I'm a sucker for compliments. I've got grade 11 and 12 work up to wazoo as well as my job, and my brother keeps telling me to work on my book (He created one of the characters and wants to read it ASAP.), but I find myself writing fanfic everytime I get a new review. *sigh* I have no self-control. Not to mention I keep slacking off ALL of my responsibilities and even hobbies by reading six different manga series. Series? Serieses. Serii. Hm... It just doesn't sound right.

I just spent two hours cleaning my room. ...Just in case you wanted to know.

Train: Weren't you supposed to clean it over the past three days?

Me: Did you help me?

Train: Well, that doesn't-

Me: DID YOU HELP ME?

Train: ...No.

Me: Then, stop criticising!

The New Adventures of Black Cat

Pink Slime

Lloyd Graham bolted down the street, his flaming-red, mop-like hair flopping up and down. He wasn't about to be caught by a couple of mere sweepers. He had gotten away with enough thefts to be able to get out of town and lay low for a while. He would just have to make it back to his motel room, grab the stash, and get a cab. He couldn't be caught by a half-blind man and a little girl.

A younger man with brown bed hair jumped out of nowhere and stood uncomfortably close to Lloyd. He felt a gun press up against his ribs.

"Let's not cause a scene," Train suggested.

"You won't shoot," Lloyd chuckled. "You need me alive."

He shoved Train out of the way and kept running. Train spun around and tossed his Hades, still holding it by the extendible cable. The weapon smacked Lloyd in the ankle and tripped him over. Other people had begun to notice and give the pair a wide birth. Train snapped his gun back into his hand as he bolted over to his target. Lloyd jumped to his feet and delivered a massive blow for Train's stomach, but Train weaved out of the way and hit him in the back of the neck. Lloyd lurched forward and fell to his knees. He heard the hammer cock behind him.

"So?" Train mocked.

A rope net suddenly burst from off to the side and ensnared Lloyd. The force of the flying net made him topple over the ground.

"Aw, I wanted to see him freak out a bit more," Train complained.

"If he has time to freak out, he has time to get away," Sven pointed out in frustration. "If he gets away, we don't eat."

"I don't eat anyway," Train whined, forcing himself to look frailer than he actually was.

"You raided my fridge before we left! I saw you eat the last of the ham!"

"But I'm still hungry."

Eve came up behind Sven and stared down blankly at the man in the net while the other two continued to argue about Train's infinite appetite. Lloyd smirked up at the girl with deep confidence. Eve watched his skin and flesh slowly melt until he was just a blob of pinkish liquid.

"Sven."

Sven and Train followed Eve's line of sight to the goop as is squirmed free of the net and stood erect to form the man that was Lloyd Graham. He chuckled coyly.

Train instinctively swung violently, but his arm passed right through Lloyd. It left a disgusting feeling up his arm. Lloyd took his opening and punched Train across the jaw. Train staggered to the side, and Lloyd dashed off.

"Get back here!" Sven barked. He fired another net from his briefcase, but Lloyd's body allowed it to simply pass through.

Train gave chase and quickly caught up again. Lloyd had by now concluded that Train was too fast for him to be able to run away. He switched to offence and flailed about at Train, unable to actually hit him.

Train could dodge such random attacks in his sleep, which meant he had time to contemplate his situation. Lloyd's hand had to return to normal for him to hit Train. Train could always block at the last second, but that wouldn't do anything towards stopping him. The net had been proven useless. Train would have to knock Lloyd unconscious. He needed to catch him unawares before he had the chance to change into his blob-like form.

Eve swooped in and bashed Lloyd over the head, her hair in the shape of a giant hammer. Train pushed all his force into one hit in the temple. Lloyd melted on impact. The pink slime seeped between the cracks in the cobblestone road and disappeared.

"We lost him," Sven observed, his face the very picture of disappointment.

"Yeah," Train grumbled, wearing the same expression.

"He was using Tao," Eve thought aloud.

Train frowned curiously. "I see only one solution for a problem like this," he said thoughtfully as he rubbed his chin.

"What is it?" Sven queried.

Train threw his hand in the air. "Lunch!"

"WE HAVE NO MONEY!"

Train saw someone out of the corner of his eye. It was just a glimpse, but it was all he needed to know she were watching him. Maybe it would be best if he ignored her, or maybe he should go and talk to her while he had the chance.

"Well, what are we going to do now?" Eve asked.

Sven shrugged and lit a cigarette. "We need to find out what's going on with these Taoists. Train, did you-" Train was gone. Sven scanned the street, but he couldn't see him anywhere. "Typical."

Train wasn't actually all that far away. He was still on the roof of the building Sven and Eve were standing in front of. He climbed up as soon as no one was watching. He watched the black and white figure continue on her way. He followed her. Train didn't know why he was bothering to even consider explaining things to Kara. She was just another sweeper he had run into. It shouldn't matter what she thought of him. Although, there was something about Kara that seemed familiar.

Kara glanced around cautiously as she walked into a building. Either she could somehow sense Train's eyes upon her, or this was a place she didn't want anyone seeing her going to. Train lowered himself down to the second-story window and crept inside. It looked like an ordinary apartment. He left the room and went out into the hall just as Kara came up the stairs. She caught sight of Train and hid around the corner. Train kept his nonchalant attitude and pretended he hadn't noticed her. He stuck his hands in his pockets and walked past the staircase where she was pressed up against the wall in hope that he wouldn't see her.

"I'm not like that anymore," Train muttered as he passed, seemingly to himself. "It's the life of a stray cat for me." Train wasn't really a people person. He wouldn't normally have gone through any effort to do something like this, and he didn't really have anything to say.

Quite to his surprise, Kara reached out and grabbed his arm. He stopped and turned to face her.

"You're the Black Cat," Kara guessed, pointing to Train's tattoo with her fingertip hardly a millimetre from touching his collarbone.

"I was."

"They say Black Cat died quite a while ago."

"He did. I'm just Train."

Kara still seemed a little scared, but something compelled her to move past that. She bit her bottom lip and trembled slightly. "I-I'm sorry I panicked and left," she stammered. "You probably get that a lot."

"I guess we were both a little quick to judge," Train chortled. Kara smiled as she appeared to realise that this was the closest thing to an apology she was going to get.

"I've decided not to go after Binder, though," she said. "I'm going to go visit a friend for a while out of town."

"I'm gonna do whatever I feel like when I wake up in the morning," Train shared, ruffling his own hair. "Besides, if we kept working together, Chronos would probably want me to assassinate you in case secrets got out." There was an awkwardly long pause. Train still wore his broad, cheesy grin. Kara blinked her wide eyes up at him. "It was a joke, Kara."

"Really? I couldn't tell."

Train slumped his shoulders. If they kept working together, Train might have killed her of his own volition.

Kara gave a girlish wave and skipped off down the hall. At least she was in high spirits again. She pulled a key out of her pocket and went into one of the rooms. Train began ambling down the stairs, but a sudden thought stopped him. Kara was staying with someone else out of town. Why did she have a room here? Even if she was just staying the night and leaving the next day, she had no money; she had told Train that very morning. Nevertheless, the answer didn't affect Train.

A piercing scream echoed down the hall. Train impulsively ran the way Kara had gone and kicked the door down. Lloyd had Kara in his grasp with his hand covering her mouth and his other arm around her waist, covering her pistols so she couldn't grab them.

"Wow!" Lloyd gasped. "Now, there's a coincidence."

Train drew his gun. "Ain't it just?"

"Would you really risk it? Can you shoot?"

Lloyd was too cocky. His cheek was pressed up against Kara's. Train had a clear shot at his face, and he took it. He fired. Lloyd didn't expect it and didn't have enough time to react. He fell back and splashed to the ground in a puddle of pink liquid. The liquid climbed up the wall and out the window.

"That guy just refuses to die," Train mumbled.

"What was that?" Kara fretted. "He just melted! What the hell was that? Why was he after me?"

Did Kara have some connection to the Taoists?

"That was Tao," Train explained. "Same as the guy from last night."

"What did he want with me?"

"That is an excellent question. What say we find out?"

Ding, chapter's done. Ding, chapter's done. Ding, chapter's done. Ding, chapter's done.

Every word of this is made up on the spot. I never know what's going on more than two paragraphs in advance. Lloyd was supposed to be a coward, but he came out a perv. *shrug*

James (playing Halo): Cool! I did a flip!

Kris (also playing): You mean a flop.

James: No, a flip.

Kris: flop.

James: There was no flopping involved.

Kris: That's what they want you to think.

(I kid you not. That's what they're saying right now.)

Kris: Oh, little Jimmy. Look at your little eye.

James: What?

Kris: I don't know.

…

Me: WHAT?