A/N: Sorry for the wait! The 'Sarah' chapters burned me out a little bit...as did the prospect of the upcoming fight scenes.
I hate writing fight scenes...
XLVI
Closing his eyes lightly, he sighed; a heavy feeling settling upon him as he donned the long black coat. That feeling; the weight of the entire world being thrust upon his shoulders...it was back. The chestnut-haired man bowed his head; gazing down at the ornate pistol in his hand. His golden eyes narrowed.
"You're really going through with it?"
He turned slightly, glancing back at the lavender-haired woman in silence. She was scowling at him.
He let out a sigh, bowing his head,
"It's none of your business what I do. Now, butt out-"
"If you kill that guy, there's no going back, don't you get that? Everything you worked so hard for; this great life you've got, now...? Creed couldn't take it from you, so why are you letting him?"
Train silenced, turning away from her,
"This isn't just about me, anymore, Rinslet. He didn't just take away my life-"
"So, you're making this about Eve and Sven? That's great, Train! Why don't you walk right in there and tell them that? They'll be so happy to know how much you care..."
He ground his teeth together at that, Hades trembling at his side,
"I can't...I can't overlook what he did...and taking him in as a sweeper...it won't be enough-!"
"So, you'll kill him, instead! Doing that won't change anything, Train. It won't bring Sven back!"
She screamed; her eyes welling with tears as she bowed her head,
"I'm angry, too...don't you think I want justice for him? But killing Jonas Warren is not the answer...and somewhere, deep down, you know that...! Don't you...?"
At that moment, the sound of a car pulling up in front of the cafe could be heard, and Train sighed deeply,
"My decision is final. I'll be going back to the compound as the Black Cat; end of story. As of today...Train Heartnet the sweeper is dead."
Rinslet straightened at the sharpness of his words. They were so cold and precise; nothing like the Train she knew. She wanted to say something, anything to get him to stop...but she couldn't. Nothing she said would change what had happened.
In the end, nothing would change the fact that Sven was gone and Eve was left without the most important person in her life.
~ø~
Eve sat beside the cot, both her hands wrapped around Sven's. His hand felt thin and bony in her grasp; and it was as cold, if not colder, than the ice cream they used to share. She smiled, laughing a little as she remembered back on it; the first time they'd met.
'"What? You've never had ice cream before? You're a weird kid..."'
After that, he'd introduced her to all sorts of things, expanding her world beyond that of being an engineered weapon and the simplicity of ice cream. He'd taught her that it was okay to be scared and also taught her to stand up for her beliefs. He'd shown her friendship; love. He'd taught her to be human.
She gazed down at him fondly, her smile beginning to fade,
"What should I do? Sven, tell me...what should I do?"
He made no response.
Gently, she squeezed his hand, biting her lip as she bowed her head.
'"Just go, Eve. Get Sven out of here...and don't come back. Don't ever come back."'
Her heart fluttered. If she did what he told her to, if she left him there, he would wind up just like Sven. He would die. Using Merrick's vision eye, Jonas Warren would hurt millions of innocent people; ruin countless lives. He had to be stopped. She took a deep breath, looking back to the unconscious man with teary eyes,
"You...you wouldn't want me to sit here crying over you...would you?"
She squeezed his hand again; smiling through her tears,
"Thank you..."
~ø~
As he reached for the door, a voice called out from behind him; sounding stronger than it had in the day previous,
"Where are you going?"
Train turned slightly, seeing Eve standing by the kitchen door. She wore a black, sleeveless turtleneck and a pleated, denim skirt trimmed with white lace. A golden cross sat upon her chest and she wore black leather hand guards with a matching pouch strapped to her upper arm. An olive-green pouch trimmed with black rested on her hip. Encasing her slender legs were long, black socks that stopped at her thighs and on her feet were a pair of tan, suede boots. Her knee-length hair was tied at the bottom in a thick, black bow.
She frowned at him, seeing that he was wearing an all-black trench coat, and repeated herself sternly,
"Where are you going?"
"...you already know the answer to that."
Eve scowled, clenching her fists tightly at her sides,
"Are you going to kill him?"
Train silenced a moment, then sighed,
"Princess-"
"What would Saya say to you?"
He stopped at that, his eyes wide in surprise. The ruby-eyed girl continued to stare at him,
"I know what she would say. She wouldn't want you to throw away your life like this. And neither would Sven."
"But-"
"But what," she interrupted him, frowning,
"It's true. Neither of them...neither of them would want you to throw everything away for such a foolish reason."
"Foolish-!"
"Yes," she shot back, eyes narrowing at him,
"Foolish. Revenge is never the answer, Train. It won't make things better!"
He bowed his head as he spotted the tears in her eyes. Her strength, however, did not waver,
"Saya and Sven...they wouldn't want you to do this," she began, turning her gaze to his golden eyes,
"And neither do I!"
They both silenced; Rinslet glancing back and forth between them nervously. With a sigh, Train turned back for the door,
"Sorry, Princess...but I already made my choice."
The girl gasped as he opened the door and started to leave; calling behind him frantically,
"Train...!"
What happened next startled them both...
~ø~
"Maggie! Maggie!"
-ø-
The 10-year-old boy burst through the door excitedly, shouting all throughout the house,
"Maggie! Where are you!"
"Hold on, hold on! What's all the commotion for?"
He giggled as she came into the room, running to her quickly. He threw his arms around her, bouncing up and down,
"I remember! I remember, Maggie! I remember!"
"Remember? Remember, what child?"
He pulled her over to the couch and hopped up on the cushion, tossing off his backpack. Rummaging through it, he pulled out a sketch pad. Scrawled on the top most sheet was a small house with a family of three, and overtop of the house, he had written 'Goldwynne' in bold, green letters,
"The family that used to live next door to me when I was little! I remember them, now!"
She took the page and he scooted close to her, pointing to each person,
"That's Mr. Lloyd! And his wife, Mrs. Susan! And they had a little girl!"
"Do you remember her name?"
The boy stopped at that, and scowled, squeezing his eyes shut as he groaned. Then sighing, he opened his eyes and shook his head,
"No."
Maggie smiled at him, patting him softly on the head,
"Well, I'm sure it will come to you."
She raised an eyebrow at the next page in his sketch pad, and frowned,
"Oh? Is this someone else you remember?"
He glanced down at the page, spotting a stick figure of a person with green hair and a brown coat. He stared at it a minute. He had drawn the man with green hair standing by a black car. The boy frowned thinking hard as he idly touched the wing pendant around his neck.
'"I got you a present."'
Frustrated, the boy shook his head,
"No, I just made him up."
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door and Maggie stood, hurrying to answer it.
The boy frowned and leaned back to try and see who was there. It was a man with sleek, raven hair wearing a black suit and sunglasses. The man handed Maggie an envelope, and glanced passed her briefly. Maggie noticed this and ushered the man outside, turning back to the boy with a warm smile,
"I'll be back in just a minute, dear."
The boy pouted as she shut the door behind her and slumped on the sofa. He picked up his sketch pad; turning his attention back to the doodle of the man with green hair...
-ø-
Merrick jumped as he felt something wet hit his face and he jumped, pushing up and away from the bed. His hair hung down around his face and he swallowed hard, gasping for air. A cackle reverberated throughout the small room, and he glanced to his right, spotting Warren standing by the door with an empty bucket in hand,
"It's time you got up. You've been asleep almost a whole day."
The boy snarled at him; pulling his wet hair out of his face as he turned his eyes away from the man. Warren smirked at that,
"You used to lay on your stomach all the time when you were little. Part of me worried you would suffocate that way..."
Merrick continued to stare at the bed, rage boiling up within him as Warren went on.
"I see you've taken creative liberties with your body. I don't remember you having a mural on your back when you were small. Tell me...who is that supposed to be, anyway? That fool Margaret-"
"It's Mom."
Merrick said shortly, cutting him off. His expression grew dark,
"You made me forget her once already...so the moment I was old enough, I had her inked to me permanently, so that no one could ever take her away again."
Warren snickered at that, sighing deeply,
"Then, you should have replaced her wings with a set of horns, boy. That woman was no angel-"
Grabbing the IV stand beside the bed, Merrick lifted it from the floor and hurled it full force at the man; who easily cut it in half with a bladed hand. The boy snarled at him, his eyes burning with hate,
"Shut UP! You're the demon around here!"
Narrowing his eyes, Warren unnaturally extended his arm and wrapped it around the boy's neck, yanking him close as he lifted him into the air. The boy let out a gasp and clawed at the man's grey tendril; his eyes wide. Warren snarled,
"You should watch your temper. You don't want to end up like Vollfied, do you?"
The boy frowned in confusion, coughing as he felt the tendril tightening on his throat,
"Won't it... happen, anyway? The more you use...my vision eye, the weaker I'm gonna get, right?"
The raven-haired man was silent for a moment.
"No."
Merrick straightened, his eyes widening in shock,
"N-No...?"
"What I did to Vollfied," Warren began, a crazed look in his eyes,
"Was payback."
"Pay...back?"
"Yes," he said, his pupils growing smaller,
"For stealing your mother away from me."
He promptly dropped the boy then and turned; exiting the room calmly,
"Now, get yourself cleaned up. Dr. Kanzaki will be here momentarily for your next set of tests..."
The door swung shut, and Merrick grabbed for his throat, coughing harshly.
He narrowed his eyes and promptly punched the floor with a clenched fist.
~ø~
SLAM.
Train flew backward to the floor, the red mark of a fist imprinted on his cheek. He pushed himself up as a voice called from the doorway,
"And we already made ours. Don't tell me we came all the way out here for nothin'!"
Eve gasped as a man with spiked, sandy-blonde hair stepped through the threshold and lowered his fist to his side. He wore a black tank top and a pair of khaki pants that snaked down his legs into a pair of worn, black combat boots. He grinned, the triangular earrings dangling from his ears brushing his face as he turned his head,
"First, you let my biggest bounty EVER slip right through your fingers...and now you want to off my next target? If you think I'm gonna let you do that, you got another thing comin', pal!"
Train blinked blankly up at the man, rubbing at his cheek in shock,
"River...?"
"Not just him..."
A man with messy, brown hair stepped in behind him, wearing a pair of camoflague pants, a black shirt, and a brown, military vest. Eve straightened upon seeing him,
"Kevin!"
Behind him a woman with cropped, platinum hair and brown eyes stepped in; wearing a tan vest, a white tank top and a pair of black pants,
"We heard you were going after the bastard who hurt your partner...his bounty's $1,000,000,000, right? Well, we're after it, too."
Train glanced back and forth between the three of them, his eyes wide,
"Who...who told you?"
"I did."
In stepped a man with long blonde hair and small, round glasses. He wore a knee-length black coat and matching pants; and a pair of white gloves covered his hands. Train blinked up at him, but remained silent. The blonde man coughed shortly,
"You don't remember me, do you? Black Cat?"
The chestnut-haired man shrugged slightly. He looked awfully familiar, but he just couldn't place him,
"Uh..."
"Charden!"
A squeal arose from the back of the room and Kyoko buzzed over to the man; throwing herself onto him. He sighed deeply, patting her lightly on the head,
"Hello, Kyoko."
"It's been forever since I've seen you! So, you got my texts! What about the candy! And the flowers!"
"Yes, yes...every single one."
"Oh, I know," the chestnut-haired man said thoughtfully,
"That funny hat you used to wear. It's missing. Where'd it go, anyway?"
Charden coughed again, a bead of sweat trailing down his cheek as he remembered how he had encountered an unusually strong wind while standing upon a tall building. His hat had flown off, and he had nearly fallen trying to get it back before it disappeared completely. It had fallen down to the road, where it was completely crushed by a semi on it's way to the next truck stop.
"I'd rather not talk about it," he said simply.
Silphy stepped in a little further and walked over to Eve, sighing deeply,
"So...is it true? Did you really find him?"
The ruby-eyed girl straightened at her query and nodded shortly,
"Yes..."
"Is it okay if I see him," the woman swallowed hard, seeming a bit nervous,
"I heard...he wasn't doing well."
Eve smiled,
"Sure."
Silphy sighed at that, following the girl into the back room.
River frowned then, turning back to Train,
"So, is what this guy said true? You really planning on killing that bastard?"
Train swallowed hard and bowed his head,
"Yeah. I am."
Kyoko bit her lip as she gazed down at the broken man before her and Charden narrowed his eyes.
River sighed deeply; noting the determined look in the man's eyes,
"I see...well, then...I guess we'll just have to make a race out of it."
"A race?"
The sandy-haired man grinned,
"Yeah. I bet you his bounty that I can reach him before you can! And I'll make damn sure you don't kill the douchebag after I get to him. They up the bounty by $50,000 if he's brought in alive, you know...maybe more considering the damage he's done."
He extended a hand to the chestnut-haired man, and grinned,
"Well, whaddya say, pal? We got a deal here?"
Rinslet glanced back and forth between them. She swallowed hard. A bet like this to race for a bounty...that was something the old Train would accept. This new Train...this murderous one...he might not be so keen on a challenge like this.
"If you get in my way, you'll regret it, Thunderhead."
The chestnut-haired man said quietly, smacking the man's hand away. He turned for the door,
"Don't think I'll go easy on you just because we were allies five years ago. If you try to stop me, I will end you."
River shrugged, folding his arms across his chest,
"We'll see about that...when I'm claiming that bounty for myself."
Train snorted at that and shook his head,
"Like that will ever happen."
Rinslet straightened and blinked, silently watching him leave. She then turned to River, a look of shock on her face,
"And you're just gonna let him go! What's the matter with you! Why did you egg him on!"
"Because," the sandy-haired man sighed, scratching his head,
"The more you tell him not to do something, the more he's gonna want to do it. Now, that he know I'm racing him for Warren's bounty, there's no way he'll go through with killing him-"
"You don't know that! How can you possibly know that!"
River smirked, glancing toward the door,
"Didn't you hear what he said before he left?"
Rinslet frowned in thought, bowing her head,
'"Don't think I'll go easy on you just because we were allies five years ago. If you try to stop me, I will end you."'
She straightened. For a brief moment there, he had sounded like himself again; he had sounded like Train the sweeper.
"All I had to do was plant a seed. Don't worry, he'll be back to his normal self in no time," the sandy-haired man started,
"Besides, there's no way any of us are going to let him go back down that road."
Kevin nodded shortly; as did Charden. Kyoko let out a reassuring grunt,
"Yeah, there's no way I'm gonna let Mister Black go back on his promises. No. Way."
Rinslet sighed deeply, placing a hand on her heart,
"I hope your right. I mean, Eve couldn't even get through to him just a minute ago. I think it'll take a lot more than just a seed to get his head out of his ass..."
She glanced toward the back room, a sorrowful expression on her face as she spotted Silphy and Eve at Sven's bedside,
"Honestly...I think it'll take a miracle to get him back."
~ø~
Train stepped toward the black vehicle and scowled as the doors swung open, Sephiria stepping out,
"Heartnet. I want to warn you that should you proceed with us, there will be no going back. You will belong to Chronos once again, you and Hades..."
"I understand," he stated coldly.
"Very well," Sephiria began, a sad sigh escaping her lips,
"Then, let us depart. But first, let me introduce you to our team..."
Out from the car stepped three other people, two of whom he recognised. One was Li. The other was a bald man with a goatee; Number V, Nizer Bruckheimer. The third person was a tall man with tan skin and red-brown eyes heavy lined with what appeared to be eyeliner. His shoulder-length black hair was brushed back; a strand of two falling in front of his eyes. The number VI was clearly visible; etched into his skin above his left eye.
"This is Amon Asar; codename 'Anubis'. He acts as International Ambassador for Chronos and has become one of our strongest agents since your departure, Black Cat."
Amon stepped forward and extended a hand to the chestnut-haired man,
"Your name precedes you, Black Cat. I have been looking forward to meeting you."
A/N: Before anyone says anything, I'm well aware that Anubis was a talking dog in the anime. I thought it was stupid, though, so now he's a man. 83
