Hey, Gone here with the next chapter, and I know it's been awhile since I last uploaded, sorry about that. I won't be giving myself a schedule anymore cause I'm really bad at keeping to it, so I'm going to be uploading whenever it's finished, so keep your eyes peeled.

If you enjoy the story or have useful criticism to help me then don't hesitate to leave a review as I do read them and take them into consideration. Enjoy!

Chapter 10: Welcome to HEO!

Vale, Axel's Apartment

An annoying buzzer rang out throughout the room, coming from his alarm clock which showed the time to be six o'clock in the morning. Axel rustled around in his warm, comfy bed before smacking the alarm and stopping is horrid sound. Axel stumbled alive as he got onto his feet, feeling the cold hardwood floor beneath him. He quickly got his usual outfit on before leaving his room and into the kitchen, finding Kalila already up.

"Morning," she exclaimed with a smile as she was mixing something up in a plastic bowl.

"Morning...what are you doing up so early?" he asked in a rough voice.

She looked back at him, "Making you breakfast, duh," playfully rolling her eyes before turning back.

"Oh," he then sat down at the small circular table that only had two chairs. He watched her as she cooked, or at least attempting. Her hair was all over the place as if she had just woken up as well. She hummed a soft melody to herself while she continued, seeming like she's enjoying what she's doing. She managed to finish cooking in a couple of minutes with only a few hiccups along the way. She placed a plate of pancakes in front of him, they were golden brown with a few darker, burnt spots, but not the worst breakfast he had received, and next to it she placed a cup of coffee which still had steam coming off of it.

"You didn't have to."

"Nope...I wanted to." She was holding her own cup as she sat down across from him. "Plus...you can't go to work on an empty stomach."

"Thank you..aren't you going to have some?" seeing that she hadn't made anything for herself.

"Oh, don't worry about me, I'll have some later. I'm probably going back to bed after you leave," she indicated, holding her head up with her closed hand.

He nodded before he began to eat his breakfast. The pancakes weren't that bad, they had a few burnt spots in them he could taste, but the sweet syrup she had put on helped cover the burns. He ate every last bit, forcing the last few bites down to please her as he knew she didn't have to get up with him and make him food.

"Got any plans today?" Axel asked her.

She took a sip of her coffee, "Oh, no, probably just going to hang around..maybe watch some tv, or something."

"You should at least do something productive with your time, tv just wastes time that could be used in better ways," Axel suggested.

Kalila growled a little, "Sound just like my dad," but the thought made her sigh, "I know..i'll think of something..maybe."

"Good," Axel stood up to put away his dish, and the cup of coffee he had finished while eating in the sink. Axel made his way towards the door, grabbing his sword that leaned on the wall. He grabbed the doorknob, and looked back at Kalila who was still sitting at the table watching him, "thank you."

"Axel,"

"Hmm?" He looked back at her, but he had already opened the door, about to leave.

"Be careful."

"I will," he promised before leaving the apartment room and getting his way to the H.E.O. building.

H.E.O. Headquarters

Axel roamed around the kingdom of Vale for a while before he was able to find the building, which was just a plain building from the outside. Axel approached the double glass door, which opened automatically when he came into the right distance. Inside, it was an open room with a lot of natural light as the sun rose from the ground. In the middle of the room was Kazuki, who was patiently waiting for the swordsman.

"Glad that you didn't get lost," Kazuki laughed

Axel knew he was lost for a while since he's new to Vale, but didn't want to confess to it. "Yeah, Vale isn't that hard to get around."

"Good to hear that, let's get going as the others are eager to meet you," Axel nodded before following Kazuki to the elevator. Kazuki hit the basement button and the doors closed shut before starting to go down.

"So, how long has this organization been running for?"

Kazuki looked over with a smile still on his face, "Not too long, maybe about five to six years."

"If you knew about them all this time, then what have you've been doing all this time?

"It's not that easy to track them down as they can easily blend into society. This is the first time we've seen large-scale attacks like this, luckily it's not inside the kingdom. We only get small attacks and for the most part, it's just them getting food.

"Wouldn't the police find out sooner or later? Not too common for people to eat each other."

"Well, we've been passing those incidents off as just regular murders, not too many people would come up with the conclusion of hybrids, just crazy people. But they are starting to become more prevalent and we came up with the conclusion that solo hybrids are being forced into the kingdom due to the group behind the attacks."

"Oh."

"If we are right, then this group we have to deal with has a large influence in the hybrid community, but we're up for the challenge." The elevator ride was longer than Axel expected, but they found themselves in a large room that seemed to be a lab with a bunch of scientists running around and doing their tasks. Kazuki started walking forward and Axel followed right behind, trying not to be run over by a scientist. Kazuki brought Axel to a room that had a large window, but the blinds prevented him from seeing the inside and they both go in.

"Kazuki!" a high pitched voice yelled out, coming from a young looking girl who shot up from her seat from the sight of seeing her supervisor.

"Haia, keep your voice down," barked a man who was sitting across the table from her, with his feet up on the table.

"Show some respect, Ryker! Just cause you're a bag of no fun, doesn't mean I have to be!" retorted the girl named Haia. She was a fairly short girl with curly, fire orange hair, and very light blue eyes that seemed almost white.

The guy who was called Ryker rolled his eyes with a groan as he sat forward in his seat. He had messy, silver hair that sat on top of his head along with brown eyes. They both wore the same get up as Kazuki which seemed to be their uniforms.

"Hey, hey, both of you knock it off, you don't want to scare off the new guy," the leader said, motioning over to Axel. "Axel, this is Haia Hara, and that's Ryker Ota." he introduced, pointing at them respectfully.

"It's finally nice to have a new face around here!" Haia rejoiced in glee. She rushed over to force a handshake with him, and he thought she was going to rip his arm off from the rapid movement, but she released before it could happen.

"So, it's only the three of you?" Axel asked, looking over to Kazuki as he opened and closed his hand a few times to make sure it's still connected to his arm.

"Well, now it's the four of us," Haia blurted out.

Kazuki ignored her, and looked at Axel, "Well, yeah, there was more of us, but they got killed on missions, and Ozpin didn't want us to be openly known, so we couldn't really hire. He believed that the hybrids would form groups and come directly at us, and the kingdom, but it seems that it didn't matter, so now we are openly hiring."

"Any luck then?"

The three of them all looked at each other before Kazuki broke the silence, "Well, our announcement goes out tomorrow morning, so to answer that, no as of now."

"But with the ruckus, the hybrids have been causing, people might be willing enough to join and fight instead of running and hiding," Ryker added.

"So, where do we start?" Axel asked.

Kazuki laughed a bit, covering his mouth before talking again, "Love the eagerness, but get yourself comfortable first," and as if on queue, Haia pulled out folded up clothes, which seemed to come out of nowhere.

"If you're going to be a member of HEO, than you going to have to dress like it," Haia advised, handing it over which Axel accepted, looking at it.

"But I didn't even give you any measurements."

Haia held up a hand "Don't worry about it, one size pretty much fits all..for the most part."

"Is that why it looks like you're swimming in yours?" Axel directed at the fiery-haired girl who was surprised but knew he was kinda right as it was a little big on her

"Hey, that's no way to talk to a superior!" she yelled out at Axel.

"Anyway," Ryker said, drawing attention away from Haia, "not only you have to dress like us, but also be armed like us." He pushed a briefcase across the table towards Axel.

Axel watched it slide towards him, and looked back up at Ryker who leaned back into his chair with his feet up on the table. "Is this some kind of joke? What am I going to do, whack them with a briefcase?"

Haia, and Kazuki both laughed a bit with Ryker only cracking a small half smile which was the most face movement he's seen him with. "No, and definitely no, unless you have a death wish. In that briefcase ther-, well, I shouldn't ruin the surprise, you'll see."

"I'm going to have to politely decline, I already have a weapon that I'm more than happy with, I don't need a new one."

"Suit yourself then," Ryker said as Axel pushed the briefcase back to him, and Kazuki got his attention back.

"Well, you're now an official member of HEO, we start tomorrow if we don't get overwhelmed by applications that is," he laughed at a bit, but no one else followed. He let out a small cough before speaking again, "allow me to show you around the rest of the place."

Kazuki gave Axel a tour of the building, starting with the underground. This is where all the magic is made, well, weapons and as well as experiments to learn more on the hybrids. Next was the first floor which wasn't much. It was an open room where Axel first stepped into that had a small desk with no one behind it and a door next to it that lead to empty rooms, which Kazuki explained that once this organization grows he plans this to be like a police station where interrogations and interviews happen as well as a dispatch team to help from the outside. Lastly, was the second floor that had all the office rooms which Kazuki showed Axel his office. It wasn't much, a desk, filing cabinet, office chair and a small whiteboard on the wall. Kazuki then brought Axel to the meeting room that had a rather large table in the middle with chairs surrounding it. There was a large whiteboard on the wall that had writing all over it, along with pictures being held up by magnets.

While Kazuki finished up showing Axel around and filling out some paperwork, Kalila took Axel's advice on going out and went to the closest cafe where she patiently stood in line. The smell of the freshly brewed coffee aroma filled the cafe's air, making Kalila more excited as it came closer to her turn to order.

A young male stood behind the counter, giving Kalila a small smile, "Welcome to Caffee Cafe, where the coffee is fresh to start your day, or in this case, to end your day." He finished with a warm smile, and his light, brown eyes locked on Kalila. Kalila gave a small laugh with the young guy joining her. "I don't know why they make us say it in the evening, but what can I get for you?"

"Hmm.., I'll just take a large coffee, please."

"One large coffee, got it, how would you like it?"

"Just the way it is."

"Oh, never would have expected someone so sweet looking to like something so bitter," he responded.

"Well, it's not what's on the outside, it's what's on the inside," she answered with a small smile.

He gave a small laugh before getting the coffee himself and placed it down on the counter with steam coming off of it and the scent quickly found its way to her nose. She went to reach for her money, but a friendly tone stopped her as she saw the young man holding the cup up to her, "Don't worry about it," he gestured with a smile that showed a few of his white teeth.

"Oh, you don't have to."

"I know, but I want to," he pushed, holding the cup closer to her.

She let out a small, awkward smile as she took it from him, "Thanks". She then looked out into the room, trying to find an empty table for herself. After scanning the room, she found an empty table for two and sat down, and faced towards the room with her back to the wall. The cafe wasn't too busy, but busy enough for them to stay open. Some people are talking with each other, hanging out while others were on laptops, or scrolls, either browsing around or doing school work.

She started to look through her scroll, waiting for her drink to cool off before enjoying. As she goes to take her first sip, she is interrupted by a familiar voice, "Kalila!?" a female voice called out, which caught her off guard since she doesn't know anyone in Vale, but to her surprise, a taller girl started to make a b-line for her. Sumire, she looked no different with the same purple hair and blue eyes along with the same questionable attire where she shows more skin than clothing.

"S-Sumire?" She didn't know if this was a good thing or a bad thing. She was a close friend to her, but she wasn't sure if Sumire is really the same, or has moved on like her. "What are you doing here, shouldn't you be back at Atlas?"

"I could ask you the same thing?" she responded before taking the seat in front of her. "Soooo, how are you? It's been a while" Her voice was filled with excitement as if she got the best birthday present.

"yeah..I'm...good," Kalila's voice didn't match Sumire's, who easily caught it.

"You don't sound it….or look it, you look a bit paler and skinnier than I remember..are you eating enough?" Kalila didn't answer, as she only looked down at her coffee. "Kalila...you can't do this to yourself."

Kalila let out a small sigh, "...I know but, I'm done with that kind of life."

"So, I'm guessing you're done with the whole revenge thing as well then?"

She nodded before adding, "Whenever I took a step forward, he'd push me back five...I knew I wasn't going to get anywhere, no matter who I went after...he knew every step I would take before I could take it."

"But you made a name for yourself, you were actually feared of, the ferocious, cold-killer, Black Hole," Sumire went on, acting as she is describing her favorite celebrity.

"Well..she no longer exists, I'm a nobody now."

"I guess if she no longer exists, then she doesn't want to know the news I have for her," Sumire teased, slowly getting up from her seat, but quickly felt something grab her wrist, looking back to see Kalila was the one.

"...Please tell me…"

Sumire smiled before sitting back down, and leaned in closer towards Kalila, "I've heard of rumors that somebody is now here in Vale."

Kalila thought for a split second before realizing who she was talking about, "...him?" Sumire nodded with a rather large smile on her face. "Tell me where he is."

"Woah...I thought the old you was gone or is she?" Sumire questioned as she rubbed her chin. She then reached into her purse and pulled out some kind of full mask. She placed it down onto the table, making it face towards Kalila and pushed it to her. "I don't know where he is, but I believe this person could help." indicating to the mask.

Kalila quickly looked around, making sure no one was watching before she slowly reached for it, it was a black mask with a terribly drawn smiling face, which made it look a little creepier than it was. "Where did you find this?"

"That's a spare one you told me to hold onto for you, I bring it everywhere I go, just in case a time like this came, which it did." She proudly said.

Kalila continued to hold it in her hands and look at it. As if it was some kind of magic artifact, she started to slowly remember, vividly seeing all the death and chaos she's seen along with their screams following, knowing every time she put the mask on, someone dies.

"Me and the girls are planning something tomorrow night."

"Wait, you guys are still all together?" Kalila asked, surprised.

She nodded her head, "Yep, so, you in or what?" Sumire offered, with a large smile across her face.

Kalila thought about it, her body is telling her yes, while her mind says no. If Axel were to find out, then he would never forgive her, but she was given a chance to get back at someone who has only caused her pain. Kalila slowly lifted her head back up at Sumire, looking more stern, and serious.

"Yes."

Axel hung around the HEO building for the rest of the day, getting to know the other members a little better, and finishing paperwork he needed to fill out. After a somewhat long day, he made his way back to his apartment building. He stuck his key into the lock and as he pushed it opened, he noticed something on the ground, a note of some sort. He picked it up and took his weapon off his hip to lean it against the wall, and placed the folded note on his coffee table.

He quickly got changed into more comfortable clothes and quickly ate something before sitting down on his couch and turning the tv on. Nothing special was on as it was just the evening news. He looked down at the note and picked it up, seeing that it was a thicker, white paper, and had a faded, greyish symbol on it which looked like two playing cards with one card being a jack and the other a king of spades. He broke the red seal that held it closed and it read,

"Dear Axel Toru,

Come meet me in the industrial district if you want more information on hybrids tomorrow night, 9 pm,

Come alone."

Below read the address and there was no name indicating who it was from. He let out a small sigh as he threw it back on the coffee table and leaned back into the couch, taking in its comfort. He knew tomorrow was going to be a busy day but pushed it aside as today was over, but not for everyone.

Kalila sat up on the roof of a building with her feet dangling off the edge, looking into the clear, dark sky where the shattered moon that let of small bit off moonlight. She had the mask in her lap, holding onto it gently as it was her kid, lightly rubbing her fingers on it. There is a cool night breeze, but it didn't affect her as she had put on warmer clothes, it being a black jacket along with black, skin-tight cargo pants and black boots.

"...never would have thought that my past would catch up to me this quickly...Sumire..." she muttered under her breath, continuing to feel her mask in her fingers, being able to see each of her breaths in the cool air. "What made you come here...?" Soon, the sound of an engine could then be heard which caught her attention, thus making her looked down onto the road. A blacked out car could be seen quickly driving down the road with purpose It quickly braked with the tires screeching underneath it and came to a halt on the side of the road. It stopped in front of an ally that was between the building she was on and the one aside from it. The car's lights turned off before a man was pushed out from the back seat. His skin seemed very pale with his face showing that he's probably not in a very good position. Two guys then stepped out from the car, one from the passenger seat and the other following the man from the back seat who held a baseball bat.

"Move it!" the one man yelled out, grabbing the man by the back of the neck and pushing him towards the alleyway. The two men wore grey, two-piece suits with the inside being red with a black tie, black, polished shoes, and grey fedoras.

"P-please...d-don't do this..please," the man begged, but all for nothing as the two men kept pushing him towards the alley. His voice was shaky and broken, juggling the words in his mouth. The three of them went out of her sight, so she adjusted her position to be able to see them.

"Pleas-" the man went on, but the second guy had enough already, cracking the guy in the face with the bat. It made a loud thud before the man collapses to the ground with a bit of blood flying off of him and onto the ground.

"Shut the FUCK up already!" the guy with the bat yelled. Sobbing could be heard from the defenseless man, tears rolling down his face as he laid there.

"Please...please..." the man went on once more, his voice being weaker and sounding as if he had something in his mouth. Wouldn't be much of a surprise if he ate some of his teeth from the bat blow. The first man aggressively picked the man back up and held him. The man with the bat jabbed the end of the bat into the man's gut, who let out a cough, and then swung for his leg hearing a loud crack as it made contact. The man dropped once more, grabbing his leg and crying bloody mary for help. She watched this all happen, and has the power to help him out, but why would she help him? he hasn't done anything for her and then,

"This is what happens when you don't give the boss the money you owe him," the one goon said. Boss? Only one person went through her mind after hearing that word, the one who made her life this way. She gritted her teeth as she tightened the grip of her mask. Her eyes burnt holes in them as they're the only ones in her sight. She slowly brought the mask up to her face, with her eyes closed. It acts like a vest for a police dog, she was ready as her eyes opened, showing her brightly glowing amber eyes.

"I-I can get you the money, I swear!" he pleads.

"Too late-" the one man said, but out of nowhere something thing lands between them and the injured man. As the kicked up dust started to dissipate, they could see the glow of her eyes, becoming brighter to them as the dust slowly went away. "B-B-Black..Hole?" The two of them slowly back away, knowing who she was just by the mere sight of her mask, and eyes.

After being gone for a little bit over a year, they still manage to remember who she was, and why. "Miss me?"

"Dude.. let's get out of here!" the one guy said.

"No," the other said, holding his head down.

HIs partner quickly shook his head to make sure he heard right, "You crazy!?"

The man with the bat then pulled a pistol, aiming straight at the target in front of him, "You're gonna die for what you've done! you hear me!?" Tears rolled down his face while aiming his weapon in his shaking, bare hand.

"...Loud and clear," she responded. Without warning, shots rang out from his pistol, and landed each shot to Kalila's chest, making her step back from each shot. Her body felt tingly from each bullet that entered her body, being able to feel the cool air pass in each wound.

"Just die already!" he yelled out as he fired the last bullet with the clicking of the gun following it. Kalila stayed standing with her wounds starting to produce some kind of smoke and began to slowly close, becoming fully healed. "No, you're supposed to be-" but Kalila moved quickly towards him, and got behind him in a matter of seconds, "dead.."

She grabbed him from behind, holding herself up to his level. She was able to smell the meat underneath his skin, only arousing her hunger more. She slightly lifted her mask to expose her already opened mouth and took a deep bite into his lower neck. He cried out in pain, dropping his two weapons while fresh, warm blood filled her taste buds and having a chunk of him in her mouth, she felt alive.

"Get off of him!" the other goon yelled out as he ran over, grabbing the bat that laid on the ground and swung at her. She jumped off the back of the man, dodging the attack, and landed a few feet away from them, back turned away. She held a hand by her mouth as she swallowed, not being able to control herself anymore she tore her mask off, and looked back over towards the two men, smiling with blood surrounding her lips.

"I need more!" she cried out. Then, a rather large and long structure quickly emerged from her tailbone area. It looked to represent some kind of large lizard tail with the tip being white and the base being segmented from black to white. Pulsating, amber veins are spread throughout the tail looking structure. As it emerged, it pierced right into the wounded man's chest and lifted him up off the ground as he coughed up blood. It then quickly pulled out of his chest and dropped him on the ground like a ragdoll. He started to be in a seizure-like state, holding onto the hole in him before becoming limp.

The other goon held his hands up in surrender, but Kalila seemed to not notice as she sent her tail straight into his abdomen and pinned him against one of the buildings. He yelled out in pain, trying to pull it out but it didn't budge an inch as blood covered his hands. Kalila slowly made her way towards him, coming eye to eye with him. Her soulless, ambers eyes burned through his eyes as he could not keep eye contact with her.

The man stopped struggling, knowing it being useless, "Please..."

"...Too late." She then bit down into his neck as he cried out for mercy.

The injured man laid there frozen, seeing everything that just happened, trying to make sense of it all as it all happened too quickly. He watched as Kalila got into her meal, finding it disturbing, but he knew this was his ticket, or so to be. He stumbled to his feet, trying to look straight, and slowly walked towards the exit.

"Where do you think you're going?" those words sent chills up and down his back, making him stop in place. Kalila quickly jumped in front of him, making him lose his balance from the surprise. "I can't just let you go.." She slowly started to walk towards him as he slowly backpedaled away from her. As she reached for him, she felt something impale her neck. Her body grew weaker by the second with her tail disappearing. She managed to grab whatever stuck her and pull it out, seeing that it was some sort of dart. Her vision started to grow blurry as she fell to her knees, still trying to reach for the man before everything goes dark.

Down here to just tell you that the theme songs are updated. Enjoy the rest of your day/night.