woman asked angrily, still unmoving despite Clementine's slow walk towards her. "As a heartless killer? Pah!"
"Sorry lady, but that's how the world works now. I'm only doing my job." he shrugged and got out a small syringe, flashing it for her to see.

Shaking, the woman pulled out her arm. There was no escape, she knew it, just the acceptance of death and the small relief of a quick and painless death from Clementine's poison. He handled her arm gently, about to put the needle in without a word, but she quickly pulled away in sudden realization.

"Please don't kill my daughter. She is only 4, she will be an adult one day...please don't kill her! Have mercy!"

Clementine looked at the woman in silence and lifted her arm again, causing her to sob loudly. As he pushed the syringe into her skin, letting the poison flow in slowly, he muttered "I don't kill children. Only adults. I am not a hunter, so it is not my job. They will probably put her into Project 21."

The woman, tears smothering her cheeks, smiled before death took her away, and uttered a quiet "Thank you."

***

|Training Grounds, 3:05PM|

The odd assassin walked joyfully through the training grounds, watching new recruits hastily attack and defend each other, learning new skills. After his job that morning he felt rather energetic, a skip in his step, probably at the thought of a new paycheck to come. Job's had been slow recently so it was a relief to be finally out on the field again.

He walked along the sidelines of one of the training facilities, not actually planning to train (he rarely did) but he enjoyed watching others' techniques, picking up little moves that might help him. Perhaps he should train, he thought, but it was a lost cause. He preferred to stay undercover, to not draw any unwanted attention to his techniques in case someone might find his weakness. So he just watched happily, waiting for the day to end.

As if on cue, a scream could be heard not far from where Clementine stood. His ears perked up in curiosity and he began to make his way to the direction of the sound.
He saw the strange woman Aramay, more of a creature really, catch a solider in mid air and bring him down again with a thud, a solider that had seemingly fallen due to Luther's anger.

With a childlike laugh, the gasmasked man walked casually towards Aramay and shrugged, "Poor man," he looked at the unconscious solider in amusement, "I'm surprised you caught him like that. Most people would've just let him fall."

Aramay's head turned towards the direction of the laugh. It looked as though it was becoming a common theme on the field today which she wasn't taking a fancy towards. Her eyes harshly darts to the owner of the laugh; intent on making sure the chuckle was stopped short. Her expression softened somewhat when she saw that it was a familiar face, Clem. Her ears twitch at the realization. The bright light threw her off making it hard for her to maintain an intimidating aura about her. She straightens up to take on a fairly normal posture; something she isn't often seen doing.

Her eyes looked back down at the subconscious soldier and her mouth opened yet took a few seconds before she actually responded; her voice was low and raspy. "I know." Anything more than a couple of words required a pause. Many physical feats were almost effortless for her to perform yet a simple sentence strained at her vocal chords. Therefore her words or responses were simple and few. Anything more than a couple words meant that it was something worth the effort of saying. "To see, if I...could." She adds. Her voice strains unnaturally and could send chills up anyone's spine. Intimidating or not it only added to her unsettling looks. For those who actually listened to her words would realize that she wasn't even sure if she could catch him. Not that she was incapable of it in the past but that she managed to achieve it in broad daylight was something of a challenge she hadn't taken on and it was due to her eyes being far more effective in lower light.

Speaking of which; she lowered her head just enough for her hair to partially cover her eyes. The sun was forcing her to squint and giving her a headache. That however was part of her training. Tell her to chase down a child late in the day or better yet after dark, through a building, down a poorly lit alley it was almost guaranteed that she would be on top of them within seconds. If the child's power kept them out of her grasp their screaming due to her chasing them would be enough to alert the others of their location. She could get into most places that others didn't like going or normally wouldn't fit through. Have a child run down a well lit street in broad daylight and she found herself taking more than a second longer to respond to what's happening in front of her. More than enough time for her to be left at a disadvantage for one reason or another. Therefore trying to use her other senses to compensate while training became aggravating yet necessary.

Of course there was the option of having something made to cover her eyes to block out some of the sun. Though the likelihood of her peripheral vision being obscured or the off chance that they would be knocked away leading to temporary blindness made her unwilling to take the chance. Plus she needed to rely on her own eyes, they alone were enough to make a child freeze in place without requiring a single finger to be lifted. Then again, maybe it wasn't such a bad idea to have them just in case. For that off chance of needing them.

In the time that it took for her to respond to Clem and look back up at Luther from under her messy hair, a bit of a crowd had formed around around the irate male. It looked like Ara and Clem were the furthest him. Luther was the one that she always made sure to allow him his space. She was smart enough not to push his buttons as opposed to the others. It wasn't that way in the beginning. After a few testing spats with him in the past she became more inclined to listen to his orders. It didn't prevent her from shooting a defiant look, watch him intently or according to others seemingly stare him down. It wasn't simply because he was the second in command.

The only thing that broke her gaze and her posture was the pain that rose up her spine making her hunch forward and crouch down. The baring of her teeth and hissing breath made it apparent that she wasn't pleased with having to almost sit on the ground to alleviate the pain. Her tail swiped against the ground in annoyance. It had been over a year ago when it first started though it was still fresh in her mind. For weeks her body had been in pain from when she began showing unusual symptoms from the injections. With the occasional pains she still experienced, she wondered if the changes had yet to completely settle.

(sorry, ignore)

|Clementine|

"Well it was pretty impressive."

Clementine smiled at her, but with his eyes, for his kind smile hadn't been seen by anyone for countless years. He wore his gasmask full time until he was in the safety of his home and able to take it off to eat and sleep, mostly for safety precautions, for even he was not immune to his poison cloud, unfortunately for him.

He listened and watched Aramay. Ever since Clem had met the creature girl he was utterly fascinated, and somewhat sorry for her condition. The man had been in business long enough to see the horrors of some physical powers; sometimes the abilities killed you instantly, other times they kept you alive for too long. He had been lucky enough to strike with poison glands and an immune blood system, though his lungs had never truly formed right and so, like everyone else, there was always a danger of poison entering his lungs and killing him. Not that he minded really, there was always a catch.

Folding his arms and watching Luther in amusement, he couldn't help but laugh once more, "Kinda scary huh?" his comment was indicated towards the second in command, but in good nature.

When Morgan approached and Luther asked how many children in Project 21 had been cleansed today, his face turned solemn and he tittered as silently as he could, hoping Aramay did not hear. He disliked knowing the deaths of children, and discussing it in casual conversation put him on edge, but he tried not to show it. In order to change his mood he looked back to Aramay and grinned, "Well I suppose that's it for the drama of today. I'll see ya around!"

He began to walk away, trying to block out whatever the number of children cleansed was. Clem didn't want to know.

"Im-press-ive?" Clem's comment confused her enough to make her forget about the pain long enough for it to fade. It almost made her forget why she was hunched over in the first place. She wasn't trying to impress anyone. She gave up so much more than she bargained for, not just because of the obvious. The training and time that went into proving to herself that she could be productive, useful, more than just adequate. After the, changes, she had to train again to re-learn how to do almost everything, walking, eating. It took more than a couple months to get herself to stop having those 'fits'. Training just became a way for her to cope to the point where it became foreign to her to hear a compliment.

It didn't stop there either. People kept their distance in the beginning. Now they were beginning to relax around her. Clem began to speak to Aramay more openly. She looks at the masked man's eyes as they looked to be smiling. "Kinda scary huh?" Was it really? Wait, what was he talking about? "Scary?" She felt like a deranged yet very confused parrot; repeating everything that Clem was saying. Her eyes showed genuine confusion. With her head tilted it almost would have looked cute. His, tittering only added to it. Either her mind was now comprehending enough to pick up that Clementine was acting strange or being out in the sun this long was affecting her more than she expected."My job, I catch. With-out kids, no job. No purpose." In a more serious tone was her response. For some reason the thought of children still being around irritated her but the idea of being no longer needed scared her far more.

She wasn't keeping track of what the numbers were. Something was throwing her off. Her ears picked up something strange. Looking back at Luther she saw Ruukia rubbing herself all over him. Or at least that's what it looked like. She was acting completely out of line. "did they slowly bleed and beg for mercy~" Just as Ruukia slithers back into the shadows she would feel a rush of wind rush by her face and through her hair. It was a set of claws just barely missing the sly merc but close enough to nick at her mask as the beastly female rushed past before sliding to a halt. "Come out!" She snarled in the direction of the shadows that she dissappeared into, namely Luther's and Anna's. In an instant she was overwhelmed with anger thanks to Ruukia's antics. There were so many things she wanted to call her; snake, sadistic, slut, anything with an 's' in the pronunciation. It was too easy for Ruukia to simply hide in the shade while Aramay growled and snapped like a wild animal demanding for the squirrel to come out of its hiding place. She learned to restrain herself with Luther. The busty wench in the mask, was fair game.

[ Sorry for the terrible Zero post guys. My brain is like asgasg Dx ]



"La dee daa dee daaa~!".

Zero sang to himself as he wandered down the hallway, smirking widely as he thought of the day ahead. The sun was shining, the adults were happy and the children were..

. . .

The children were down in Project 21, alone and afraid. Zero was a child once, wasn't he? Why didn't he remember? Oh, right. The laws stated that he wasn't allowed to remember. He wasn't allowed to remember the pain, the suffering or the terror that came whenever a Scanner passed by. He wasn't supposed to remember the girl with the bear that seemed to look at him with admiration and love. Zero stopped, staring off into the sky as he tried to shut the visions out of his mind.

"Where're you going? You're coming back, right?!". The girl looked at him, eyes and voice full of concern and worry. "Of course I will, idiot~! I'll never leave your side, remember~?".

It was a small memory, but it was enough for Zero. That girl was... odd. She seemed so familiar, yet so anonymous to him. Zero shook his head, smacking the wall and growling as he attempted to clear his mind. Luckily for him, he noticed something that could easily keep his mind away from the girl and the memories she brought. Nearby, a group had formed, and Zero sighed as he saw the one-and-only Ruukia Hanabi teasing his friend, Luther Rothenburg. Zero shook his head, moving down to the area where they were just as Ruukia vanished into the shadows. He stayed a fair bit away, observing the group and taking a step backwards to leave, but... Something stopped him in his tracks, and he felt compelled to move over to the group.

"I'm terribly confused right now, buuut...~". Zero smirked, and turned away. He walked a fair way away from the group, then pulled a quarter out of his pocket. "I do enjoy having money, I must admit~!". Suddenly, something cannoned into him. Zero watched the fire flow around him, and he smirked as water exploded out from his cane. "Weeaaak~!". Zero smirked, turning around to the man that had attempted to light him on fire. "Do you like Dinosaurs, my good friend~?". Zero grinned, the coin suddenly expanding, growing flesh and sinews as it slowly turned into a massive Tyrannosaurus Rex. The Dinosaur studied it's surroundings, then looked at the man with the cane. Zero smirked, pointing the cane at the offending man and nodding quickly. The T-Rex let out a loud roar and began to chase the poor fellow around Eclos. Zero laughed darkly, watching the man flee in terror as he adjusted his hat and looked back at the group behind him before pulling his cloak tighter around him.

The cloak was midnight black, with patterns of stars on it that seemed to shimmer and gleam as if they were real stars. Zero smiled, spinning on his heel and proceeding over to the group that had assembled around Luther. He twirled his cane as he walked, a smoking pipe appearing in his hand as he moved over to them. "Hello there, ladies and gents~! Don't mind the Dinosaur running around, he's not a problem~! Well, not for any of you, at least~!". Zero laughed nonchalantly, and pointed his cane at the shadows in which Ruukia had vanished. His eyes suddenly turned dangerously cold, dark, full of sadistic insanity that thrived in the moment. His smirk broadened, showcasing his elongated canine teeth.

"Ruuuuuukiiiiaaaaaa~ Didn't your mother ever teach you your manneeeers~?". Zero smirked at the shadows, the end of the cane glowing slightly. "I suggest that you come out of your hiding place right now, or your punishment will be most...~". Zero seemed to ponder for a moment, before settling on a simple word. "... Severe~". Zero turned to Aramay, his smirk seeming to vanish instantly as he pulled another coin out of his pocket, transforming into a leash as he smiled at Aramay with his eyes. "I don't want to have to put a leash around your neck, cutie-pie~ But you might leave me no choice~". Zero smirked as the leash vanished and the coin reappeared.

"Good to see everyone in one place, though. Oh, wait... Where'd shorty go- Oh, just under my line of siiight~!". Zero looked over at Luther, laughing lightly. "You're very popular today, short-stuff~ How's your day been~?".

|Clementine|

He stopped at what Aramay had said.

"My job, I catch. With-out kids, no job. No purpose."

She was right. Clementine knew that, even he followed his own job effortlessly, but for some reason speaking of the deaths of children like it was a game stirred him. There was something locked up inside that caused him to feel pity for the children; he could not kill them, despite the government trying to recruit him into a hunter position when he had first started he had refused. Clem had heard the pleas of broken mothers, usually abandoned by their partners, telling him to not kill their babies and he never did.
Adults were different, usually they were cruel and relentless. Even the mothers who had brought their children into this dark world, despite their knowing of what it meant to be a child. He had no pity for the adults, the ones who knew better.

His train of thought got cut short when Aramay went rushing to whatever Luther and the girl Rukia were doing. He tuned into the conversation, to see if there wasn't any trouble being caused, but caught sight of the man Zero came who approached the group in his usual unusual manner.

"Eventful, it seems." Clem answered for Luther with an amusing tone. He walked up to the group, curious as to what Zero was up to.

|Cethin Aurel|

Cethin looked back at Luther as he addressed him, and his eyes brightened with a cheery smile. He put his index and middle finger to his forehead before saluting the second in command, ”Luth-Man.” He grinned brightly before dropping his arm back to his side, completely ignoring Ruukia and focusing completely on Luther.

”Watch it, he might get ya~" Seth whirled in surprise at the loud noise centimeters from his ear, aiming a well rounded punch to her form in self defense before awkwardly changing the hit into a slap at the last few moments before impact. Her reaction to him was definitely not expected, and a loud laugh escaped his vocals. ”Cripes, don’t.” He breathed out, though his eyes flared up with mischief, positively firing up between them. ’Let the war commence!’

Luther’s voice then broke into their little exchange, ”What are the numbers from today’s cleaning mission?” Seth turned away from him, not interested in hearing what A had to say about that at all. Luckily, as more of the adults began to appear at the scene, it was quite distracting enough. Except for when Ruukia’s irritating voice broke through into his head.

”Did they slowly bleed and beg for mercy~?" A look of disgust filled his features at her reactions, but once more, a perfect new distraction showed up. The ground began to shake underneath Z’s feet, and a shattering roar filled the area as he took in the sight. It was the big man himself, having just made a discipline come back from the dead to haunt some poor unfortunate soul. A huge T-Rex began its pursuit, and Ceth couldn’t hold back his laughter, having to hold his sides for a few moments.

He prodded Anna in the side with his elbow, a wicked smirk on his lips. ”Haha, just imagine that thing with its tiny little arms chasing that poor fella, it tries to snap at it, ends up falling to the ground with that massive head of its and can’t really get up.” He had stopped laughing a little while back, and then swung his head towards Anna with a look, his arms pressed to his chest and his hands protruding, mimicking the Rex. “Rawr~” He raised his eyebrows, giving her a full, dashing lopsided half grin.

"You're very popular today, short-stuff~ How's your day been~?" Seth diverted his attention from Anna to look at the exchange between Zero and Luther, a slight wince to his features for a moment. Since Luther had already calmed down, Ceth expected to be impressed once more with that formal, unfazed response of his. Coal slipped one hand into his right pocket before hearing another voice join in.

"Eventful, it seems." Cethin grinned slightly before inclining his head towards the masked man, raising his left arm in greeting.

|LUTHER ROTHENBURG|

Luther calmly waited for a response from one of his favourite co-workers. He favoured her because of her job, and that she was able to exterminate Children. He had once been a Cleaner before, though not for long as he quickly moved up the ranks. However before he was able to hear Morgan’s reply, a rather unpleasant response came from above him.

His eyebrow twitched slightly but he made no other reaction to Ruukia’s misbehaviour. "ooooh~…I hope they are a death count~". Luther had little chance to berate her for her actions before she vanished into the shadows she adored hiding in. Coward Luther thought. The woman’s giggle followed her like a trail, and Luther quickly found her before she reappeared in front of Morgan. His eyebrow twitched again as she spoke. Gawd that woman was irritating. "Did they slowly bleed and beg for mercy~".

He may have spoken at that moment if it weren’t for another woman rushing up. Luther titled his head to see Aramay lashing out a clawed hand at the vanishing Ruukia. He smirked lightly at this. Aramay was another comrade whom, like Morgan, he respected. He remembered her when she was a new recruit. She was like a rabid animal, completely out of control and snapping at every moment. She fit well with Luther’s own stoic personality and listened to his guidance, like his very own watch dog. Although, she wasn’t just some animal to him, she was dangerous when it came time for it, a worthy companion.

"Come out!". Luther heard Aramay snarl. She had slid to a halt rather than attacking. Which, Luther was proud of. The old Aramay would have reacted viciously and maybe tore apart half the people there to get to her prey. Now, Aramay was in much better control. However, if need be he would stop Aramay if it so happened that she went too far. For now, though, he was enjoying the scene. Ruukia would get taught a lesson without him even having to move a finger.

He hated getting his hands dirty.

However, due to the massive group around him it didn’t seem like he was going to get any more done, How irritating he thought. Yes, irritating was a good word to describe the day. But, the sudden appearance of, yet another, made that word… not quite fitting. A white haired man, much taller than Luther, approached them with his usual grin, and a twirling cane. Luther raised his eye brows, wondering what was the cause for the said adjustment to the man’s usual attire.

"Hello there, ladies and gents~! Don't mind the Dinosaur running around, he's not a problem~! Well, not for any of you, at least~!”. The man, named Zero laughed as he joined their little ensemble of Adults. Luther rolled his eyes Wait…Dinosaur? . His eyes gazed over the area, and sure enough in the distance a giant T-Rex was in heavy pursuit of a few unlucky recruits. Ceth seemed to think it was hilarious as he told Morgan “Haha, just imagine that thing with its tiny little arms chasing that poor fella, it tries to snap at it, ends up falling to the ground with that massive head of its and can’t really get up.” . Luther shook his head at the exchange. The appearance of the creature was amusing, as Zero always was.

He looked back to see, another person receiving a punishment of sorts. Boy was this day interesting. “Ruuuuuukiiiiaaaaaa!~ Didn’t your mother ever teach you your manneeeers~? I suggest that you come out of your hiding place right now, or your punishment will be most...~". Zero stalked the shadows with elongated teeth, bringing Luther’s attention fully away from the T-Rex. Ruukia was definitely going to have to learn. "... Severe~" Zero finished his threat. Luther crossed his arms over one another, simply observing all that was taking place around him.

Interesting wasn’t the right word to describe the day either. He sighed lightly. No work will be done at this rate.. Zero was facing Aramay now and holding a coin. In an instant, the coin transformed into a leash, and Zero held it up to Aramay. "I don't want to have to put a leash around your neck, cutie-pie~ But you might leave me no choice~".. Luther blinked. A leash, really? . He didn’t think it would go that far necessarily unless Ruukia did more to annoy Aramay.

He hoped not. Luther brushed his hair from his face, and took another glance around. Morgan, still hadn’t answered his question, or she had and he missed it, due to. Oh I wonder? "Good to see everyone in one place, though. Oh, wait... Where'd shorty go- Oh, just under my line of siiight~!" Luther twitched at the word and his attention shot back to the group, namely Zero. "You're very popular today, short-stuff~ How's your day been~?"

Short-stuff…Oh, he’s gonna get it. . Luther glared at him for a second then moved his hands to fix his collar. He Hated being called “short”, but he knew Zero wasn’t serious. In fact, Zero was the closest to a friend that Luther had. He shifted uncomfortably despite it, the word just infuriated him. He refused to lose his cool in front of the others.

“Hello Zero, having fun tormenting the new recruits with supposed to be extinct beasts? . He half-smiled for a second. He still couldn’t think of a word to describe the day. "Eventful, it seems." another male voice replied. Luther looked over to thank him for the absolutely fitting word. Luther nodded at Clementine as he joined the group. “Very eventful indeed” Luther said in a monotone. “It doesn’t seem like any work is going to be done today at all. .

A split second after he had spoken, his watch started beeping. Luther held up a gloved hand to silence the group as he pulled down his sleeve and pressed the sides of the watch with his index finger and thumb. A compartment of the watch opened and the beeping cut off. “Second in command, Rothenburg, speaking. He said his voice controlled and powerful.

Another voice responded but only he could hear it. “Assemble in the assignment hall in ten minutes. ” The voice was nearly inaudible, even to Luther. He smiled and replied. “Yes, BOSS.”. The voice cut off and the watch shut as Luther adjusted his sleeve.

He looked back at the others. “Looks like the fun here is over… Zero clean up your mess. The rest of you finish what you have here and meet at the Assignment Hall in no less than ten minutes. . He swept his red cloak around his person and turned on his heel walking off fast. The numbers from Morgan would have to wait.

Finally some work to do ….

|Cethin Aurel|

After his greeting towards Cleo, Ceth’s eyes wandered back to Luther and Zero, watching both their reactions with high curiosity, being only distracted by Aramay trying to pummel Ruu again, to which Z had no qualms about, really. Furthermore, his interest was at its highest peak so far that day when Zero addressed Ruu’s misbehavior.

But of course, the little ’doll’ was unfazed by it, and just tried sucking up to Zero. Again, of course. "I am here, my lord! I wasn't being a bad girl! I was merely wanting to play!" Coal silently groaned, rolling his eyes. Oh she was so bad. "Then that mean, psycho Aramy tried to hurt me...!" And then a slight whistle escaped his pursed lips at her ruthless yet pretty obvious lying to somehow worm her way on his good side. How exactly, he had no idea. Ceth needed to jump into action, and without much thought, he did.

Z half skipped half waltzed over to Zero with a dramatic look of exasperation on his face. He hooked his own arm around Zero’s free one, hugging it close to his chest with a puppy dog face and a pout on his lips. He did his absolute best to mimic Ruukia’s childish girl voice, ”Yes, m’lord! We’re all good girls, we swearsies!!” He sniffled too, his lower lip trembling, watching Ruu out of the corner of his eye. Once she snuggled into him more, Ceth did the same thing, hugging Zero’s arm just the slightest bit more, bumping into her a bit. It was simply a good measure of spite for Aramay’s sake. But he really didn’t have to, as Aramay sprang forward, aiming a hit at the girl’s face.

Ceth remained rather unfazed by the wind that passed with the swift motion. He was then distracted by Luther’s announcement- that Godzilla himself was summoning the team for some deed or another. ’Speaking of Godzilla....' The loud, earth trembling roar from the T-Rex sounded from somewhere in the background. A content, wry grin wiggled across his lips before Ceth dropped the act with Zero, blinking a few times before wandering back over to Anna. ”Meet at the Assignment Hall in no less than ten minutes.” A few moments after the order, he offered Anna his arm, just for jokes, looking first to her and then in the direction of the Assignment Hall. ”Shall we?”

Zero sighed as he felt the familiar body of Ruukia pressing against his arm. He simply stood there, staring straight ahead as she rubbed herself all over him. Zero didn't disdain her as much as the others, but that's not to say he explicitly liked Ruukia. Then again, that's not also to say he doesn't like her, either. Zero looked over at Ruukia from under his hat, and he leaned hard on his cane to try and lessen her weight on him. Not that he didn't like her. He was just being lazy as usual. Before that, Luther had been saying something to him. Zero blinked as the sentence evaded him, but he was fully distracted by Ruukia's antics. "I am here, my lord! I wasn't being a bad girl! I was merely wanting to play!". Zero smirked, letting her bounce her words off of him like a squash-ball on a wall. "Then that mean, psycho Aramy tried to hurt me...!". Zero let out a light chuckle, and then he realised something.

As Cethin waltzed over and grabbed his arm, Zero had to try hard not to laugh, or even grin for that matter. Ceth's play, an obvious way to spite Ruukia, was one of the most entertaining thing Zero had seen all day.”Yes, m’lord! We’re all good girls, we swearsies!!”. Zero snickered. 'Darnit Cethin, at this rate you'll make me lose my cool. Eh, what does that matter~?' He almost let his laugh out when Ruukia hugged him closer, and Ceth did the same. Suddenly, laughter erupted from Zero's lungs. He smiled to himself and looked down at the ground, still laughing in his head. "Oh my, we seem to have a bit of rivalry here, do we~?".

Zero stood still as he felt Aramay's claws attempt to rake Ruukia, and he blinked as one of them nicked him on the side of the face. He raised an eyebrow, his now liberated hand reaching up and tapping the moist, crimson liquid that was dripping down his cheek. Zero blinked, and his eyes suddenly darkened, the T-Rex walking over behind him and looking down at the ground as Zero studied the blood that had dripped onto his fingers. "My, my~ Looks like I'm bleeding~". Zero smirked, letting his tongue fall out of his mouth and trace up to his fingertips, blooding moving onto his tongue as he smirks.

Zero grinned, completely cleaning his fingertips of blood as his eyes shine with dark excitement. He smirked, staring straight at Aramay as the cut slowly vanished, and the T-Rex let out another earth-shattering roar from just behind him. Zero laughed lightly, a tinge of insanity creeping into the sound as he looked over at Cethin, his gaze travelling over everyone as his mouth slowly opens, words just about to spill out. The tension in the air could be cut with a knife, and then...

"I like Trains~".

Zero grins, holding out his arm as the T-Rex vanishes, and a train suddenly speeds past, with Zero catching a ride on it. The train was fairly long, so if anyone else wanted a ride to the Assignment Hall, they could always just jump on.

Anna's half grin turned into a look of surprise as Ceth rounded on her, aiming a rather fast, powerful punch. Anna stepped back, raising her arms in a messy block. At the last second, he opened his hand and whopped her arm, causing her to hit herself with a solid thump. The look of absolute surprise on his features, mirrored by her own, made her chuckle. ”Cripes, don’t,” Ceth said, laughing himself.

"Who else would keep you on your toes?" Anna responded in a formal tone, though it held amusement as she rubbed the sore spot on her head. Luther's voice interrupted her jovial attitude, and in an instant she became all business, straightening and giving him her proper attention. ”What are the numbers from today’s cleaning mission?” Anna noticed Ceth turning away, but made no acknowledgment for now. It was not exactly her favorite subject either, especially when she saw some eagerness in the eyes around her.

Anna quickly recalled the numbers to her mind, even opening her mouth to speak, before she was interrupted by her favorite person. Irritation immediately swept over her features, quickly covered by a professional mask as she pushed her feelings away. Ruukia appeared inches from her face, but Anna did not give her the pleasure of a reaction, though her hand tightened into a fist. Before she could debate whether it was worth it to punch the woman in front of her superior, she vanished into the shadows. 'Lucky for her,' Anna thought, with slight regret that she had not had the opportunity to do anything.

Apparently, Ruukia got Aramay riled up, though. Anna was almost sad Aramay had not caught the annoying shadow creeper, but it would be a harsh repercussion for Ruukia's actions if she had. Anna had seen her tear people up before. Suddenly, she heard a loud roar. 'Speaking of someone getting torn up...'Anna thought, highly amused by the T-Rex now stomping around and making a rukus. Ceth jabbed her lightly in the ribs, gaining her attention. ”Haha, just imagine that thing with its tiny little arms chasing that poor fella, it tries to snap at it, ends up falling to the ground with that massive head of its and can’t really get up. 'Rawr~'” Anna just shook her head with a smile, rolling her eyes at Ceth. He was such a clown sometimes.

Her attention returned to Zero, who was playfully scolding Ruukia and warning Aramay to calm herself. "Good to see everyone in one place, though. Oh, wait... Where'd shorty go- Oh, just under my line of siiight~! You're very popular today, short-stuff~ How's your day been~?" Anna could almost sense Luther stiffen, though, because it was Zero, he got away with the jibe.

Then the Irritant, Ruukia, appeared once more, rubbing all over Zero this time. "I am here, my lord! I wasn't being a bad girl! I was merely wanting to play! Then that mean, psycho Aramay tried to hurt me.... And no, my lord... I had no mother... You know this..." Ceth unexpectedly went over, giving a mocking imitation of Ruukia. ”Yes, m’lord! We’re all good girls, we swearsies!!” Zero laughed, "Oh my, we seem to have a bit of rivalry here, do we~?" Anna gave a scoffing laugh at their antics, poorly covering it up with a slightly exaggerated cough as Aramay lunged at the woman, scraping Zero in the process.

Soon, another joined their, rather comical, group. By the gas mask, Anna quickly recognized Clem. "Eventful, it seems." Luther responded, “Very eventful indeed. It doesn't seem like any work is going to be done today at all." Suddenly, Luther received a call. It was from the Boss, apparently. Anna wondered whether it would include them, and what they would need to do. “Looks like the fun here is over… Zero clean up your mess. The rest of you finish what you have here and meet at the Assignment Hall in no less than ten minutes."

Anna gave Luther a nod as he left, looking around to see if there was anything she should take care of before departing. Ceth offered her his arm, saying with a joking air,”Shall we?”

Anna gave a mischievous grin before responding. "We shall! Beat ya there! No transporting there, that's no fun," She yelled over her shoulder, already running parallel to the ground on one of the walls surrounding the Training Ground. Suddenly, Zero summoned a train. Seriously, the adults were worse than children when it came to antics.

Anna gave a sudden jump, impossibly flipping her personal gravity 180 degrees to run down the side of the train toward the engine at a dizzying speed, a smile on her face. She was sure she could beat him this time.

|Clementine|

After waving to Cethin, the masked man stood silently at the events that had just happened before him. There wasn't much he could do or say, so he settled for a light remark.
"Phew, that was tense." Clementine shrugged, watching everyone make their way to the assignment hall either excitedly or in a bad way due to the recent argument.

He followed some far way behind those who made their way on foot (not exactly trusting Zero unless he surprised them all and crashed the train) and observed contently. Wanting to say something to Aramay, but not knowing what, Clem decided to leave her alone to brood on Ruukia's personal disturbance; after all he would prefer not to get caught in any drama that could possibly cause him to lose an eye or something of the sort.

Clementine was friendly. It was a fact that many knew about him, for he didn't go out of his way to cause trouble or make himself stand out to be known. He was a little bit older than those who stood around him but it wouldn't seem like it. His personality was light, content, amused or sometimes rather serious, and that's all he really put forward into groups or conversations. Silent, but not so silent to be noticed, Clem was a mysterious sort though not on purpose. However it was nice sometimes, he didn't die from disturbing the wrong person anyway (as he had seen so many do before).

Reaching the Assignment hall, the masked man could only ponder at the next job they had in store for them.