Now this was originally going to be a very long fic, but I lost all inspiration for it. No, I will not continue it. It can serve as inspiration for those who need it, and a fun one-shot.

This story takes place in a world where the Reds and Blues are Ghouls, and the Freelancers work with the CCG. Church, Sarge, and Lopez are the only adult among the sim troopers, raising the rest of the sims as best they can.

Church's eyes scanned the crowd, searching for the certain shops and supplies he needed. He spotted an old man accompanied by a much younger boy, in his twenties perhaps. Church's eyes widened, and the heavy bags onto his shoulders, he began to head toward home.

He lived in a small apartment on 'BLOODGULCH AVENUE' it stood out, as the entire building had been painted blue. Glaring at the broken elevator as if his eyes would fix it, he sighed in frustration and began to climb the stairs to floor five. Upon arrival, he made his way to the dark blue door.

Opened it.

At first there was no noise, no light, no sign anything could even survive in the shadows. But as the light switched on, a small boy shot out of the dark. "CHURCH!" He screeched, "I MISSED YOU!"

The teen laughed at the seven year old, "I was only gone for five minutes! Where's Tucker?" The younger boy pouted. "In the sofa room."

"The living room?"

"That is what I said."

Church chuckled, amused. "Sure it is, Caboose."

They entered the room to see a darker-toned boy sat in the corner, looking at some magazines. He peered up and rolled his eyes, "What took you so long? I'm HUNGRY!" Church simply snatched the magazines, "Shouldn't be looking at these."

"Hey! Give them back!"

"Over my dead body!"

Tucker pouted and took out a camera, before having it snatched away by Caboose. "Oh COME ON!"

"Mine now!"

Church laughed at the two bickering boys. Caboose turned to him, "Can I take a picture?"

Church nodded, "Sure, Tucker come here! We'll take a selfie."

The three boys sat down at the camera. "Say pancakes!" Squealed Caboose.

"Pancakes!" Church beamed.

"Waffles!" Tucker laughed.

The photo was taken.

In the middle sat Church. He had paper pale skin, joyous lime green eyes and neat black hair. A scar over his lip completed the picture. On the left side of his lap sat Caboose. Energetic, dark blue eyes stared straight ahead, scruffy blonde hair just slightly covering his left eye. Skin lightly tanned. To the right there was Tucker. Dark skin accompanied by miscoloured eyes gave him quite an odd appearance. His left eye was that of a dark brown, the left a bright aqua. Well-combed, pitch black hair suited him well.

After the photo was taken, Church walked into the kitchen, followed by the thirteen and seven year olds. "Where are you going?" Asked Caboose curiously. The eldest of the three began putting things away, "I was thinking we would go visit the reds later. You two up for it?" Caboose beamed joyfully. Tucker looked concerned. "Church, we can't control our eyes yet. What if we go ghoul mode?" The ringleader sighed, "It'll be okay. The reds live nearby anyway."

As the small group of three began their short trip, two voices could be heard overhead, "Are you sure these are the two, Amon?" Mumbled the first. The second simply nodded, "Yes. I am sure, Takizawa." Both people leapt down from the rooftops, the first was shorter. He had hazel brown hair that matched the colour of his eyes. He wore the standard CCG uniform and held a small, white briefcase. The second was taller and had scruffy, black hair with cold, grey eyes. "That is the demiguise ghoul."

-o-

Church, Tucker and Caboose made their way through the city. The young blonde trying to explore each and every shop along the way. "Church, can I buy one of these?" The taller black-haired boy stifled a growl. "No, Caboose." The youngest's eyes widened, "But its Blue!" Tucker laughed, "Caboose, we're broke. No money." The blonde let out a quiet 'Aww' and they continued.

When the three finally arrived, they were greeted by silence. None of the lights were on. "Maybe they went out?" Asked Tucker, to which Caboose gasped, "Maybe private biscuit went to candy land!" The thirteen and twenty year olds rolled their eyes. "Sarge and Lopez probably just went to work. Grif, Simmons and Donut will be in their rooms." The two younger boys nodded in agreement as Church knocked on their door. The three boys received no response, but could quite clearly hear whispering on the other side.

"Who is it?"

"How should I know? I can't reach the peephole!"

"Sarge told us to stay inside and not open the door."

"But Simmons…"

Church laughed in amusement "Yo, Reds, get out here!" The door opened by just the tiniest bit, revealing a boy with pale skin, mahogany brown eyes and Freckles dotted all across his nose, which a pair of nerdy glasses rested upon. His hair was short and ragged and he wore a dark maroon top. He looked up at Church, only half a hand shorter than the blue anyway, and opened the door fully.

"Dude. You just said not to let anyone in."

"Well I didn't know it was them." Muttered the freckled boy. "Not my fault I can't see through walls."

Laughter could be heard from the direction of the lounge, and the freckled boy shot Church a desperate look. Said blue sighed in annoyance. "No. I have a fifteen and six year old to deal with. Don't lump me with your brothers too." Caboose and Tucker casually strolled inside. The room was small, and packed with stuff. Coats, boots, mouldy food, shredded paper and child's toys were a few of the littered items. The walls had mangy old wallpaper attached, and had been covered in a red substance in a futile attempt to make it look nice. As Church walked into the lounge, he came to notice fresh red stains on the walls and floor, as well as a wrecked TV, and a padlock on the mini-fridge, which another boy was trying to pick.

This boy looked about the same age as Tucker, maybe a year older. He was mix-race, and quite tanned. He was nowhere near skinny, but to call him fat would be an exaggeration. He wore a loose orange T-shirt and some trousers much too large for him. His eyes shone a dull cyan, and seemed to take a while to register what he was looking at. Scattered at his feet, were about twenty broken lock-picks. He laughed again at the freckled boy, a Hawaiian accent lacing his voice: "No. But maybe you could invent something more useful than a lock, eh, Simmons?"

The maroon-clothed teen smirked. "It is useful, Grif. It stops you from eating us out of the house."

Immediately the Hawaiian boy, Grif, continued his work.

Smiling at his victory, Simmons turned to Church. "Did you bring us anything to- Wait. Where's Caboose?"

Church laughed at Simmons' panic. It was only natural, the hyper little six year old nearly blew up the apartment the last time they visited. "Don't worry. I sent him to go play with Donut."

"There could be a worse pair."

"Yeah. You and Caboose."

"Ha ha. As if you're one to talk."

The older male sighed in defeat, but picked up the small black bag he'd been carrying. Handing it to Simmons, the older teen frowned. "When are you going to tell Donut?"

"When are you going to tell Caboose?" The younger shot back, the venom in his voice was clear.

"Donut is older than Caboose."

"Only by a few months. Besides, what would I be able to tell him? 'Oh, hello Donut. I was just looking for you. Did you know the side-effect of being a ghoul is that your only food is human flesh, and that's what you've been eating all your life?' Because I can see that going well."

Church rolled his eyes. "You should have raised him to be a ghoul! You raised him to pity humans, so he pities them, doesn't even realise there's a difference between them except for the eyes!"

Simmons dropped his gaze to the floor guiltily. "I just… He'd already been through so much… And then…" Church smiled in sympathy. "I wasn't ready to tell him."

"I know what you mean. I'm just saying, someday I won't be around. I've spotted CCG around my apartment. They know I'm there. They're planning."

"What are you going to do?"

"Get a job and haul ass. They can't kill what they can't find. I'll just kill someone and take their identity."

"You'll be caught."

"Everything dies in the end anyway."

The younger stared at him, astounded. Realizing the older didn't want to continue talking about this, he decided to shut his mouth and continue his work. Opening the black bag, he revealed several small packages encased in a small leather package. Opening one, he revealed a large cookie, but the colouring was that of an unnatural red. Blood red. Inside another was a bagel, which was also an eerie red. Simmons smiled. "You really are talented, you know. I can't thank you enough for this."

"Whatever. If the doves get me, there'll be no-one to hunt for and feed Caboose and Tucker. Sarge promising to do that much is enough of a thank you."

Nodding in agreement, Simmons placed the red foods down, taking out several more and placing each one on a separate plate. He couldn't help but notice small chunks in the… soup. "I'm still amazed at how you do this."

"It's nothing special." Church chirped, clearly enjoying the attention. "Just heat the flesh to the right degree and it won't fall apart. Then you can shape it into whatever shape you want. But, you have to be careful as you skin it, can't leave in a tiny shred of a bone either."

As Church finished speaking, Caboose and another blonde boy came rushing in. The new kid looked a similar age to Caboose, probably a year older. He had bright, scarlet eyes that seemed to twinkle in the light, as he grinned up at the two older males. If you looked close enough, you could just about see contacts in his eyes. He had freckles all across his nose and cheeks, and he had a carefree, yet somehow incredibly neat hairstyle. He'd clearly spent quite a bit of time on it. His clothes were bright pink, and they greatly contrasted the miserable, dingy apartment.

He stared at the bagel longingly. Upon noticing Church's sudden silence, Simmons noticed their arrival. "Oh! Hello Caboose, Donut. We were just about to call you for dinner." He spotted Donut's longing gaze, and pushed the plate with the bagel on it towards him. "Here. Eat up. I hope you don't mind taking Grif's down to him. Could you, please? We're a bit… busy… right now."

Donut looked up at him cheerfully. "Right! Agent double-oh-donut is on the case!" And with that, he grabbed his plate along with Grif's, calling back to Caboose: "Come on, Agent Caboose! After lunch, we gotta go save the princess from the evil dungeon!" The blue responded with an excited and cheerful 'Okay!' before darting after his friend. Not a minute later Tucker stalked in, grabbing his plate and muttering something about Grif and slaves.

Just as the six boys were finally settling down, a loud crash echoed around the room as the front door collapsed. It revealed two men, one looked to be in his sixties. He wore bright blood red clothing, and had a large jagged scar on his left jawbone. He was short, and his hair had greyed, yet he still had a certain twinkle in his eyes. The other was mid-toned in skin. He looked in his thirties or so, and had dark brown hair. It was so dark to the point it was almost black. His eyes were a dull grey and analytical steel, yet you could clearly see the bone-chilling amusement in them. He looked to be Mexican or Spanish, and wore brown clothes, each piece somehow linking him to being a mechanic. (Pictures of wrenches on his shirt; Rips and oil stains on his trousers).

Instead of tensing under the two older men's gazes, Church relaxed. "Sheesh, Sarge. Didn't have to break down the door."

"Element of surprise!" Replied the elder man cheerfully. His gaze quickly became harsh and intimidating. "I mean- How dare you trespass on the land of the reds!"

"You broke your own door down. It's safe to say you don't care about intruders."

"But you're a blue! The mortal enemy of the sworn Red Shotgun!"

"Oh yeah? Well you're a red. The sworn enemy of the lethal Blue Sniper!"

The two glared at one another for a moment, before erupting into laughter from Sarge and chuckles from Church.

"What was that about?"

"¿Qué debo saber?" Muttered the brown-clothed man.

"Wait a second Lopez. How come despite living with us for years, you still haven't picked up a word of English?"

"Probablemente tratando de evitar conversaciones como esta."

Their 'conversation' was cut short due to Church and Sarge finishing their reunion/argument/moment. The duo strolled over to the dining table, before they were each handed their food. Lopez shot a hopeful glance at the cobalt teen, who in turn, added a spice of some sort to the meal.

"Dinner is served." Chirped Tucker angelically, before ripping into his meal like a bloodthirsty beast. The 'turkey leg' did't stand a chance, and disappeared within the hour. The others ate in similar manners. Church ate quickly, yet somehow managed to stay clean. Sarge discarded his fork, and used his knife instead, grinning maniacally as he tore into the steak. Simmons was eating in an almost posh way, in fact, he and Lopez were the only ones to use their cutlery correctly. The two savored their food, the teen glaring at Tucker, who ignored him. You could hear Grif eating from the living-room. He ate faster than anyone else, made more of a mess and made more noise, obviously not bothering to chew. Caboose and Donut were eating in the seven-year-old's room, so they could not be heard.

Well... Not by a human, but the table of people could hear distinct chewing, and Donut scolding Caboose on appropriate table manners.

-o-

Meanwhile in the CCG headquarters...

A group of people were entering a large room with a long, rectangular table inside. Each were uniformed with a white coat and briefcase, though not all of the people entered, some just stared on enviously.

Among them were a few familiar faces. A young boy who looked to be in his early twenties with hazel brown hair and eyes, the other standing a head taller, with pitch black, scruffy hair and cold grey eyes. In between them stood an old man, slightly hunched over, as though the metal briefcase he carried were too heavy. On his face he wore an almost deranged look, mangled, short, white-ish grey hair dangling over his shoulders as his his dead, black eyes bore into your soul.

"Mado? Special Investigator Mado? Are you alright?" Fussed the young man, eying the elder in a worried way.

The elder waved him off. "Of course, of course. Why worry about a man like myself when you have all of Tokyo to protect?"

"I-I-I d-didn't-t m-mean it li-ike th-"

The troubled youngster was cut off by the raven-haired man. "What Takizawa-san meant, is that if the health of the Investigator is damaged, his performance on the field is also damaged. We cannot protect Tokyo if the Investigators who do so are in poor health."

Mado twirled around effortlessly, "If that is the case, then Tokyo is damned."

Takizawa and Amon frowned in annoyance, irritance clearly showing on their faces. They both gripped their briefcases a little tighter, out of Fear, Frustration, and Instinct.

"But anyway, I suspect Washuu-san will be calling the meeting. We cannot be late. Hurry."

He wandered into the room in a rush, his subordinates sharing a bemused look before rushing in after him.

Inside, several men and women dressed in similar attire to the trio sat at a long, rectangular table. They each wore black suits, accompanied by long white coats and grey ties. The colours of their clothing were similar to that of a doves.

The CCG. Commission of Counter Ghoul.

"Ah. Mado-san, Amon-san, Takizawa-san. Where were you? We were just beginning."

"Apologies for our lateness, Washuu-san. I was just discussing something with my colleagues."

Washuu simply nodded at the three, and they took their seats around the table.

"As I am sure you are aware, there has been a rise in ghoul activity here in the 20th ward, and the binge-eater has relocated here as well."

Several nods were seen around the table. Just then, a woman with her hair tied up in a bun spoke up.

"Yes. And the Demiguise Ghoul has also been sighted. My team and I have located the ghoul's point of residence, and team Mado confirmed it this morning."

Murmurs of excitement rung around the room.

"Are there any other Ghouls with the Demiguise? He is well known for his alliances."

"There were two individuals with the Demiguise. Their species is unknown. I suspect them to be ghouls as they have no public record."

"Ages and appearances?"

"Yes sir. The older is black, black hair, one blue eye and one brown. Looks to be sixteen. The younger is white, blonde hair, blue eyes. Looks to be six."

"Understood. You said you have the ghouls' point on residence?"

"Yes sir."

"Relay it to the Freelancer Unit, they have the job of killing this ghoul. He is SS Ranked, and because of this we have the ability to send one squad of our own to aid them. Any suggestions?"

"I believe Team Mado is best equipped to fight this Ghoul and adapt to the fighting style of the Freelancers. That is, if Carolina's Squad is sent into battle. Would you agree, Special Investigator Mado?"

At that point, all attention was turned to the old Investigator and his Subordinates, who tensed at the sudden interest. Mado smiled maniacally, before turning to a woman on his left. She was frowning in annoyance, slightly pulling on her shoulder-length brown hair. Her cold, emerald green eyes glared right back at him.

"I would agree. However, it is up to Investigator Connecticut here, she is a freelancer, after all."

All the attention was then placed on the young woman, who was supressing a growl. Connecticut, or better known as C.T, was the only freelancer who had shown up. She was a part of Team North, whose other members were: North Dakota, leader. Wyoming, sniper. And finally South Dakota, artillery. Connecticut was well-known as an informant, and was usually the brains for the team. She was also North's stand in, for when he didn't show up to meetings. Which he never did.

C.T sighed, "I would also agree with Miss. Zhiki. Carolina, Maine, Washington, and New York have been looking for Demiguise for a long time. As a matter of fact, all of the freelancer squads have. He is our top priority and he has a bounty of 2,000,000 yen on his head. However, he is wanted alive. If you kill him, the CCG will receive no such funding. Is this clear?"

The room broke into outrage.

"Who does she think she is?!"

"This is a ghoul we are talking about!"

"Why does Freelancer want a ghoul?!"

"Damn Mercanaries!"

Washuu raised his hand to indicate silence, which was given. Turning to C.T, a slight frown made its way onto his usually neutral face. "Why do the Freelancers require a ghoul?"

"Classified. But I assume it is because of the abnormal ability the Demiguise has."

"Which is?"

"Demiguise has five kagune sacs. He can produce at least five different kagune, and it is unclear as to whether he has more. It is also unclear as to whether he is a kakuja. And it is unclear if it can use more than one kagune at a time. In addition, we also don't know if it is possible that if he has a kakuja, maybe hehas more than one. I suspect the Director wishes to pput him in battle scenarios to uncover the answers."

Whispers spread among the crowd, worried glances and troubled gestures accompanied them.

"Impossible. A ghoul cannot have more than one kagune type."

"An eyewitness told us he was preyed upon by a ghoul with an Ukaku kagune. When provoked by a CCG member who had stepped in, the Ukaku kagune disappeared and was replaced by a Rinkaku, just so it could have the upper hand in battle. The description matched that of the Demiguise's.

"Have I proved my point? The director will come for this ghoul, with the assistance of the CCG or not. So. Keeping all this in mind, will you aid us?"

Silence.

"...We agree. If all you have said is true, I will up the ranking of the Demiguise from SS to SSS."

"That will not be nessecary."

"It is a mere precaution."

"...Fine. The Freelancers accept your terms."

-o-

The Next Day...

Amon sighed. He and Takizawa had been frantically searching the web for anything that could give them an edge in battle. Even clips of how the Freelancers fought were welcome.

No such luck, however a few things had been established. One was which teams would be accompanying them. Carolina Squad, North Squad, as well as I.O.W.A Squad would be joining them. C.T had spoken to them barely a minute prior, apparently the latter Squad had been assigned as 'cannon fodder.' Amon was just hoping she was kidding.

The second thing was the date of the attack. 1st of April. A week from now, a foreboding feeling was settling in Amon's stomach because of said date. It was April Fools day, and Amon couldn't help but feel as though he was the one that was being tricked.

It all felt too easy. A note had been given to all the apartments except from the one the ghoul occupied. Each apartment had already confirmed they wouldn't be caught in the crossfire. The landlord had confirmed the ghoul was still taking residence there. It was all going perfectly.

And that was what was so weird.

It's not meant to run so smoothly, especially for an SSS ranked ghoul!

He and Takizawa had had to write out wills in case they didn't make it out. Amon could only wonder if Mado had done the same.

Amon had never actually seen the Freelancers in action. He knew they were similar to the CCG, in the way it was their job to exterminate Ghouls, however they could also be hired by the government or public. This was because, unlike the CCG, they didn't recieve payment from said government.

However, this led to them having a rather sketchy backround.

After all, you never know if your customer is a ghoul until they show their kagune

As Amon was quizzing over what to do next, a rather noisy trio entered the room.

"How do you know he's here, I.O.W.A?"

"A woman has her ways."

"And her days."

"HEY!"

"You mean: heyooo!"

Amon frowned at the newcomers. There were two males and a female. The female seemed to be the smartest among them, though she still bickered with the other two. Her clothing was a light blue T-shirt with the words: 'A soldier that still kicks butt!' inscribed upon it. Her trousers were that of a pale navy blue, and had white symbols on them. A pair of wings with I.O.W.A on them. Her eyes were an ivory grey that held intelligence, yet undeniable stupidity, and her hair was a dark crimson that fell straight to her hips.

The first male had a lanky structure, no visable muscle anywhere. His eyes were a calming, joyous blue, and he too seemed smarter than he let on. His clothing was the same as the girl's except the name on them was Ohio. He had Raven-black hair, and it was rather unruly, clearly neglected for several days.

The last male was almost toned. His clothing was the same as the other two's, except for the fact the name was Idaho. Littered all over his exposed arms were several hundred burn scars, portraying bad luck with fire. He was a little paler than the others, and he sneezed every now and again. There was little to any intelligence in those emerald eyes, and his hair had recently been shaved, though it was slowly growing back.

The woman glared at the two men, seething with annoyance. "Look. Can't we just look or act professional for this once? We're about to meet the CCG Officers we're working with!"

...What?

If he had heard this woman correctly- and he had- they were working wih CCG Investigators. And they were to meet here. And those names on their trousers...

"Oh. You have got to be kidding me." Muttered Takizowa, figuring it all out.

"Hey! Name ten things you wouldn't think taste delicious, but totally taste delicious."

"Kangaroo tails!"

"One!"

"Those Chocolates that look like mini shits!"

"Two!"

"GUYS STOP IT! YOU ARE EMBARASSING YOURSELVES!"

The CCG Investigators stared on in befuddlement at the squabbling Freelancers. These were the elite Mercanaries working alongside the CGG and public? Them?

Just then another woman walked in, edging around the arguing trio. This one was familiar. It was C.T.

"I see you found the cannon-fodder."

Amon finally understood.

"What do you mean?"

But Takizowa was still confused as hell.

"Meet The Triplets. The least skilled Freelancers in The Mother of Invention. They were recruited for their uncanny bad luck. Teams Alpha and Beta sneak them into a base, Idaho sneezes, any Mongoose within a ten-mile-radius is destroyed. Ohio tries to shoot a guard at point-blank range? Sets off a trap that the guard falls victim to. I.O.W.A is just bad luck all around. These three are our bad luck charms."

Both men turned their attention back to the trio.

"It's official. Command wants us dead."

"If they wanted us dead, they wouldn't have sent Squad Carolina and Squad North... Right?"

C.T laughed in amusement. "Yeah! We're the top of our legue!"

Amon and Takizowa exchanged sighs of relief.

The girl of the trio walked over, annoyed and red-faced. "H-Hello. Sorry about that... My name's I.O.W.A. Over there are Ohio and Idaho. Are you Mado Squad?"

"Yes. My name is Amon, I am training under Mado-san. This is Takizowa, he is also training under Mado-san."

"A pleasure! I hope we will succeed on this mission, the Director has been pursuing the Demiguise for many years! It is an honour to be elected to hunt it!"

Amon and Takizowa sweat dropped, these were the 'elite Freelancers?!'

-o-

With the Demiguise...

The reds and blues had finished their meal, and were headed to the now-empty bridges. They were secluded, far from the city, and slinking into the shadows, they would be undetected. Sarge, Lopez and Church had split up, each escorting a group of the younger ghouls. Lopez was taking Donut and Caboose (much to his dismay), Church was taking Tucker and Grif, and Sarge was taking Simmons.

Sarge and Simmons were also to pick up another young ghoul on their way to the bridge. Frank Du'Frense, otherwise known as Doc because he was the only ghoul among them training in medicne. He had a scrawny figure, and when his kagune was activated, his disorder would kick in, a multi personality. He went from a pacifist ghoul to a bloodthirsty one, hence why he refused to activate his kagune of his own free will. He and the others called his other personality 'O'Malley.' Doc wore glasses, which O'Malley would throw off, hence why Doc spent so much Yen* on glasses. His hair was an oak brown, and became darker when O'Malley came around. He always wore purple, much to the dismay of his counterpart.

The three groups rendezvoused at the chosen area. Lopez and Sarge took up the first scouting time. That left Church to train the rookies.

"You know, at times like this, I kinda get why the humans are scared shitless of us." Muttered Grif, as he looked around their arena.

"What do you mean?" Asked Simmons, seeming genuinely curious.

"Well..." Began Tucker, "Don't you get it? We're hiding from the cops, like bad guys. We're training for war, like bad guys. And our family is training us to kill them. Like-"

"Bad guys. We get it." Finished Grif and Simmons, in sync. The two reds shared a glare, before trotting over to Church.

Said blue was talking to Caboose and Donut. This would be Donut's first lesson, and Caboose's ninth. He was just explaining the rules.

In short, they would be fighting.

Usually the key to unlocking a young ghoul's kagune for he first time was through either:

A: Starvation.

B: Stress.

C: Fear.

And so, to unlock their Kagune's Church would pit them against someone of the opposite colour, and have them fight until first blood.

Eventually, he decided on Donut VS Tucker, Caboose VS Grif, and Lopez VS Church. Simmons would fight the winner of Tucker's match, Doc would fight the winner of Grif's match, and Sarge would fight the winner of Lopez's match.

First up was Donut and Tucker.

Tucker was a Koukaku, his Kagune was a rare one only passed down through the Tucker bloodline. Like all Koukaku, it extended from the shoulder to form a sword-like shape, however unlike most Koukaku, it became a sword split through the middle. Like a double blade. It was of an aquamariene hue, and small flecks of white and red would appear and fade at random intervals of time.

Since Donut hadn't yet unlocked his kagune, Tucker was forbidden from using his. It was a rule of which had been made by both Sarge and Church. After all, the Reds and Blues had once been infamous ghoul terrorist groups. They had disbanded a few years back. Church was a descendant of the leader, and Sarge was the previous leader. Now though, all that remained of the once fearsome groups, were the young ghouls orphaned during the battles. Doc, Caboose, Tucker, Grif, Simmons, and Donut. Lopez was Sarge's advisor.

Which was moronic, because the Red didn't speak a lick of Spanish.

But that was besides the point.

The match was beginning.

-o-

Eating at a small malasada café, we find Amon and the triplets. In all honesty, Amon would rather be anywhere other than here. Heck, he'd even rather be in the jaws of a ghoul! The triplets were noisy, untrained, unprofessional, and were Amon's exact opposites! Opposites do not attract!

"But I.O.W.A..."

"No! Ohio, Idaho! We're here to discuss news and share information!"

Ah yes. Sharing information undisclosed to the public in a public restaurant. Because that was a good idea.

Considering his options, Amon was almost hoping they would stay on the current topic until his time ran out.

"Ew! Dude you ate that?!"

"Five second Rule!"

...Almost.

As Idaho and Ohio spun into another drabble too idiotic to even bother listening to, I.O.W.A groaned and rubbed her temples, dark red hair falling down her face and covering it, as an almost evil aura surrounded her. The two males of the triplets seemed to sense the oncoming danger, and wisely backed away, finally shutting up.

Well, at least one of them was even remotely sane.

"I apologise, Investigator. The director was not... Well... In his best of mind upon assigning us to you."

"Yeah! You'd have to be crazy to assign us to a hunting squad!"

"Totally! We're terrible at our jobs!"

Biting back an unprofessional remark of: 'I can tell,' Amon simply sighed and smiled. Well, if they weren't going to be much of a help, then he best try and figure things out now.

"Pay no heed. Anyway, we have important matters to discuss... Though I'm unsure as to whether this is an appropriate place..."

"Don't worry! No one cares in Kukui Café! It's the perfect place!"

"...Right..."

The fact that the only reason the trio considered this place a good place was because no one really cared about them was somewhat troublesome to Amon, though not that unexpected. They were Freelancers after all, no matter how... undertrained they proved to be. The tiny café was rather empty, the furniture rusty and sparse, the workers clearly didn't care that many illegal things probably went on here. Heck, the place practically screamed: Many illegal things go on inside me! And yet it seemed that no investigators, freelancers, or even police officers had been dispatched here. Then again, it was the Investigator's job to kill ghouls, not patrol neighbourhoods. The infamous Freelancers likely had better things to do too, and policemen were sparse and few in number.

"Anyway! When is your partner getting here?"

"Which one, Mado-san? Or Takizowa-san?"

"Both, I guess..."

"Takizowa will be here sh-"

"I'm here! Don't start without me!"

At that moment, the young hazel-haired man sprinted into the café, ignored by the other customers. He immediately took a seat, panting slightly.

"Where were you?"

"Sorry! I got held up, won't happen again!"

"Let's begin now, shall we? Or do we still have to wait for Mad-oh?"

"Mado. And he is on duty. He shan't be accompanying us."

"Then let's get started!"

I.O.W.A began. The Freelancers had the most information on the demiguise ghoul, this was just to get the Investigators up to speed.

"Now, form what we know, the Demiguise is an SS-Rank Ghoul who got his name from his ability to switch out kagune. The reason this team was assigned the mission, as I confirmed earlier, was because we have background experience with the damn monster."

"You do?" -Takizowa

"Yeah. There was a turf war between two groups of ghouls a while back, you should remember that, ne?" -Ohio

"We're new, sorry." -Takizowa

"No prob! Anywho, there were two groups, the Reds and Blues. They weren't very strong, and were wiped out easily by the Freelancers, Investigators, and whatever team they weren't on." -Ohio

"Yep! But there was the leaders to worry about! They were really really strong! I'd never seen anything like it!" -Idaho

"They called themselves: The Red Shotgun, for Red team. And The Blue Sniper, for blue team." -I.O.W.A

"So these leaders were the only strong ones?" -Amon

"Pretty much." -Idaho

Takizowa frowned in annoyance and crossed his arms, a frustrated huff escaping his lips as he spoke. "So... Loving the history lesson and all, but how is this important? These ghouls disappeared ages ago, right?"

In response, Idaho scowled and flicked Takizowa's forehead as he continued, "Well yeah! But, we think The Blue Sniper is the Demiguise ghoul!"

"What led you to this conclusion?"

"They have the same ability, and look really alike according to witness reports. Then there's the fact that they let the witnesses survive."

"Wait What?"

"I know right! It's weird Our last witness said that she was being mugged when the demiguise appeared! He killed the baddie quick, as if he didn't want him to be in pain, and stared at her, right in her eyes! And he just walked away after checking she was okay! Isn't that cool?! He's like a vigilante! I almost don't wanna catch him..."

Amon and Takizowa were stunned into a shocked silence. A ghoul who not only saved people, but only hurt those in the wrong? Surely the woman must have been lying! Though they looked at I.O.W.A's eyes, and as though they were speaking to the witness herself, they could see they knew the report was no lie.

"Amazing..."

"I know! ...I was kinda hoping we could let this one go... He isn't killing for fun like a gourmet, and he's only attacking the bad guys..."

"Good or bad, he is a ghoul, and all ghouls must be brought to justice."

"R-right..."

-o-

With the Reds and Blues

Church sneezed, before regaining his usual indifference as he watched the match. Donut VS Tucker had long since ended, the blue the winner, though that was likely only because of the big age gap between them. Donut's dodging had definitely improved though, and he was now enjoying a bright pink raspberry lollipop, Caboose staring envyingly. Caboose's match had been postponed, as he was too worried about Donut to fight. The current match was an improvised, all-out sibling rivalry between Grif and Simmons.

"I'll get you, fatass!"

"Not on your life, nerd!"

Grif thrust forward with a left hook, his fist aimed for the skinnier boy's torso. Simmons immediately dodged, although only by a hair, and he leapt over his younger sibling-by-bond, landing a light kick to the head. Grif collapsed to the floor, seemingly out cold. "GRIF!" Yelped Simmons, rushing towards the younger, stockier boy, only to end up with a fist to the face as he knelt down.

"That's for kicking me, kissass."

Church smirked as he watched Grif help up Simmons, only to drop the older boy's hand, and let him conveniently fall face-first back to the ground.

"Asshole!"

"Kissass!"

"Prick!"

"Piece of- Hey!"

Sarge had strolled up to the two in the middle of their bickering, scowling as he bonked the orange-themed ghoul up the head and began reprimanding him about honour amidst battle.

"It's one thing that ya beat him, ya don' need ta rub it in!"

"There's no such thing as honour against shitty doves, and they're who we're training to fight!"

Simmons wasn't off the hook either, as Church was... reminding him that ghouls weren't as weak as humans and that he shouldn't back down so easily.

"The fuck was that shit? Get it together would you? A real dove would have replaced that fist with a Quinque!"

"It's not like I would charge a dove like that!"

In the end, Grif was declared the winner due to his rare quick thinking.

Finally, Church and Lopez stood up, frowning as they drew their various Kagune. The 'blue sniper' was using an Ukaku kagune, two cobalt wings spreading out from his shoulder blades. Meanwhile, the 'Brown Technician' allowed two dark, brownish-red bikaku tails to form from his tailbone. They fanned out, the user frowning as her stared down one of the blue's many kagune. The one he was weak to.

And the match began.