Gathering Clouds

"Hello!" The muscular man boomed, kicking the door open. "Anybody home!?"

He wore a sleeveless black top and joggers, and he had metal gloves on. He had a scar over his eye, and a bright smile on his face. Behind him was a woman, with the same outfit, but rather than joggers, it was black trousers. She also had a black long coat over her tank top and bandages wrapped around her arms.

Jake popped out of his room, yawning. He scratched his head, looking at the muscular man.

"Oh, Aaron. Long time no see."

"Really?" Aaron said, "It's only been, what? A month?"

"Two months two days." The woman said from behind him. Another guy appeared from behind him. He wore a black turtle neck and his green hair had been cut in a mohawk.

"Ah, you know how it is all the time. We had to follow some daemon, then this daemon showed up, then another daemon popped up."

"Then we got lost." The guy with the green mohawk cut in.

"You don't have to include that, Pop." Aaron said under his breath. Then continued, "So where was I? Ah, yes. We killed a ton of daemon on our way here, then finally, here we are."

"Wait, hold on a minute," Jake said.

"Oh we have a lot of minutes to hold onto." The woman, Leticia, said.

"A ton of daemon? Where exactly?" Jake asked.

"I'd say close to Boston, I think. A few got away but then, we got most of them."

"You know that isn't allowed, right?" Martha said, coming down the stairs. She walked up to the three, arms akimbo, "We don't allow daemons to go, Aaron. We kill them. All of them."

"C'mon, Martha," Aaron said, "it was only one daemon. And we were pretty stretched out thin."

"I'll allow it. But if that daemon kills anyone else, that's on you."

"Yeah, yeah, I get it." Aaron groaned. She hadn't changed. So strict on others, even herself. He sometimes wondered what Kyler saw in her sometimes. She was pretty, but then cold.

"Um, Martha?" Leticia said, "I would like a word with you. Privately."

"Okay, let's discuss it upstairs."

The two walked up the stairs, followed by Pop. Aaron walked to the backdoor leading to the grassy field, bumping into Shino on the way, the latter who was munching on a piece of bread.

"Aaron." He said, not bothering to look at him.

"What's up kid," Aaron said with a smile, patting him on the back. The young lad coughed, choking on his food.

"Hey!" Shino cried, "Careful, this bread doesn't come cheap."

"Are the newbies prepping up?"

"Yeah, Barry is going all out on them."

"As expected," Aaron said, walking into the light.

"You also have a replacement for Lukas. A very skilled kid."

"Really?"

Aaron looked at the wide grass field, seeing the recruits. Sarah was doing her laps round the field; it was an improvement from the last time he had met her. Rachel was engaged in combat with Barry, her blazing boots were no match for the veteran however, but she was holding her own against him. Brandon on the other hand was getting his ass kicked by a white haired boy in a white t-shirt. As usual.

They were in good hands. It was a good idea to trust them to Barry. He was thinking of Kyler at first, but then, Kyler wasn't the patient kind of guy. Ricardo would have been perfect, but he was away, also the fact of his past anger issues was a bother to Aaron. Martha was too strict and Jake couldn't even control Shino, let alone someone as proud as Rachel, as clumsy as Sarah or as ignorant and weak as Brandon. Or Lukas, who was cowardly and tearful.

"Howdy!" Aaron called out to Barry. Barry turned to him, surprised. Rachel, seeing an opening, charged at him, increasing the intensity of her blazing boots. She jumped in the air was prepared to perform a downward kick aimed straight at Barry's face. Barry, however, saw the kick coming, catching her leg and spinning her round. Rachel fell to the ground, crying out in pain.

"Dammit," Rachel cried, slamming her fist on the ground. Barry looked at her with a smile on his face, before turning to Aaron.

"Just got back huh?" He asked, "How was it?"

"Swell, but what can I say?" The two men hugged each other, patting themselves on the back.

"Aaron," Brandon exclaimed, running towards the guy, stopping a few meters beside him. "You're finally back."

"What's up kid?" Aaron asked, fist bumping him.

"Well, all the same. But I'm improving."

"Yeah, by light-years." Rachel said sarcastically.

"Hey," Brandon whined.

"Finally. We can now have some more organized training schedules, unlike some haphazard training from someone." Rachel said, eyeing Barry.

"AARON!" Sarah cried hugging him from behind. Blake stood his distance, his eyes on the forest.

"Heya Sarah!" Aaron said patting her on the head with his big hands, "How's it going."

"Still hanging in there. Any word from Rebecca?"

"No. But trust me. That girl is a tough one. She's probably lazing around somewhere, like some guy did a few years back."

"Hey," Barry said, "It was a long time ago. I was…dealing with some stuff."

"So he says." Aaron said. He looked over to Blake in astonishment. "That the new guy?"

"Yeah," Barry said, "Has the skills and everything. Not much to do about him, save that he doesn't have actual battle experience."

"So yesterday doesn't count?" Brandon asked.

"What happened yesterday?" Aaron asked.

"Mr. O'Neil mad e them fight a daemon. And Shino." Sarah replied.

"You what?!" Aaron exclaimed, turning to Barry. Barry looked away.

"Training is training." He said, "And yes it doesn't count."

"What?!" Rachel and Brandon exclaimed. Even Blake turned sharply to look at Barry.

"Fighting a critically injured daemon does not count, kids. It's like eating leftovers."

"Come on!" Brandon whined.

"Okay recruits, go run around the field, now!" Aaron ordered. All four recruits obeyed. Aaron sighed, turning to Barry.

"They weren't ready." Aaron said.

"I know. But it was Diego's orders."

"That lazy ass?"

"Yeah, that lazy ass. Still our superior no matter what we do."

"I don't know…if we rush them…"

"Aaron. How many daemon did you fight before you got here?"

"Fought 10 between Monday and Wednesday."

"Yesterday I met three." The two turned to each other.

"That can't be right. You don't mean to say…"

"It's a possibility we must consider."

"We should tell Diego. Or Klaus."

"Well both of them are in Syria as we speak. Phantoms."

A Phantom. Aaron shook at the thought of it. They were amalgamations of daemon that grew to be taller than skyscrapers. They could destroy entire cities with the stomp of their foot and could fire vestÖrers at will, a trait only common with daemon that had entered their white phase.

"How many exactly?"

"He didn't say. Just don't expect them back for a long while."

"Yeah."

"Diego is gone?" Leticia exclaimed.

"Prime Diego, Leticia, and yes he's gone. Didn't even meet the guy."

"Guess I could postpone asking for a raise for a while."

"You aren't even from the American branch."

"Martha, try asking the Mad Prime for a raise. Or the All-Knowing prime. Those two don't tolerate anyone. Heck I can't even look them in the eye without getting shivers down my spine."

"Good luck, Leticia. Good luck"

"Good Morning!" Kyler cried, barging into the office. "Anyone one miss…oh"

"Urgh…" Pop groaned, "It's you again."

"Hello Pop," Kyler said with a wink, "It's been a while."

"You owe me." Leticia said, "Big time."

"Later." Kyler said, "I owe so many people, and I would like to settle my bigger debts first before I move onto the little ones."

"My debt is little? What the hell did you use $1000 for?"

"Stuff."