Guess what! I'm so obsessed with Black Cat that I've even requested a section for it on just now. I wonder if and when it's gonna happenthough.

Well, I apologize for the not-making-sense last chapter. It was a result of getting a sugar high and then having it crash right in the middle of some plot outlining...

Yeah, I know; no excuses either way. Perhaps I can appease you with the next chapter?

A Mix of Black and White

It was an ungodly hour in the morning, and the stars were just starting to wink out of existence. Creed was by his bedroom balcony window, looking out over his rose garden. He had collected and bred every rose in existence, and then some, before the incompetent humans could stamp them all out in their barbaric ways. It was really amazing how the specie just multiplied faster than cockroaches and proceeded to tear down an entire planet of resources, while looking out greedily into the unpolluted gem of outer space for more. Disgusting.

A light knock on the door was heard, and Creed gave a quiet "come in" to the guest.

Doctor stepped inside, looking amused. He had stayed up all night researching, and therefore had avoided any unsightly morning hair. Creed, on the other hand, despite having slept on those pristine and neatly made silk sheets, did not even have a hair out of place. He shook his head mentally. Amazing.

Creed turned toward Doctor. "We are leaving at 1400. Your ability is more medical healing than anything. Please stand ready to tend the wounded after our battles."

Doctor inclined his head in acceptance. It was left unsaid that Doctor was more than capable in battle. His physical abilities were top notch, and he was never injured due to his quick healing abilities. He let this go, however, since it was all according to his plan.

The seeds of distrust were sown already.

A brief, pleasant afternoon breeze kissed Train on the cheeks before brushing by gaily, slightly ruffling the heavy coat about his shoulders. Despite the wind, Train stared unblinkingly down from the rooftop of a rundown lodging at the bleak scene before him.

Everything was grey. The buildings were made of grey cement, covered with grey plaster, covered over again with grey soot. The train tracks glinted a dull grey, splitting the grey earth down the center. The people who trudged out from the great grey caverns were pale grey. Even the polluted air was a very tangent grey.

Suddenly, all the grey flared up in a hellish orange, and Train finally closed his eyes from the sun that was emerging from behind an endless mass of grey clouds. Damn Creed. An operation like this would have a higher success rate under the cover of darkness, but didhe care? HE was more concerned with the drama and how his hair would look under the glow of the sunlight. Sighing, Train felt the presence of the sun disappear, taking the brief warmth on his eyelids with it. He finally opened his eyes, and came face to face with Creed decapitated head floating an inch in front of him, grinning manically.

Surprised at the sight, but unsurprised at the presence, as he had sense Creed before, he held his reaction and decided to just stare resolutely ahead, as if staring through Creed.

Creed smiled, not in the least annoyed at being ignored. He took this chance to observe Train. Here was the perfect assassin partner. He was unblemished by compassion, uncomprehending of friendship, unaware of freedom. To lead the messengers of the stars, and to find the twin star of his soul: it was a dream that had dangled precariously before coming into the secure grip of Creed's ambition. Now…

Creed was suddenly assaulted with a golden death glare from Train. Oops…observed a bit too long. Creed's face melted into one of anticipation.

"Train, the assault will begin in exactly 92 seconds from now. Number V and XI are guarding the forest strip around the mine. Leave those two to Shiki and Maro. Ekidonna needs to be or have been within 30 meters of a place to make a portal, so we will take her up to 30 meters away from the center of the mines and have her "void" the land. 74 seconds to go."

And with that, Creed's floating head disappeared through the portal. Train stared at the slightly shimmering air in front of him, it's image wavering as if experiencing a heat wave, and shrugged. He put one booted foot against the edge of the building and pushed off, leaping out into thin air.

The "heat wave" disappeared, taking Train along with it.

Nazier Blackheimer was wandering aimlessly around with his partner, Belga, in the woods just outside of the mines. This was one of the most boring jobs he had ever taken for Chronos. He scoffed. Guarding against risk exposure to high top secret locations indeed. There was no action.

"There's no action--" He heard Belga echo his words, just as two blurs dropped out of the blue right in front of him.

"Hello, gentlemen," said the bandaged short freak.

"We're gonna be amusing you today," said the fatass.

Train watched his former Chronos allies with amusement for a moment, before following Creed and Ekidonna through the shadows toward the mines.
Janus lounged against the hard rock entrance to the mines, playing an intricate game of cat's cradle with his wires. His swift hands paused a moment, before gracefully untangling the web with a practiced tug.

"You can come out now," he said without looking up from his hands. "I have my wires strung everywhere in a big spider web, specially made to break under the presence of killing ki, concealed or not. Nothing and nobody enters within 45 meters of the cave entrance without being detected."

A silent woosh was all that could be heard before three figures suddenly appeared right in front of him.

"Mmm, with a trap like that, even I can't portal through it with only a 30 meter limit," commented the blond girl.

"No worries, Ekidonna. We'll just water the ground with his blood," reassured the horribly familiar blond man.

The third person didn't say anything, but he didn't need to. Janus broke out a smile. "So, Train Heartnet, we meet again. Your bad luck and my good must be drawn together by fate."

Surprisingly, Train did not answer comically as he expected. Instead, the blond man spoke, this time in a deathly tone. "Do not speak so familiar with him! You know nothing about him! Just die you filthy slave of Chronos!"

Janus's eyes widened. Spoken in that arrogant tone, he finally realized with a mental slap to his forhead, who the man was.

"Let me erase you from the world, Creed Diskence." (1)

(1) For those of you who don't know, I think Janus's job in Chronos is to be an eraser. This means he cleans up the messes that pop up under Chronos's rule.

Hmmm…I'm still discovering stuff about this site. For example, I found out I was blocking anonymous reviews about a week or two ago and put a stop to that. And the stat page is a nifty little thing. The hit counter is going up like crazy! Mmmm I feel loved.