The first day the Arcobaleno meet Skull, they are confused.
This is supposed to be a civilian. Someone unknown and clueless.
Except he's not.
He's dangerous, a fighter, a soldier, a survivor and it is in every move that he makes. Oh the man looks relaxed, acts relaxed and for all intents and purposes would have passed as relaxed if the Arcobaleno were not who they were.
They can sense the danger contained in the Cloud no matter that he appears entirely relaxed leaning back in his chair with his feet on the table. Nothing gives the Cloud away, not even to their experienced eyes- which is a red flag in and of itself-but they have honed their instincts for years.
And their instincts call the Cloud dangerous despite all appearances to the contrary.
So they treat him with a distant respect even as they make sure to keep him in their line of sight.
When the Man in the Iron Hat arrives, they see the lightning quick flash of cunning curiosity and they know they had been right to watch the man.
O~O~O~
After the Curse has been applied, and the Arcobaleno-to-be become the cursed infants they will spend the next long while as they learn of some of that danger.
Skull is furious- they can see it, but it is controlled in a way most Clouds never are. It is then that they put the pieces together and realize Skull is an Inverted Cloud and all the more dangerous for it. With Classics their tempers and habits are well known, are expected and able to be planned around in most cases.
Inverted Clouds have no 'classic' behaviors. They are individual in the most dangerous of ways. They carry the Classic tempers, but have none of the same triggers, and their rage when triggered is more dangerous, more focused. Like a hunter.
And Skull is angry now, is planning a hunt.
O~O~O~
Skull is like a ghost.
They have never heard of the man before the Fated Day and yet somehow the Cloud had Connections (the capital being completely justified and earned) and he is gathering information even Viper has trouble finding. It makes the others a little nervous, because Viper is known as a very expensive, very reliable Information Broker. Before this, they would have called the woman the best- and yet an unknown is gathering information better, quicker, then she is. Information Viper can't even find.
The man is not a Civilian no matter what the information they had been provided said.
O~O~O
They do come to learn quickly that the Cloud- despite being laid back in most cases, relaxed, is a genius. He looks at them and he pulls them apart. He reads them the way most people read the newspaper.
No matter how well their masks are built, no matter how through they had been in regards to hiding themselves, they are not good enough to hide from him. They had thought it a Bluff- that he had information of them- but when the Civilian-Who-Is-Not-Civilian opens his mouth and provides information- privately to each of the Arcobaleno- that no one should know…it's hard to call the Cloud a liar.
And when Verde takes offence (they all had at that point- not yet understanding how Skull-how Jazz- handled information of those who he worked with) and reacts by trying to kill the upstart they learn that Skull is Dangerous.
Dangerous like Reborn and Fon. A killer, an assassin, a planner, not one for idle threats.
Because Skull makes an example of the Lightning. He destroys every security measure the man puts into place, breaks into every single lab the man has- even the ones Verde had been sure were hidden- and he coats the labs in bright bubblegum pink paint.
A relatively harmless thing compared to what he could have done, but it proves a point. Skull had broken through every security measure the genius had come up with, torn apart any physical defense he had, and gotten into the Lightning's inner sanctums and defaced them with paint. The fact that the Cloud had dismantled any Experiments he found safely showed he was a genius of his own. He hadn't been able to stop the Cloud- hadn't been able to hide even one of his Labs, and it happened right after Verde had made the attempt on the Cloud's life meaning Skull had tracked the source back to him despite all the measures the genius had taken.
The fact Skull had made sure the other Arcobaleno had seen his retaliation meant they received the silent message clearly.
You can't hide from me. You can't keep me out. I will retaliate against you if you try anything.
Warning Given.
It had been the only time Verde tried anything, and the other Arcobaleno had acknowledged the silent warning themselves.
They tested the limits of course- but Skull always seemed to be three steps ahead of them.
O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~
I did say short drabbles. I posted an edit for last chapter but those who missed it: I thought the Viral Daggers I mentioned later (last chapter) were cannon. They're not- they are the creation of SecretEnigma and so I give credit to her- and have her permission to keep them in here.