That man was back and Eve did not like the cold tingling sensation that raced down her spine as soon as his gaze fell on her. Beside the man stood the brunette responsible for her being there in the first place, watching her with the same, cold, emotionless gaze that he had whenever she had seen him.

"Detain her, will you?" the bespectacled man ordered carelessly. Obediently, the boy with mismatched eyes raised his hand and a stream of blue colored runes emerged from his outstretched forefingers.

"No!" Eve was on her feet in a less than a blink of an eye, her hands transforming into a shield with a flash of blue light.

But the runes still came, wrapping around her, passing through that unbreakable glass like it wasn't even there. The unintelligible symbols snaked across her skin, an excruciating pain exploding through her transformed limbs forcing them back to their original shape as her body became paralyzed.

"Incredible." The doctor-look-alike's grin grew wider as he pressed his palm against the glass tube around her which slowly melted away. "You truly are an amazing creation." He said as his pale hand caressed her cheek even as she struggled against this foreign energy that was holding her in place and keeping her from pounding this guy in his face. "I wonder what else you are capable of." He dark eyes held her cherry-colored gaze as he picked her up.

"Let's see if we can return you to the way you were truly meant to be."

Eve had been scared plenty of times in her life before, not that she would ever admit it but she had been scared when Sven had taken the bullet meant for Train. She had been scared Sven had spoken of sending her away to a school. She had been scared when those Chronos numbers had gotten too close to capturing her. But never in her life before had she been as scared as she was right now.

She struggled harder against her rune-like bonds. She had to get away from here. She… she couldn't go back to being that way. No. She was a human being. Not a weapon. She could not let him turn her back into one. The one that could not even recognize her own adoptive father.

She had to get away. But her body refused to obey her commands all the same. She remained limp in the doctor-look-alike's arms as the guy stepped out of her container and moved towards the large wooden door with the bat carving on it. The emotionless boy trailed behind them, silently.

A single tear managed to leak past her clenched eyes as she felt herself getting strapped onto a cold metallic platform.

"Don't worry, everything will be alright." He patted her face in a comforting manner using the type of voice that might fool almost all the onlookers into believing that he was actually someone who meant her no harm.

-0-

"Hyuu," Fai fake whistled as he, Syaoran and Kurogane finally caught up with the Black Cat. Or rather, as they observed him fight the gang of criminals all by himself. "He's almost as good as Kuro-puu, won't you agree Syaoran?"

"He is quite skilled." The brunette agreed as they watched him from afar.

"Tch," was all the response the ninja clad in black gave but he had to admit, this guy was an impressive fighter. Despite his immense anger and rage, all his moves were precise and his marksmanship was unparalleled. He knew Fai was good but bounty hunter was better.

With an enraged cry, Train's threw his leg in a wide arc; easily hitting his would be assailant on the head, instantaneously knocking him out. The remaining four out of the original twelve gangsters whipped out their guns, one of them carrying a mini-machine gun, aiming them at the deadly ex-assassin, letting loose a volley of shots before he even had a chance to move. A torrent of dust kicked up from where all the stray shots landed, obscuring him from view completely.

"Is he dead?" one of the gangster, a guy in his mid twenties questioned hesitantly.

"Are you kiddin' me?" the one who had the machine gun exclaimed. "Not even the devil could have survived that!"

"H-hey…" the third one spoke in a somewhat scared voice. "Where is the body?" he asked as the dust settled.

"What the…" the fourth narrowed his eyes, noticing that the pockmarked ground before them was indeed, lacking the bullet ridden body of a certain black clad sweeper.

"I've come to bring you," a calm yet cold voice spoke next to his ear, making him whirl around in alarm only to note his remaining companions unconscious on the ground, "Bad Luck."

Wham!

And his world was consumed by darkness.

"Wow! Train is soo cool!" Mokona gushed from its perch atop Kurogane's head.

For the briefest of moments, the ex-assassins cat-like eyes flitted in their direction before he had whirled around, pulling out his black cellphone as he punched in a couple of keys before putting the device to his ear.

Fifteen minutes later, the police had arrived to arrest the criminals the lone sweeper had single handedly brought down.

"My partner will come by later to collect the bounty," he told the officer as he turned on his heels and walked down the deserted streets.

"He's almost as fast as Fai," Mokona spoke as it watched the retreating figure of the infamous Black Cat before it turned around in an alleyway and vanished from sight.

"Say, Kuro-tan," Fai asked with a sidelong glance in his companion's direction "Do you think he'd be able to beat you?"

"I doubt it." The ninja snorted as he too turned his back towards his friends and began descending the stairs that led to out to streets below. Fai had chosen the rooftop of that abandoned building stating it gave the best view.

-0-

"When exactly will your rabbit be ready to leave?" Train had jumped next to Kurogane who at that time was walking alone. Fai and Syaoran had decided to go explore the city some more, taking Mokona along with them but luckily they were still somewhere nearby since he could understand what the amber-eyed man was saying.

"No idea." He shrugged in response as he brushed past the sweeper.

"What kind of an answer is that?" he snarled.

"The one I just gave you." Kurogane responded carelessly. "By the way, your friend isn't the only one who was taken captive by those bastards so you're not the only one who is worried."

"Bullshit!" Train slammed his fist into the wall next to him. "Don't fucking tell me what to feel!"

"I never said I was." The ninja's calm tone seemed to enrage the ex-assassin only further as the red-eyed man continued walking. A bullet whizzed past the ninja's head, missing only by a hair's breadth as it embedded in the wall of a general store.

Kurogane stopped walking, "I'm just saying, don't act like an idiot. You're worrying that seer friend of yours."

And then he was gone, leaving the Ex-Chronos assassin standing there, frozen in shock with his gun still raised in the air.

-0-

A/N: So what do you think?

I wonder who would win if Train were to fight against Kurogane. In fact, I was going to have the two fight here at the end, but then I decided against it cause I couldn't decide on the outcome. But I'd still like to know what you guys think. Who would win if they fought?

Oh and Kyoko might end up going with the gang as well. But I can't decide on her price. It can't be her pyrokinesis since I need her to have it later on. So I'm open to suggestions.

And what do you think will happen to Eve? Will she turn into a mindless weapon like Cloney or will she be able to resist the effects of whatever spells Kyle might use. Vote in favor of her turning into a weapon or against it. I'm leaving it up to you guys to decide that (for now).

Please vote via reviews since I'm too lazy to put up a poll on my profile. Also leave you opinions about Kyoko's price using the same means. Or I guess you could PM me too. Either way is fine.

That is all.

-Nims

PS. Check out my latest TRC fic, "Shattered Secrets". I'd really appreciate feedback on that one.