Date Night(Saber)

[Mani4c]

Forge nodded, he understood what Saber meant, even if he didn't agree with how he went about it. "You got a good point, and distance sometimes is the best solution. Just...remember to tell them why you're leaving, instead of just running off." Forge walked past Saber, looking at him one last time. "Good talk? Good talk." Forge gave Saber a pat on the back and leaped off of the rooftop, opening up his afterburners and roaring across the skies like a rocket.

Chakram and the others entered the Bridge of the Durendal, where Masamune and Shepard were waiting for them. "I was told by Masamune that you found something disturbing on the train?" Chakram nodded, walking up to Shepard. "Yes Ma'am, and as an aside...if you want to punish me for my behavior, you are well within your rights to-" Shepard waved her hand dismissively. "No, at the train you were under the influence of something outside of your control, and that bastard you took out today started the whole thing." Chakram was floored, he wasn't being punished? for either infraction!? "H-how did you?" Shepard smiled, "Bit, Byte, Forge and The Doctor were very thorough in their placement of the security sensors, they picked up the whole thing...now, what is this data you found?"

Amaterasu handed Shepard the file, her expression grave. "It's not pretty Shepard, they have one of ours, but...the files say that their captive is a commissioner...from our district." Shepard's expression changed instantly, her lighthearted but serious demeanor instantly replaced by one of shock. "What?" Amaterasu noticed the change, but pressed forward, "They have a commissioner, and the file says that she was in charge of the Brooklyn sector...Shepard, did you know her?" Shepard took a breath, "A name..." "What?" "Give me her name Amaterasu!" Amaterasu sighed, "Huntress, her name was listed as Huntress." Shepard was silent for a moment, her expression blank.

When she finally spoke, it was clear that she was forcing herself to be calm, each word enunciated in a clear and forceful manner. "Thank you Amaterasu...everyone, I will call a meeting together when I've come up with a plan of action." Amaterasu wanted to argue, but the look on Shepard's face stopped her. Shepard's face had an expression that was a mix of pure anger, and soul crushing regret, and it was clear that arguing with her was a bad idea at this moment. "Very well...children, let's go."

[Saber]

Saber kicked off of the roof and extended his wings out fully, his thrusters giving him faster momentum before curving up and following Forge's afterburner trail back to the Durendal.

Katana was silent as the info was transferred to Shepard, her eyes half lidded and looking downward as Shepard and Amaterasu exchanged words about the captive commissioner. When they were dismissed, she left without a word, taking in a deep breath to try and come back to her old self. But given the latest events, it was becoming harder to do so.

[Mani4c]

Claymore looked down at Katana, his expression grave. "Mother...I need to talk to Katana, privately. Please." Amaterasu looked at Claymore, and then at Katana, before nodding. "Alright, you can meet up with us at the R&D lab, alright?" Claymore nodded, "Of course, thank you mother."

Claymore led Katana to a secluded area of the ship and knelt down to eye level with her. "Katana...talk to me, you've been withdrawn ever since the train. I'm starting to fear for you, please, whatever you have to let out, just let it out towards me."

[Saber]

Katana was still emotionless, but Claymore's words were not falling on deaf ears. She simply spoke her mind "Why are people so cruel, and enjoy it? Abraxas, Viral, even Lilith, I can understand, because of what is inside of them...But those men?" Katana thumped her fist hard against Claymore's tough armor, gritting her teeth as she tried to restrain herself "They didn't do those things out of need...They did them because they wanted to, and they enjoyed it!" Her fist hit Claymore's chest even harder, and she changed into her feral form armor, growling angrily "How could such monsters even exist!!!" She reared back and punched with all of her might, leaving a small crack in her brother's armor from the multiple impacts.

She finally broke down, dropping to her knees as her whole body slumped forward, almost defeated, tears streaming from her face "...It's not right...People like them shouldn't even be allowed to exist...But more come out of hiding even when we get rid of one group...It's like we haven't even done anything, and people that don't deserve to be treated with such cruelty are suffering..."

[Mani4c]

Claymore placed his hands on Katana's shoulders, his armor disappearing as he pulled her into a hug. "I know Katana, it doesn't make sense that people would bring such misery to their own kind, let alone enjoy it... I sometimes wonder if what we fight for is a fool's errand, that if at the end of the day we make a difference at all..." Claymore sounded ashamed that he doubted his purpose in life, he had been created to stop criminals, to protect the defenseless...and he wasn't even sure if he could.

"You do make a difference, all of us do." Claymore looked up and saw War walking towards them, she had overheard Katana venting towards Claymore and wanted to comfort the young avatar. She had shared the girl's doubts in the past, and sometimes she still did. War walked over to the pair and knelt down gently placing her hand on Katana's head. "Katana...it is impossible to truly destroy evil, for as long as I've lived, some force always comes along to replace it eventually...but that does not mean that you cannot prevent it from becoming like this...barbarians in stolen armor who brutalize their enemies. To keep evil at bay, you cannot just focus on the large scale threats, but on the small criminals, the aspiring monsters as well. Sometimes, they can be reformed, but not all of them can, some need to be put down or put away."

Claymore looked at War, his expression on of anger, "Then what is the point? If we will never destroy them completely, why even try?" War shook her head, "To keep things like this from happening again! Don't you see, both of you are specially made, you can save so many people with your abilities. Maybe you cannot prevent evil from rearing it's head, but you can save other people from the fate that this officer suffered, you can prevent the suffering of others. Isn't that worth fighting for?"

Claymore nodded, before suddenly realizing something, "How did you know what we found?" War sighed, her expression one of guilt. "I...I was eavesdropping on your meeting with Shepard, I saw that Katana seemed out of sorts, and I was concerned."

[Saber]

Katana didn't resist when Claymore pulled her into a hug, sobbing softly when he tried comforting her. Then, War came along, and tried to give them both a pep talk, when Claymore expressed his doubts about what they did. She listened, but her emotional grid had overclocked itself, and she couldn't adjust her mood yet.

"...Why does everyone worry about me so much more than the rest? I'm nothing special...Just another crime fighter..."

[Mani4c]

War sighed, "You are mentally younger than the rest of us, we are protective because we want to keep you safe Katana." Claymore nodded, "Aside from that, you're my sister, I would brave bullets, bombs and hellfire to make sure you're happy."

[Saber]

Katana pushed away from Claymore when he said he wanted to keep her safe, and happy "But all you're doing is sheltering me! We are police avatars! It's our job to be in danger, and expose ourselves to the horrors of criminals, to make sure everyone else stays safe from monsters like Abraxas, Halberd, and even internal threats like Viral! Just because I'm mentally younger doesn't give any of you the right to treat me any differently than the other avatars!" She gained some distance from Claymore, and turned her back to them "...Eventually, I have to be exposed to this...Whether I want to or not, it's part of the job description...So stop treating me like a kid, just because I was programmed to be one..."

[Mani4c]

Claymore finally lost his composure when Katana snapped at him, he stood up, his anger written across his features. "YOU SAY THAT, BUT NOT FIVE MINUTES AGO YOU WERE EMOTIONALLY DESTROYED BY WHAT YOU SAW KATANA!" Claymore's voice echoed across the halls, but he did not care, he had tried, and tried to protect his sister, and she was telling him not to bother. "BUT FINE, IF YOU WANT TO BE AN ADULT, YOU CAN PROTECT YOURSELF! I'M DONE TRYING TO HELP YOU!" 

Claymore smashed a hole in a nearby wall and stormed off, shoving past war and Katana, nearly stepping on the latter in his haste to leave. Claymore stormed into the training room and grabbed a smaller avatar hoisting him up to eye level. "I want a Special Testing scenario, pit me against Halberd...with Integrate's abilities added to him, NOW." The tech nodded frantically, and Claymore dropped him, activating his armor and entering the room just as the holographic Halberd appeared. Claymore summoned his glaive and let out a bestial roar, charging the duplicate.

War looked at Katana, she wasn't pleased as well, and she simply turned and left, speaking to the young cyberblade over her shoulder. "You wanted to be an adult? Then fix this yourself."

[Saber]

Katana hugger her arms tightly as Claymore snapped back at her, storming off in frustration because of her attitude. Even War, who barely even knew her, showed concern for her, and now she was disappointed in how she reacted to her brother. Looking around, she got the same look of disapproval from the officers around her, and she couldn't bear the shame she felt for alienating one of her closest siblings, running through the halls to hide.

As she was running to her quarters, she rounded a corner in the halls and bumped into Saber, who had just made his way back from his own emotional endeavor. Without even another word, she tried to sidestep and keep running, but Saber grabbed her wrist and stopped her "Woah, woah! What's the rush there?" Katana was silent, looking down at the floor with a look of shame, which immediately had Saber concerned "Katana, what's wrong?"

Katana tried to wrench her arm free, but Saber had an iron grip on her, he wasn't going to let her just run off like he did "...Hey, we already have one fool in the family running off whenever he gets emotional, we don't need another one...Come on, out with it." Katana wiped her eyes with her arm, finally giving in to Saber's persistence

"...I did something horrible...I snapped at Claymore because he wanted to protect me from the outside world's cruelty...And now I think he hates me...War is disappointed in how I acted, and everyone who saw us probably thinks the same of me...I just don't want to have any special treatment because I'm a kid!"

Sighign, Saber deactivated his Skystrike armor and knelt down enough so he was eye level with Katana, the teenaged avatar shyly looking away "This is about your last mission, isn't it? I heard about what happened, that must be a heavy burden to bear, all of that pain. Probably too much to process all at once, am I right?" Katana sniffled softly and nodded, confirming Saber's suspicions "Katana, what you're experiencing is a digital version of PTSD, a traumatic disorder that humans get when they witness horrors that scar them mentally. This can sometimes get so bad that they will alienate everyone around them, to try and act tough, when they're honestly a danger to themselves alone, more than if they have friends and family to comfort them. In some ways, you're right, he was handling your condition with the attitude of a protective brother, but that's who he is. Be glad you didn't end up with a psychopath for a brother, like I did. I got my scars from the criticism that came with my completed programming."

He held her chin and forced her to look at him, his face stern, and authoritive "Here is where you were wrong. You snapped at someone who was thinking about your well being with every action they took. Was he overbearing at times, perhaps, but that didn't give you the right to chastise him for it. Your second mistake was running and hiding from your own problems. If you want to make things right, and prove that you don't need someone to hold your hand all of the time, you're going to find Claymore, and make things right again." He stood straight again and crossed his arms, looking down at Katana with that same stern glare "And I'm not leaving you alone until you do."

Katana looked down shyly. Saber was right, she did wrong by Claymore with how she acted, and she needed to make things right again "...But...What if he doesn't want to talk to me? I said such mean things to him...I'm afraid he'll just ignore me..." "No excuses. If you want to prove that you're matured enough to deal with your own problems, you'll do this, and stop trying to avoid the major problem. I have my own family issues to deal with, so we'll deal with the together, deal?" He held his hand out, offering to take her hand if she wanted to. Katana took a deep breath and closed her eyes, before looking back up to Saber and walking beside him to track down Claymore's location "...Deal...Just...Don't leave me until I fix things, please? I know now I still have a long way to go before I'm mature enough to do this alone..." "That was never my plan, sis. Let's go find the big hothead and cool him down."

[Mani4c]

Claymore had managed to drive the Halberd clone onto it's back, though he had a gaping hole in his stomach, and one eye had been slashed open. Regardless, the hulking Cyberblade wrapped on hand around the duplicate's neck, while the other slammed into it's face repeatedly. "This is all your fault, my family is constantly treated like a bunch of time bombs waiting to go off because of you...My brother Chakram lost his mind, and now Katana hates me for caring about her. Maybe I'm better off focusing on this." Claymore began to punch even harder, droplets of blood flying through the air with each punch, which was now punctuated by a pulpy *THWACK*.

Claymore began to punch even harder, his knuckles splitting inside of his armor. "die...DIE...DIE YOU FILTHY WRETCH!" Claymore delivered one last savage blow to the clone before he dug his fingers into the duplicate's scalp, he brought his free hand to the clones chin and began to brutally wrench it's head off, the sound of snapping vertebrae splitting the air like gunshots. Finally, Claymore twisted the clone's head around, and pulled.

The sound of ripping flesh and splintering bone filled the room as Claymore ripped the duplicate's head off, he whipped the savage trophy at a nearby wall, summoning his glaive and hurling it at the severed cranium, pinning it to the wall. Claymore sucked in several deep breaths and raised his head, screaming angrily as the clone's body disintegrated. Claymore finished screaming and looked over to the entrance to the training floor, where he saw Saber and Katana, his temper flared again and he deactivated his armor, revealing his damaged eye. "What the hell do you want!? Come to hurl more barbs at me, sister?" The way Claymore hissed the word was unnerving, he never showed this side of him to his family, preferring to vent his anger privately until now.

[Saber]

Katana flinched when Claymore shouted at her, looking away like a scared dog. Saber stepped forth, just enough to get Claymore's attention "Just hear her out, Claymore. She has something to say, just like I have something to say to Chakram, when this is over." He looked back at Katana, who was trying to avoid eye contact with the enraged Claymore "...It's now or never Katana. If you want to make this right, it's you who has to do it."

Katana clutched her arm tightly, nodding as she shyly walked up to Claymore, looking at the ground "I'm sorry...I was wrong to snap at you...I'm still recovering from the intel we got from our mission...I know you're looking out for me, and you're right, I'm still an immature girl, trying to act tough...I just wanted a little trust to give me some room to grow on my own, but I overreacted...And now I'm scared that you hate me now, because of how emotionally broken I am..."

[Mani4c]

Claymore looked down at Katana, his anger slowly dissipating, he didn't like being angry with his sister, even if she was a jerk before, and the scared expression on her face gave him pause as well. He had never truly realized how intimidating her could be, and he'd scared his own blood by screaming at her... "I...I do not hate you Katana, I never could."

Claymore sighed and sat down, running his fingers through his hair. "I just...I don't want you to be scarred by what we do. Your smiling face always brightens my day, and I know it does for the rest of us too, the idea of you hurting because of what you would see...You're losing your innocence to a largely thankless job and the evils you must face because of it, and it breaks my heart." Claymore sucked in a breath and placed a hand on Katana's shoulder. "I don't treat you specially because you are young...I treat you specially because you're my sister, I love you with all my heart Katana, and it was never my intent to baby you. I'm sorry for that, truly." 

[Saber]

Katana rubbed her arm when Claymore started apologizing as well, and explaining that her smiling face is what keeps everyone's mood bright in the dark times they're in. "...You big dummy..." She walked closer and hugged Claymore around his large neck, holding onto him tightly "Just because I have some growing to do, doesn't mean my smile will be gone forever...I just need time to process everything, and cope with the changes, I'll be back to my old self eventually, I promise!

Glad to see that Katana and Claymore were able to make up, he placed his hands on his hips and looked around, hoping to spot Chakram around, but he was nowhere to be found "Hey, Claymore, do you have any idea where Chakram was? I finally got my thoughts together after our family meeting earlier, and was hoping to have a word with him."

[Mani4c]

Claymore chuckled and pulled Katana into a hug of his own, "I'm holding you to that sister..." Claymore looked up when Saber asked where Chakram was. "He said that he was going to talk to Bit about upgrading himself. He and the others should be in the R&D Lab."

[Saber]

Saber nodded and gave Claymore a brief wave "Thanks. I'll leave you two to finish making up, I have some personal problems of my own to deal with." Using the transport kiosk, he transported himself directly to the R&D server.

[Mani4c]

Chakram was currently designing an upgraded form, it seemed that he was trying to create a set of CAS mods, but judging by the multitude of scrapped concepts, he was letting his perfectionism get to him. "Damn it...that doesn't work, the hellfire mod works, but the kunai...no, no..." Amaterasu was currently speaking to The Doctor about something, off to the side so she wouldn't be overhead.

[Saber]

Saber noticed the doctor had returned, no doubt when he was off stewing in his thoughts. When he saw Chakram's frantic scrapped rojects, he could tell that there was something big happening. From the looks of the code structure, they appeared to be CAS mods. Walking up to Chakram, Saber cleared his throat to try and get chakram's attention for a while "Well, you've been keeping busy..."

[Mani4c]

Chakram stopped his tinkering and turned to look at Saber. "Well, I don't think that I'm going to be out in the field any time soon, so it gives me something to do..." Chakram stood up and cracked his neck. "I take it that you wish to speak with me brother?"

[Saber]

Saber nodded and crossed his arms, taking a deep breath as he readied himself for what he had to do "I do...I want to apologize for my behavior lately. When Dagger told me of what happened, he only gave me partial knowledge of what was happening to you, because that's all he knew at the time. In my mind, I was fearing that you were becoming like Halberd...and after the time we've spent training and fighting together, I didn't know if I was prepared to face you to the end if you went out of control...So I kept you at arm's length, avoiding my problems rather than facing them, and for that, I am sorry."