Hey guys, how're you? I'm sorry this was posted so late today, I have a paper to write and an obnoxiously confusing math assignment I'm attempting to finish sigh as if I want to. Well, lately I've been reading the Black Cat manga to get a feel for how that storyline works, and I have to admit I've sort of mixed the personalities of the manga Sven & Train with the anime Sven & Train, hopefully it works. I've also been listening to the soundtrack to get in the mood to write fight scenes lol. Of course there's more to come but I've got to write this paper for school, then I will get on with more of the fight scenes! As for those of you reading that haven't read the manga or seen all of the show, some of these names might be confusing. I'll explain who the characters are to you, even if you just need them refreshed, I know I did lol X3 :

Maro: This is the Apostles of the Stars member that resembles a sumo wrestler, though he isn't one, and also came from the Frobidden Continent. His power is that of gravity, which he uses to crush his enemies, but he also uses his muscular power as well.

Shiki: Shiki was one of the members of the Tao clan whose ancestors survived the war against Chronos 25 years ago. He is a Master-Level Taoshi, who uses both his ki and the Tao to summon insects. He is shrouded in fabric around his face and wears long, billowing robes. I'm not too fond of him…so he isn't described or written about much in his part during the story X3

Echidna: Echidna is an ex-actress with the Tao power of "Gate". She can open gateways in space that will lead to other locations. She is the one who grabs Train's wrist in the first chapter and lets Creed escape with him. Besides "Gate" Echidna relies on hang guns, using her powers together for sneak attacks. She also follows Creed no matter what, and, at least in the anime, seems to have romantic feelings towards him, and is almost a little jealous of the obsessive feelings Creed has towards Train.

Zagine: Zagine is a character most people don't remember or recognize. He isn't a member of Creeds Apostles, in fact, he's not even alive during the Black Cat manga/anime story. Zagine is the man who murdered Train's parents. In this story I use the anime version of Zagine, who after murdering Train's parents kidnapped him and forced him to Train at a ridiculous pace. As you can see most of the characters from the Black Cat series (which of course I don't own), are based on those from the anime.

I hope you enjoy! X3

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"A Cat on the Run"

Sven was the one to open the door, to take the blast for me as three out of the…however many there were…Apostles of the Stars stood in the hallway before us. They had figured out the plan and they knew right away where the missing sweeper would be-saving his comrade.

"Sven!" I cried as I turned to watch him fall hard, but he wasn't bleeding, he's just been knocked off his feet…he was fine…right?

I whipped back around to face the three and glared, my hand hanging beside Hades, ready to attack. Shiki, Maro, and Echidna stood before me, each ready with their own form of attack in mind. Echidna held a gun, aimed carefully at my chest, Shiki held an ink seal in front of his face, and Maro, the one who had attacked Sven, simply stood with a smirk plastered across his face.

"We have orders to keep you here, Train Heartnet," Echidna said calmly, her gun still aimed and her expression stone cold.

"And we won't be letting you leave with you little friends," Maro let out a deep chuckle from within his chest.

"Right," I scoffed, my hand landing on Hades handle. "As if I'm going to listen to you three."

Echidna cocked her gun and re-aimed the moment my fingers touched Hades, she was good enough with I gun, I knew that, and her portals helped her to move faster than most humans possible could. Not to mention these three had the powers of the Tao coursing through their bodies and I, well, I was the same ordinary Train Heartnet I had been before, but there was no chance they were locking this cat up in a boring old room.

I heard Sven stir behind me, and I turned to see him slowly rising to his feet and retrieving his briefcase, but he still looked rather confused and out of place, as if he'd temporarily forgotten what he was doing and who he was with.

I turned my attention back to the three Taoists, waiting as we studied one another. Shiki never moved, and I knew inside my head that he was the one to watch out for. If he released his insects on us any one of his bees could sting us and render us helpless, paralyzed and unable to do a thing about it. Echidna was dangerous, yes, but if she felt too threatened she would retreat to Creed and wait for us to arrive there. Maro, on the other hand, looked as though he didn't have a care in the world and that he'd rather see us smashed into bits than to follow Creed's orders.

"Hand over your friend and follow Creeds orders," Echidna ordered as she turned her gun on Sven but continued to watch me.

"Since when have I ever followed Creeds orders?" I snapped as I yanked Hades out of it's holster.

Echidna pulled the trigger of her gun, the shot heading straight for an unsuspecting Sven. I threw myself in front of him and hit the bullet aside with Hades before aiming and shooting the gun out of Echidna's hand. She quickly jumped back and retrieved another from somewhere within her coat.

Shiki began to mutter some form of a chant, calling upon his ki and summoning the insects I dreaded seeing. Maro was rubbing his palms together, readying himself to throw another blast of gravity our way.

"Sven! Run!" I yelled as I pulled him behind me, dashed though the door, and shoved him to the right. "Figure a way out, I'll handle these three!"

"Train!" Sven yelled as he skidded to a halt and turned back to face me, holding his briefcase ready. "I'm not letting you fight this on your own!"

I choked as something hit me hard in the side, another one of Maro's attacks no doubt and as I was thrown backwards I felt my back slam into Sven. This wasn't going well at all. I hadn't been able to practice much in five months. Sure, Creed had offered me a room for target practice, where I had stayed for hours on end, shooting target after target until all my anger had been drained into the bullets and I had been left calm, tired, and most of all, reasonable.

I jerked my head up as something whisked through the air and, just in time, I threw Hades up in front of me, my grip on it's handle tight as something slammed hard into it. I looked up to see Echidna, the barrel of her gun aimed right at my face but blocked by Hades side. She cursed quietly before opening a portal and jumping back into it, disappearing from sight.

I pushed away from Sven and ducked, pulling Sven down by the collar, as Maro sent another blast of gravity at us. My hand still holding tightly to Sven's collar I threw him towards Shiki, knowing the weapons in his briefcase were much better suited against a horde of bugs than Hades.

"You take care of him," I called as I threw him towards a chanting Shiki. "I'll take care of Maro. But keep an eye out for Echidna!"

"Right!" Sven nodded and flashed me a grin before turning on Shiki, his stance strong and determined as he tried to predict Shiki's next move.

I dodged two more waves of gravity as Maro hurled them my way before running towards him and aiming. If I could shoot his arms that would take away at least one of his attacks as he swept the blasts towards me with them. His other attacks, on the other hand, couldn't be stopped until he was unconscious, a goal harder to reach than it sounded.

"So you're going to take me on, weakling?" Maro boomed as I flattened against the wall, his latest blast barely missing me as his brushed past my face and whipped my hair and clothes around. "I'll break your bones, and crush your pathetic body."

"I don't think so," I shoved away from the wall and aimed Hades at him then up as I caught sight of the humongous chandelier hanging high above his head.

Thanks to Creeds obsession with having only the best of the best I had now found a surrogate weapon, one that could do far more damage than the gun in my hand. Maro stopped in his tracks as he began to sweep up another blast and followed with his eyes to where I was aiming. I pulled the trigger and the bullet flew up, smashing into the chain of the chandelier and sending it crashing down towards Maro's head.

Maro's eyes widened as he realized what I'd done but, unfortunately for me, his mind moved faster than I thought it could. As the chandelier fell he gathered together a large blast of gravity within his body, and, just at the right moment, threw it at a curve towards the chandelier.

I watched in shock as the large ficture changed it's falling pattern and swerved, as if alive towards me. I braced myself as I watched it come closer, calculating in my head what I could possibly do. If I dodged it there was the chance that it would keep going and hit Sven, but that was a risk I might have to take. Sven was smart; he'd see it coming and get out of the way, if not, he'd throw Shiki in the way.

The chandelier was now only feet away and I jumped up as high as I could before running up the chandelier and flipping up into the air. I fell fast, face first towards Maro before I wound my arm back and hit him several times in the back of the head, on his shoulder joints, and in the back.

He cried out as he fell forward, the ground shaking as I landed with him on one knee, my hand holding me up as my other leg was stretched out to hold up the rest of my weight. I looked up to see Maro slowly standing, a large dent in the wall where he had landed. I looked past him to see Sven shooting several shots of what looked like smoke bombs into the horde of insects Shiki had summoned.

Maro turned to face me again; his face covered with an angry smirk as he ground his hands together and stomped back and forth on the ground.

"So that's how you want to play this game, little cat?" He growled. "Then, let's play."

He wound his arms back before clapping his hands together hard. Almost immediately the walls on either side of me began to crack and cave in, before they flew towards me with such force I was afraid to even think of how that would feel.

I threw myself forward and rolled out of the way, the plaster, light fixtures, and steel support beams smashing into one another, breaking and bending around one another. I winced as I looked back, realizing that could have been my body before I felt someone grab my ankle and yank me from the floor.

I hung upside down, looking ridiculous I'm sure as my coat hung around me, as Maro studied me with a malicious look. I gritted my teeth together as I felt his hand tightening around my ankle, threatening to crush the bones and break my leg in two.

"You shouldn't lose at your own game, little cat," He laughed, hanging the advantage making him happy.

He flung his arm back, my ankle still grasped in his hand, before flinging me forward and against the broken wall. I cried out as I hit a splintered beam, the wood cutting into my back before I fell and hit the ground hard, my skull hitting a metal pipe and causing the room around me to sway back and forth.

I felt the ground shudder as Maro made his way towards me and I knew I had to move before he could get a hold of me again. I urged for myself to get up in my mind, knowing I was stronger than this, but my body was tired, weak, and not in the shape it used to be.

"Are you just going to lie there?" Maro joked as he came to a stop in front of me. "Once I'm done with you I'll finish off your little friends, and that will be the end of it."

Now that made me mad. I dug my fingers into the plaster and boards beneath me, gritting my teeth as anger and an all too familiar feeling surged through me. He wasn't going to lay a finger on the people who had come to save me-my friends, that wasn't something I was even willing to consider.

I slowly pushed myself to my feet, holding Hades tight in my hand as I stumbled back a step before steadying myself again and wiping the blood away from my mouth with the back of my hand. He smiled down at me like a kid playing with his favorite toy, or more like breaking his least favorite.

"You're not going to touch them," I growled, the anger surging through me almost as strong as it had that night long ago when I had fought Creed in the darkened city streets…Saya's body lying behind us. "I won't let you."

"Oh, you won't, won't you?" Maro laughed loudly as if I'd made some sort of joke. "Well, little cat, show me what you've got in you, though I doubt it'll be much, I'll give you a chance."

At this I let out a yell and threw myself towards him, ducking as his arm swung at me and coming up behind him. He turned quickly, before gathering up a blast of gravity in his body and throwing it into the air. He tried to grab me, to keep me in place, but instead I grabbed his outreached hand and swung myself up and behind him again.

I aimed at his right shoulder before pulling the trigger, blood splattering the nearby walls as the bullet cut through skin and bone. He screamed and clutched his shoulder as his blast of gravity exploded just in front of him, before turning on me, anger rising in his eyes.

"That's how I play," I smirked as I jumped back before he could hit me with one of his massive hands.

He charged at me, gathering gravity in his hand, before swinging it towards me. I ducked and threw myself out of the way, using the nearest wall as a spring board as I jumped into the air, aimed at his other shoulder, and shot.

His scream filled the air as I landed behind him, my back to him as I caught another glimpse of Sven shooting several bullets in Shiki's direction. I whipped around just in time to take a blow from one of Maro's fists, throwing me into the nearest wall, but the moment I hit it I yet again jumped from it and flipped into the air.

As I was upside down I aimed Hades at him, shooting and taking out one of his knees. He collapsed to one knee as blood leaked from the bullet hole, yelling out in rage as he threw several shots of gravity, all but one missing me.

I felt backwards and slammed into one of the pillars that lined the wall, crying out as pain shock waved through my body. I heard Sven yell my name as I fell onto my hands and knees, trying to shake off the pain, trying to regain the strength from before. Lucky for me it was still there, unlucky for me, Maro was standing only a few feet in front of me, gathering up as much gravity as he could.

With one swift movement I kicked off the ground and flipped over his head just as he shot the gravity into the air. I flipped around and shot his other knee just as the gravity hit me, throwing him to the ground and rendering him helpless.

I couched on top of the blast of gravity, as it amazingly kept it's shape. I rode it up before, just as it reached it's peak, I jumped and landed hard on it, propelling it towards the ground to exactly where Maro lay.

I heard him scream right before the blast hit, shaking the corridor as if an earthquake had hit. I landed hard next to him but remained on my feet, straightening as the blast dissipated. I came up to the edge of the small crater, peering over it only to see Maro lying, unconscious, in the ruins of the floor.

I sighed and wiped several beads of sweat from my forehead before turning to Sven who, as I looked, sent a kick to Shiki's head before blasting a net at him and tying it tight, keeping Shiki's movement to a minimum. With Maro unconscious, Shiki unable to summon his insect friends, and Echidna nowhere to be seen we headed off at a run towards the doors that I knew led to Creed's dining room. He had to be down there somewhere.

The stairs seemed like they would never end, flight after flight spiraling into view the faster we ran. Both of us were taking in raged breaths as we pushed our bodies to move faster, the momentum of our running legs the only thing that kept us going.

It wasn't long before the set of double doors came into view and I threw them open only to find ourselves in a seemingly empty room. Sven ran up behind me, both of us gasping for air as we looked around frantically, half expecting to be attacked by the rest of the Apostles of the Stars, but no one was there.

"Where…is…everyone?" Sven gasped from behind me, glancing up towards the high arched ceiling.

"I…don't…know," I breathed, looking towards the other set of doors that led out of the room.

I slowed my breathing, forcing myself to gain control of my heart rate as I tried to analyze our situation. Those doors had to lead somewhere, otherwise it was back up to the corridor we had come from and start at the beginning all over again.

"Let's take those doors there," I said, my body beginning to calm down as I pointed towards the double doors across the room.

"Right," Sven gasped, his breathing a bit more under control as well.

We jogged over to the doors and shoved them open only to find ourselves in what seemed to be a maze. The walls towered over us as we skidded to a halt, the door slamming behind us and locking on its own. Sven kicked them hard, but they refused to budge, not even shaking under the blow from his foot.

"It's not good, they're locked tight," Sven cursed as he came back up to my side, following my gaze as I stared up to a figure that stood on the top of the nearest wall of the maze.

High above us stood Echidna, a smirk on her face and her gun at her side. The portal she had obviously come through was closing behind her, and one of her arms was behind her back, obviously holding onto something.

"Welcome, Black Cat and Sven Vollfied," Her painted lips smirked as she greeted us. "I hope you'll be willing to at least pretend to enjoy Doctor's latest game. He worked so hard to prepare it in time."

"Stop screwing around!" Sven yelled up at her, his air raking through the air in anger as he spat the words out.

"Screwing around?" Echidna asked sardonically as she yanked someone out from behind her back, the dim light in the room revealing a somewhat frightened Eve as Echida lowered her gun and pressed it against Eve's temple. "Does this look like "screwing around" to you?"

"Eve!" Sven cried out, jerking forward but knowing there was nothing he could do.

I gritted my teeth as I looked up at Eve. Sure, she might be a pain once in a while, and I knew she didn't like me much, but I had grown awfully protective of the kid over the two years I had been with them, and I wasn't about to let someone like Echidna hurt her.

"Return to Creed, Black Cat," Echidna ordered, pressing the gun harder against Eve's temple, making her wince painfully. "And I will let the girl go."

"Yeah, and shoot the both of them the second I turn my back," I snarled, my grip on Hades tightening…we really didn't have time for this kind of thing.

"You have a choice to make," She said calmly, the gun never wavering, and Eve never making a sound.

I had to had it to the princess, she sure was brave for a kid of her age. Most thirteen-year olds would've been crying, or at least on the verge of it, but there stood Eve, a little worried, but that was about it. Her eyes turned from Sven to me, an emotion there I couldn't read. She would never verbally ask for help, but I knew somewhere in those eyes she was pleading for someone to do something that she could not.

"Let her go," I barked as I raised Hades and pointed it at Echidna.

"Train! No!" Sven yelled, grabbing Hades by the muzzle and shoving it, and my arms down. "If you shoot you might hit Eve, or she might shoot her!"

"What else am I supposed to do?" I growled so only Sven could hear.

Sven shook his head, telling me he didn't know before looking back up to Eve and Echidna.

"I'll let you make your decision, Train Heartnet," Echidna said calmly, her eyes on me. "You won't have long, but it'll give you time enough. Either you make your decision now, or as your find your way through this maze. If you make it out…alive…Creed will be waiting for you, and he will make the decision for you."

"Sure, that makes a lot of sense," I snapped sarcastically, but as I opened my mouth to say something else I was cut off as the ground began to rumble and shake.

"That is the time allotted to you, Black Cat," Echida said and I realized, as she spoke, that the walls of the maze were rising-they were growing taller, and as they did they carried Eve and Echidna up higher and higher until they were barely recognizable then disappeared.

"This doesn't make any sense at all," Sven growling, punching the wall of the maze hard once it had stopped moving.

"It does, if you know Creed," I muttered, turning to look down the darkened corridor we would have to begin our venture through the maze in.

"Well," Sven sighed, stepping up beside me and looking forward as well. "I suppose it's time to start this."

"I suppose you're right,"