Death

by tmb1112

Death is a Quirk that can only kill. A perfect Quirk for a villain, but what if the boy who manifested that power just wanted to be a hero? Enrolling in U.A. might not be enough when all your Quirk can do is kill people. Follow Zach Sazaki from his first day in Class A on a story that spans years, as he learns to be a hero, finds out more about his Quirk, and too much to summarize!

108. Chapter 108

Disclaimer: I don't own Boku no Hero Academia

Chapter 108:

Midoriya Izuku sat on a bench in the locker room after getting his school uniform's pants back on. His shirt was sitting on his lap, but he was reading through the messages and notifications he saw on his phone after it buzzed when he was getting dressed after his latest training session. Wonderlass, Midoriya thought, looking at the news article and then frowning and switching to his texts. He sent a message to All Might, and he kept frowning down at his phone with a hesitant look in his eyes, and then when there was no immediate reply he flipped back to the news article. I hope she's alright.

Midoriya started putting on his shirt, though his eyes were glued to his phone and he kept scrolling through the different notifications he received while training. His phone was set to buzz at any and all villain attacks, worldwide, and in the past hour he had several news stories to look through. One in America, I should check into that for my final report… Nothing about the Army of Death today. Villains caught in Gorran; crime there really hasn't gone down a lot since SISIS was taken down. I thought it would really make a difference. I wonder what Hagakure thinks, she's doing Gorran… Midoriya looked at another news story that his phone had not notified him for but was on the list on the international news website he was scrolling through.

Oh, that's so, Midoriya tightened his grip on his phone and got a sad look on his face at the title of the article. He clicked on it and scrolled down a bit, The wording's a lot less harsh than the last story I saw about him. A "crazed hero," is now just… Midoriya lifted his other hand to his head and ran it through his curly green hair. The five foot nine teen lowered his phone with the sad story on it, and he closed his eyes for a moment. Unlike with Zach's dad, they actually said it this time. A hero found dead hanging in his apartment, someone should have been checking up on him! After his entire team died- "It's a terrible thing," doesn't cut it. I wish, I wish things were different.

Midoriya slid his phone into his pocket and shook his head around. He closed his gym locker and headed out, I should come back for more after dinner. Final exams are coming up, and I know the practical is going to be the hardest yet. His fists clenched at his sides and his expression got determined as he started down a hall of U.A. High School. It needs to be. But I'll be ready for it!

---

Zach stood at the end of a long wooden dock stretching out over the Atlantic Ocean from the west coast of southern Africa. They were on a stretch of land with no one around them, yet Zach still glanced over his shoulder and back down the dock in a hesitant way. The seventeen year old in a black costume and helmet looked back and forth down the coast with some soldiers packing up tents and loading up vehicles. There were no other people around except for a few citizens of the nearby town they had come to the day before, ones who he was not worried about seeing what was lowering down over the water in front of him. Zach looked back forward and he shook his head in sheer amazement at the sight of the vehicle lowering down through the white clouds above.

"Well shit, when you said a ship was comin' here," Sagitus started behind Zach. The centaur-looking figure wearing a specialized costume of the same black fabric Zach had on spit the toothpick out of his mouth under the bottom of his helmet and stepped closer to the end of the dock. "I thought you meant some kind'a boat."

"No," Zach said, and he narrowed his eyes up at the dark airship lowering down towards him. "Though, well, it does float too."

"I never thought they'd actually finish the thing," La Brava began as she stood at the end of the dock on Zach's right side. Only four of them were at the end of the dock at the moment, with Flare crouched on the front right side waving her arms up and signaling to the ship above their position. La Brava got a bead of sweat on the side of her face, and she glanced up at the right side of Zach's helmet again, "Who's flying that thing?"

"Is Rebel actually coming out here?" Flare asked, looking towards Death herself though she kept waving her arms in the air. Suddenly she had the same realization La Brava did, and she stopped waving them around to stand up fully instead. "Um, should we back up?"

"Shit," Zach muttered, and he tapped on some buttons on his helmet. "Hey Rebel, you're going to crash into the end of the dock."

"I can see it-"

"Yeah well the cameras you have positioned on the bottom are definitely aligned wrong or something, pull farther out. You're gonna hit us!"

"Y'all just move back-"

"If you break the dock, it's going to be harder to get all the supplies inside. Just do it."

If there's one person who just won't listen to me the first time… "Farther," Zach said, though the ship was slowing down its descent while shifting farther over the ocean at the same time. Zach's eyes examined the ship more as it got closer to him, and his mind shifted from Rebel who he was not actually all that annoyed with right now. Damn, look at this thing. It's huge.

"How did you and L even manage this?" La Brava asked, while looking around the sides of the sleek black airship herself. It was shaped a bit like a boat, though there were huge propeller blades on the sides of it and engines on the back currently pointed down towards the water. Water pushed away in big circular waves from where the engines were lowering, but the engines were decreasing in power as they dropped too. The ship seemed like it would hit down faster because of that, but the hull dipped down farther below the engines and the very bottom of the rounded airship pushed back against the water instead of dipping straight through it.

"L's the primary benefactor, but no way we could've gotten it done this quick with just her cash," Rebel began. La Brava glanced to her side, and she got an annoyed look on her face as Zach did not start saying anything, showing he knew what Rebel was talking about. "Couple million here, few hundred thousand there, no direct deposits or nothing Brav'."

La Brava got more of a tick mark on the side of her face, and she just snapped, "Farther."

Zach agreed with La Brava, and the ship lowering towards them pushed farther out even after touching down on the water. The bow of the ship dipped down towards them a bit, but the ship pulled back and then it started turning around in a three-sixty in the water. "Slowly Rebel, you'll break the dock displacing too much."

"So you really in there?" Sagitus asked after tapping himself into the comms with the others. "Never thought I'd ever meet ya' in person."

"Yeah, well keep dreamin' bud," Rebel replied. "Got myself control over this baby from across the ocean. Can pilot her without ever stepping foot inside-"

"Well look who's a brave man-" La Brava started.

"La Brava," Zach started before Rebel could snap something in annoyance at her. He turned to the right, "We never would have gotten this far without him."

"Don't need you to fight my battles big guy," Rebel said sarcastically into their helmets.

I just don't want you spinning the ship faster in a petty act, breaking this dock with an extra large wave. Zach decided not to say that aloud, and instead changed the topic to keep things civil, "What of the other donors? I know you wanted me to keep things quiet to protect their anonymity, but I want you to keep looking into them." La Brava looked up at Zach with bigger eyes as he actually had a reason for not telling them about these other mystery donors they apparently had helping them now. "We need to make sure no one has ulterior motives behind making us stronger. If they want us getting someone out of the way so they can step in, or if they think we're going to deal with their competitors they help reveal for us… Whether or not their competitors are bad, I don't want to be used like that Rebel. It would make me consider them villains, to use the Army of Death to take out their competition."

"If I find some dirt on them though, can I keep taking their money while we turn on them?" Rebel asked. Zach cracked a grin in his helmet even as he sighed, and La Brava let out a laugh before cutting herself off fast and then cursing as Rebel made a remark about getting her to laugh.

"If you find dirt, let me know," Zach replied to Rebel after thinking for a few seconds. "We'll decide what to do about it from there."

"Rahh-ger that," Rebel said, and he kept typing into his keyboard while darting his eyes around to the six screens he had around him. "Thinkin' about hiring some guys to help me at my station," Rebel said, while reaching over to another desk that had two screens on it and checking the radar around the ship as well as communication signals in the area to see if anyone was ratting on them. He spun the other way and typed in some stuff about the donor companies they were just talking about, and then he reached for a snack under his own screen and shoved some chips in his mouth.

"Thought the whole reason for not coming out here was you didn't trust people?" Zach asked.

Rebel lifted his eyebrows, and the chubby man leaned back in his seat. "How d'you know I ain't just a coward like Brav' thinks?"

"Okay okay," Zach said. "You're a coward. My bad."

"W-Wait-"

"Alright," Zach turned around now that the back of the ship was turned towards the dock. He tapped on the side of his helmet before Rebel could continue with anything, and he heard snickers from La Brava and Flare as well as a snort from the half-horse man in front of him. Zach connected his helmet's comms to the army-wide communication line which he could tell because of the display on his visor. "Our new mobile headquarters is here. Get the helicopters up top, there are marked locations where to land that can pull back into the ship and store them. Start driving the land vehicles down the dock, we'll load them up in the garage-"

"That thing is awesome!"

"Death, what is- where did we-"

"Everyone, follow your orders and get onboard," Exodus commanded. There was a silence for a few seconds, and then he asked, "Understood?"

"Understood."

"Roger that."

"Got it."

The responses were not all together and they were not all that enthusiastic, but Zach appreciated Exodus' help. Zach turned back to the giant vehicle and switched his chat back to talking to Rebel which a few others were switched to as well at the end of the dock. It took him a couple of seconds holding the button on the side of his helmet to go through all the comm links that currently existed through the Army of Death's forces, which outside of battle meant as many as the others wanted as certain people were closer to each other and had individual group chats going. Zach told Rebel to lower the ramp behind the ship, and Rebel replied in a teasing voice, "Only if you say please."

"No," Zach said. He narrowed his eyes at the back of the ship, while the others around him glanced at him in confusion and Rebel stared at his screen in surprise. "Open the back of the ship, Rebel. That's an order." Please work. I really need you to just, just fucking listen to me. I don't think you've ever just listened-

"Oh I like it when you get all commanding like that boss," Rebel said. He said it in a joking tone that had Sagitus scoffing and Flare letting out a laugh as she was not expecting that response from Rebel.

La Brava's eyes widened though at the answer from their main support guy for the past five months. As much as Rebel kept it in a friendly tone, she heard two things there that had her staring up to the corner of her visor at Zach in surprise and in an impressed way. A back door of the ship started opening up, a huge ramp lowering down from the bottom of it towards the dock at a gradual enough angle their vehicles would be able to drive up it. La Brava saw that ramp start lowering, and she thought, Zach never said please. He didn't say please, and Rebel's doing it anyway, and Rebel called him "boss" too. Rebel didn't sound mad about it or anything. If anything, he's probably just impressed or maybe surprised by Zach's reaction. Guess he realizes since we're on the line with others right now, he can't act like that to him, not anymore. The kid's started demanding respect, instead of people just giving it to him… and it's working. Doubt Sagitus would've thought too highly of him had Zach actually said "please" right there.

Rebel really just did it. That's awesome. I really didn't want to embarrass myself there, and if he said 'no' I would've had to say 'please.' I would've if he had just said it one more time, treated it like a joke myself- and I would've looked like a joke to the others. No. It's not that easy to make them think less of me. It may be though, I know opinions can be swayed easily. Breaking trust, making someone think worse of you, it's a lot easier than making people trust you or think you're great. Respect is also lost pretty easily, but unlike the others it's an easier thing to gain. A guy like Rebel doing what I "order" him to do, means something. Because Rebel wouldn't take orders from anyone. I didn't think he would. Zach smiled a bit inside his helmet, From the start he's just been doing all of this voluntarily. I mean, everyone is. No one has to be here, but Rebel just decided to start helping and never really took no for an answer. If he decided to stop one day, I'd never find him. And yet right there, he did what I said. He's really a member of the Army of Death. There's no denying that.

The ramp lowered right down to the dock, and the four at the end of it had to move back away. The end of the ramp was actually wider than the dock itself, and once it touched down into the wood Zach told Rebel to stop lowering it, afraid it might push straight through and break their quickly-made dock. Zach started up the ramp on foot, glancing over his shoulder and looking back down the dock towards vehicles turning onto it with excited people inside ready to see their new base. They had never had a base before, and for many of them they had been on the move constantly for months. The idea of having their own rooms, bathrooms, a mess hall, gyms and training rooms, and just a command post in general, they were all exciting.

Zach could feel the excitement among his army over the past few days since he let them know that work on a mobile base was almost completed. He had told them that he never said anything about it before because he did not know how long the plans would take, but he really just wanted them much more focused on what was going on at the moment and not on some airship. The most recent mission down in southern Africa was actually one Zach and Rebel picked specifically because they thought it would be a good place to have the mobile headquarters show up. The reason Zach was most excited about the airship was not the reason he thought most of the others were, but he had seen it and heard it from the soldiers in his army the last few days as well. With this, we become more legitimate. Our army is, more. The Army of Death has a base. I never wanted to set up in any country because I could be putting people in those countries in danger if they help us too much. But this was one of my best ideas. A base. With top of the line cloaking systems, made using Quirks and high-level tech combined. It shouldn't be able to be found. I really hope, no one can track us in this thing… If Rebel says it's so though, I'll believe it. I can believe he could stop any hacker, any tracking devices, and even if he can't pick up on it, I'll have my own support team inside the ship too.

This is the beginning of a stronger Army of Death, Zach looked back out from the ramp he was walking up, going to get the first look inside his new base. He stared out towards helicopters flying his way to land on the roof of the airship, and at a line of vehicles driving down the dock in his direction. The ship he just entered still had its engines on, so there was a dull hum in the background that was soon drowned out by rumbling of tires up a metal ramp, and helicopters flying overhead. Those noises were nothing though, in comparison to the shouts of excitement and yells of people shouting about how the barracks' rooms looked. People yelled at each other looking for roommates, and then someone found the fully stocked food pantry and bellowed out about actually having a real supply of food.

"Keep Barboon away from it!"

"CC! You gonna room with me babe-" Clank

"Girls and boys have different barracks, sorry," La Brava taunted the man who stumbled away from a wall he realized he should have seen himself about to walk into while talking to Cee like that. Darling laughed at Michael, but the man just turned back towards the girls with a grin on his face, specifically at Cee who rolled her eyes at him and then walked away with La Brava and Darling.

"Uh uh Death," Gentle said to the boy looking around a large room with four sets of bunk beds, two on either side with ample space around them. Zach turned to the tall man with a bushy mustache in a confused way, and the others around Gentle also looked to him like that wondering why he just tssked and shook his head at their leader. "Follow me," Gentle said, and he walked out of the room and started leading Zach down the hallway.

Oh man, Zach thought in a bit of disappointment.

"The captain's quarters," Gentle said to the boy in a black helmet that he was glad to be wearing so the others could not see his disappointed expression.

Actually, it's better this way. I'll need to work late into the night. And I'm not here to have fun. Not here to play soldier with everyone else. I'm in charge. Responsibility. "I take it you and Rebel planned this," Zach said, glancing to his side at Gentle who chuckled inside his helmet before lifting his hands to it and pulling it off. Zach opened his mouth, then he closed it and smiled more genuinely while reaching his hands to his own helmet. "Everyone, no need to wear helmets in the ship."

Zach said it before taking his own helmet off, then he took his earpiece out and left it in his helmet that it worked better along with. He tossed his helmet onto his bed that was a bit larger than the bunks he had seen in the other rooms, but not by much. His room was not really much bigger than half of one of the other rooms either, but the fact that he was going to be the only one in it meant it was still a lot of room for him. My room's never been this big, Zach realized in surprise, as the room was bigger than both the room at his childhood apartment and his dorm room at U.A.

Zach checked out the ship with everyone else. He was glad he picked a spot where he could actually get a good look around without needing to worry about where they were for a while, but before he was even finished touring around his own headquarters, he felt himself getting tugged back up to the command post at the top of the airship's bow. There's no time to sit around. We have leads on the Syndicate, and we know what's going down is happening on Christmas. We have to stop it. Zach headed to the command room, and he went over to a communications area which he contacted Rebel through. He figured out how the controls worked to different stations, then once he had a solid grasp he called everyone to prepare themselves for lift-off.

Speakers from the command post were connected throughout the airship, and there were also panels in every room near the doors where people could connect back to the bridge. "Hold on captain!"

"We can't just leave. This baby still needs a name!"

A name? Zach thought, realizing he had never even considered it.

"Everyone come to the bridge as we set off on our maiden voyage," Gentle said into the speaker, and Zach glanced over at the older man who shrugged and then started towards the front of the command post where there was a huge glass windshield nearly wrapping around the whole room.

People started filling into the command room of the ship, and it got crowded quickly. Zach realized that while they were flying he was going to have to come up with rules for who could be up on the bridge, and he started talking to the others who were going to be up there the most. "Alright, Access. Raylei. Scotty. Think you could lift her out of the water without Rebel's help?"

"I could just lift her from here," Rebel offered again through the speakers his voice was connected to.

"We've got it!" Access shouted up towards the ceiling.

I don't want to help either, Zach thought while watching his support team. He turned to La Brava and said, "Want to help them?"

La Brava let out a sigh as she was just about to run up to Gentle, but had gotten stuck behind Scotty's computer near Zach when she saw the man typing too slowly into it. La Brava took a seat next to their newest support member who really was good at using computers, but nowhere near as good as her. "There… we… go," La Brava pressed her index finger down on an Enter key, and the humming in the ship started getting louder.

"Gonna be hard to sleep with that, huh?" Juno said to the woman on his left who had very large ears almost the size of her temples.

"Not at all," Dumba replied, and her ears curled in and closed themselves. She turned to the man next to her who looked at her with wide eyes as he had never seen her do that before, "What, can your ears not do this?"

Seraphim shook her head at Juno from his other side, then she stepped closer to the glass in front of her and let out a small gasp as she stared down towards the water below. It was pushing away from the bottom of their ship, and on her left side Grabble scratched the back of his right pincer and said, "Wonder what's happening to that dock right now?"

"Probably getting blown to bits," Fillian remarked behind him. Then the man sweatdropped and glanced to his left, "Um, I mean-"

"I don't mind," Carpenter said, still just staring through the window in amazement at the ocean they were starting to rise off of. "It was just to get us all on this ship. You know, I helped with the designs-"

"Yeah, you kept saying that," Fillian said with a laugh while turning back to the glass himself. "I'm surprised you actually managed to keep the fact that it was an airship a secret though."

"Thrusters are steady," Access said, pushing up on a handle to his right and then letting go when it was aligned with a red line on the side put there to assist him. "Engines running at a hundred percent efficiency."

"Solar panels fully charged," Raylei started. She typed a few more things on her keyboard and then tapped the monitor in front of her she lifted her eyebrows at as she realized it was actually a touch-screen. She pulled her fingers apart from each other and zoomed back on the screen, then tapped on a window she saw appear when she was able to see all her possible options. "Nothing's targeting us, and weapons systems are… weapon systems?" She glanced to her left and over to Death, then she turned a bit and watched as he walked towards the middle of all the equipment.

Zach ran his hand over the armrest on the left side of a chair in the middle of the room. He stared at the comfy-looking chair, and his eyes narrowed at it with a frown forming on his face. I'm never going to sit in this chair. I shouldn't be sitting around, ever. Zach's hand tightened on the armrest, and then he turned and looked forward through the front glass window. He lost his intense look, a small smile spreading on his face instead as he looked past all the people in front of him and through the windows out over the ocean to the west. The sun was setting in that direction, but the windshield tinted perfectly based on the time of day and direction the ship was pointing, so none of them had to squint despite being pointed towards the sun. This, is a great ship, Zach thought, feeling satisfied and happy as they lifted off for the first time.

His satisfaction was replaced by the tug from before. A sense of urgency he never wanted to lose filled his head, and he turned towards Access, "Set a course for Mongolia. We're following the lead we got from Tarbello in Wales."

"Have to cross over a lot of land to get there," Rebel said, his voice coming through the speakers again. "So this time, I think I'll set you guys up. Check this." On the big windshield everyone was staring at, a video screen appeared at the top covering the middle portion of the window. On that screen was an image of their airship, more of it showing each second as Rebel drove a drone that popped off the top of the ship away from the side. He aimed the drone towards the airship, and typing could be heard over the speakers from Rebel's location. "And… voila!" The huge dark airship started shimmering, and then camouflaging with the air around it.

As it continued moving through the air, the people who had been staring at it could see the movement in the drone's camera. They were staring closely though, and from the angle of a drone flying very close to it already. Gentle nodded his head in acceptance and crossed his arms, trying not to let an impressed look show on his face as he figured Rebel may be watching for their reactions with a camera in there. He let a smirk cross his face a moment later though as he realized Rebel would not be recording them, considering how many times Rebel had asked Zach to allow them to standardize cameras in their helmets only for their leader to deny him. Gentle's smile lowered down quickly though, as thinking about the reason he was able to smile without worrying about Rebel seeing how impressed he was reminded him of how he could not record himself right now.

One of these days, I will find a perfect time to start recording. A recording to show the world all of my greatness. A greatness, that truly exists now. Not that it did not always… though, I truly believe that now, I have something truly worth recording.

This ship is so fucking cool! This is awesome. I never thought I'd be in a place like this. Access looked up from his computer and towards the windshield with a huge grin on his face.

This really is, something. From five people, to an army in an airship. Cee shook her head and let out a small laugh. She turned her head to Darling, but the girl younger than her by a year was looking back and Cee glanced back herself towards their leader in the middle of the room. This is all you, Zach.

Zach, you're so hot right now. Oh my God! That look- I just- "To Mongolia!" Darling called out in agreement, getting everyone's minds back off of Rebel camouflaging their ship, to the orders Death gave out instead.

Zach nodded towards Darling who smiled super wide as he faced her. Even in a room with so many others, so many comrades and people following him, she felt like the look he just gave her was so much different from what he showed the others. Zach looked around at everyone else too once they turned though, and he called out, "Off the bridge. Let's keep this place clear while we're flying. Everyone get back to… well, unpacking. Let's make this place, a good headquarters-"

"We still don't have a name!" Michael shouted towards their leader who had still not come up with a name for their mobile base.

"The Pegasus!" Juno called out, and Sagitus nodded his head in agreement that he called out too.

"The Gently Soaring HQ!" La Brava yelled, jumping up from the chair behind her computer.

Gentle smiled and looked back towards the short woman. He opened his mouth, and then a loud voice stated in a confident tone that he was right, "Archangel." Gentle turned to his left and glanced at a muscular man taller than him who crossed his arms and nodded once at the name he believed sounded perfect. Gentle sweatdropped at Exodus who he did not think would get into it as much as the others.

"We're Death! That means it's gotta be Beelzebub!"

"The Death Ship!"

"Death! What do you think? Which name is best?"

What about Styx? Zach thought, as everyone turned and started looking at him for an answer. The river that leads people to… is that too creepy? I don't want to be the deciding vote here- wait! I have to be. To show I'm in charge. Ugh, I've got fucking butterflies, over this? "How about…" Zach began. His face lit up and he finished, "The Cloak."

Everyone kept staring at him, and a sweatdrop formed on the side of his face. "I see," Exodus said, lifting a hand and scratching his chin thoughtfully. "Because the reaper wears a cloak that hides his face, and our ship is cloaking our presence in the skies, as well as a third meaning for our purpose of staying in the shadows. It is a very elaborate and impressive name."

Oh Exodus, you're the best, Zach thought while smiling and nodding with the man's over-explained agreement.

"The Cloak of the Army of Death!" Michael called out, deciding to just get enthusiastic about it instead of continuing any further discussion. He smiled while a couple others glanced his way wondering if he really thought it was a good name. "Never would have come up with something like that," he said it as if impressed by the name choice, yet the half-smirk on his face made it seem like he was also saying he wouldn't have come up with that name because it didn't sound right.

This is why I didn't want to make the- well whatever. "Everyone off the bridge," Zach called out, getting his tone serious again. "Get some rest if you need but be ready to move out as soon as we arrive at our next location…"

---

Brring. Brring. Brring. Zach lifted up his cell phone and turned off his alarm. He turned his body and dropped his legs off the side of his bed. Zach stretched his arms up over his head, then pushed them out in front of him and stretched some more. Six hours. It's supposed to take us 20 to reach Samoa, and I got to sleep pretty soon after we left. Can't risk going faster or we'll be spotted, but it's a long time to… To get other things done, that I can't do once I'm there.

Zach stood from his bed and he opened up his un-trackable smartphone. He checked the news using the great wifi their ship had, and he walked over to his private bathroom where he brushed his teeth with one hand while continuing to read the news with his other. Zach put his phone down and spat into the sink, then he got out of his sweatpants and boxers. Zach stepped into his shower and turned on the hot water. He closed his eyes and leaned his head forward, pressing a hand below the shower nozzle as it sprayed hot water onto his back. He felt a sting in an old wound not yet fully healed, and he took in a sharp breath feeling the claw cutting through his back. He had taken the bandages off early because he did not want reminders of it, but the back of his eyelids were not dark as he stood there under the hot water.

Zach's head twitched, and he clenched his eyes tighter while shaking it once to get B16 out of his mind. Other floors of that research facility came to his head instead though, and Zach ground his teeth before snapping his eyes open with water sliding down in a thick stream in front of his face from where his pushed-down black bangs dipped farthest right between his eyes. Zach reached forward and turned off the hot water after only two minutes in there. Work. Need something to distract myself. No time to focus on the past. There's stuff to do.

He dried off quickly and then stepped back into his private bedroom. As much as he initially thought of it as a bit disappointing, having this place he could be alone was nice. He put on a pair of underwear and then turned to his mirror. Zach stepped up to it and he lifted his right hand, and he touched himself in the chest. A dark aura wrapped around Zach's body and he let out a long deep breath as he stared at the mirror. The darkness hung in front of his face and shadowed his red eyes a bit, giving Zach a completely black appearance even without any bone-clothing on below his aura. It's so much thicker, he touched his chest again and the aura of darkness faded.

Zach walked to his dresser and pulled out his black costume, and he slid into the tight body armor, putting everything on except for his helmet. He attached the helmet to his waist-clip, then he started grabbing his weapons and sliding them into holsters and sheaths he had to attach to his body armor one by one. He put his belt around his waist, clipped it together and then checked each of the knives he slid a bit out of their sheaths. Fourteen now. Zach thought, looking back towards his mirror with only his head turned to the side. He glared into his own eyes, and faces flashed in his mind that made him start grinding his teeth.

Time for morning training. Zach turned to his door, and he clenched his fists determinedly at his sides as he walked out of his room.

A pair were walking down the hall near Zach's room, and the taller of the two turned and nodded his head, "Morning Death."

"Good morning sir," the girl next to him said.

Zach nodded at them, "Riser, Indra."

He continued down the hall, and he thought about how it seemed pretty early to him when he had picked his phone up. Changing time zones so often is difficult. Should I… Yeah, I think that would be smart. Set a new time zone that we always use, no matter where we are in the world. It'll keep our internal clocks right, and we fight mostly at night anyway so it's not like…

Zach walked towards the training room, but he slowed while looking down a hall to his left that he saw open doors at the end of. Breakfast first, or at least a snack. Don't want to train on an empty stomach.

The leader of the Army of Death started down the hall, and he glanced to his right out a window of their flying airship. It was pitch black outside, and they were currently flying through clouds which made it impossible to see anything out the dark window. Most everyone should still be asleep, Zach thought, and he nodded his head in satisfaction while turning forward. That means I'll be able to train on my own for a bit. I should spend time training others in basic hand to hand combat today. I want everyone as good as me. I need to get better myself too. How much time do I spend on training them? Can I just tell them to make sure to train themselves? Micromanaging every little thing is difficult, but whatever makes the highest chance of keeping everyone alive…

Zach scarfed down a quick breakfast he had to whip up for himself as there was no food just sitting there ready for him. As he finished it and brought his dirty plate and utensils back into the kitchen to wash off, he narrowed his eyes and thought, Is it really efficient for us each to cook and eat at our own times? Each person having to clean every time is… If I do establish a set time system for the whole ship, and if we're all doing missions at the same time, I should set times for lunch and dinner. Put people on cooking duties, and cleaning duties. It's only been a few days, but I've noticed things lying around or dirty counters and tables, weights left on the floor in the training rooms…

He frowned and just stopped cleaning his plate halfway while still standing at the sink. Rules. I need rules, and order, and the more I set rules just on the smaller things the quicker people will be to listen in the big things. I don't have to set up shifts either. I could ask Gentle- Darling, I'll ask Darling if she could do that for me. Make it out as important to me and… that's cruel. Zach closed his eyes and he turned with a sigh before steadying his expression and starting to the gym again. I don't want her thinking I'll be in love with her more just because she does stuff for me. I have to make sure I'm acting indifferent… Except still showing her I care? It's still so, complicated…

Zach shook his head around in the hall and picked up his pace to the gym. He focused his mind on strengthening, and training, and he worked out alone in the gym for over thirty minutes before Exodus showed up. Exodus immediately mentioned how he was not surprised Death was up earlier than anyone to train, and Zach just nodded at him and agreed that Exodus was also up early for this. Exodus quickly said how Zach was up earlier than him, and the younger boy accepted his comrade's desire to give him praise and just gave up to continue with his training. As Zach trained on his own, Exodus could see he did not want to be talked to as he was very focused, so the larger man focused on his own strength training. He focused so much that he did not notice as the boy training in the gym with him kept shooting looks over in his direction.

Could I beat Exodus? He's so strong. No Light, just strength. With this kind of a training regimen though, damn. I'm getting bigger, but I doubt I can make myself that broad on my own. Zach lay down on a bench when he saw Exodus start turning his way, and he brought his hands up to the bar over him. His weapons and sheaths were on the floor over near the door since he could not work out well with all of them strapped to his body. Zach's muscles were more defined through his tight black costume without any of the extra accessories on. He tensed his muscles as he gripped the bar over him that had two large flat-circular black weights on either side.

"Here," Exodus said while stepping right up behind the top of Zach's head. He lifted his eyes to the man who held out his hands but did not grab the bar, "Allow me to spot you, sir."

If I say no over pride, and then wind up hurting myself, I'll look like an idiot. Exodus would have to run over- I wouldn't let that happen in the first place, but why- what am I thinking? "Thank you," Zach said. I know I'm not as strong as him. He knows I'm not either. Why would I care? He follows me. How much I bench has nothing to do with it. Zach pushed the bar up, and he lowered it down farther to his chest than when it was resting at its stopped position he just removed it from. Zach did a warm-up set with little difficulty, then he told Exodus to alternate with him and he helped put on more weights to then spot the man who benched more than double what Zach just did.

"Don't hold back," Zach said once it was his turn again. Exodus looked at him, and Zach gave him a serious look that made the man nod. Zach did not know if Exodus did not put on his max weight in order to make him feel stronger, but he wanted the man to get training done in. Exodus' look showed him that the man understood, though Zach just hoped he really had caught Exodus doing less than his max and he was not actually pushing his soldier to put on more than it.

Zach wound up working out with Exodus more after they benched together, and when Exodus mentioned that he was not as strong as Zach at his age, Zach asked how he had gotten to the size he was at now. He took pointers for working out, what to eat, what supplements to use, and though he had already been doing many things to make himself stronger he was happy to learn more strategies from who he believed was his strongest comrade.

Zach started to get sore after an hour and a half of tirelessly exercising with Exodus, and he finally told himself that he was only still there because he did not want Exodus thinking he did short work-outs. Since he had been there before Exodus arrived though, he figured there was no way for the man to know how long he was there in total. He told himself while he left not to care about things like that, but it was difficult not to feel like he had to keep a superior, or at the least respectful, air around himself as Exodus' leader. Zach sighed as he walked away from the gym though, Exodus has never shown even the slightest doubt. From the day he pledged his loyalty, which I had thought was pretty weird at the time, he's always just been super into this. In Zach's mind flashed the face of the man he was just working out with, blood and dirt caked over it yet a determined look despite the hell they had just rose from. Unshaken. He didn't show it once all morning. Then again, I kept my mind far from, that day, too. I have to.

The seventeen year old shook his head around and he headed towards command up on the bridge. He checked on Scotty and Raylei who were posted there and keeping the ship flying straight. He asked about Rebel, and Raylei (who was the one left in charge of the bridge) said that Rebel had checked out a couple hours ago saying he was going out to recruit some helpers for his support room. Zach hummed at the sound of that but reminded himself that this was the careful Rebel he was thinking about, and there was no way Rebel would be letting people into his quarters without thoroughly checking them out first. It'll always be good to have them there, in case this base is ever compromised, or destroyed. We won't have to start from nothing. So be careful Rebel, as you always are. We can't lose you.

Zach left the command post and reminded the two in there to make sure the others alternated with them at the right time. They had been up there since he had left to get some rest earlier, so he knew their shifts should be ending soon. If I have shifts for important stuff like this, I should have been doing it for everything from the start. Others are waking up all over the ship. It's time to go make those plans…

Zach headed downstairs and looked around for a bit for Darling. He did not find her down at her room, and when Xia asked in broken English why Zach was looking, he actually just asked her and Seraphim to put together the cooking and cleaning shifts. There was no point he realized in asking Darling specifically, just because he thought she would be the quickest to accept. He asked the two he found in one of the girls' barracks to do it for him, but he made sure in his tone it was not taken as a request. They did not seem like ones to deny him anyway, especially not for a simple task like this. Though Seraphim did ask him not to let everyone know that they were the ones who created the list once they were finished. He did not really see the big deal in it but nodded at the tall girl with long purple hair she had just tied into a ponytail when Zach showed up at their room.

He left them in charge of that and told them to try and get it done by lunch, which he added would be at noon UTC, or the Coordinated Universal Time. It was the most standard time zone he knew of, and he was glad that its noon came in a couple hours so he could just pretend like they were using that time zone on purpose rather than it just coincidentally worked right now. Might as well use it for our ship's standard though. No jet lag ever as long as we set this up now. I'll make an announcement later, same time I tell everyone to go look at the list of… the chore list? Guess that's what I'll have to call it- Nope. Need a better name. Something cool. Duties? Duty list? List of responsibilities? How about, the alternating shifts of upkeep and-

"Oh hey, Death," a voice called behind Zach as he walked down a hallway of The Cloak.

Zach turned his head and saw Mark looking his way from the end of the hall he had spotted him in. "Come check this out," Mark said, motioning with his head down the intersecting hallway. Zach heard a bit of a sense of urgency, but there was also a grin on Mark's face that told him the urgency was not about some important matter. He still jogged down the hall towards his American friend and then started telling Mark about the things he had been working on since waking up.

Mark sweatdropped and his smile lowered down a bit as he walked with Zach towards something he was ready to laugh about. "Oh," Mark said, and Zach glanced at him wondering what that was for. "You're really doing a lot this morning huh? Setting up time and duty charts and… let's just say not everyone's been as productive." The left corner of Mark's lips closer to Zach lifted back up and he chuckled. Zach asked him what he was laughing about, and Mark just motioned ahead towards an open area on their floor.

Zach stepped into the open room, and he looked towards the middle where there was a sitting area and huge tv on the wall. There were some people sitting around on the couches, most of them laughing or smirking towards the middle of the room where the furniture was pulled away. The rug on the floor was pushed aside too, and there was a metal chair on the floor that Access was sitting on with his body bent backward and his teeth grinding. A buzzing noise came from over Access' body, where Sagitus' human half was carefully leaning over the man and carving a needle around the upper left side of Access' chest.

Access was not too muscular of a guy, but Zach noticed as he looked at the shirtless man leaned back in the center of the room, He's bulked up a bit. Not just a support guy anymore. I know that's what he's been wanting, but his Quirk works well with… He's been really into this from the start though. Since Saudi Arabia, he's always been the quickest. Zach sweatdropped as Sagitus lifted up the needle and told Access he was done. What are they doing though? Zach thought, shifting his gaze from Access over to two other shirtless men in the room who were more muscular than him.

Grabble and Michael came over and smacked Access on the back, though Michael hit on his left shoulder a bit close to the tattoo, making the younger man yelp in pain before snapping angrily up at him. Access got up and Grabble laughed as the younger man went for Michael, and he swung his arm over Access' shoulders and pulled him down a bit to stop him. "Yo Death!" Michael called out, spinning from the other two he was roughhousing with in a boisterous way to yell over at their leader excitedly.

Everyone in the room looked over towards where Mark and Zach were standing. Zach looked at the three who he noticed all had black skulls with cool designs tattooed into their chests around their left shoulders. "Now it's your turn!" Grabble called out. Zach's eyes widened a bit, and he got a confused look on his face.

Access winced and then grinned towards Zach and agreed, "You've gotta as our leader." He pointed at the skull that had creepy eyes and really did look pretty awesome. Zach glanced at Sagitus and wondered if the man had been a tattoo artist back in the United States before suddenly deciding to join the Army of Death.

Michael stepped towards Zach and he smirked big while a few others on the couch called over Zach's way that he should too. "Come on Death, you've gotta-"

"Why would I?" Zach asked, turning back to Michael in a bit of confusion. He still did not really get what was going on in there, and his mind was still focused on some of the stuff he had been discussing with Mark a moment ago. He felt like something was going on it here, and he looked from Michael over to Grabble and then Access with his eyebrows lifted up. All three of the guys who already got tattoos got a bit confused and awkward as they thought the mood just kind of called for Death to be next. Some of the others on the couches got somewhat awkward looks on their faces too, and then all of their bottom lips lowered. No one dropped their jaws farther than the three who were tattooed though, as Zach said, "It would be difficult to infiltrate villains if I have a tattoo that labeled me so easily as a member of the Army of Death."

It was the reason he came up with that actually stopped him from considering stepping up and getting a tattoo. It was not like he had decided a while ago that he would never get one, but as he thought about what they were telling him it was the first counter that popped into his mind. And then right after he said it, he sweatdropped at the lowered jaws of his soldiers in front of him. Oh man, I just said- and those three already got- oh I probably just made those three feel really, really stupid. Everyone's watching too! Oh man.

Across the room leaning against the wall next to the television, a smirk crossed Gentle's face and he started shaking his head. Poor Sazaki, he thought with a silent chuckle. He saw the kid realize it across the room the same moment most of the others did. "It looks cool though," Zach started again quickly. "And I mean, as long as everyone doesn't do it so people know it's an Army of Death thing, it's not like it's a problem or anything-"

"Hahahaha!" Fillian leaned back on his couch and he couldn't hold it in anymore.

Oh my God, I'm such an- we're such idiots, Grabble shook his head in disbelief and hung his head.

Michael lifted a hand and scratched the back of his head, and Access still had his jaw dropped. The youngest of the three looked down at the left side of his chest that just went through a lot of pain for something that was apparently way stupider than he realized. The worst part about it though, was that Death was standing there trying to make them not feel as stupid about it. That was what caused everyone around them to start laughing at the same time.

"It's really not, a bad thing," Zach started again. He stepped forward and continued, "And I would've wanted one too if I didn't think of that. It does look cool."

Michael lowered the hand from the back of his head, and he cracked a grin at the leader of the Army of Death in front of him. "Yeah, you're right. It's pretty sick huh?"

"I can't believe we did that though," Grabble said, and he lifted his head and started laughing at how much of an idiot he was. "I didn't even think about that, but that was so obvious."

"I'm just glad I decided to sit it out," Fillian started up at Grabble who started laughing with him. "If Death had gotten one though, I would've been next in line."

"What happened to 'I'm scared of needles,' huh?" Michael asked over at the man who shrugged like he didn't know what Michael was talking about.

Zach looked around in surprise and then he started chuckling as Access ran a hand up through his hair and said he was never letting the other two convince him of anything ever again.

Gentle stared into the room from outside of the group, his eyes huge as he watched the people in front of him. He was shocked. He stood there staring at everyone, who had all realized something at the same time. He could see what they were all doing, and it blew his mind. All of them could see Sazaki felt bad about making those three dunces look dumb, and all of them laughing just made it worse. So all at once they all just decided to stop acting that way. Without a word. They just stopped laughing at each other, and they laughed together… I only realize it, because I noticed- no, because I felt bad for Sazaki myself. Why? It should have been funnier, but I was laughing in pity at him. I suppose, Gentle's expression returned to normal and he shook his head with a flat lip that lifted a small amount at the right corner. I know how kind a kid he really is. It isn't difficult for anyone who gets to know him to realize, so they all understand it too.

Gentle chuckled under his breath and shook his head in amazement. The man the villains all over the world are starting to fear, is too kind for his own good.

"What are you idiots up to?" Everyone in the room turned towards the hallway behind Zach and Mark. Three girls stepped out of the hall and everyone stared at them in surprise at their appearances. La Brava was the one who snapped at them, and then she looked past them over to Gentle who flashed her a smile while looking behind her head and to the sides of it. He nodded and gave her an affirmative look that told her all she needed to know to get a proud and slightly pink-cheeked expression.

"Whoa," Michael stepped forward and looked to La Brava's right side at a taller girl with blonde hair also cut just above her shoulders. Cee's hair did not curl up at the bottom like La Brava's did even cut just to her shoulders, and the blonde girl's hair was thinner too. Her hair had not been as long as La Brava's either, but it was still a noticeable change and Michael grinned at her after checking her out. Cee rolled her eyes at him, but a smug thought went into her head that the haircut was definitely a good one.

"Death, how do I look?" Darling stepped forward and she turned her head side to side so her brown hair swayed back and forth behind her.

Zach got a hesitant look on his face, and he said while lifting his left hand and scratching the back of his head, "You look great. All three of you-"

Darling stopped waving her hair with a jolt, and she stared at Zach with her eyes wide. Then she spun and stormed back off down the hallway behind her in a flustered way. Zach's bottom lip lowered, as did many of the people's behind him. La Brava rolled her eyes while glancing over her shoulder at the girl retreating down the hall, though Cee just frowned at Zach who leaned back at that look. "What'd I do?" He asked in confusion.

Michael clapped a hand down on Zach's right shoulder. Zach glanced to his right at the older man who had a stoic look on his face, before cracking a grin and just saying, "Women."

Cee started stomping towards Michael who backed away fast with a laugh towards the girl he knew was going to get riled up by that. Zach turned and watched them for a second, then he looked back at the hall in front of him and hesitantly stepped towards it, then he started that way with a more serious look on his face. I hope she's not- Zach got into the hallway, and Xia and Seraphim stopped jogging right in front of him. The two bombarded him with a half dozen questions they had about how they were supposed to decide who cooked and cleaned when, and if certain people like him and the piloting/support crew were exempt. Zach tried telling them to just use their own discretion to figure it out, only to step past and hear his name called out from the speakers telling him to come to the bridge.

There's way too much to do. It's going to overwhelming- well, time to get whelmed. It's on me to never get overwhelmed. Zach walked to the closest panel and pressed the button on the bottom of it, "I'm on my way." I'll talk to her… later.

---

Zach stood next to the comfortable captain's chair in the bridge of his new airship. He was staring forward through the curved windshield of the large cockpit, looking around through the empty sky outside and seeing nothing forever in every direction. There was a sea of white below them as they flew over the clouds, and Zach stared at those clouds in silence for a minute before his eyes shifted back down to his right at the empty chair waiting for him to sit in it. I'm not hungry. We're still far off from our destination. I could go train, or start offering training to others- I'm the youngest person on the ship. Won't they feel belittled… or, that shouldn't matter. As long as I get them to listen. I have to take my role as leader, and carry out actions that a leader would. No lone wolf stuff. And- I need to accept a leader position. A leader wouldn't be worried about people listening to him… right?

Zach glanced back and to his left. Access leaned forward in his seat and moved his hands closer to his keyboard, making it look like he was super focused on keeping their ship flying and all their systems at a hundred percent efficiency. Zach sweatdropped as he got super focused on his screen and moved his hands in movements that were almost not obviously not actually doing anything. He thought Access might still be a little self-conscious about the whole tattoo thing earlier, but as he thought about going over and talking to him, Zach shifted his gaze over to the other person in there who had a shift with Access controlling the bridge.

Yeah, it's definitely time to talk to her. But first, Zach walked towards the short woman with magenta-colored hair who was idly twirling some of her hair between the fingers of her right hand. La Brava turned to the boy walking towards her, and she lifted her eyebrows at him as if asking 'What?'

"Um," Zach began. He grabbed a chair and pulled it over next to her from the next station down that was currently empty, and he sat down next to the woman he leaned in a bit towards. "Can you help me out?"

La Brava rolled her pink eyes but she stopped messing with her hair for a moment. She checked her screen again before turning to the boy next to her, spinning her chair and leaning back on it with her arms crossed and an uninterested look on her face. "Fine," she said. She did not sound thrilled, and she only reluctantly agreed because she was bored as it was and having this conversation was a tad bit better than fussing over her hair that she did not know if Gentle had a great enough reaction over seeing.

"So," Zach started slowly. "Why did you three, decide to get haircuts all of a-"

La Brava rolled her eyes at the younger boy who was beating around the bush from the start. The twenty-two year old narrowed her eyes at the teen who stopped talking when she first rolled her eyes. "Keeping all that hair inside our helmets is difficult," La Brava began. Zach's eyes widened as he was not expecting that, then they returned to normal as La Brava continued, "But whenever a girl gets her hair cut, she expects her man to show more interest."

"I'm not her man," Zach started.

La Brava shook her head in annoyance as she had not said anything about him or Darling specifically anyway. "Yeah, I know that," La Brava said. "And she knows that too, at least," she added with a scoff. The woman with hot pink hair lifted a hand to it and messed around with it while turning back to her screen. "She'll get over it," La Brava said with a shrug. "You did say her hair looked good after all, so it should be fine." She seemed to be wanting to finish the conversation, and she narrowed her eyes at the screen in front of her before typing away on her keyboard.

"What? Is something wrong?" Zach asked.

"Not at all," La Brava said. Her eyebrows lifted up for a second in interest before narrowing back down with a more annoyed look on her face. "I'm still finding out new things about this ship though. Haven't gone through all the schematics, and someone decided to keep things about the ship-building process a secret for no damn-"

"I said it was to keep anonymity of-" Zach started cutting in defensively.

"Don't treat me like one of them," La Brava snapped, though her voice was quiet as Access still was in the room though over at another station in the bridge. She turned her head to the left and glared at the teen who frowned himself and then got a bit of a hesitant look on his face. "We've been in this together since day one, and you still don't trust us with-"

"I trust you," Zach said. He looked into La Brava's pink eyes and the woman opened them wider in surprise. His expression got darker after he said it though, and he continued in a lower voice, "My real reason, for not telling you…" He paused and took a low and deep breath, then he started, "Is because we are breaking villains' codes. We are working with heroes, and turning villains over to cops, ratting out information about them to the authorities… More than what we're doing, how we're doing it is different. We're acting like villains, yet we ignore all honor systems villains have about snitching and not working with cops and, and if- if villains capture any of us they'll break any honor codes they might have. Things they wouldn't do to each other, and things they wouldn't do to heroes- normally."

La Brava's huge eyes started going back to their normal size, and she narrowed them at the kid in front of her whose expression went from dark to much more serious. He stared her in the eyes and said in a serious tone, "If anyone is caught by our enemies, they'll be tortured and killed for being in the Army of Death. So the less everyone knows, the better. It's not about not trusting each other, I just know from experience that villains can make you say anything. I want to protect all my comrades, which means not telling everyone everything, because every time I tell one person sensitive information they did not need to know, it needlessly puts others in danger. Just to what? Prove I trust them?" Zach shook his head at the woman in front of her, then he continued in a steady voice, "I promise, I'll never hold anything back from you that's too important. That you should, or have to know, but- but do you really need to know the how, and who built this ship?"

The woman before Zach stayed quiet for a few seconds, then as she opened her mouth Zach continued fast, "Because I will tell you." She paused with her mouth half-open, and he continued, "But that puts a large number of people at risk who I'll feel guilty about endangering if you ever get caught. I'll feel, like it's my fault when they're all hunted down-"

"I was going to say I don't really care," La Brava cut in, and she rolled her eyes at the teen who had already convinced her before that last part. She turned back to her screen with an annoyed expression on her face and then added, "Just make sure you stick to that. I don't want to be in the dark about what we're doing."

"Yeah," Zach said. He got up out of the seat next to her and nodded at the woman. "I will. I'll leave you in charge of the bridge," he added, and he turned to leave. La Brava shook her head while staring at the screen in front of her, wondering if Sazaki was saying that to ensure her that he considered her one of his top advisors or something. Her eyes widened though as she heard him behind her, "And I did mean it earlier, I think all of your haircuts looked nice."

La Brava turned her head to look over her left shoulder, and she snapped, "I only want to hear compliments from Gentle." Zach leaned back and then nodded before turning to leave again. "But thank you," she added, and she spun her head back to face her computer before he could look back at her again. When he was walking away a few seconds ago after leaving her in charge she had the urge to reach up and mess with her hair again, but the urge was gone and she just smiled at the screen in front of her. I knew it looked great. Of course it does. Gentle gave me that smile after all!

---

Knock Knock

Zach turned from the edge of his bed and looked at the door to his room. "Come in," Zach said.

The door opened and Zach's bottom lip lowered a few inches. He stared at the girl with straight brown hair that fell to her shoulders sauntering into his room wearing a black bathrobe that only fell to her mid thighs and was much too open down the middle. "Uh Darling wai-" Zach began at the girl whose eyes were half-closed and who bit down on her bottom lip while looking at Zach. His face was going bright red and he was lifting his palms up at her to wait, but Darling's arms dropped at her sides which cut Zach off immediately.

Apparently her sleeves were holding up the entire loose robe, and as the door closed behind her, her robe fell to the floor and left her naked inside Zach's room. Zach shot up off the side of his bed, and his still-open mouth tried to form words fast, but Darling stepped towards him before he could and she started, "I had something I wanted to ask you-"

"Well now, before this gets any more awkward…" Darling's jaw dropped and her entire face started turning beet red. She looked past Zach and towards the open door of his bathroom, where a tall man with white hair and a bushy mustache was standing with his back to the mirror that Darling could see through the door. Gentle was holding a coffee mug in his hand that he had gone to wash out and fill with water after running out of coffee, and he stared at the wall in front of him while continuing, "I do believe one of us should leave-"

"Eee!" Darling reached down and grabbed her robe, pulling it up fast.

"Sorry, I tried to say something-" Zach started, then he shook his head and added in a more serious tone, "Also, don't just walk in here and take off your clothes. Did you hear me?!" He called after the girl who was not paying much attention as she sprinted out of Zach's room with a look of panic on her face. He sighed after a second of not getting a response, then he stepped to his door and closed it quickly, getting embarrassed by the thought of someone being in the hallway who may have just heard that shout.

"That was quite a…" Gentle began while stepping out of Zach's bathroom.

Zach shook his head and he gained a darker look while sitting back on the edge of his bed. Gentle walked over to Zach's desk that had a screen above it on the wall and a laptop closed off to the side near some papers. Gentle sat on the chair and crossed one leg over the other, took a sip of his water, and then Zach muttered, "It's only going to get worse now that we've got this ship. And you being here this time, is going to make her think that's the reason why. She's going to try again." Zach lifted his head and stared at the ceiling above him while letting out a sigh. In his head flashed the image he just saw when Darling dropped her robe, and he shook his head fast to get that image away. Damn. That was actually, really, really hot. Shit.

"She is quite infatuated with you," Gentle remarked. He reached back and placed his mug down on Zach's desk, then he put his hands together in front of him and looked at the boy who matched his gaze for a moment before looking away.

"I don't know what to do," Zach said. He turned back to Gentle and looked seriously at the man, "How do you do it?" Gentle's eyebrows lifted up, and Zach continued, "With La Brava? I know, she is 'infatuated' with you just as much as Darling is for me. How do you get her to realize that you're not really together-"

"Actually Sazaki, that is where you're wrong." Zach gave Gentle a confused look. The older man leaned back on Zach's desk chair and continued, "Because La Brava and I are together."

Zach stared at him in more confusion for a few seconds, then his eyes started widening and he said, "Really? But- I could have sworn. Wait a second, there's no way. I know you weren't-"

"I did not reciprocate her feelings for a long time," Gentle explained to the boy who was being floored by this realization. Zach's eyes widened more as Gentle continued like this was not actually a joke. "In part, because she was a lot younger than myself. However, La Brava is a woman, and she can make her own decisions. Decide who she chooses to love." Gentle smiled for a moment, but his expression returned to the steady look he had just had on his face. He reached over to his cup and took a sip while Zach's shocked look started settling. "And I do not think I will ever find someone who is as loyal, who cares for me as much, as does Manami."

Zach stared down at his feet. He looked down and his eyes narrowed as his face scrunched up. Denying Darling's feelings is wrong, yet getting her to follow me in the first place knowing how she felt was too. And yet, I care about her more now too. And, and Gentle's right. And for me, I'll never find anyone who matches those qualities more than Darling either. But… but, Zach's hands clenched down on his knees. He saw Darling looking at him a minute ago, naked in his room and willing to be with him, yet he closed his eyes and shook the beautiful girl's face and body out of his mind. I care about her, and she's super attractive, and, and I don't care about her that way. Gentle fell in love with La Brava, will I fall for Darling at some time… or, or is there another reason?

"Well then," Gentle stood up from Zach's chair. "It does not seem like you will be very focused on our conversation."

Zach shook his head around and looked up to tell Gentle to wait. The older man lifted up a palm towards him though, and Zach frowned until Gentle added, "I am set to rendezvous with La Brava in our cafeteria not long from now. However you decide to deal with your, situation," Gentle avoided using the word 'problem' there in a very obvious way where it could have fit, suggesting to Zach that it did not in fact have to be a problem. Zach frowned more though and Gentle finished, "You must speak with Darling. You cannot ignore her."

"I know," Zach said. I don't want to. She followed me so far, does so much for me, I can't ignore that. Or her. This relationship has always been difficult, but it's getting more complicated. Zach shook his head and then glanced up at the man about to head out of his room. Zach's eyes shifted to Gentle's right arm, to the dark costume sleeve though he imagined through it. Gentle had been using his right arm as little as possible, and Zach asked the man favoring his left, "How's the shoulder?"

Gentle looked down at his right shoulder, and he lifted his arm and did small arm circles with it. "Recovering. Your back?" He asked in return, and Zach nodded in a way that said 'same.' "Good. We must have you at full strength before you go out in the field again."

"I'll go out at whatever strength I'm at," Zach countered. He stared into Gentle's eyes and the older man lowered his lips down into a bit of a frown. Zach continued, "I'll be there, if we lose anyone else. No one else." Zach paused, and he grit his teeth which just had Gentle's expression getting darker too. Zach's expression grew dark and he said in a low voice, "Any news about him?"

"You'd know as soon as I would," Gentle replied darkly. "We have nothing."

"We have to find who did it," Zach said. His voice was strong, though Gentle's eyebrows curved a bit instead of narrowing down like Zach's. Zach's eyes had just dipped to the floor though, and he ground his teeth before saying in a hiss, "To set it up like a suicide…"

"There is a chance," Gentle began. Zach lifted his head and his eyes widened at Gentle's facial expression. "That it was Sandlot himself, who took his-"

"Someone hung him," Zach said. He cut Gentle off and his eyes were full of fire that kept the older man from countering back again. "You didn't see him afterwards, because you were passed out. The look in his eyes, he was ready to hunt down the guys responsible no matter what. Sandlot was strong. And he was trying, but, no one listened."

"Would you have?" Gentle asked. Zach's eyes widened for a second and then shifted down with so much frustration on his face. It was something he had thought before telling Sandlot 'good luck' back in Scotland, because he already knew what Gentle was asking there. "If you heard-"

"Of course not," Zach said in a low voice, telling Gentle he did not need to continue on with that sentence. His expression was darker than ever, and Zach said in that same tone, "I still can't, sometimes. Believe…"

Gentle nodded his head and he stepped back to lean on the dresser behind him. Gentle took in a deep breath and stared up at the ceiling in Death's room. The ship was moving, and there was a low hum Gentle could hear even in there, and that hum was the only noise in the room for a few seconds. A few turned to several, and the two of them sat there with unspoken things hovering in the air.

I cannot share these things with La Brava. As much as she asks, there are certain things…

As many details as I tell everyone, I can't even begin to start…

The understanding that what we are doing is more than us. Greater than a single goal, greater than my goal…

Fuck. I can't- 66, 23, 14, God… Pastor…

Dryout was just trying- he was a hero- we should not have let him come back down with us…

"I should-" Gentle started.

"Yeah," Zach said, nodding at him.

"She will be waiting."

"I know, you're good."

"And, do give Darling my apologies when you go to speak with her."

"Yeah, I'll do that."

---

"We need to be careful," Zach continued to the group of people in the bridge with him, as well as to a man connected to them across the world. "Getting spotted would be the worst thing that could happen to us here. We have to make sure our strategies work early on though, so we're doing this. After we pass through the airspace though it's straight on to Samoa."

"Two minutes out from where we project their farthest radars should be able to spot us, if they are capable of doing so," Raylei said on Zach's right side at one of the computers on a line of equipment. The woman who had once been a support team member back in the fight against Mongoloid, was almost as young as Access at nineteen instead of eighteen years old. She joined the Army of Death not too long after her counterpart at the computer on Zach's left had, after hearing the former Anon 4 respond when she was acting as support again and was speaking to the combatants out in the field. Raylei had been shocked to hear 'Whoreslayer42' out fighting with the Army of Death, but the moment he told her that doing so he felt he was doing a lot more to help, she offered to join up completely as well.

Raylei slid her chair to the right a bit and checked on another monitor, then she rose her head to the windshield of their ship that a black box covered the top right corner of. There was a white line splitting the box horizontally, and it squiggled as Rebel chimed back in. "Y'all could take whatever they throw at you. Don't worry so much about it-"

"When you say it like that, it really makes me worried you think they're going to spot us," Zach snapped.

"They won't!" Rebel exclaimed. "I've told you a hundred times, that ship is practically undetectable-"

"And when you say 'practically,'" Gentle began from behind Zach and on his left, standing next to a station that La Brava was sitting at and typing into different equipment panels fast. He looked towards the black box on the windshield and continued, "You do the opposite of instill faith in your machine."

"It's not mine-" Rebel started.

"Do you think they're going to spot us?" Zach asked, his voice getting a lot more serious as Rebel saying that convinced him the man did not want to be blamed for them getting seen.

"It's not all mine, but I did make sure it's as top-of-the-line as cloaking tech gets. Higher! Those fucks down there won't see ya' and they won't even sense ya'! So stop worrying-"

"Rebel, scramble their radars," Zach said. His eyes narrowed at the windshield in front of him, "On three different parts of the country, make glitches occur on systems that could detect something like us flying over."

"On it," Rebel said, not wasting time by questioning as the timer was running down on one of his screens. "Going to start a bit of a fuss-"

"Make it seem as much like equipment malfunctions as possible. Don't make it obvious," Zach narrowed his eyes, then he spun to his left. "Access, speaker-"

"You're on."

"Maelstrom! Get to the bridge immediately!"

"Forty-five seconds out," Raylei said, glancing to her left towards Death. "Sure we can't go around?"

"If something happens here that we need to take part in, we have to know that we can get to it in the future," Zach replied. Raylei nodded her head though she did lift a hand and wipe her wide block-shaped forehead. Her head was very rectangular-shaped with sharp edges on her jaw on top of her head, though her eight fingers on either hand were slim and slender and typed faster than anyone she had ever met. The young woman reached back forward and started swiping through different systems she was keeping an eye on. "Should I slow the engines more to-"

"They're at the right speed," Zach started. "If we can get spotted at this speed, we'll get spotted at speeds lower too."

"Death!" A woman called out behind him.

He did not turn to her, but instead pointed in front of him and called out, "Make it darker. Give us some natural cover too, in case camouflage isn't enough."

"Twenty seconds."

"I can't! Not that quickly-"

"Take your time, don't make it instantaneous," Zach said, his voice calmer than the one Scotty just used on his back right to call out their remaining time. "We have a lot of different systems and precautions in place." He glanced over his shoulder and back at the short woman with spiky orange hair that pulled back into two pigtails behind her head. "But I want to be extra sure. Just make those clouds darker, and a bit thicker. La Brava, raise us up a bit." She took in a deep breath and then nodded at Death before running forward to get closer to the front glass window.

La Brava slid a switch on her right up the panel, then she twisted a knob while reaching her other hand forward to the monitor in front of her and adjusting the ship's speed for ascent. "And…" Rebel said when the timer had a couple seconds left. "Some glitches just hit every sensor computer connected to the control grid watching the borders of Japan. Seems the problem… has to do with the blown transformer in Okano-"

"You blew a transformer?" Zach asked.

"I've got security footage of the plant I blew it at. Wasn't no one there when I blew it, and I just made the thing overload. If you want me to blow it sky-high I'd be happy-"

"Quiet," Zach said. Shouldn't be too much damage. If it's decided that was the cause for the glitches, that works great. If we have to do this every time we fly over Japan though, someone will notice the pattern after the second time. Quicker if we have to do this again anytime soon. "Once we're almost out, make sure the glitches stop. If we start getting followed we'll speed up and find a place to hide; have Akhmed fully shield us on the ground for a while. We need to see if just the ship's cloaking alone works, but Maelstrom keep up what you're doing until we're all the way through."

Maelstrom had her arms lifted up at her sides, and her eyes narrowed out through the windshield towards the sky ahead of them. Clouds already out there started getting thicker, and they changed directions while getting darker too. Her red irises swirled around with different shades, and the sky ahead of them for miles started to shift. Zach nodded his head as he watched it going, and he mentioned to Maelstrom to slow down on how quickly she changed the weather.

Two others who had come into the bridge after hearing Maelstrom get called in stared in amazement through the windshield. Grabble and Michael walked up towards the middle of the room, Zach glanced back at them and his black eyebrows narrowed down at the two he did not tell to come to the bridge. They just nodded at that look and stayed out of the way, walking over behind Access' chair and focusing through the windshield so even when Access glanced back he was quick to get back to what he was doing. "Chick's amazing," Michael whispered to his left at the man with big pincers sticking off the top of his head. "Changing the damn weather like it's nothing."

Grabble shook his head in similar amazement. Man the new recruits are no joke. Nothing much separating veterans if there's no gap in power. Pincers could never match up to Weather Manipulation though. That makes it cooler though, when Maelstrom asks stuff about Gorran like I'm a fucking veteran for being here a couple months longer- like her "senpai." Haha, that's something those Japanese below say. And those Japanese right in front of me, Grabble glanced to his right and then lowered his grin to regain a serious look like Death had on his face.

On the right side of the bridge, Mark sat at a station with the weapons' systems on in front of him. Diversionary tactics, flares, anything except the actual assault functions could actually be pretty useful if we start getting chased. "If something does start coming for us, I'll take control of one of the drones and detach. Lead them away," Mark suggested over towards Death, and Zach turned and nodded at him in agreement.

"If it's a flying hero who gets too close too," Cee began from where she stood on Zach's right, behind Raylei and in front of Scotty's station the man was struggling to slide back and forth behind to keep up with everyone. Cee grinned and she finished with a glance towards Death, "I'll just turn 'em around. Doesn't count as fighting."

Zach hesitated for a moment, then he nodded at the girl he decided not to question whether it would be safe for the heroes if she did that. She wouldn't suggest it if it wasn't, Zach told himself while refacing the windshield and the darkening clouds ahead of them they were about to rise into. "Keep the conditions under control. We don't want turbulence."

Maelstrom nodded and her huge smirk lowered down a bit. She twisted her open palms and lowered her outstretched arms a couple inches. Grabble and Michael looked towards the middle of the windshield, and then Cee spun to the older woman too as the spiky-haired girl in her mid-twenties started curling her fingers in, and the tops of the clouds just ahead of them curled with her movements. It was an intense sight to see, and Zach realized he was holding his breath for a reason other than being nervous about getting caught. Wow, he thought, then he mentally shook his head to get his thoughts straight. I thought Japanese airspace might be dangerous to cross through, and really I may be nervous for a different reason. Getting caught anywhere else wouldn't be as bad, but I cannot face them. I can't.

But we won't get caught. Not here. Not anywhere. I trust my plans. I trust, The Cloak will get us through this. Rebel's hacking and this ship's designs, my decisions even if they are in the moment, because the others are all smart and yet they're listening to those orders without hesitation. I can't hesitate. Zach looked to his left at the edge of the room where he saw Exodus looking towards him, then shifting his gaze to Michael and Grabble. Zach gave a short shake of his head telling him it was fine, and he looked back forward and through the windshield with a bit more of a smile on his face. He's been thinking about kicking them out the whole time, but that would make a bigger distraction than the two of them coming in did on its own. I noticed he moved closer towards the door, probably getting ready to stop anyone else who would make this place too crowded.

Access, Grabble, Michael, and Exodus were all in his vision on his left side. Maelstrom stood straight ahead of him between him and the glass. On Zach's right were Raylei and Cee with Mark at the edge with his head turned away from his equipment. He was watching Maelstrom's Weather Manipulation with an amazed look on his face, just as Scotty was over his computer before he snapped his head down and started typing away quickly checking their own radars to make sure nothing was coming at them. He opened his mouth ready to call out about something, but La Brava beat him to it on his left mentioning that there was some activity from the Police Force but it was just regarding the blown transformer. Zach heard her behind him on his left, and he glanced back as she told him that they were still in the clear. He nodded at her and made eye contact with Gentle for a second too, then he shifted his eyes over to the seat next to La Brava where Darling was looking up towards him. Zach looked into the brown-haired girl's bright green eyes, and he lifted his smile up a small amount that had Darling's eyes opening wide and then her own expression raising to a joyful one in an instant.

Zach looked back forward and out over the dark skies above Japan. A ghost in the sky. Out of their lives. An invasion force moving with a squall, creating the storm we hide in. Masking our advance across the border. Zach listened as Rebel started discussing with Raylei and Access about timings of their cloaking maneuvers as they continued across the island nation. All these operations, the amount of effort and time and caution that went just into passing a country, it made a nostalgic smile form on Zach's face. There was a time when my whole group sneaking somewhere was as easy as walking across a border, or docking a small boat. He chuckled once under his breath, Simpler times.

The nostalgia faded from Zach's face though he kept smiling as he forced it away. Things are better now though. "Everyone not involved with keeping the ship from being spotted, meet in the war room. Let's go over our plans for Samoa." Zach turned and said louder, "Call me if our state changes."

"Understood," Access called back without looking away from his computer. Michael opened his mouth to say something to his friend on the chair, but Grabble motioned back with his head and Michael nodded after a second deciding not to bother their younger comrade instead. The two of them headed after Zach to take part in the meeting, and La Brava frowned but turned to Gentle and told him to go as well.

Gentle asked if she was needed there, but La Brava sighed and said that she should take charge of it as much as she wanted to just leave her responsibilities to Raylei. That statement got Rebel to call into the cockpit about how he would be the one in charge if La Brava were to leave, and as Gentle left the room and the two of them kept arguing, the man actually had a surprised look on his face at how Rebel started their newest debate. La Brava and him started arguing, but Gentle noticed that it was not over whether Rebel was in charge over her, but over whether or not he would have been had La Brava left the bridge. Gentle sighed as he followed after Death, To think, even a man like that can grow from this.

"We have little time until Christmas," Zach said while leading a large group out of the bridge. The people behind him focused in on their leader's back and their looks started to match his serious one. Zach's eyes narrowed in front of him and his fists clenched at his sides. "We still don't have nearly enough information to stop the Syndicate, let alone stop whatever their plans are. It's crunch time. We're going to stop them though. Whatever it is, we will stop it. Understood?"

"Sir yes sir!"

"Yes Commander!"

"Yes Death!"

"Roger!"

"Understood!"

Zach stopped walking as a cluster of different overlapping shouts came from behind him. The others behind him looked around at each other too as that was a bit of a trainwreck for what should have been a simple simultaneous answer. "Understood Commander, is fine. Understood?" There were some surprised faces behind him, then Zach asked again louder, "Understood?"

"Understood Commander!" A smile formed on Zach's face, and a few of the others behind him smirked too as they actually got it sounding better that time.

All of their looks returned to serious ones though as Zach started forward again and said, "Let's go stop the Syndicate."

---

A/N Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed the chapter! The Army of Death gets a new home, a mobile headquarters Zach names The Cloak. A nice non-action chapter after the action-packed horror movie chapters the past few, hope you guys enjoyed the character interactions and developments. The Syndicate's got plans for Christmas, and Zach plans to stop them. The Cloak is passing over Japan, bringing Zach back close to his old friends in UA. His thoughts are focused on his future though, pushing away the past (and especially certain recent things still haunting him, and Gentle). Darling tries seducing Zach, at a really bad time. Zach sets up some more order to the Army of Death, and it's finally looking like an army. Leave a review below telling me what you think and predictions for what's coming!