A/N: After much thought, I decided to include the second half of the Phantom Thief G Arc. Though it offers nothing plot-wise, it'll allow me to rectify a few things. The main one being Red's combat abilities. Following the aftermath of his Exorcist/Noah transformation, the changes were never formally introduced in battle, so I figure this will be my last opportunity before the rest of the plot is set into motion.

This chapter will pick up the where the crew locates Timothy in the orphanage (chapter 175). Anything prior, I will leave as canon. Though as you might imagine, Red's dialogue would be a smidge different from Allen's… But I'll just leave that to your imagination!^-^

And before I forget, a big thank you to readwithcats, Galimaufry, abSoLUte234bBq, jy24, Yume Nijino, Shinigami Merchant, and Kamui Senketsu for your fantastic reviews! They were a joy to read. Thanks as well to my new followers. Love you all!

Enjoy!


Disclaimer: Even after all these years, I am in no way owner of these characters or franchise. Though I feel like at this point, I should at least own a bit of the share, haha.


Chapter 7


—3rd Person POV—

~Red~

Shielding his eyes from the bright, morning sunlight, Red squinted up at massive brick building they stood in front of, reading, "'Hearst Orphan Asylum'? The hell? Ya mean ta tell me that we were duped by some orphan twit? This is fuckin' unbelievable…"

"Tch. You sure this is the right place, Marie?" Kanda asked, face twisting into an irritated scowl.

Marie appeared just as confused as the rest of them. "Yes, this is where G's cries stopped last night after the failed heist."

"Let's just get this over with," Link suggested, for once in a foul mood.

Red snickered. "Ya still upset about last night, two-dots?" he goaded Link as they headed up the front door steps. "I thought ya could at least handle a minor beat down. But I guess—"

Before Red had a chance to react, the front door swung open and the body of small boy flew out, slamming straight into him. Their foreheads struck each other with a painful crack and then their bodies flung down the steps in a mess of tangled limbs.

With a groan, Red blinked his eyes open, his head thrumming in pain. "… Bloody fuckin' hell," he hissed, squirming against the ropes binding him to the small brat. "What the fuck did I miss?" He was no longer outside the orphanage. Rather, him and the orphan brat were stuck on the floor of the parlor, bound together while Kanda and Marie sat on the sofa, across from a nun and the inspector's annoying daughter. As usual, two-dots stood beside him.

"It appears that the boy, Timothy, has the power to take control of other people's bodies at will," Link filled him in, "When he ran into you, he accidentally took over your body."

"Ew, gross. I don't want some snotty little nitwit possessing me," Red groused.

"Who you calling a snotty little nitwit, you miserable freak?!" Timothy shouted back, struggling even harder to escape the ropes.

Instantly, Red decided he hated the brat who acted too much like him when he was that age.

"Freak? That's real clever," Red rolled his eyes, and then ordered, "Timcanpy!"

"Ouch!" Timothy cried when the golem mercilessly bit his nose. "That hurts…" he blubbered, tears streaming down his face while Red snickered.

"Excuse me? Are you serious?" Red heard the disbelieving voices of the nun and Emilia. Ignoring Timothy's sniveling, he zoned back into the conversation.

"Well…" Marie tried to appease them, "I know it's hard to believe—"

"But he admitted to it," Kanda said firmly, leaving no room for argument.

"Admitted it…? You had a sword at his throat! I don't know what the Black Order or Exorcists are, but you can't just do something like that to a child!" the nun scolded him.

Kanda was unrepentant. "If he'd listened, I wouldn't have had to."

Emilia's face grew red with indignation. "You think just because you're pretty you can get away with anything?!"

"I'm sorry," Marie quickly intervened, "He doesn't know what he's saying. I apologize."

While they squabbled above him, Red glared at the creepy looking nun that observed them from the shadows. The moment they made eye contact, Red offered her a nasty grin, and she paled considerably, quickly exiting the room. Still, something about her made Red's hair stand on end. Could she be an Akuma…?

"… Emilia, you kicked his associate in the head, so you are not any better."

"Oh… Right. Sorry."

Red shook his head and turned back to the argument at hand.

"Timothy's father was a thief Inspector Galmar arrested. Once, when Timothy was young, his father made him swallow a jewel he stole, in order to hide it. But when his father was arrested, the inspector brought Timothy here. By then, he was already as you see him now," the nun explained, gesturing towards the blue stone embedded in the center of Timothy's forehead.

"Look, let's just cut ta the chase," Red butted in, "The pipsqueak is clearly an Accommodator of the Innocence. So, the brat is comin' with us. End of story."

"And if you're wrong?!" Emilia demanded with a defiant glare.

"Then ya can 'ave 'im back," Red rolled his eyes.

"Otherwise," Kanda added, "He'll become an Exorcist of the Black Order."

"No!" Timothy suddenly shouted. "You can't decide for me! You're just like my dad! Treating me like a thing… I want to stay here! I won't leave, even if you kill me!"

"Listen brat, I don't care," Kanda huffed, "If we have to drag you—"

"Forgive me! He doesn't know what he's saying," Marie pointedly cut him off.

"Mother!" Timothy burst into tears once more.

The nun sighed. "You can't make him."

"That's right! Have you no heart?!" Emilia cried.

"Maybe we should wait for Komui's orders," Marie suggested.

Abruptly, the sky outside darkened.

"Shit," Kanda cursed, when they found that the town outside had vanished.

"It disappeared?!"

"No, we're inside a barrier!"

In quick succession, Red had Timcanpy cut through the rope and activated Crown Clown, the black cloak shielding himself and the boy as the Level 4 Akuma crashed through the building, causing debris to rain over them. The children were screaming, and Red and Kanda were quick to intercept the path the of the Level 4 Akuma. With a thunderous kick, the Level 4 was tossed across the room like a ragged doll.

For the first time since he'd returned to the Black Order, Red attempted to access the Ark. Surprisingly though, he was met with a resistant force that appeared to stem from the barrier they were trapped in. Damn, I think I can still access it, but it'll be harder than I thought, Red mentally growled, because nothing, no Skull or Akuma alike could trump the powers of a Noah. Not even hybrid scum like him.

"I need everyone to gather together now!" Red barked out the order, "I only have one shot at this!"

But everyone seemed too stunned to listen to him, especially his fellow Exorcists. They'd never seen him take a fight seriously before. But Red wasn't about to have the lives of a bunch of children and women on his conscious, so he snarled out, "Now!"

While Marie battled against the Level 4, Emilia and the head of the orphanage gathered together the children, too frightened to protest.

"Red!" Link called, "What are you planning?!"

"Don't worry about it, two-dots," Red hissed, fighting against the barrier trying to quell down his powers.

In the moment that Red unlocked the Ark Gate, three things happened.

First, a Level 2 Akuma appeared out of nowhere, targeting Timothy, who was held between Emilia and the creepy nun from before.

Second, Link intervened, pushing all three out of the way of the psychopathic Akuma.

Third, the orphanage children, the head nun, Link, and the Level 2 Akuma all disappeared into the gate, before it snapped closed once Red could no longer keep it opened.

"Fuck. That didn't go as planned," Red scowled, just Marie crashed beside him and Kanda. "We'll just 'ave to hope Link can handle the stinkin' Level 2."

"He'll be fine," Kanda decided, "Marie, protect the kid. Beansprout and I will take care of the Level 4."

Before Red could protest against the insulting nickname, a barrage of blood bullets, courtesy of the Level 4, rained down upon them. While Marie ran off to keep Timothy safe, Red and Kanda dodge the onslaught of missiles. If it weren't for his cloak, Red was sure he would have already succumbed to the Akuma virus. Out of corner of his eye, he noticed another Level 2 and a Level 3 ganging up on Marie. "Bloody hell. Timcanpy, go and help those bastards, would ya?"

The golem was gone in a flash of golden feathers.

Once the Level 4 exhausted its ammunition, Red and Kanda regrouped.

Kanda readied Mugen, and Red, Crown Clown. "On the count of three, we attack," Red hissed, pitch black cloak flaring behind him. "One…" For once, he was apprehensive. He'd never even gone up against a Level 3, let alone a Level 4. "Two…" He was fucked. But if Lenalee could go through and defeat both levels of Akuma, then Red certainly wasn't going to be a sissy about it. "Three!"

"AGHHHH!" Red ran beside the girly-haired samurai, deathly claws poised to attack. But the Level 4 was ready for them. With the manic grin, the Akuma caught Mugen in its bare hands. Red managed to rake his claws through the side of the demon's face, before Kanda was abruptly slammed into him and they both crashed though the building in an explosion of bricks and mortar.

With a pained hiss, Red stumbled back onto his feet in time to witness the Level 4 flying straight for him. He braced himself, and last minute, dodged to the side, spinning and stabbing his claws through the back of the Akuma.

"Mugen! Three Illusions Style!" Kanda prepared his attack.

But the Akuma wasn't having it. Red was abruptly tossed aside by the angered demon, as it unleashed another torrent of blood bullets upon Kanda, momentarily bringing the swordsman down.

"Dying would be so much easier," the Level 4 snarled, "But you're still acting so foolishly!"

"What? Ya expect me ta surrender at yer feet like a bitch?" Red scoffed, dragging himself to his feet once more. For the time being, kitchen-knife boy was out of commission, and it would be up to Red to deal with this crazy bastard. "Don't fuckin' kid yerself."

"You sure are persistent," the Akuma hissed, suddenly shoving the barrel of its canon-like limbs in his face.

"Shit!" In the nick of time, Red flipped backwards over the firearms, feet planting against the demon's face, viciously shoving the Akuma into the ground.

The Akuma quickly retaliated, grabbing Red by the calves and flinging him down. This was followed by his fist crashing into Red's gut, forcing the redheaded Exorcist to cough up blood. "Fuckin' hell," Red gasped, clutching his head. He'd slammed it so hard against the ground, he was sure he had a concussion.

"Say goodbye, Exorcist," the Level 4 giggled.

Red glanced up to see the barrel of its gun in his face once more. But this time, Red was too exhausted to attack. The anger and frustration were beginning to bubble up inside him, and Red could feel the silver in his eyes drowning in a flush of gold, much to the astonishment of the Akuma. Eyes narrowing into an ugly scowl, Red commanded, "Destroy yourself."

"What…?" The Akuma stumbled back, firearms retreating as it gripped its head in confusion. "No…!"

"Crown Clown," Red ordered as he stood up, and he could feel the Innocence further synchronizing. With ease, Red retrieved the Sword of Exorcism for the first time, and placed the tip of the massive sword against the Level 4's chest. "Destroy yourself," he hissed.

"How… How dare you?" the Akuma grinned maniacally, cracks appearing along its face as it involuntarily followed the commands of a Noah.

"Or would ya rather I do it for ya?" Red smirked, digging the sharp point of his sword into its chest.

For a single, drawn out moment they remained at a standstill.

But suddenly, the sharp blade of Mugen sliced through the Akuma, tearing the demon apart in half, before it detonated, the shockwaves of the explosion reverberating throughout the endless black of the barrier they still remained trapped in.

"Quit standing around, sprout!" Kanda ordered, "Marie is still in trouble!"

Red blinked away the gold from his eyes, before making eye contact with the other Exorcist. "Fuck, Timothy's probably dead."

That spurred both of them to sprint back towards the orphanage. They arrived just in time to witness a cloaked figure unleashing a black vortex and consuming the Level 3 Akuma. The Level 2 Akuma from before was nowhere to be found.

"… Who the bloody hell are you?" Red demanded with a huff, exhaustedly leaning against his sword. Though further observations revealed that the guy was probably a CROW agent. But how he managed to pass through the barrier remained unexplained. Then again, Red had managed to get past the restrictions of the barrier in order to rip open an Ark Gate, so the guy probably found a loophole.

And it appeared as though both the brat and Emilia had survived. Though he couldn't say the same for the nun lady. Her remains were quite gruesome.

"She was a Broker," Marie commented, as if he could sense were Red's gaze had landed on.

Red shrugged off his words. "Whatever."

"Have all the threats been eliminated?" Kanda thought to double check.

"Yes. Our friend here came just in time to finish off the Level 3. And Timothy activated his Innocence and managed to take the Level 2 down," Marie reported, "Though Emilia has sustained a few heavy injuries."

Red could feel the barrier growing weaker, as if someone were interfering from the outside.

"Then if we're gettin' out of here…" Red trailed off and with a snap of his finger, ripped open another Ark Gate, spilling out all the children, head nun, and a slightly injured Link, before the gate shrunk and disappeared. "My bad," Red grumbled, as he watched the dazed group pick themselves up off the ground. "I'm assumin' the Level 2 wasn't a problem for ya, two-dots?" Red smirked.

"The children and I were just fine," Link replied, rising to his feet and dusting himself off. "Red, where exactly did you send us off to?"

Suddenly, everyone in the room was staring at him, curious of the answer, with the exception of Kanda and Marie, who knew exactly what his abilities implied.

"Ah, ya know, just another one of Crown Clown's nifty tricks. Havin' access to a pocket dimension is quite handy, don't ya think?" Red grinned. To his shock, neither Kanda nor Marie contradicted him. Though Link still remained skeptical.

"I never read anything of this so-called ability in the reports," Link replied.

Red scoffed. "Reports? For fuck's sake, Link—"

"H-hey!" Timothy shouted, "The barrier's been taken down!"

Just as he said it, sunlight began streaming into the half-destroyed building and Inspector Galmar stepped into the main hall where they had all gathered.

"… Why are you all covered in blood?!"


A/N: I think if this weren't labeled a Tragedy, I would love to develop the dynamic between Red and Timothy. Writing their interaction at the beginning was pretty cool and it'd sure be a lot of fun getting to develop that! If anyone's interested, I might publish a spin-off separately from this, so as not to interfere with the ongoing plot. Let me know if you're interested, and if I get enough readers, I'll whip something up for you guys!(:

And I apologize if the battle stuff was terrible. Writing combat isn't my forte. But hey, if you consider yourself an expert, let me know where I can make improvements!

Please leave a review with your thoughts on the chapter! I'd really appreciate it! Until next time, my lovely readers.^-^