Heads up to ahtoodeetoosoo and giggles for the suggestion. Probably not what you were expecting - a lot less Reborn/Judgement, but I feel a need for Skull and Allen interactions. It's also in a more fragmented format than usual, but oh well.

Anyway, I don't own D. Gray Man or Katekyo Hitman Reborn

"Break a leg, Allen!" Skull cheered, waving his arms as his Accommodator entertained the children with his juggling skills.

"He's really good!" the new Innocence chirped, her long hair pooled in her arms.

"He's useful," Dark Boots agreed, plopping an affectionate hand on the new girl's head. She eyed the mass of hair thoughtfully.

"He's the absolute best," Skull said, his chest puffed with pride. "Anything less and it'd be an insult to my reputation."

"Oh, are you that powerful?" the new girl asked, dropping her hair to clasp her hands together. Dark Boots frowned down at the blonde locks, as if expecting them to be dirtied by the mud.

Skull wondered how long she's been active, if she constantly forgot how they simply weren't connected to the physical world enough to be effected. It took him a bit of time, but he had also been trying to raise a child.

Let it be known that Skull was, by no means, babysitter material. Leave that to Reborn and his home tutoring.

"I," Skull proclaimed loud and proud, turning away from Allen to fully face the young, impressionable Innocence. "Am the Immortal Crown Clown!"

"He's a joke," Dark Boots informed her instantly.

She clapped her hands. "Like a jester!"

"Exactly like a jester. You probably shouldn't take much of what he says seriously." Dark Boots took the girl under her literal wing, wrapping it around the girl like an arm and blocking Skull out. "In fact, I have no idea how Allen got stuck with him. The boy's reliable to a fault."

"Allen's that great of a guy?" the new girl was awed, her eyes practically shining. Skull felt a warm kernel of pride – he helped raise the kid that everyone seemed to like. He made a note to brag to Reborn next time he saw the bastard.

"Not as great as my Lenalee," Dark Boots compromised. "But I guess he can take second."

"HEY!" Skull squawked, indignant. "Allen is the best exorcist you'll ever see and don't you forget it for a second!"

"Enter stage right; Allen and Crown Clown," Allen muttered, clenching his newly formed hand into a fist. He spread it again, taking in the differences with a critical eye. His arm was darker, but more like a velvety shell than the craggy scales of a hell-beast.

"You can't keep the Immortal Clown and his lovely assistant down!" Skull exclaimed. "Break us, tear us apart – we'll just come back stronger than ever! Oh, they won't see us coming!"

"We make quite the team, huh," Allen said, his eyes sad. The feverish need and tension bled from him with each twist and twirl Skull threw into his celebratory dance.

"That part you said, Allen," Skull coughed, lowering his voice in a false approximation of Allen's. "'My left hand for the akuma…and my right for humans.' That was the perfect touch! And did you see that cloak? The mask? Allen. ALLEN. We're are the Clown. The best Clown. The Millennium Earl better watch his step 'cause we're gonna trip him up so much he won't know what year it is!"

"I thought we were the actors," Allen mused.

Skull scoffed, flinging his arms wide with a caustic grin. "Everyone is an actor, Allen. We're gotta be the best actors – the clowns and the fools. You can't fool a fool, Allen. It's just common sense."

"Of course," Allen agreed, amused.

Skull paused, squinting at his boy. "Are you making fun of me?"

"I would never," Allen assured him, raising his hands to pacify the irate Innocence.

Skull squawked, pointing at him dramatically. "You are! You are making fun of me! And after everything we've been through. I thought you loved me, Allen!"

Allen laughed, hastily wiping away an errant tear as he threw his head back. Skull quieted, smiling at his boy. Skull loved it when Allen laughed.

He didn't laugh enough.

Which was stupid! Life was a play and they were the actors – they have the power to make it a tragedy or a comedy and Allen seemed determined on walking the path of sorrow in the name of a promise. Skull supported him, of course, how could he not? But, he wished his boy was happy, that he laughed more.

Once Skull had a whole audience to make smile and laugh, and he succeeded! Everyday! But Allen was harder, his heart slightly petrified by the cards Fate dealt.

All Skull ever wanted was to make people happy.

(Bak shot Fuu a bewildered, confused look as the recently revived exorcist stood in the watery ruins and laughed. Fuu rolled her eyes at his ignorance. Well, Bak knew exorcists were a strange lot. Just look at Allen's master, General Cross.)

Skull could not believe this day could get any worse.

First, Allen faced the Earl, the source of all his pain and suffering for the nth time (Skull was really getting annoyed with it, honestly. The Earl popped up more often than Reborn with his damnable hidden passageways).

Second, they get sucked into this white wonderland where Allen quickly started to lose his hard-earned friends to one-on-one battles that no one understood were just stupid. Trickster 101 – Don't fight alone. It was right up there with 'Don't fight fair'. He taught Allen better than that.

Then, that Noah not-child stole a kiss from his boy. Which, by the way, Skull was totally sure counted as sexual harassment. Were there sexual harassment laws here? Skull didn't know but he was gonna hit her with all of them.

And now – and now – they arrived to ruin what little shred of hope Skull harbored.

"It's been a while, Master," Allen greeted weakly. "Judgement. Grave of Maria," he tacked on politely.

"Bastard, what the hell are you doing here?" Skull screamed. He stomped a foot petulantly, floating overhead after his flying-leap attempt to stop Allen's flight.

Of course Reborn had to be the hero. Or, rather, Reborn's General of an accommodator.

(Allen was so much better than a simple General. Take that Reborn!)

"We should have known you would be here, Lackey," Reborn scoffed, gracefully leaping off Grave of Maria. Skull crossed his arms and puffed his cheeks. "You can't even look after one boy, can you?"

"Who's that?" The new kid didn't even try to be quiet as he questioned Iron Hammer.

"Well, the human is Cross," Iron Hammer said, uncharacteristically serious. His eyes were hard and his lips pressed together, struggling to keep his worry and anger under control. "Allen's Master. The slinky guy is his Innocence, Judgement, and the casket is called Voice of Magdalene – Grave of Maria for the Accommodators. They work together to keep Cross out of trouble, but I heard it's hard, even with two Innocence. I guess it makes sense that Allen's such a handful for Crown Clown alone."

Skull pulled up short, turning back around, offended. "I take care of Allen perfectly well, thank you very much. If you wanna see an Innocence who is lacking, take a look at the state of your Accommodator!"

Iron Hammer looked away, stung, but no less willing to see the truth. It had been a long, harrowing day for all of them.

"Trouble in paradise, Lackey?" Reborn wondered, taking in the scene properly.

"Everything was fine until you and your stupid General got here, Judgement," Skull snapped, sticking out his tongue.

Reborn raised an eyebrow, making his scan more obvious this time as his stare lingered on the new Accommodator and his confused Innocence companion, the distinct lack of Dark Boots and how her Accommodator was being protected like she couldn't kick a man's head clean off his shoulders, the shadows and wear under Iron Hammer's Accommodator's eyes. "My mistake," Reborn said. "I am sure you had everything under control, Clown. You, no doubt, had a plan on how to stop Allen from falling already in the works. That must be why you were hovering uselessly when Marian arrived."

"I really really hate you sometimes," Skull hissed, his fists clenched white. His arms shook as he restrained himself from flailing. It would only amuse the bastard further.

"As amusing as this is, this isn't the time for our usual game, Clown." Reborn folded his arms, looking down on Skull. "This is a war zone, and no place for children."

"Not a child," Skull argued. "And neither is Allen."

"So they tell me."

"Who are you?" the golden-eyed teen asked.

Skull crossed his arms, digging his nails into the fleshy bits as he ground his teeth. This was a new player, a change in the cast. One Skull and Allen expected, but not one they appreciated.

"Crown Clown," Skull supplied curtly.

Allen's head, haloed in white, canted to the side as the intruder absorbed that knowledge. The cruel light in his golden eyes sparked with a curiosity he did not acknowledge. "This body is mine now," the intruder announced, stepping away from Johnny's unconscious form. His hand, black and stained with Allen's resolve, twitched harshly. The stolen face twisted in discomfort.

"He won't stop fighting you," Skull informed the Noah. "Neither of us will."

"I don't see how you can stop me, Innocence," the Noah claimed, amused to a sickening degree. He maneuvered Allen's body with a predator's grace, like that bastard Reborn when he wanted something. It only made it easier to see the difference between his boy and the intruder. Allen had an acrobat's grace, a flare of dramatics he picked up from Skull.

No one who knew Skull's boy would ever mistake the Noah for him.

"Allen's gotta promise to keep," Skull said. He smiled – falsely, wide and blank as a clown's mask. "He's gonna bust out and cram you back down the hole you crawled your rotted corpse out of."

"Allen doesn't exist anymore," the Noah claimed. It was a lie. Skull knew cause Skull raised that boy. He was harder to kill than the Immortal Skull, the Stuntman Hated By Death. It would take far more than a parasite with an inflated ego and genocidal tendencies to kill him. "This body is mine now and I am here to stay. You might as well give up and submit to me. It would be less troublesome for everyone involved."

Skull's smile stretched. He didn't quite reach the Noah's typical inhuman Cheshire grin, but his was toothier. "Good luck, bastard."

Welcome to the stage, Fourteenth.

Okay, I know I said it would be Charity Bell, but…

I had to write this because of Skullen. I couldn't stop myself. Especially not after I reread Keep Walking and Skullen's 'actor' scenes. Like, seriously, Skull might not match power-wise – which is why he's an extra – but personality-wise they're pretty good together. – though, arguably, I could probably make a case about Cloud Flames and propagation in regards to Crown Clown's tendrils and the changing lengths.

I really just wanted Neah's resurrection to include someone saying "Good luck", especially with all the allusions to plays the show –and my stories – makes.

I'm having a dilemma with Iron Hammer. I was steadfast with my original idea for them, but someone threw a different character at me recently and I'm left juggling the two personalities – and having second thoughts about both of them –and debating which I prefer, cause they're the two options that fit the best, but not perfectly. Basically, if anyone has any further ideas for Iron Hammer, my ears are wide open. (This does not mean, however, I am disregarding those who have brought up ideas for Iron Hammer – they will still be extras at the very least. However, the purpose of extras is to try out personalities/stories that don't fit just right like most of these other 'mains' do and while I could probably force one of the mentioned characters into Iron Hammers mold, I really want to do both the character and Iron Hammer (and Lavi) justice by having a good fit. Also, one of the ideas is too painful even for my dusty heart. I mean, I'm willing to do it anyway, but I have to have a soul somewhere, right?)

Guest Reviews:

piggyninja - Haha, I'm glad it meet your expectations - and that you enjoyed it so much!

q - Yeah, for the most part Luffy would be lackadaisical about Cross and Reborn's training. There are lines, of course, but I really don't see Cross or Reborn intentionally crossing those anytime soon - i.e. Luffy is big on freedom so he wouldn't be too happy if any loan sharks took up using Allen as an errand boy to pay off Cross's debt or such. Could also remind him of that time at the Grey Terminal with Porchemy etc.

Tanya - Thank you! Haha, it probably wasn't all that obvious. I mean, I didn't exactly think of it until some readers pointed out how perfectly they would work together. (Right? It's been driving me up the wall.) Okay, so, for the most part I'll have Innocence keep to the first iteration of themselves (the mains) unless otherwise stated. So like in this chapter and the previous one, Grave of Maria was Emily. I might do an Extra or a main with Aizen, but I'm not totally sure yet. After this chapter, it should be assumed that every Crown Clown interaction is Luffy, not Skull, unless I mention in the heading A/N that its someone else. Oh, don't worry, it made perfect sense! If you ever forget who was 'first', then the list at the end of each chapter is always in order, to make it easier. Haha, I will. And I'll do my best. Thank you!

Guest - *squints* Oh, I'm sorry for the confusion! That's the scene where Crown Clown is shattered, so Luffy's not dead seeing as he reforms later on and reattaches to Allen. That's just his resolve talking. You don't mess with Luffy or any of his. You just don't.

Anyway, I hope everyone enjoyed this extra? Not sure who Imma work on next, so its a mystery for all of us.

Dark Boots - Maximum Ride (Maximum Ride)

Time Record - Rapunzel (Tangled)

Crown Clown - Luffy (One Piece), Skull (Katekyo Hitman Reborn!)

Heaven's Compass - Haku (Naruto)

Grave of Maria - Emily (Corpse Bride), Aizen (Bleach)

Judgement - Reborn (Katekyo Hitman Reborn!)