A/N: Sorry for updating so slowly! I kind of lost interest with all the new anime. But I came back! Hope you like the chapter! Sorry, and I'll try to update in a fixed pattern.
Disclaimer: Don't own. Never Will.
Chapter 2 - Slowly Shifting
Back to the Present
As Vuoto sat down with a frustrated huff, dropping the bags of new clothing. He had tried to buy things that wouldn't really stand out, such as simple hoodies, simple t-shirts, simple pants and simple hats. It had gone well. He now had about six backup outfits in case of attacks so they could blend in with the rest of Italy. And during the time that he had gone out, Pantera had somehow decided that going out with a crap ton of money and spending it all on sweets was a good idea.
"...Say, Pantera."
"Mmh-hmm?"
"How much did you spend?"
"Eh, I dunno. Just a handful of coins, that's all."
"And how much do you think that handful of coins was worth?"
"Enough to get me two giant bags of heaven."
"By 'heaven' you mean 'candy,' don't you?"
"You know me so well."
Vuoto gave a long, disappointed sigh and ran a hand through his hair. Sure, a handful wasn't much, but the sweets would keep Pantera in a sugar-high state for probably a month or more... which meant an even more of the hot-headed idiot running down the streets of Italy. Though he was nineteen, Pantera enjoyed acting like a ten-year old. Sometimes it was like their ages were reversed.
"Don't eat too much. Save some for later."
"You worry too much, mom," Pantera teased, shoving another gumdrop into his mouth. Then, setting the bag down, he shifted over and took a peek at the clothing that Vuoto had bought. "It's a bit plain," the redhead commented, shaking his head.
The younger of the two simply glared at him. "Well, would you rather die and look good or live and look normal?"
Pantera gave a hair flick and focused his vibrant green eyes on Vuoto, giving his usual lady-killer look. "If I'm going down, I'm going down in flamboyance," he announced dramatically, one hand on his hip.
Vuoto simply chucked a hoodie at his face.
"Yeah, well, flamboyance comes before the fall," the brunet added blandly, putting the extra clothing in one of the makeshift closets. Then he put on a wicked smile. "And don't worry about looking amazing. If it really comes down to a situation where we have to ditch everything and run, I've got the most epic outfits ever."
Seeing the crazy glint in Vuoto's eyes, Pantera paled. After the boy had read books where the main characters cross-dressed, he had gone on a spree to make sure that the both of them could disguise as females in desperate situations. "V-Vuoto..." The redhead laughed nervously, backing up slowly to where his candy stash was. "Y-you don't mean..."
The brunet reached into his bundle of clothing and pulled out a long, expensive purple dress. It was sleeveless and was heavily decorated with ribbon. A black ribbon rested at the back and a fake rose had been pinned onto the chest area.
"I hope you like cosplay," Vuoto smiled, voice eerily happy. "Because, if worse comes to worst, we'll be doing a lot of it."
Pantera's jaw had dropped to the ground. "B-but that's insane! What happened to laying low?"
"It's okay," the younger replied, voice still in a sing-song tone. "I got myself a really nice kimono. It's very pretty. It has a ton of colours and it droops really low and has a ton of layers. Oh, and I got this cool hair accessory as well."
"...Vuoto, are you sure you're not a girl?"
"I blame you for introducing me to that series."
Pantera pouted in the corner, reminding himself to find all of his books and burn them. Italy didn't have many interesting novels, and since neither of them could read that well, Pantera had found a book store that sold comic-like books that mainly consisted of pictures. Since he found them interesting, he showed them to Vuoto, who surprisingly said "I can read them." They were in Japanese. Pantera decided not to question it. The kid was weird. Mood swings, hidden talents, etc. Vuoto was chalk-full of secrets.
And though the kid's disguises were amazing, dressing as a girl was diving straight out of his comfort zone and into the Abyss of Doom, Destruction and Embarrassment.
"Anyway," Vuoto started, voice back to normal, looking at their food supplies. "I think we should get something from Grandma."
"Yeah," the redhead agreed, feeling hungry and very pleased to leave the previous topic. "Something fresh this time."
Ever since Vuoto and Pantera started working as a team, they had stolen food from various bakeries and take-on-the-go places out of curiosity. It was then that they discovered that this little place called Foglia di Rosa was literally heaven on earth. The meals were absolutely marvelous and the old lady that ran the store had actually seen them stealing something - but all she did was give a crinkled smile and laughed, saying "just don't take too much." Pantera blinked a few times while Vuoto blushed madly, both of them dropping everything and bolting out the door.
Ever since that day, they had started calling the old lady "Grandma".
Grandma had always remembered to leave a tray or two of freshly cooked food for the duo. It seemed like she had clued in about them being orphans and all. Pantera and Vuoto had no problem with free food.
As the two were changing into their casual clothing, Vuoto said, "Do you think she'll ever tell us to pay?"
Pantera cocked an eyebrow as he pulled on his new fingerless gloves. "Hm?"
"Grandma's really nice. She knows we always take stuff, but she doesn't ask for money." Vuoto flipped the hood of his sweater up. With his orange-hued eyes, the kid would get a lot of ladies in the future. "Maybe we should pay her back somehow."
"Well, when that comes, we'll give her whatever she wants." The redhead shrugged as he tugged on new shoes, tying the laces. "But she seems like a really nice lady. She also has a good life. Stable income, stable family..."
"Yeah." The younger of the two grabbed his backpack, ready to go. "She's been giving us food for so long now. It's only fair that we should give back what we've taken."
"Well, before we get too deep into this subject, let's get dinner. I'm starved."
"Thank you, Grandma!"
"See you tomorrow!"
Vuoto and Pantera waved at the old lady, walking away. After another great meal, the duo decided to go back instead of snatch anything else from the nearby mansions. Usually after dinner, they would find some rich family with lax security and toy around with the guards for a while before heading back. But Vuoto had insisted on returning right away since Pantera had "decided to be a dumb fucking idiot and stole from the mafia". The redhead shrugged and agreed since they were both pretty tired from running away from the men in the first place.
"Okay, I think we need to reestablish our theft rules," the brunet suggested, though his tone of voice clearly said that his word was going to be heard.
Pantera gave his usual pouty face as he shoved his hands into the pockets of his hoodie. "Aw, c'mon. We already have so many rules. Let's keep it down."
"Ah, yes, well those were before somebody decided go screw around with the mafia."
"Hmph. You're not a very polite eleven year-old."
"And this is coming from a ninteen year-old who acts even younger than said ten year-old?"
As the older of the two skipped along the sidewalk and the younger walked close to the alleyways, a gunshot rang out somewhere along the dark corridors. A gleam shone in the shadows, and by instinct, they both stepped aside, their instincts kicking in. Pantera sidestepped to the right and Vuoto flipped to the left, the two quickly taking shelter on opposite sides of the alleyway. A quick curse was heard and running followed afterward. It only took one glance from the two to react.
Pantera pointed upward, his yellow eyes shining dangerously in the night. The suburbs never had good lighting in the first place, and the darkness made the redhead look surprisingly predatorial. Vuoto caught his action and nodded.
The redhead smiled as he took off after the shooter. It simply took a clench of his fists for his gauntlets to coat the fingerless gloves in a thick layer of shiny metal. The familiar sound of the layers of metal plates opening up and spreading along his arms gave Pantera a rush of adrenaline. He knew the feeling well. And he loved in.
As the redhead ran, he lifted his head up ever so slightly. Gunpowder, he thought to himself as a feral smile made its way onto his lips. All it took was one whiff of the air for Pantera to lock onto the shooter's scent and track it until said shooter was dead. Quickly sprinting down an alleyway to the left, Pantera skidded to a stop, the smile still on his face.
"Come on out," the redhead sang out in a cheerful tone. "Don't you know it's rude to try to assassinate someone without first knowing their name?"
A cold laugh rang out from nowhere, and Pantera quickly noted that the tone of voice was different from before. Was it a different person?
"A thief shouldn't speak about the morale of assassins so casually," the deep, smooth voice called out, a mocking undertone to it. "Especially a petty pickpocketer like you."
Pantera's eye twitched and his smile faded away, shifting into a dangerous snarl. Now that he was separated from Vuoto, he could drop the cute kid act.
"Listen, bastard," he growled, knees bending and ready for action. Yellow eyes shone violently in the darkness of the alleyway. "I'll let you know that I could find you and break your neck without breaking a sweat. Show your face so I can decide which way to cave it in."
A "tsk, tsk" followed by another laugh echoed in. From a building above, a shadow dropped down from a high perch. Several other figures followed him down. Tensing, Pantera raised his hands, prepared for any surprise attacks that could be launched at him. The figure in front, who was surprisingly taller than the rest, tapped the black fedora sitting on top of his head.
"You've been getting in the way of the Aquila Family. M041 needs to return back to his rightful home." The man stepped forward, raising his hands in the air as to prove that he was unarmed. Ha. Like that ever worked.
"I'll assume that when you say 'M041' you're referring to Vuoto," Pantera said blandly, a foul taste in his mouth. So clearly the men were mafiosi. But what did the family want specifically with Vuoto? Why just him? The scent of the mafiosi was familiar. So it was the Aquila Family that the two had raided earlier. But why not capture both of the thieves?
The tall hitman nodded, the stepped back. "Indeed. He needs to return. His purpose was no more than to serve the Aquila Family. That is the sole reason for his existence. He is our champion."
Pantera let loose a wild laugh. Some of the men flinched and raised their weapons. The cackle was one bordering the lines of sanity and insanity.
"Ah," the redhead giggled, laughing truly for the first time in a long time. "You think you can control a beast like that?" Raising his right gauntlet, Pantera's predatory eyes locked onto the men in front of him, glaring at them with all the intensity of a wild animal with its fangs and claws bared. "They call me Giaguaro, but they clearly haven't met Vuoto's wild side yet. But before he can even get here..."
Pantera shot forward, grabbing one of the men's faces and slamming him into the ground. A sickening crack echoed across the narrow pathway, and the tall mafioso quickly retreated behind the others.
"...I'll kill you all."
The first man grimaced at the sight of his comrade's blood. Then he pulled out a sleek black gun from his coat, firing several times in Pantera's direction. The redhead ducked low and grabbed onto the lid of a trash can, avoiding the incoming bullets. With a flick of his wrist, he chucked the projectile at the man, and he went down with a loud slam and a groan. He didn't stay down, though. Broken nose aside, he slowly stood back up as another mafioso ran up from behind him, a baton raised as he charged toward Pantera.
"Oh my," the redhead commented, seeing how the baton sparked violently while coming into contact with the ground after he dodged it. "That must've been expensive." The mafioso snarled and lunged at him again, but Pantera simply flipped over him. As his back hit the brick wall, the mafioso laughed and viciously went for an attack. However, the redhead sidestepped and kicked his stomach, causing the fat man to drop the baton. While he was immobilized, Pantera punched an incoming mafioso in the face, making sure to at least break his nose and jaw. The fat mafioso slowly regained his bearings, stumbling around a little. Pantera took the opportunity to run at him, jumping and hooking his legs around the man's neck. Using his force, the redhead forced the man down, and as his palms touched the pavement, Pantera slammed his legs down, bring the fat man with him. A quick snap delivered a neck-breaking blow. Literally.
Pantera yawned and stretched a little, watching as two smaller, more agile mafiosi charged at him. The first had dual knives and the second had a whip. As Knife Man gave a quick slice, Pantera sidestepped and let the whip wrap around his gauntlet. The Whip Man smiled as he realized his had his target, but quickly gasped as he was dragged forward with unnatural force. The redhead smiled as he gripped onto the stretchy whip, using both hands to swing the man straight into the other. They both collided with the wall in a painful and bloody mess.
Of course, there was still the mafioso with a broken nose. Pantera simply walzed over and punched him into the ground.
Brushing off the specks of blood on his gauntlets, Pantera looked up at the tall mafioso with glee in his eyes. "Well, there goes your henchmen. Feel free to send more. I'm pretty out of shape."
The tall man smirked from underneath his fedora, snapping his fingers. Suddenly, Pantera locked in place. It was as if his limbs and nerves completely shut down and froze in place, refusing to move at all. As his gauntlets shifted back to normal fingerless gloves, the redhead felt a trickle of sweat run down his face.
"I suppose I did underestimate you," the mafioso admitted, the smirk still prominent on his visage. "But let me thank you as well. You took care of the trash. Now I can get some exercise as well."
Pantera gulped - or, at least, tried to. His fingers wouldn't even twitch. The man clapped his hands together, and from a flurry of purple flames, a scythe appeared. His slender fingers grabbed onto the hilt and he spun it around a few times. He was clearly very skilled and knew what was doing. Which sucked.
"It's unfortunate that you never learned how to harness Flames," the man sighed, slowly stepping closer. "You would've been such a formidable Storm Flame user. Oh well. The weak, sadly, do not get to chose their way of death. Goodbye."
Just as the sickeningly sharp blade swung down, a figure dropped down between the two, slamming down with enough force to crack the pavement beneath him. Pantera gave a smile as he realized he could move again.
"Took you long enough," he whined, rubbing his wrists. "My gauntlets got all dirty and it's all your fault."
"Pantera."
The redhead paled as he heard the tone of voice. He paled even further when he saw the flaming fists. And paled to an extremely unhealthy shade as he saw the furious orange eyes.
Vuoto stood between his comrade and his enemy, Sky Flames burning off him dangerously. His usually calm eyes shone with bloodthirst and the killer intent rolled off him in waves.
"Stand back," he snarled, raising both flaming fists. "I'll end him."
