A lone wolf walked in front of a large mansion, stopping near the gates and lifting it's head up to the moon. It gave one, long, haunting howl, and then sniffed the air before turning its head to look behind itself. It gave a slight wag of its tail as a shadow appeared beside it and patted it's head.

"Good boy" the shadow cooed as the shadow's violet eyes wandered over to the mansion. They narrowed slightly. Then they were gone. Both were gone as if they never existed. The lights in the mansion suddenly went out, all of them at the same time, and there were sounds of a struggle. Screams were heard, along with gunshots. Then silence. Two shadows could later be seen walking down the path of the mansion, one shorter than the other. Gold eyes stared into violet ones. Then there was nothing. No noise, no lights, and no movement other than the slight rustling of the leaves. Everything was dead.

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Scream. Bang. Death. Blood. Four simple words, yet those four words described my entire past, present, and future. How wierd it is, to look back on things now and realise that I've become something I never even thought about becoming in the first place. I suppose you kind of have to expect that when your parents sell you to the leader of the Chronos Numbers when you were just a baby so that they could pay off their debts.

Life has been hard. I haven't been able to go outside during the day because of where my number was marked on me. I wasn't even supposed to be known. Every time I pulled off an assassination one of the other numbers recieved the credit. There were only supposed to be 13 numbers in the Chronos organization. I just threw off the balance. The number was a "freak accident" that they decided didn't work, so they decided to "erase" me from the government records. Apparently I no longer exist. All because of a stupid mistake that my adoptive father made. He refused to have a number 14, even after he branded me when I was only four years old. Yeah. I was just that good.

When I was four, after he branded me, he sent me out on one of his most dangerous missions. Because of my small size and age, I completed it with ease. Too bad my number was seen in the process. He recieved a lot of resumes after that, from random people that wanted to be a Number. There were tons of complaints, too. Something about child abuse or something like that. Now I work in the darkness, rarely seeing the light of day unless I put on tons of make up on my thigh. Because I was so young, they couldn't mark just anywhere. They marked my thigh, so I'm not allowed to walk outside unless I have pants on. No shorts, dresses, or skirts allowed. I usually cover that small area on my leg with a gun holster when I go on missions just in case, anyways, though.

One of the missions I got, though, was weird. I was assigned to sneak in to a house and retrieve a boy. He was a few years older than me, about two or three, when I first saw him. His parents were killed, and apparently, he had skills and abilities that would prove to be extremely useful to my adoptive father. It made me jealous, but I did the mission as he told me to. After the boy was retrieved, I was tossed to the side like a broken toy, never to be used again until it has been found a few years later and nostalgic thoughts come back.

I hated that boy. I was thinking about killing him when I first saw him. He took away everything from me. He took away all the attention I would ever get, and what made me more jealous was the fact that HE got to be number 13. Not me, HIM. I had more experience with fighting and everything imagineable in that department, but he was chosen, not me. According to my father, I would never be a part of the Numbers because of the mark that was already given to me. 14 would always be 14, nothing else. I could not become any other Number. I was branded and stuck with the stupid number 14. A number that would never be called upon, a number whose spotlight would always be given to all of the other Numbers, especially 13. Most of the missions that I did, number 13 got credit for. I was a tool, and that was all. I was a tool that was being used to give all of the others more fame while I stayed in the darkness myself. Well, that would all change. I would make sure of that. Number 14 would become famous, whether that stupid Willgar liked it or not. I was going to catch everyone's eye. I would blow a mission that was assigned to Number 13 but was passed on to me. I would show that damned Train what it was like to have everything taken away from you. Everything that you worked so hard to achieve being ripped apart and shredded because of another person, that's what I would show him. And hell, does that hurt.

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I gave a quick glance towards my wolf and it ran ahead of me, giving the signal to the cat to come out, a loud, yet sharp bark. The black cat raced across the street and jumped through a window that led to the party that I was supposed to crash.

There were screams of shock and I smiled when the targeted person froze in fear. I hopped through the window and watched his bodyguards' movements. They pulled out their guns and began to fire. I predicted the bullets' paths and dodged. I purposely let one scrape my thigh to rip my pants and reveal the roman numeral. I pulled my hair out of my wig and threw the wig to the ground, pulling out the gun from the holster that I purposely placed on my other leg, and shot my target, killing him. I smiled when I saw their eyes widen. I was revealed. Only one guard saw my face before the lights went out, and I made sure to kill him.

I stood calmly, smiling as I listened to the chaos around me. I heard a howling from outside and ran towards the window. I hopped through it and landed beside my wolf. I patted it's head as Train's cat jumped on to my shoulder. I had a thing for animals, and although I completely hated Train himself, I couldn't being myself to hate his cat.

I smirked, and disappeared. A little trick that I had learned from some random guy that appeared in my dreams. I smiled as I appeared by the front doors of the Chronos headquarters. I slammed open the front doors to meet the cold stares eyes of my father. My smile grew larger.

"You blew the mission" he ground out and I shrugged.

"Mistakes happen" I stated nonchalantly, walking past him. He grabbed my shoulder and spun me around.

"You weren't supposed to be known of, not even by the Numbers!" he snarled and I glared.

"You can't expect me to hide in the darkness forever, dad. Face it. You knew this would've happened eventually. Why didn't you let me become a number sooner? Why not let there be a 14th? This wouldn't have ever happened if you let me become a number instead of erasing me from the government records!"

"It had to be done" he growled.

I growled, baring my teeth. It was a little habit that I learned from my dear pet. "No. It didn't. You just thought that it was necessary because it made your life that much simpler."

"You..." he growled, deciding to keep the rest in his mind. I was a good choice on his part. Plus, his growls were pathetic. They might be able to scare a lot of people, but it didn't scare me one bit.

"Don't 'you' me!" I snarled, deciding to show him how pathetic his skills were when it came to scaring people. He took a step back, never seeing this side of me before. "You brought this on to yourself. You know you did, so stop blaming me for all of your problems!"

"Willgar...?" a voice asked from the shadows and I decided to take my leave. I saw yellow eyes before I disappeared and 'teleported' away.

I appeared only a few feet away, in another set of shadows. I concealed my presence and listened on.

"Who was that?" I heard the man ask.

"No one of any importance."

I held back the urge to snort in disgust.

"That person must be important to have you shivering in fear. Who was it?"

Maybe Train wasn't as stupid as I thought he was. Then again, anyone could tell that I was someone important, and Willgar really was shivering in fear. I mentally gave myself a pat on the back.

"...gather the other Numbers, Train. Gather them as fast as you can. There is something I need to tell you, and it cannot wait any longer. Its already been 14 years."

Train suddenly disappeared and I spun around, expecting to see him behind me, but he never showed up. I gues he decided to be a good kitty and retrieve the others. I felt something sniffing my hand and I gently patted my pet wolf's head.

"Take that damned mutt and go to you room. I'll call for you when I'm ready" I heard Willgar mumble and I shot him a death glare. I could see another shiver run down his spine as I disappeared, and then reappeared, this time in my room.

I plopped on to my bed and waited, staring out the window at the still blood red moon. The eerie red glow illuminated my room with the crimson color blood. I didn't have lights or any form of it because my father didn't want anything to now that I existed. A light in his mansion with the sillhouette of a gil was not a good way to keep me concealed.

I would get my freedom eventually, however. It was just a question of when, where, and how. I silently vowed that I would get out of this hell hole eventually, no matter what it took. If I had to kill all the Numbers, so be it. Nothing would stand in my way on my path to freedom. Caged. That's what I was. I wasn't a caged bird. No. I was a trapped wolf, being forced to be tamed in harsh ways. That's when my door opened and the light of the hallways flooded my room. I squinted and noticed some dark shapes moving around until my eyes adjusted. The first shape ended up being the famed Train Heartnet. Number XIII of the Chronos Numbers. As I said earlier, my hate for him holds no boundaries.

His yellow eyes stared in to my violet ones, his brown hair moving in to his eyes. They narrowed and I returned the look.

"So you were the one that had Willgar shivering his boots off" he grumbled. I didn't respond. I merely stared past him and saw the other Numbers. How large and stupid they looked compared to Train. I returned my gaze to Train and he stared in to my eyes, as if trying to stare in to my soul. I smiled, showing my abnormally long canines. So I fused some of my wolf's blood with mine, what was the harm in that? Not like I, or my wolf, died in the process.

I noticed them all take a step back, deep in thought.

"You don't look like much" Train commented and I let out a low growl. One that I made sure only reached his ears, and his alone. He began to return the growl and I was about to sick my wolf on him when a random black cat jumped out of nowhere and landed on my shoulder, meowing contedly. I looked at it and gave a genuine smile, scratching it's chin. It purred and I heard Train's growl grow in volume.

I returned my gaze to him, giving him a warning glare as I looked at my wolf. If he wanted to start a fight, so be it. I would have him on the floor with a hole in his forehead before anyone could blink. I've seen how he worked. Quick and accurate, yes, but that was the thing. He didn't have as much strength. Like his nickname, the Black Cat, he was fast, accurate, agile, and gave tons of bad luck. I, however, like my wolf, was a loner. I relied on no one to get my job done. I worked hard to get to my status, I was fast, nimble, lightfooted, accurate, and strong.

I noticed a quick movement of his right arm and my left arm instinctively flew to the holster and grabbed the gun that was on my left thigh. I placed it back there, feeling more comfortable. He aimed and shot, but I dodged and ran up to his face. I felt another bullet fly past my face as I went up to his. His eyes widened in surprise and he gave a small gasp as I pressed my gun into the bottom of his chin. I kicked the gun out of his hand before he could realise what was going on, and I stood straight up, making sure to keep the gun where it was. He sent me a cold glare and I watched the other numbers. They gave small smiles and smirks. They knew not to mess with me now.

I looked at Train and smirked, squeezing the trigger. Willgar ran in, alarmed, and tried to stop me, but all of us knew he wouldn't make it in time.

"Bang" I whispered in Train's ear as I pulled the trigger and I could feel him flinch. The gun gave an empty click and I saw that his eyes were shut. I stepped back and looked into his emotionless eyes. "Improve your skills, Train Heartnet. I wasn't even trying. Get better and challenge me when you're strong enough to be considered a threat" I spat, and then disappeared.

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I felt the others leave the room and I collapsed to my knees. Thank god they left. Thank god they didn't notice me trembling. She was good. A lot better than I had expected her to be. How could she have defeated me so eaislly? That wasn't right. No one could defeat me, Train Heartnet, The Black cat, Number XIII, without breaking a sweat or without getting hurt. She was almost...alien.

I slowly got to my feet, picking up my gun, Hades, and walked out of the room. I looked down at my trembling hands and shakily placed the gun back in to its holster. I looked around the hallway and found it empty of all life other than the plants and my cat. I sighed and thought about what had happened. If she wanted me to train and improve, I would show her just how much I could improve. I gave a small smirk and walked down the hall, towards the training room. I was shocked to see the girl from before already there. I could see her gracefully jumping and dodging the holographic dummies, and "destroying" them one by one when the intercom turned on.

"Get out of there. One of the Numbers have come for a visit."

"Fine" she hissed and glared in my direction. "Damn you, Train Heartnet" she snarled and then disappeared, leaving the holograms there looking for the target. I quickly raced to the control room and looked at the difficulty level, expecting it to be the same level as mine, if not a tiny bit lower. I had a monstrous ego. I was once again shocked to see that it was set to the hardest level, compared to me, who couldn't make it past intermediate. She didn't seem to be having too much trouble, either. That made my blood boil.

"Damn me?" I repeated, "Damn you, show off..."