What people tended to forget, was that just because Skull was a lackey, didn't mean he wasn't strong or powerful. In terms of flames, his were easily the strongest out of the Arcobaleno.
But nobody seemed to catch on.
Skull was a bit... Disappointed.
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Skull, even before the Arcobaleno, was an adrenaline junkie, always chasing after the thrill. Of course, for the first decade of his life his trill-chasing had been beaten down and hidden away, but Skull was addicted to the fire rushing through his veins as he flew around or battled.
Even after the war that plagued his people, he still wanted more. Even after the second war which killed off the rest of his people, Skull missed the feeling of exhilaration.
Of course, he was haunted by the wars and by all the blood and death and everybody run and EVERY WIZARD FOR THEMSELVES - but he was Skull and he'd left it behind. He went into stunts. The stunts gave him a flicker of the feeling he'd been without since the war ended, and when he was in the air, his long-lasting apathetic thoughts lifted for those precious moments.
The letter, the I Prescelti Sette intrigued the apathetic war hero, and he donned his masks. After all, what was life without a little fun, eh?
When he was instantly regarded as the lackey, Skull debated playing along or ruthlessly ending their little delusions right on the spot.
He wanted to demolish them, kill them slowly then send them to everlasting hell just for that one word. He wanted to show them the power of the lackey, show them that he was the Master of Death and they would bend to his will.
But he didn't. He played along, screeching and stumbling and all around being an annoyingly loud little lackey.
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Originally, Skull didn't mind being turned into an infant. He was the Martyr, he could adapt.
But then Luce - sweet, kind, lying Luce - uttered those words.
"It was all for the Greater Good!" She defended weakly.
Skull couldn't deal with that, he couldn't. Those - those words, those horrible, horrible words.
Luce's head snapped around to him, "No, no - Skull no, I didn't mean that - No, Skull - " She cried, much to the others' confusion.
Skull didn't care. His eyes burned with hatred and self-loathing as he started silently trekking down the mountain they had been tricked up.
He ignored her cries.
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Skull disappeared for about a decade.
A purple haired child named Cherep joined an orphanage. He stayed there for as long as he could without gaining suspicion before he moved on to a new one. And a new one, and a new one, and a new one.
He eventually reappeared.
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Luce was dead, Skull was told when he stumbled into Reborn. Skull had missed the funeral.
Skull didn't care, he'd signed the paperwork finalising her death himself. His heart - his stupid, naive heart - had forced him to send her to a good afterlife, despite his initial hatred. He just - didn't care.
(Luce's tearfully thankful face when she saw him on her introduction to the afterlife wouldn't leave him for a while)
Reborn was furious with him for disappearing, and made it known. Colonello - the guy that replaced Lal, apparently - quickly took after Reborn in terms of Skull's treatment at their hand, and Lal cold-shouldered all of the Arcobaleno, especially Colonello. Verde kept himself holed up in his science labs, still searching fruitlessly for a cure.
Aria, Luce's daughter, kept to herself.
That was fine, Skull didn't mind.
He had weekly tea visits with Fon, which made him happy. The calm martial artist was certainly in Skull's good books. He also visited Vi-Mammon from time to time. Skull liked visiting Mammo, and his acting skills bloomed as he hid his amusement at the Varia's other officers.
Skull liked the Varia, they were nice - In a weird way.
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Something big was going to happen, Skull realised one day. His senses were tingling, whispering warnings, chanting alarms like mantras.
His internal alarms blared for weeks on end, leaving Skull with no sleep. The Cloud drove himself into a frenzy, preparing himself. The warnings practically screamed the thrill the Cloud had been missing.
Finally, the alarms told him to go to Mammon.
So he did.
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The Varia officers, including Xanxus, were all in one of the most well-enforced meeting rooms the Varia had. Xanxus told them all about his planned coup, and they were sorting out the details.
That was, until there was a knock, with an overly cheerful voice chirping, "Mammon~"
The doors swung open, the Cloud Arcobaleno skipping in. He climbed atop the table the Varia were sat around, grinning wildly, his usual helmet nowhere to be seen.
"Mou~ That'll be ten thousand euros for interrupting~" Mammon told the Cloud.
Skull was not at all bothered by that. He stared at Mammon for a few moments, before he moved onto Belphegor, then Lussuria, Squalo, Leviathan, Xanxus and finally Ottabio.
He showed no reaction while he did this, except a mild curl of his lip when he looked at Leviathan. That was, until he reached Ottabio, the snobby Cloud Officer.
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"Found you!" Skull said gleefully. He let a bloodthirsty grin take over his face, "DIE COWARDLY TRAITOR!" He yelled, mainly for theatrics.
He lunged at the Cloud Officer, who quickly ducked out the way.
Skull forced the other Cloud onto the defence as he toyed around, revelling in the exhilaration.
Ottabio seemed to realise he was going to lose and die, as he sped around to Xanxus and attempted to murder the Varia boss, only to find himself frozen and unable to move. "Wrong move~" Skull singsonged.
The Master of Death lurked to the surface. "See you in hell." Skull said bluntly, before he slit the other Cloud's throat.
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Skull turned to the Varia, still grinning. He let his killing intent wash away, and said, "Sorry about that, I just really hate traitors, you know?"
Xanxus grunted, "Welcome to the Varia, trash."
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