Right…so I'm a total failure at life. X3 lol I know it's been ages since I've written last and you've all probably blacklisted me but I still love you and therefore I'll keep on writing until you all refuse to read my stuff haha!

How was everyone's Christmas? I so mean to write a new chapter over Christmas break…did that happen? Obviously not. Haha Break flew by as if it was 3 days instead of 3 weeks, which sucks, but it was a good Christmas and New Years.

This chapter is interesting I suppose. I don't know. This story always seems to keep going even when I swear it's almost done, hopefully that's not a terrible thing. I decided to comply to a request in this chapter of the story (It's for you Eee!).

There's another story out right now that's a bit too similar to mine…but I find I don't really care haha. This isn't the last chapter of this story, in fact I have no idea how this stupid thing will end! You haven't seen the last of Creed, no worries! I want to bring everything to a close, and maybe even connect it to the other Black Cat fic I started, that one I abandoned but refuse to abandon forever! I don't know, and I'm rambling, so I need to stop. Well, enjoy the next part of the story!!

A Cat's Story

Sometimes things just don't work out like you planned. Sometimes you feel like it's all blown up in your face just to prove it could, and there's nothing you can do about it. It's this reoccurring "phenomenon" for life to be a royal pain in the ass, but that's nothing new.

There's this idea of being stuck between a rock and a hard place. The saying has never made any sense to me at all, until now… I'm stuck, and there's nothing I can do about it. The past however many months it had finally added up to had been nothing short of pure Hell, and now I was finally free of it-free to breathe, free to move, and most of all, free to be myself.

Somewhere along the way I had learned to forgive, though I'm not entirely sure how. When I had left Creed's mansion I had been full of nothing but rage and hatred, and now I was returning to normal. Part of me was still angry over what had happened, but the rest of me was realizing it wasn't the end of the world, nor would it ever be.

After Sven had explained everything I wasn't sure how I was supposed to forgive him, but I had. I understood now that they were only trying to protect me, though it had all gone terribly wrong. I was still alive, as were they along with Creed, and that was what mattered. Part of me still wanted to throttle Creed to death, but I was suppressing those murderous urges, no matter how enticing they were.

It had been six months since it had all come to an end. A distorted and strange end, but an end nonetheless. I hadn't seen or heard from Creed since, and to me he seemed dead. There had been a time when somehow I had felt attracted to him, but now I knew that was out of desperation and loneliness. I was neither desperate nor lonely now, and therefore had no need for Creeds presence it seemed.

I had to admit there were times when my mind wandered back to him-back to that mansion and the times that had happened before Chronos had finally arrived. He had been kind at times, but I had felt used and controlled, both feelings that I had no taste for.

I was back to the same life I had been living before it had all begun. Sven and I had come to an agreement to never speak of what had happened, and if we had to, to keep it brief and vague. I had made an attempt to erase most of the memories from my mind, but there was no denying that they were permanently burned into my memory.

We were back at one of Sven's hideouts as usual. Back to being poor, scrambling for food, and searching out the most expensive criminals we could turn in for some serious cash. Eve continued to read like some kind of professional librarian, and Sven continued to rant and rave that it was all my fault we were poor…which was mostly true.

Somehow…somewhere along the way Kyoko had returned. I had grown accustomed to referring to her as "that girl" and wishing I was unconscious or in some kind of permanent comma whenever she came around…screeching some kind of embarrassing nickname at the top of her lungs for the entire population of the surrounding states to hear.

Sephiria had checked in on me at some point since my return, and when she received nothing but boring news she left…quite quickly. While I was grateful to Chronos for saving me I had no intentions of rejoining or even assisting the group. They were heroes…good for them.

I was back to the normal, calm life I had been longing for the entire time I was with Creed, and now I found myself longing for something more. To tell the truth I was bored, and part of me was looking for some kind of excitement that involved someone I had sworn to hate for the rest of my life.

"Train!" Sven's voice shattered my thoughts as I stood awkwardly in the center of an empty street. "It's great and all that you're getting in touch with yourself but could you please pay attention!?"

I snapped out of my trance and glanced in his direction. He stood opposite from me, quite a few feet away with his attaché case in hand. I glanced in the other direction to see a tall, gangly man back up against the nearest wall with a strange glint in his eye as he studied the two of us.

Mario Louvelli, the latest criminal we had set our sights on. He was worth about $5,000 dead or alive and we were bound and determined to get that money…preferably alive.

I skidding backwards as the ground in front of me exploded into a thousand pieces of sand and rock. One thing the ad and forgotten to mention…the guy was a pyromaniac not to mention he carted around a rocket launcher with him at all times. Sven had learned this the hard way when Louvelli had brought a nearby balcony toppling down on him. I wasn't about to make the same mistake.

Louvelli laughed hysterically as I brushed dirt off my shoulder, my fingers edging towards Hades. He thought this was absolutely hilarious, and I was having a hard time seeing what was so funny. This guy would've found open-heart surgery hysterical, so it's no surprise that neither Sven or I was laughing.

"Train!" Sven yelled again, my ears listening but my eyes focused on Louvelli as he stepped away from the wall, his eyes on me. I knew what Sven wanted and I was listening better than I'm sure he thought.

Louvelli took several stiff steps towards me, his maniacal, bloodshot eyes drilling into mine as he came closer, dragging his weapon behind him. My hand fell lower, my fingers brushing against Hades handle as the crazed psycho moved even closer.

"Train…" Sven's voice came again, sounding edgy as Louvelli moved even closer.

"I'm on it," I muttered through clenched teeth.

Louvelli pulled his rocket launcher up and rested it on his shoulders, taking aim at me through the site on the massive piece of weaponry. He licked his lips as his finger twitched towards the trigger, a maniacal smile spreading across his sunken face.

"Not a smart little kitty, are ya?" He laughed again, the idea of my death somehow a riot.

It was then that I finally moved. I pushed off the ground and flipped backwards, landing on my hand and then my feet. I skid backwards several inches before whipping Hades out of its holster and aiming carefully but quickly at the muzzle of his rocket launcher.

"Look who's talking," I said before pulling the trigger.

The bullet flew into the rocket launcher before coming in contact with the rocket itself.

"Duck!" I yelled before throwing myself as far away from Louvelli as I could.

"Train I swear to-" But Sven was cut off as the rocket exploded, shrapnel flying past my head and Louvelli's scream echoing in my ears. I held my hands tightly over my head for several seconds until the sounds died down and I heard the crash of Louvelli hitting the ground.

I rolled onto my back and took in the damage. Louvelli lay in front of me, alive but not by much. The rock launcher lay several feet away, barely recognizable as it continued to smoke.

I looked across the way to see Sven standing up, brushing dirt from his white blazer and retrieving his attaché case from where he had thrown it. He crossed the road slowly, his eye on Louvelli, seeming worried.

"Don't worry," I groaned as I stood up and re-holstered Hades. "He's still alive."

"No thanks to you," He replied, casting me an authoritative glare.

"Hey, I got the job done, didn't I?" I asked.

"Yeah," Sven said sardonically. "Cept now we'll probably have to pay his hospital bills."

"Not if-"

"Don't even say it!" Sven cut my morbid comment off. "Sheesh, ever since we came back from Creed's place you've been a glutton for death."

"Not really," I said casually as I nudged Louvelli with my foot, earning a painful albeit dramatic groan. "I'm just saying…we wouldn't have to pay his hospital bills if he was-"

"Alright already!" Sven said, shaking his head and moving away from me. "C'mon, get him up; we've got to take him to the police station. Honestly…you're lucky there's anything left of him."

"I used a low caliber bullet," I sighed as I pulled Louvelli off the ground, practically going deaf from his theatrical cries of pain. "Honestly, Sven, you act like I don't know anything."

Several minutes later we had turned a charred but alive Louvelli in to the police and had received our $5,000, no hospital fees required. I smiled broadly as Sven came out with the large handful of bills, counting them as if it wasn't enough.

"Let's eat out tonight!" I said excitedly, the money a bit too much for my system seeing as we had been living off of cardboard flavored Raman for the past few months.

"We have to pay the bills too, you know," Sven reprimanded me as he pocketed the cash.

"C'mon, Sven," I begged. "It's about time we eat something other than cardboard. Besides, I bet the Little Princess would like some decent food."

"For starters I'm not sure we can afford to eat out," Sven sighed as we got into his car. "And for your information we have not been eating cardboard."

"Could've fooled me," I sighed as I slouched in my seat.

"But some decent food might be a good idea for Eve," Sven thought to himself.

"Oh, sure," I muttered. "Worry about her. Don't worry; I'll survive just fine on cardboard."

"WE DO NOT EAT CARDBOARD!!!"

When we arrived back at Svens "hideout" Eve was waiting patiently for us, her nosed shoved in a confusing looking book as usual.

"We're back," Sven called to her, her red eyes barely moving from the pages in response.

"Hey lil' princess," I said, messing up her hair as I walked past.

"Hello," She said calmly, never seeming excited about anything unless it involved Sven.

I couldn't help but realize how much I had missed the two of them while I had been with Creed. I felt like I could be myself around them, like I could let loose and be relaxed for once. When I was with Chronos I'm not sure I even knew what the definition of the word "relaxed" was, and when I was with Creed I felt like I was constantly watching my back no matter where I went.

Yet somehow I still found my mind wandering to Creed, wondering how he was. I had left him so suddenly and in such a fragile state I often wondered if he'd come out entirely intact. He had lost his nanotechnology and was no forced to be what he hated me…human. Part of me felt bad for taking his dreams away from him, but they were so distorted and mentally unstable there was no way I could have let him keep them.

The rest of the day passed quickly, the sun sinking beneath the horizon before we knew it. Eve continued to read in front of the lit fireplace, while Sven sat at the table and worked out our expenses in a tattered book. I sat across from him, my feet up on the table while I cleaned Hades.

"Looks like we do have a little spending money," Sven said as he scribbled the last of his notes into the book.

"But that doesn't mean we should blow it on seafood," He said, casting me a warning glare.

I smiled as I finished putting Hades back together and setting it on the warn table. I pulled my legs down and leaned forward, squinting at Sven's notes before decided they didn't make any sense at all.

"Maybe we should save for something," Eve spoke up from behind her gargantuan book.

"Like what?" Sven asked, glancing back at her.

"Like a huge dinner at-"

"We're not eating out!" Sven cried.

"But-"

"I swear, keep going and I really will feed you cardboard."

The night was cool and welcoming as I lay in bed, the covers tangled around my legs as I lay awake. It had been hours since everyone had gone to sleep. I had given up on trying to read one of Eve's books and had decided sleep was a better way to spend my time.

I lay on my side staring out the window that sat to the right of my bed. Sven slept in the room next door, his snores bare audible through the wall. Eve slept on the other side of the house, silent as always.

The starlit sky outside was dotted with the occasionally wispy cloud, their purple hews glow from the city lights. I sighed heavily, breathing in the night air. I found my mind wandering back to Creed and back to the time I had spent there. I wasn't exactly sure why, but part of me wished I was back in that bed, preferably alone, but the idea of Creed being nearby was somehow comforting, as long as he left the sword behind.

I rolled onto my back and slammed the palm of my hand into my forehead.

"Snap out of it you idiot," I muttered, feeling like some kind of crazy person.

There was no way I would enjoy being back with Creed. The man was insane, not to the mention the fact that he had violated me on more than one occasion. I didn't know if half the emotions he had shown towards me had been true or just a form of weakening me. Either way they had made an impression on me and here I was thinking I wanted to be back there…yeah…right.

Okay….so it's 2:30 in the morning and I really ought to get to bed. This has been a bit of a filler I know, but it's better than nothing, right?? If I don't have too much homework tomorrow night I'll definitely write more with another sweeper fight! I know this one was just a bit of a preview but I wanted you guys to see where Train was.

I hope you enjoyed the lighter feel of the story, I wanted Train to return back to his normal self. I found myself mixing both the anime and the manga personalities of Train together, seeing as the manga Train tends to made a lot more jokes than the anime Train, but the fighting is more like the anime Train with the flipping…ness.

Creed should return in the next chapter, and like I said, I may try to connect it to the next Black Cat fic I'm writing currently…sort of…haha. Anyways, I need sleep so I'll talk to you guys very very soon!!