It's a Trap! (Izzy, Invite)

Yang made her way back just a little while after. This entire night had been thoroughly exhausting for the three of them. "Darla, how's he holding up?" She asked as she walked in, sliding down her hood.

The AI unit sighed audibly. "Honestly he's lucky that he doesn't have about a thousand infections right now. Using bone as shrapnel is dangerous because of how many diseases the person could be carrying and the difference in blood type. Thankfully they were actually the same blood type or I'd have to do a lot more than just extract it."

Yang nodded, patting the unconscious Kuro on the head. "Hang in there kid, you'll be fine." She sat down next to Suzuki and the exhaustion hit her. She wasn't nearly as bad of as Suzuki, but she'd still been swinging all over the city trying to keep up with her ninja teammates. "How you holding up?" She asked awkwardly, looking her over. "Your eyes seem to be back. Do you still wanna run some tests just to be safe?"

Kuro looked up at them. The pieces were slowly coming together. His reflection shortly turned around, and stood before him with his arms clasped behind his back.

"It's not as if I'm ungrateful, Kumosawa Kuro. But I have been separated from my sister for far too long. I need to make sure she is well."

Kuro blinked. His sister...? He allowed himself to be surprised for a moment. He clenched the armrests of the chair, which caused the god to quirk a brow. So that was what he meant.

"...you said that you wish to return. Yet I can see that we are one and the same. I am currently recovering from a serious injury. My mind would be difficult to adjust to."

"But it's not your mind. It is mine." He moved to grab Kuro by the shoulders when Kuro suddenly stood out of the chair, bringing a hard kick into his side, catching him off guard. Kuro then hopped out of a window, right past the smiling goddess.

The man growled in frustration and anger, looking out the window, but Kuro was gone. "Worry not. When he next sleeps, you will take him." The gods slowly faded, leaving the man with red eyes in the room alone.

---

Kuro opened his eyes, looking up at the ceiling and laying still for the moment. It had been a good hour or so. Yang and Suzuki were lightly still there, since he had started muttering, "Shinjikēto, shinjikēto, shinjikēto..." nonstop since Yang had gotten back to the tower. The Syndicate.

Suzuki had gathered that Kuro's injuries might not all be physical. The way he was repeating that phrase made her worried. She sat in the room, leaning tiredly against Yang. It wasn't that they needed each other, but it was so comforting for Suzuki to know she wasn't alone in this. She was starting to appreciate the value of a team. "What a crazy night..."

Suzuki mumbled to Yang, not expecting a response. She was still trying to piece it all together. Separate what was mind control and what was an actual memory. She remembered Yang dying... Kuro... killing people? She'd even saw an image of her brother, who she hadn't seen for years.

So now, she sat with her eyes trained on the boy. If he woke up hurt, it'd be her fault and she'd take it rather hard. When his eyes fluttered open, Suzuki got up quickly. "Kuro? Are you okay? Can you hear me?"

Yang had been listening to him muttering. Syndicate...what Syndicate though? She gave Suzuki a reassuring hug and smiled. "Yeah...tonight was a bit wacky, eh?" She leaned her head back and her eyes closed for a few minutes as she drifted off into sleep, only to awaken just minutes later at the sound of Suzuki's voice and the sudden movement next to her. "He's awake? Good!" She said, standing up and yawning. She desperately needed more sleep.

Kuro, to say the least, didn't seem to have it all together at this point. He continued to stare at the ceiling, hushed voice coming from his mask as he started muttering to himself. "They're back...they're back...I didn't get them...I failed...it's all been a lie...all a lie...everything I did...all for nothing..." He finally heard their voices, trying to sit up quickly, but groaned at the sudden pain, falling back onto the table with a thud, breathing a little heavily.

Suzuki cursed quietly when Kuro started muttering to himself. She gave him a bit of a shake, careful not to hurt him. "Kuro, you're with us, at the tower. Snap out of it. You haven't failed me yet..." She muttered, going from shaking to giving him a light slap on the cheek. "C'mon buddy. Rise and shine."

Yang sighed and sat down next to them. "Kuro, you're not done with us yet." She would offer a hand, but Suzuki was standing next to him and the operating table wasn't exactly massive. Darla didn't need the space. She sighed and thought about what he was saying. Maybe if he couldn't snap out of it he could at least talk about it. "Kuro? Who is The Syndicate?"

Kuro was lightly smacked, and snapped his eyes to Suzuki, though was still hyperventilating a bit. Yang asked him who the Syndicate was. He was coming to some cohesion but was still having some flashes in his mind of his jumbled past. He still tried to put forth all the effort he could into answering her question.

"The Syndicate...are the ones who made me into a killing machine. They used me for assassinations to ensure their political power around the globe. I thought I killed the last of them here...but...but they're still..."

Yang gave a nervous laugh and rubbed Suzuki on the shoulders. "Guys, guys, it's fine. You have me and the team now, you don't have to worry about stuff like that anymore." She gave them a reassuring smile and pulled them both into a hug. Or at least...as much of one as she could drag Kuro into from his spot on the table. "The fact of it is, neither one of you are who you were. Not anymore. Now we're a team, and all the mind control stupidity is gonna be behind us from this point on, okay?"

Kuro looked up at Suzuki as she started blaming herself for his predicament. "No, Suzuki-chan. This was bound to happen sooner or later. I thought I had eliminated every key person in the Syndicate." He was pulled into a hug with Suzuki by Yang, but he didn't attempt moving. He was still trying to sort everything out, and almost desperately failing. Yang was trying to reassure them. "...I promise you..." he began.

"I promise you, my friends...even if I have to break every single bone in my body doing so...I will not allow them to hurt you again..." He seemed to be saying it to himself more than anyone.

Yang nodded and stretched. "Good stuff. We could all use some sleep after tonight..." The girl barely made it out the door before she collapsed in a heap. Someone might actually be incredibly concerned for her if she hadn't started snoring very loudly mere moments later. Poor Yang had been working herself exhausted. Between crazy mummies, an assassin cult, Little Bow, and now Suzu's crazed brother she was just beyond exhausted. She needed sleep.

OOC: Ready to end if you are, Bloo.

BIC: Kuro looked at Suzuki and Yang, and didn't verbally respond, merely returning his gaze to the ceiling. He wasn't trying to be rude, but he was sure they would understand. He had a lot to think about. So many clues to peice together and barely anything to use as glue.

Drink as much coffee as you need to. Eventually, you will slumber...

A few moments later, Kuro got up, and went to the coffee machine, indeed, brewing something to drink.