"Ashes, ashes, we all fall down!"

~~~

"So, you're telling me that you don't know where 'Zero' is right now?" Vin asked from the dark. The whole room was pitch black, except for the small column of light in the center. Vin had only on T-shirt and sweatpants, so he could not be seen from the dark.

"Y-yeah," replied a young woman in the center of the column. She was "pretty cute", in Vin's perspective, but she was nothing more than a tub of information. Socializing would come later.

"And how long has it been since the last incident?" Vin asked. He coughed out blood in the dark, and he wiped his mouth with his shoulder.

"Are you alri-"

"I'm fine. It's just tuberculosis, I'll meet up with the docs later. Back to where we are..."

"Right. The last incident was about...five weeks ago?"

"The one where he left seven people hospitalized, and two dead. Or so it says on my report. Care to tell me what incited this, exactly?"

"Two ruffians were going to mug us. They had backup."

"Right. Now, how quickly did Zero kill them?"

"E-excuse me?!"

"*cough*Yeah*cough*, how quickly did he take them down?"

"Is that even an appro-"

"Just answer the question, please."

The young lady looked down, head between her knees, hands on her hair. "Under a minute."

"Great, that's all the info I need," Vin finished. The sounds of papers being folded and organized quietly echoed across the room.

"Don't you want to check on his psycho-"

"I only did that on Isora. Having episodes of insanity is the new norm, unfortunately. The door is to your right, just input 5 CE to unlock it. If you need some, I'll open it for ya."

"T-thanks," the young woman curtly said. A gong sound echoed, and a rectangle of light flooded the room. A few seconds later, the rectangle disappeared, leaving Vin in the dark again.

He was alone in the dark. The dark helped him think clearly, the dark wove invisible threads that Vin could tie. The dark was his contemplative partner; it was his helper. And in this dark, he conceived the following events:
Zero was a somewhat unstable Knight. He initially was able to mesh in with the rest of society, until he grew up to about 20. At this time, some change coursed through him, something stimulated to do something. Something that involved plenty of killing. After he did the dirty deed, he needed to pull out clean. He wasn't able to do it quickly enough, and he got carried away with a few of those annoying buggers. He was not punished, as his actions opened up a window of opportune for the Enforcers to lead a raid on the same group a few weeks later. However, something seeded into his mind, something that drove him to build up for the next event. He is now convicted of killing one of the Chief Enforcers, as well as a Vanguard. Or perhaps this was the dirty deed? Yes, this must be it. Maybe the ruffians were a way of confirmation. After all, killing as fast as that is usually done by a calmer person. No enraged fighter would have accurately screw over his enemies. After that, he fled to an unknown location to recover some wounds, or so says Ms. Uni. And now here we are...

So, the Order wants him back alive. If he is going to get a fair trial, then I'll have to compile some evidence to protect him. Hopefully, I can stall the main bulk of the Order before my own Investigators are done.

Vin collected some files, and put them in a compressed packet for presentation. He was going to brief some of his Private Investigators on a mission.

"Ring a'round a'rosy, a pocket full of posies..."

~~~

The following weeks after, Vin was able to locate and convince Zero to leave his hiding place. His wounds were properly treated, and the court case was settled with no one guilty. After all, Vin's own Investigators unearthed some evidence that showed that the people Zero killed probably deserved it many times over. However, he was to be imprisoned for a month for vigilante justice, instead of going about the proper way of doing things.

Now, Vin had already settled several minor cases involving several soldiers and a few Enforcers. The incident, per se, was one of the more interesting cases, since it revealed several renegade factions' locations. Underneath all that, there was speculation over a Knight gone missing, apparently for his Gran Faust's wishes. He participated in a few raids and investigations, but resumed his "office" work a couple days after. He has yet to tell the doctor about his tuberculosis.

78 Days since events of C-2...

Vin was resting by the fountain in Haven's town square, breathing heavily. He was sweating all over, and his usually bright eyes had glazed over. The disease was getting to him. Vin then dipped his hand into the water, and splashed it on his face. The cool, refreshing liquid cleared his mind, but not before he felt something tap his waist. He looked down, only to find his money pouch missing.

"Motherfu-" Vin muttered as he got up, and drew his Barbarous Thorn Blade.

A dark silhouette was going to run into the crowd, so it could only end two ways: Pin down the thief and scare the crowd, or hit a random guy and scare the crowd. Vin shaked his head dejectedly, and flung a bullet-speed thorn at the thief. It caught the guy's heel, causing him to fall over and raise panic. Amidst all the commotion, Vin strode over and squatted by the thief. He took the money pouch from the thief, and then pulled out a pill.

"Your name?" Vin asked, breaking the pill onto a Miracloth, and then soaking it with Ecto Drops.

"Erm...uh, Travid," he replied calmly. He broke into a grin and laughed an unusually hearty laugh.

"Something funny?" Vin inquired, purposely tightening the wrap around Travid's heel 'til it hurt.

"OW! Um, no, sir," Travid replied. He was still giggling.

"Got a family?"

"..."

"Did I hit a soft spot? Okay, fine, take half of my money. It's not like I'm starving day-to-day like your family is."

"How did you know they were still alive?"

"Because you didn't hang yourself, you're not an alchoholic, and you're not in a therapy session," Vin said as he finished the wrap. He was about to give half the money when Travid took a ballsy snatch at the pouch again. Surprisingly, he succeeded. With a hobble, he waved back at Vin, half sneer and half jeer, and then hopped into a bush.

"Mother of Vog, did I just see what I saw? You giving a thief your money?" a scolding voice chimed. It was Ms. Uni, again.

"Pfft, it's not like I need any of it at al-" Vin said, before he cut himself off with a series of coughing and hacking. It was to the point where he had to bend over. His mouth tasted like blood, and a red stain was on his usually black coat.

"And you said you would take care of it," Ms. Uni scolded again. She shook her head, and picked him up from the floor.

"I didn't think it was that bad."

"And taking things too lightly will get yourself killed. Can you at least care about yourself once in a while?"

"The only cares I have is eating."

"Not even showering?"

"Nope."

Uni dropped the Inquisitor in ridicule, but picked him up again. They were heading right towards the Guild Halls, not the Hospital.

"Uni, care to explain where we're going?"

"..."

~~~

MEH TOO LAZORY TO CONTINUEZ >A< WILL DO'Z TOMORRZ Or sumting.

"...and Jill came tumbling after."

~~~

It was well into the night, on the boulevards of Haven, when Vin sat in a dark alley, combat armor on. He popped a few pills into his mouth, and slipped the container back into his pouch. Unconventional items, like drugs and live plants, were not able to be de-materialized, unlike weapons and native plants to Cradle. The items would spill as soon as they re-materialized, so there was always a pouch on a Knight's armor.

Two dark orbs formed from outside the alley, which produced two Knights, also in combat armor. One was the Callahan-wielding Lydia, who had recovered from her injuries. She wore her own Snarbolax Coat, along with a custom Surge Tailed Helm. The other was a new recruit: Artif. He donned a complete Ancient Plate set, and held a Triglav in his right hand.

"Follow me," Vin ordered, and put on his cowl, activating his thermal vision. He stood by a side door, and unsheathed his Thorn Blade. Lydia stood opposite to Vin, and armed her Callahan. Artif took point, and hacked down the door with the massive blade. He stepped over the broken wood chips, shield up, and slowly madea quick pass over each room. Each of their inhabitants were sleeping, so Vin took the opportune moment to sabotage their weapons. The trio then tiptoed upstairs, letting no floorboard creak.

As soon as Artif popped his head out into the hallway, a burst of bullets whizzed by his head. He held his shield up, letting the rounds disperse harmlessly. Vin hopped out to the side, and lobbed a thorn into the shooter's arm. As the opponent was wincing from the pain, Artif rushed in and shield-bashed the combatant, effectively knocking him out. A sound of a shotgun echoed as Artif's leg was shot, but the recruit only turned and held his shield up. Another shot rang out, blowing a large chunk of the doorway off. Two shells clinked to the floor, and a loud thump came from the dark room. Artif came out, relatively unharmed, save for his bare, scratched leg. Meanwhile, Vin had dropped off a Stagger Storm in a room full of bunks, paralyzing any person who tried to fight. Lydia took over Artif's role of point man, and jogged upstairs. The familiar roar of a Volcanic Pepperbox clashed against the sweet harmony of Lydia's Callahan, alerting Vin about the firefight upstairs. He tossed a pill at Artif, and ran up the steps. Lydia had staked the enemy's hand to the floor, and was about to kick the gun away before a blast of energy knocked her into the wall. She pulled out her sidearm, a Valiance with a supressor, and emptied seven rounds into the room. She reloaded both weapons, and switched back to her Callahan.

"How many floors left?" she asked, massaging her arm, where she was burned before.

Vin looked up, and signaled a "2". He threw another Stagger Storm into the room adjacent to the next staircase, triggering a cacophany of thuds. Vin tossed his second pill at Lydia, and motioned Artif upstairs. This time, Vin took point man position, and popped just his head up. A dim blue light arced across the corridor, and rolled at Vin's face. It was a Nitronome. Vin impaled the bomb before it could explode, and ran into the dark hallway. Sounds of scuffles and thumping were heard, until Artif calmly turned on the lights. Five people were on the floor, while Vin and a person dressed in the Robes of the Fallen were doing hand-to-hand combat. Their weapons lay on the floor, waiting for the critical moment.

The opponent struck at Vin's ribs, and then attempted sneak in a groin shot. However, Vin blocked it with his knee, and made a quick chop in the opponent's throat. The opponent stood back to cough, but Vin wasted no time and closed the gap with an uppercut. This strike was deflected by a backhanded fist, and the opponent returned a pushing palm. Vin was slammed back into the wall, and held his arms up as he received a flurry of punishing blows. As the opponent was about to finish up with a elbow strike, Vin lunged for the opponent's torso, and lifted the enemy high in the air. He allowed gravity to help him slam the combatant down, and then he sat on top of the opponent's stomach. He grabbed the opponent's neck, and held on as tight as he could. It took several minutes, but the retaliation was beginning to slow down. That is, until Vin felt something sharp stab into his side. He crumpled down on top of his opponent, who shoved him away. The enemy was about to run upstairs, but a stake from the Callahan prevented the enemy to flee.

Vin crunched on a pill, and ripped out the shadowy blade from his body. Artif had already ran ahead, with Lydia providing covering fire from behind. The Inquisitor crawled to the person in the Robes of the Fallen, and pulled of hi-

He pulled of her helm. Under the menacing shell was a girl's face. Her eyes were frightened, and her face's expression distorted in fear. She grabbed a Curse Vial from her belt, and threw it at Vin's face. He punched it with his left hand, allowing the shards to cut through his flesh. He struck the opponent's temple with a expertly placed elbow strike, promptly knocking her out.

When he finally reached the top steps, Lydia and Artif had finished their job. Vin was using his Thorn Blade as a crutch, and hobbled up to the both of them.

"Arm's doing fine?" Vin asked, breathing heavily. His wound oozed out a sickly purple fluid, the usual aftereffect of being hit by a source of shadow.

"Yeah," Lydia replied, clutching her chest. She wasn't done recovering; her body still needed a bit more rest.

"W-wait, are both of you injured?!" Artif exclaimed.

"The Order usually attempts to put down people who are particularly antagonistic to them. I'm hated by more than a few for putting away a couple of hotshots into prison," Vin explained. He slid down a wall, staining the peach-colored paint with reddish-purple fluids.

Artif sighed, and picked up Vin onto his back. Lydia walked up the stairs, to the roof, and lit a cerulean flare. The area was clear.

"Wanna go for coffee after this?" Vin asked the both of them. Lydia placed her hand on Vin's shoulder, and then walked downstairs. Artif, however, was confused.

"C-coffee? At a time like this?! I-uh don't know w-what to say to that!" Artif stammered. He looked like a little boy role-playing as a knight in shining armor, which made Vin chuckle.

"Sure, after I piss off Eras."

"Eras?"

"My doctor. She's going to overdose me on purpose when she finds out about this..."

"Then why are you going to her?!"

"Relax, it's just a joke. Anyhow, I'm fine here. Let's just mop up, and then we can go when the Enforcers come, alright?"

"S-sure."

Your character already made its cameo in the Newspaper that Eras was reading. He's too powerful to introduce early on in the story.

This is the temporary end of the "slice of life" aspect of this fanfict. Now starting on an arc.

A young man, in a hide of thorns, leaned against the wooden wall of the bar. His contemplative expression was hidden by a Grey Feather Cowl, allowing only a pair of steel-blue eyes to radiate from the cloth. The scent of blood was strong on him; patches of red had mottled the coat. This young man sighed, and then slumped down, arms folded across.

The door next to him, a frail aluminum frame, was slammed open by the head of a trio. These three young men, about a few years younger than the former, were holding their chins up too high, their chests too puffed out. The bar silenced for a few seconds, and then resumed its usual chatter. One of the three men turned towards the former, and spoke to his friends.

"Wanna drag this bum to the alley tonight? He looks like he could use a mugging!"

"Nah, too tired from the interrogation," said the leader, obviously still vibrant. He seemed to be making himself larger than life, like an idiot would do.

"By the way, how did it go?" asked one of the leader's goonies, a shorter, scrawnier man. His voice was as bad as an old cat dying, if not worse.

"It was fruitless," the leader sighed melodramatically, "in the end, the person died from her wounds. Had all her limbs torn off!"

"Bah," said the first one, "she probably deserved it. Suits for her not speaking!"

The trio laughed a cacophony, causing heads to turn, and then dragged the bloody man out of the bar, into the nearby alley.

"...and guess what, you're next!" shouted the leader, his stupid face grinning. He wasn't even in his combat armor, a fatal mistake for any Knight prepared for a fight. He was about to slam his fist into the man's face, until his once-haughty expression changed into one of pain and fear. He screamed, and fell back, revealing a massive thorn in his bladder.

"I'm not a bum. I am an Inquisitor, your superior officer. And you're going to f***ing pay for your audacity, ya pieces of crap!" yelled the bloody man. He already unsheathed his Barbarous Thorn Blade, which was attached to his hand via a chain of thorns wrapping around his arm.

The other two cursed, and clumsily activated their combat armor. Before the Inquisitor stood a Chaos Scholar and a Skolver. The Skolver charged, his Sudaruska slowly swinging, only to have his head skewered and scrambled by the Inquisitor's Thorn Blade. A sicking squelch was heard before the Inquisitor withdrew his blade, only to plunge it clean through the chin. He yanked the blade out, kicking the disfigured corpse into the Chaos Scholar, who had took ages to finally arm his Autogun. The scholar blasted his friend's corpse apart, and attempted to fire again. However, the sounds of clicking signified he had run out of ammunition. The Inquisitor, his eyes burning with bloodlust, expertly carved a straight line through the scholar's belly, letting a pile of gore begin to spill out. As the scholar clutched his stomach, he fell over...right into the Thorn Blade. His breathing was blocked by the blade's tip. The Inquisitor pulled out his own firearm, a Valiance pistol, and emptied all nine rounds into the scholar's throat. A scowl came across the Inquisitor's face as he wiped the spattered blood, and sheathed his weapons. The leader, still on the floor, looked up, sobbing for mercy. But the other man gave none. He turned around, and allowed the patches of thorns on his coat to finish the job. And the job took several minutes.

~~~

"What in the world do you get into yourself these days?" Eras sighed, shaking her head. She was patching up Vin, who had bruises and cuts all over his body. Vin, however, was thinking hard about something, with his steel-blue eyes staring sharply at the whitewashed walls of the room. He was muttering something about "dismembering" again and again, gripping his hands tighter and tighter. Not even when she applied the alcohol did he wince, only intensifying in his muttering.

"Those who executes their own laws in their self-ordained right are the worst of all. Their body parts should be dismembered, their faces scrubbed from the memories of others, and their ashes dumped in Almire," he said clearly, finally reaching the climax. He grabbed Eras's hand as she was about to wipe his face with a wet cloth, but retracted it. "Sorry."

Eras, who was momentarily startled, sighed and packed up the supplies. She left the room, turning off the lights as she clicked her heels down the hall. Vin was alone in the dark, again. A flash of crimson glinted in his eyes.

Kill, kill, kill, kill.....

From this point on, can future applications also describe their characters out of armor? After this arc, I'm going to focus on non-combat stories and such.

For people who already have their apps in, can you create a description of your character out of his/her armor? Thanks.

[Example]

Vin has a pale complexion, and looks about the age of 18 (despite being MUCH older than that). He has jet-black hair, and steel-blue eyes. Out of his combat armor, he usually wears his pair of Frosty Glasses. He wears a lot of grey clothing, but his usual outfit is a grey T-shirt 2 sizes too large, and sweatpants. He enjoys going barefoot.

[Example end]

So, just do the bodily descriptions, and then move onto clothing and accessories.

As the elevator smoothly rode down the shaft, Vin's Swarm tatoo begun to fade. It gradually receded back into its original shape, and ceased its movements. The air around them became brighter and brighter, until it was the pristine white that only the Sanctuary could have. Below the elevator was a massive island, thrice the size of other Sanctuaries, with a massive pool in the center.

At the edge of the pool, a fourth being registered into the party: Seatus.

As his figure could be seen clearer, Vin realized Seatus was in a humanoid state, his bare legs hanging down in the water. Seatus, his eyes suddenly wide-eyed and fearful, ducked his head. A thorn clipped his head, cutting off a few strands of hair. From above, another figure floated mid-air. It was the same one from before, the woman who had attacked Vin.

Vin cursed as he unsheathed his blade, and hopped out of the platform. He landed right into the Valkyrie, missing by a few inches, and engaged in a wrestle with the being. He used his weight to grab at her leg, and tugged, hoping to pop the thigh from the socket. However, her tail slashed at his arms, until a solidly placed strike caused him to lose his grip. The Inquisitor fell into the soft grass, growling this time. He flung a string of thorns at the Valkyrie, who easily deflected it with the flapping of her wings. However, she turned and took on a charged round from Eras's Master Blaster, knocking the Valkyrie effectively to the floor.

Artif was already down on the floor, apparently having slid off while no one was looking. As the Valkyrie had fallen, he brought his massive Triglav down, combining the force of gravity with his own. When the smoke had cleared, the Valkyrie, her armor cracked, had barely been able to roll out of the way. She was breathing heavily, but quickly kicked off, back into the air. Suddenly, the glow of her Swarm-scar began to shine brighter. Vin's tatoo reactivated, and started to wrap around his left arm.

"Artif!" Vin called out, now rushing to the waters of the Sanctuary, "make sure I stay in the water!"

The small mercenary ran up to Vin, and pushed him into the pool. The black particles immediately floated away from Vin, up into the sky. "What about Eras?" Artif asked Vin, worried. The Inquisitor cursed, and attempted to leave the pool. However, the Swarm immediately tried to take control over Vin, so he splashed right back in.

"Help her!" shouted Vin as he pushed Artif out of the pool. Eras was just about to reach the bottom part when...

Vin turned to Seatus. "Can you patch me up real quick? I can probably get that Valkyrie out of our sights soon enough."

When Artif came to, he saw a blurry pair of figures. One was walking towards the other, who was on the floor, crawling away. Muffled shouts echoed in his ears, and he turned to find a disheveled, burnt man pointing his charred stub back at the other two. It took a few seconds, until the memories rushed back in. Immediately, he ran off towards the Valkyrie, his armor falling to pieces, and tackled her to the ground. He didn't fully remembered as to why he was to engage, but he couldn't stop landing punch after punch. All of them were parried, blocked, or dodged, until the Valkyrie's knife-like feathers cut into the small man's arms. Even then, he only resorted to his elbows, and attempted to crush the Valkyrie's head without his hands. Instead, he only felt the massive resistance of a Shield Bracelet. The force emitted from the bracelet amplified, which then shoved the small mercenary back. She got up, walking right over to Artif, and stabbed into his torso. She twisted, pulled out, and stabbed.

And again.

And again.

And again...

Vin was cursing under his breath, mostly at himself for his weak state. Seatus had torn off all the foreign flesh from Vin's body, revealing a young man covered in burns, lacerations, and bruises. The Inquisitor, who had seemed to be in peak condition, was now a weakling. His left eye was charred black, his right arm a burnt stub, bones jutting out. This was the condition Vin was in as he was dying, dying from being consumed by Vog's flame. This was his true self, a man on the verge of death.

But he still retained his Dominance over his life.

Seatus was already applying on the new flesh, its revitalizing power erasing all the scars from the body. Even the small cuts left behind by the Valkyrie were being wiped off, revitalizing the skin.

"Seatus?" Vin asked as he was adjusting to the replacement.

"Hm?" the humanoid replied, his hands still working quickly.

"Is that the Valkyrie from before? The one that helped us?"

"Yeah, it's that one. I don't know why or how she came, but she wants to kill me. I think her name was Gwenyvier?"

"Huh, same here. Something to do with that Void scar on her face?" Vin stepped out of the pool, and the Swarm attempted to overtake his body. However, the new energy from Seatus's replacement turned the veins red, and so the black pixels settled down.

"The Swarm? I don't know. You made a pact with the Swarm, so it couldn't have been it."

Meanwhile, Eras was holding her gun up at Gwen, who had finally been satisfied with her work. Artif was unconscious, his chest cracked open into a gaping hole, but was still alive. Or, that was what the HUD indicated. The doctor fired a shot, which was deflected with the flick of the wing. She then backed away from Gwen, firing two more shots. Both of them missed by a long shot. With a hellish grin on her face, Gwenyvier walked over...

Yeah, I had noticed that you talked about that vid like 50 gajillion times in RtC

And no, Artif is far from dying. He's made to be at least 5 times harder to kill than Vin. I'm just gonna have to screw him up a bit...