Death Knocking At Your Door

Soulful melodies waltzed into his room through the open window, they wrapped Zuzu snuggly with their warm embrace as he lay meekly in his bed. It'd been fifteen days since Zuzu'd fought with Jax, now all he could do was wait for his first mission to be passed onto him. He'd thought about going out for another off-the-books venture but figured it'd be best not to waste his energy. Luckily if you don't count the hit to his ego from not being able to defeat a street thug, his injuries from that day had mostly healed. 

"I swear... next time I see him, I'll beat his ass."

As Zuzu lay in quiet reflection, the rhythmic cadence of the soulful tunes served as a poignant backdrop to his contemplations.

It was a quarter past noon on a Saturday. At a time like this most boys his age were out messing around with friends or doing something interesting. In contrast, Zuzu didn't have a single person to call a friend. Even during his training to become a Demon Knight, there were few people that Zuzu interacted with or even bothered to learn the names of. A better way of putting it may be that he didn't want to learn their names. He didn't want to interact with his peers. And so now, he lay in bed alone, clutching onto a dream. A dream no one asked him to clutch onto. 

Like sudden snow on a summer day, an unexpected sound interrupted Zuzu's quiet moment. A knock at the door. Taking a moment to think, Zuzu couldn't think of a single person who'd be visiting him at a time like this. Getting out of bed, Zuzu looked an absolute mess. His oversized pajama pants began slipping down as he looked through the peephole. 

On the other side, Zuzu could only see the top of someone's hair as they bopped their head side to side. The unknown figure on the other side knocked once more, this time Zuzu said something in response. 

"Hello? What are you here for?"

"Are you Zuzu Balor?"

"Yeah." 

"Open the door so we can talk."

Not opening the door for strangers and unknown quantities had become one of Zuzu's habits. It's not that he had any enemies, it was a simple level of distrust that'd grown in his heart. Still, in his case, Zuzu figured that he'd open the door and see what they had to say.

On the other side of the door was a boy wearing a thick blue fur coat with a white fur lining. He was wrapped in so many layers that it seemed like he was ready to march right into the Arctic. From what little skin he could see Zuzu noted just how light his peach pale skin was. Around his waist was a black utility belt that seemed to be holding an array of tools. On his face, he wore a mask with a snowman pattern on his face and it made Zuzu's eyes wander toward the rest of his face which caused him to take note of his ears. They pointed upward and were long and sharp. They even reminded him of an elf. His eyes were a dazzling blue hue like perfectly cut gems.

From the bits of his face, one could see it gave off the impression that he was pretty young. Maybe in his teens or early twenties at most.

Then that boy began speaking, "You've been assigned to join us on a mission." 

The boy then looked Zuzu up and down. Just from his eyes, Zuzu could tell that he was annoyed. "Five minutes. Dress." 

"Um-Yes, sir!"

Turning around with the speed of a shooting bullet, Zuzu maintained his momentum as he rushed back into his room. Flinging his drawers open, he scrambled to find his demon knight outfit. 

"Damn that Handler! He didn't even give me so much as a heads-up that I'd been assigned my first mission! My first impression was horrible and if I can't woo these guys then it'll take even longer for me to join a squad!"

While it was customary for a newer knight to tag along with a more experienced squad for their first mission, the squad had no obligation to take the newbie as a permanent squad member. 

Just as Zuzu was attaching his sword to his hip, he heard a noise coming from behind him. While fastening his sword he peeked over his shoulder and saw a figure standing there. 

 The noise came from his bathroom. The door was wide open and from where Zuzu was standing he got a clear view of it. The bathroom window was being opened from the outside. After a few seconds, a girl came crawling inside.

She had luscious, curly black hair that cascaded down her back. Her hair is so long it reaches her waist, and she's sporting a sleek black leotard topped with a red blazer marked with the demon knight emblem. Her baggy dark red pants accentuate her figure, and a thin black tail with a heart-shaped tip peeks out from just above her waistband. Something else that catches Zuzu's attention is the blocky bracket around her wrist, it seems slightly out of place on her outfit. 

She had an ear-to-ear grin on her face as she walked around the apartment. She was cat-like in the way that she poked and prodded at everything around her. Soon she walked up to Zuzu and pointed her finger at him.

"Your five minutes are up you know. I've been sitting out there completely bored out of my mind! You look ready enough... Yup, let's get going!" 

In a flash, she grabbed Zuzu's arm and tugged on him. Though he wasn't exactly resisting, Zuzu was shocked by the ease at which she dragged him. Surely, a testimony to her strength. 

After being dragged outside, they moved to the stairs. Without any hesitation, the girl effortlessly threw Zuzu in the air. A feeling of fear erupted in Zuzu's body as he went soaring through the air.

Before he could fall to the ground, however, he was caught by a tall man. He had on a black undershirt and long black pants. His body was lean but extremely well-built, obviously a result of years of training. Coving his right arm was a tattoo of a dragon and his dark blue hair was slicked back.

 "Oh, so you're the rookie? Aren't you lucky to team up with a squad like ours for your first mission?"

"Ye-yeah... Sure..."

The man gently let Zuzu down before turning his back to him. "Come on. Let's get this over with." 

While looking down at his clothes, Zuzu fixed his outfit. Once his gaze returned upwards, he met with quite a surprise. Tower over him was a large fluffy dog-like creature with small wings on its back and tiny glowing green horns sprouting from its head.

For a moment Zuzu merely looked up in shock, but from behind he felt a pat on the back. It was the girl from earlier. "Haven't you been listening, let's get out of here."

With another effortless throw, she flung Zuzu right onto the creature's back.

As he landed, Zuzu expected some sort of painful landing, but instead, his body was met with a fluffy embrace that surpassed even clouds. Even the most deranged and brutal demon wouldn't be able to hold down a smile after feeling fur like this. Closing his eyes, Zuzu got lost in the feeling of rubbing against the fluff.

It was then that he heard a cough. It came from a woman wearing a purple jacket with black gloves. Her hair was done up in a bun and it had an odd azure color with bright orange tips. The other members quickly jumped onto the beast's back and it began moving. The woman in the purple jacket cleared her throat before speaking "I see. So that's how it is..."

Sitting up, Zuzu prepared to be chewed out for his performance thus far.

"It's really nice, isn't it? The fur I mean."

"Yeah, it's way better than- Hold on is that really the most pressing matter right now?"

"You're right...This is Zempaph. He's my familiar. More than anything he's cute as hell!" As she talked the man in the fur coat began playing with a toy skateboard. The other man seemed to only be interested in cleaning his spear. While checking up on the squad Zuzu noticed that the other girl was missing. Just then she took hold of his shoulders from behind with a large smile on her face.

Her cheerful voice rang out loudly "Hey! Hey! Don't listen to granny over there. All she talks about is this mutt. My name is Mika and I'll be your guide of the mighty 12th-ranked squad in the world!"

"Huh!" 

Even rolling triple sevens at a casino couldn't compare to the stroke of luck that Zuzu'd just gotten. Every Demon Knight squad is ranked based on the mission they've completed and other notable accomplishments. The ranking factor in things such as success, difficulty, and other factors depending on the squad's area of specialty. Without a doubt though, of the thousands of squads that exist, to be ranked highly puts you on an extremely high pedestal.

Mika continues "Yes, my cute little rookie you heard correctly. Squad 0012, Red Iron, is at your service! Of the thousands of squads we-"

The guy with the spear interrupts "Aren't you gonna finish the guiding through our squad? If all you're gonna do is talk about our rank then I'll just do it. My name is-"

Mika then began yelling to drown out his voice. "Shut up I'll do it!" She then took Zuzu's hand and pointed towards him. "That rude son of a bitch is our worst member. He's utter trash at anything that isn't fighting and always scares off the women he talks to. You can call him Sir Trash or if you want Mr.Bitch also works."

The man then got up and started yelling "What was that? Rich coming from Miss Loser herself. I'll tell you something Zuzu, the last time we went to a bar she got so drunk that she bit off some guy's finger! And my name is Deca, you witch! Who in the world runs around in a damn leotard!? Aren't you way too desperate for attention!?"

The two squadmates soon entered into a screaming match. The young boy in the fur coat then butted in saying, "Shhhh. I'm trying to relax over here."

The older woman then turned to Zuzu and said "That guy's Yuki. Though he acts like a child he can be of use from time to time."

Yuki turned back to his toy skateboard and added "Time to time? I recall that on our last mission, I saved you."

Taking a break from yelling, Mika turned to Zuzu to add, "He's also useful for a whole bunch of random things. He knows every hiding spot and secret way around the city."

Mika stood up and kicked Deca off the dog's back before looking at you. "To finish off this tour I'll introduce you to our squad leader! Despite her advanced age, she maintains a wonderful face and figure, and above all else, she's the dog obsessed, Elena!"

Elena was the name of the older woman. Honestly, it was a bit of a shock finding out that out of all of them, she was the leader. The woman then pulled out a cigar and began smoking. Somehow the cigar seemed to light itself.

After taking a puff she remarked, "Advanced age... I'm still 47 years young." 

Zuzu noted, "That's the only claim you wanna clear up?" 

Elena looked at Zuzu before turning her head while blushing. 

"Forty-seven and still acting like a middle school girl with a crush. Geez."