Cloud AU's

Indoctrination

Skull actually having been Tsuna's 'predecessor' in the way he joined the Mafia side of things.

He'd been traumatized long before him.

He'd feared, been terrified of them all and everything they embodied.
Feared every twitch of muscle after it became clear that first day: yes, they could kill him.

They'd killed and he could be next. The pressure had been enough to make his breath uneven, eyes water, skin clammy and sweaty. He was on the edge of either a panic or anxiety attack throughout the day, every time he was near them, alone with even one of them - or worst all of them and if any of them got too angry. He got tunnel vision when they got angry or he saw a glint of metal.

The whole flame business went right over his head, like a lightning strike: fast, flashy and deadly. It had Superpowers, murder organizations, Oreta or whatever oath of secrecy they had? He wanted none of it.
He'd like to get back to his life, yeah...! Forget he'd existed in this moment of time entirely, memories sent to oblivion.
He'd take it. Please...

He couldn't trust anyone, even the friendliest people rubbed him wrong. He couldn't tell the police or escape else... Zombies and that bastard with the iron hat would bring him in or severely punish him...
And if they tried 'training' him in anything, anything they could do that wasn't non-lethal, he feared what would become of him if he stayed. He wanted to go, to leave that and never return, think of it like a fever dream and nightmare.

-God, he couldn't stand any of them.

Alas, escape was futile.
What with them always picking him up if he strayed too far. Funny, considering they'd told him to act more like a 'Cloud' and when he did he was reprimanded too. He decided it didn't matter what he did, they'd still find fault with him. So he ignored that as much as possible. If he didn't see it it wasn't there and he wouldn't have to care. Simple as that.

So what if he was in denial with reality? It's not like he could do anything else productive. He'd consider it healthy compared to trying to spend time out in the open.

Like that he was made lackey for minor jobs and getaway driver, which worked for him.
He could be a getaway driver, it wasn't the worst thing he could be doing otherwise and it -at it's bare bones- wasn't that much different from his stunts - he still escaped death in the end.
It was also a skill that brought him some value in the group, even if it was the only skill he had that they deemed profitable enough to acknowledge. What mattered was that he was the best in just that. He hoped that, one day when they slipped up and weren't watching, he could bust out of there with that skill.

Alas, that day became further away when he was further shackled down with them.
On that fated day, he lost everything. He lost his body, his hope, his dreams, his anxiety and denial. Instead he gained one thing, a constant: apathy to pain. Nothing mattered anymore, nothing could be changed. Nothing would change for him. He had no control over anything anyway. Nothing mattered. Everything was futile.

The Cloud was stale and broken.

The Cloud Arcobaleno was loud and whiny, gloated and trouble, but the weakest.

He had nothing at all.
He was pathetic.
He didn't care.
So what?

Nobody cares about him or his freedom, nevermind his will.

He could be a puppet and forget he was a human with a Soul.

He lived like that, surviving.

If any Arcobaleno saw him in the infant state they only greeted each other shortly, maybe caught up with what they were doing and heard of the others. Skull was used to also just delivering messages to them if need be. Like a parrot, repeating message after message. He wasn't just a puppet, he was a voicemail.