A/N: You have no idea how hard it was not to post this chapter early. But now it's Thursday in the UK if only by less than ten minutes. It's about time.

Chapter 3: Tastes like Dead Criminal

Cinder would admit, her interest in Ken had suddenly been piqued.

When she first saw him, the first thing she thought was that he was one of Emeralds friends, before she the had brought the young thief under her tutelage. She remembered the small child, cold and dirty, who wouldn't abandon any of those around her. Who always preached to those people that staying together would keep them alive. They were her family, and Cinder had admired that.

What she admired more was the fact that she had abandoned them, to follow her.

Emerald never told Cinder exactly what she saw in her. Maybe a mother, maybe a teacher, or maybe just an easy money opportunity. It didn't really matter. Emerald was more useful to her than she realized,

But that was beside the point. When cinder had first saw the young man, she thought him an old friend of Emerald, looking for some money to earn for cheap labour.

It became obvious that this wasn't the case. If he had known Emerald in the past, wouldn't he be speaking English? The language spoken in all the major countries? Even if he had been a foreigner before becoming friends with Emerald, he would have picked up the language by now.

It became clear that he was someone the young thief had only recently just met. That let to the question 'Why did she bring him to me?', and that answered itself the moment she heard him laugh, right after being thrown through a wall by 'the strongest killer in Remnant'.

A title that Mr. King felt was being threatened.

"You made a big mistake getting up kid." He growled. "You could have played dead, run away later." His knuckle-duster crackled with energy. Arcs of electricity travelled across it's surface. "Guess that's what I get for being soft these days. I'll have to snap you in two personally." He stretched his neck, causing popping sounds as he snapped it left, right, up, and down. He ran at the small man. The child. Aiming to make good on his word.

Ken puts pressure on his ring finger using his thumb, causing a loud crack to echo around the room.

The young man jumps at the large man, or rather behind him, at speeds which left him nothing more than a blur over the man's left shoulder. He virtually just materializes some distance behind him. Chewing viciously, blood dripping slightly from his mouth.

King was confused briefly. Until by instinct, he happened to feel for his ear.

Not finding it.

"You." He seethed. Ken turned his head back at him. Just to let the man see him swallow his ear. And let him see him put pressure on his middle finger.

Another crack is heard.

"You little freak!" King screams at the top of his lungs. Charging and swinging wildly at the small freak who ducked, deflected, all without a weapon. He couldn't get even a single decent hit in.

Ken was suddenly in the air, and made to punch him in the head. King grabbed a hold of his right arm and began squeezing.

"Bad move bra-"

The sound of bone breaking could be heard, as Ken uses his left elbow to send the large man flying.

King was knocked a remarkable distance away. Upon landing he looked to see The smaller man's right arm, completely bent backwards. He grinned manically at his work, watching the limb flop useless.

And gaped in shock when it twisted back, looking completely undamaged.

"Odoroki~!" He said something in his bullshit. It didn't matter. It was mocking. He was obviously just mocking him at this point.

The freak pressured his index finger, eliciting a horrid crack.

King wasn't able to make sentences at this point. Just growl and roar in rage, in a need to turn the bastard into a pulp. His iris' had all but dissapear. It really wasn't a pretty sight.

They clashed, and clashed some more. And then some more. More and more fighting. King got more and more tired, and more and more angry. 'Kill him, pulp him, crush him!' kept going on in his mind. A violent mantra. His vision turned red.

Suddenly he felt something poke through his chest.

He looked down. And sadly found a hand sticking out from his chest.

He fell to his knees, shock, fear, dread. He felt all of it. Tears started to drop from his eyes as he began registering the pain. He looked in front of him. Through the tears he saw Roman, an old friend of his, look at him with pity, surprisingly. And he also saw Cinder. Who's focus was on what was behind him. His killer. The strongest killer in Remnant was about to be replaced.

He heard the a crack.

And then he didn't see anything, hear any thing, feel anything.

Ken had punched through Kings skull. His fist was right in the middle of a completely gored face.

Cinder couldn't be more happy.

She had her hands on truly, the strongest killer in Remnant. And possibly, the most effective.

It didn't matter if he didn't speak the language. She could have him fully tutored in a month, two at the very most. If she could convince him to join her, he could become a bodyguard, a spy, an assassin with some training. He could easily be adapted into her plan.

And then, there was the fact that he clearly wasn't human or faunus. No human or faunus could move like he could, heal as fast as he could. Even if a hunter damaged him, he could clearly regenerate at impossible speeds, making up two-fold for his obvious lack of aura. And she couldn't help but feel like there was more to him than he had shown in the fight.

"I can admit when I'm wrong." She said suddenly. She turned to Emerald, her face a mask of horror, just like Mercury next to her. "Emerald, I apologise. It seems you may have come across something of limitless potential." The young thief broke from her shock, acknowledging she had heard the older woman. Cinder turned to face Roman. "I apologise Torchwick, but it looks like Mr. King won't be of any use to us."

"It does seem that way." He muttered, staring at the young man currently ripping chunks off of his former friend and eating them, resentment plastered across his face. "I'm gonna go, seeing as how I'm currently not needed." He turned on his heel and walked away. Leaving just Cinder and her two apprentices alone with the monster they had just discovered. Cinder walked elegantly toward the man who was currently brushing brain from his hand, carrying his satchel. His eyes had gone back to normal, evident when he looked up at her. She extended the hand holding his satchel, and used the other to point behind her at the door.

"Roman Torchwick." She said. She then pointed at the other man in the room. "Mercury Black." And finally, at herself. "Cinder Fall." The man stared for a second, all of his earlier ruthlessness gone thankfully. He took the offered item and and fished something out.

It was a mask. A mask that cover the mouth and right eye.

But not the left.

It had whole 'make-shift monster' look to it. And it looked like it would be quite intimidating, on anyone.

"Kaneki." He said. "Boku no namae wa Ken Kaneki des." His left eye turned black again, and he jutted a thumb at it. "Ghoul." He said.

A ghoul, huh?

It had been about a month and a half later. Emerald was walking into an apartment on the inner outskirts of the city. The neighbourhood was crummy. And the crime rate was high, but the inside was clean, well lit and well furnished.

It was spacious enough. Four rooms, well, five if you included the toilet that was separated from the rest of the bathroom. She didn't.

And currently lounging on the sofa, reading a book, was her good friend "Kaneki."

After Cinder 'hired' him, she took him to tailor to get some clothes. He was very specific with what he wanted, interestingly enough. Good shirt, tie, vest, expensive pants, and an eye patch to cover his left eye for whatever reason, an intricate pattern sewn into it. He looked good.

"Yo." He said. "How did you get in?" The tutor Cinder found had a very useful semblance. One that may have not had much use in combat situations, but unparalleled in his field of education. You didn't need unlocked aura to be a hunter, and the same could be said vice versa.

"Thief, remember?" She asked sarcastically. She walked towards the kitchen.

"Ah, I wouldn't recommend going into the kitchen today." The ghoul called from the other room. "It's not exactly 'clean." She knew what he meant by 'clean' at this point. It didn't make her any less queasy.

"On second thought, I'm good." She came back into the living room, and sat in an armchair she had called dibs on last week when Kaneki had bought it. "Cinder wants to let you know were moving to a different warehouse."

"Alright," he said, taking a sip from some coffee on a small table next to the sofa. "I assume it's more to you being here than that."

"What? Don't think I like visiting?" She pouted.

"I know you do." Kaneki responded, flipping the page on his book. "But from what I know about her, Cinder doesn't so paranoid she would send you all the way here just to send a message that could easily be sent over a scroll." Emerald sighed.

"The White Fang has been generous enough to supply us with a workforce." She said. "She wanted me to tell you that you can't eat any of them." Kaneki looked surprised.

"Just because I can eat them, doesn't I'm going to go crazy and eat all our support." He flipped onto the next page of his book. He had gotten quite far into it considering how big it and that he only picked it up a couple days ago.

Emerald sighed "I know. And so those Cinder. She just wants to make it completely clear to keep your...food shopping." Kaneki hums lowly.

"What else?" Emerald looked hesitant for a moment, but decided it would be easier just to say it.

"She wants to know more about you." She says curtly. The ghoul flipped to the next page in his book.

"There's undoubtedly more to it than that." He sighed. "When?"

"Now."

"Then we should get going." Kaneki snapped his book shut.

A/N: Boom, language barrier gone. At least during dialogue with others characters. I understand that many people won't understand what's written, but I hate the idea of putting translations in brackets. It's just a gripe for me.

Also, I'm gonna start answering questions now, after chapter five is published. I'll pick the ones that aren't repeats. If you want your question answered, PM me.

One last thing: This is how long a chapter should generally be.

Well, 'till next time.