Melancholy Rose

""It's not art, Lilac! It's a representation of all those who try to get in my way expecting to gain something personal out of it, and I think you're a fine example.""

- A very sassy nineteen year-old Melancholy

Melancholy Rose, often Mel by his wife and Blank by fellow AKKF members, is the father of the deceased yet respected member of the AKKF, Johnathan Rose. He took his death pretty badly, unlike other colleagues' deaths. He shows little to no emotion but loves his wife, Lilac, dearly. He took his son's education very seriously as he and his wife home-schooled him to the best of their ability, and later introduced him into the AKKF where he rose the ranks and grew into "Daddy's little warrior". After his death, he promised to avenge his son's death. To find out who killed Johnathan and kill them in cold blood.

Background
Melancholy's Theme LW7gl35pUcI

Try playing the song while reading the article.

Early Life
Growing up, Melancholy was a rebel. He was raised by a single dad who never respected him. After his mother's death in a horrible accident, his father went from a calm and good-natured dad to a cruel and hurtful guardian― who was barely even that. He cared for no one, not even himself, and spent much of his days guzzling cream soda. When he was young, his father always yelled at him, which made him very sad; adding onto the purpose of his name. He began to grow tired of his father's rants and his accusations of him being the cause of his mom's death. Melancholy became indifferent to his dad's speeches and thought of them as trivial, as he discovered new ways to ignore his dad.

Education
As his father didn't care enough to properly educate his son, Melancholy had to teach himself how to read and write from the nearby library and from his friends who would smuggle him books, papers and pencils at late night. At age 9, he wasn't a very bright child because of that, but that didn't hinder his skills in combat.

Teenage Life
When he was 13, his dad sent him to his room for most of everyday and Melancholy often had to climb out of the window in his room to sneak off with his two friends, Marian and Reagan to steal borrow pizza. They often engaged in shenanigans that would get normal penguins who weren't as stealthy as they were in big trouble. When he came home, he was rarely caught by his father as it was very late. His father didn't seem to care to check if he was in bed or not. Day after day, Melancholy spent less time at home. He lived most of his life out on the streets, raising chaos and having fun with his three friends. He learned how to use weapons such as swords and battled in illegal sword-fighting competitions in the slums and alleys for many coins.

He and his friends got better until one day, when he was 15 years old, he went to a championship tournament. He had just defeated in under 30 seconds the USA champion. After being congratulated and rewarded one hundred thousand coins, a man came up to him and formally introduced himself as an incognito and undercover member of the AKKF. He told the trio that he was recruiting and needed skilled sword-fighters as them for his army. With Melancholy thinking he had nothing else for him as he was then, he joined without hesitation and his friends followed suit. The man then brought them to a private jet where they were taken to the headquarters, never to look back.

Melancholy never said goodbye to his father. His whereabouts are unknown to this day.

Life in the AKKF
From the day he and his comrades stepped onto the marble-tiled floor, he was in love. He dashed around and looked at everything his once big and black eyes could square in on. He was awestruck by the penguins dressed in black dresses with red handkerchiefs, blood-tinted roses in their hair or perched on their tuxedos, or maroon sneakers to compliment a black leather jacket with a red bow tie. He soon realized the AKKF colors were black and red those were his favorite colors from then on out.

At the AKKF, they provided Melancholy with free education. He was sent to the college deep inside the headquarters. He brushed up on his reading skills, learned math and the history of the AKKF, along with other information. He soon found out that the organization had a common goal, and that was to stop the evil Kim Karkrashian from succeeding in her plot for universe domination. Melancholy thought it was far-fetched and silly until he learned about the horrible secrets they kept and what they used three two innocent Mwa Mwa Penguins and one chick for such violent and horrendous things.

Melancholy finally saw what they meant and decided to join to help the AKKF stop Kim in her tracks. He chose a bright red lightsaber and that was his weapon of choice for years to come. He practiced week after week until he was one of the top sword-fighters in the AKKF, being able to swing his sword 3 times per second. He thought he was on top of everyone; the best, you could say. He bragged and boasted about his skills to everyone, until he finally met his match.

Lilac
Much like a certain KKF assassin we know, Melancholy fought out of hate and anger for his father. One rainy night in the gymnasium a week after his recruitment, Mel was creatively slicing apart different training dummies throughout the room with his long, steel dirk he used for training. "I like your art." a small voice from behind him whispered. It was a short female who sounded about fourteen years old to the nineteen year old's perspective. "What do you mean art? I'm practicing death strikes." he muttered without sparing a glance to her. Thunder crackled in the distance as he continued halving the dummies at a rapid pace. He ignored the sound of two swords being dragged against the glazed wood and continued destroying the previously standing dummies. "Can I try?" the voice asked, sounding closer before. "N-" Before Mel could finish his reply, a lavender blur whizzed past his field of vision and two dummy heads were pinned to the wall. All Mel could do was stare in awe.



Melancholy was practically green with envy and pale with astonishment. The girl, who actually did appear fourteen at a glance, stared at what she did for a moment before turning around to meet Mel's blank glance. Her expression was unreadable. She had lavender hair that went down past her shoulders with dull blue eyes that almost looked beige. Dark circles made clean rings around her eyes as she stared at Mel, unblinking. Mel slowly looked at her shoes and her outfit, then to the wall, then to her face, back to the wall, and then her face again. She donned a pendant with a red droplet on it. She wore a black coat with the sleeves far too long for her arms and body, as it followed her like the darkness that surrounded herself. Mel was completely freaked out.

"Who are you?" he finally spoke after what seemed to be an lifetime. "They call me Lilac," she replied. "Maybe because of my atrocious hair." She picked up a few strands of her purple-hued mane in her dark sleeves. Melancholy was confused with Lilac. How could she be so calm, so modest about what she just did, he thought. Before he could ask a question, she seemingly glided over to the wall and retrieved her blades by their neon red handles as the dummy heads clattered to the floor, the packing and stuffing piling under them on the floor. Mel was intimidated, almost angry. ''She can't be better than me. That was probably just luck.'' The beige bandages wrapped around his feet helped him slide right behind Lilac. "I challenge you to a spar." he confidently declared. Lilac said nothing. After a few minutes, she finally nodded and Mel led her to the center of the gym.

The two stood ready, at least 4 feet away from each other. A two flashes of lightning and a clap of thunder signaled the beginning of their duel. Melancholy skidded to the side, his blade in hand. Lilac stayed in place. Confused, Mel decided do advance, holding his sword to the side and cutting it through the air towards her waist. It only took a split second for Lilac to fixate her swords into place, one blocking the incoming attack and the other gently prodding him in the chest with its tip. Mel flinched and hopped back, shutting his eyes and bracing for impact as he landed firmly on his rear. Mel looked up with an almost scared look on his face. "But... how?" he managed to stutter, but he only saw the mysterious girl's hair rippling as her black coat trailed behind her as she glided out the double doors, marking the entrance to the gym. Wow. He wiped a trickle of sweat off his forehead, still staring at the entrance. Wow.

Friend or Foe?
During the days off from school, Melancholy spent most of his time trying to become better than Lilac. Based on her first impression, he knew it would be quite the stretch. Such a young little girl, how could she be so powerful? was what he always thought. Now he knew better than to simply underestimate his enemies. He saw her occasionally and always scanned the lavender-haired girl head to toe. She normally always wore her black jacket and red tear-drop pendant with her well-kept mane brushed down all the way to her back and past her shoulders, but changed her shirt to a maroon t-shirt with white socks. The things people wear here...

He always kept a distance from Lilac, never trusting her. When he heard her dual blades screeching across the marble tile in the short hallway before the gymnasium, he always searched for a place to hide. Whenever she entered a room, he would find an excuse, one way or another, to get out. His friend, Marian, noticed this and asked was he afraid of the girl. "No, of course not!" he would briskly reply, standing stiffly with his flippers balled into fists. "I just don't trust her, that's all." Marian would chuckle and walk away, mentioning something about Lilac being a ghost haunting him. It always bothered Mel.

Battles Against the KKF
After his son was assassinated, Melancholy wanted revenge. It was early sunrise as he traveled to the spot where his son was last. Orange and blue clouds were just peeking their way into his field of view, as the sun glare revealed a shadow in the open. It's her. he thought. The assassin. He pulled out his red-handled dirk instead of his lightsaber, planning on making a swift and clean kill. Charlotte's faux antennae bobbed as she stepped out of the shadows, her katana still firmly sheathed. "Draw." he simply said, the word carefully laced with as much venom as he could muster. Charlotte said nothing, her red heart-shaped pupils glinting in the reflection of the sunlight on the clouds. In a split-second, her katana was wielded stiffly beside her head as she quickly shifted to her usual pre-battle stance. There wasn't a moment's hesitation before the two blades rapidly clashed in an almost rhythmic frenzy. The fight was on.

After a few seconds, Charlotte's weapon finally jabbed past Mel's as he lurched back, the tip of her sword inches away from his chest. He streaked to the side and quickly side-stepped towards Charlotte, his dirk outstretched toward her shoulder. Her arm would've been severed if it weren't for her lightning reflexes. With a shrill cry of fury, she swung her katana towards his stomach as it lightly made a streak of blood tint his white shirt peach and his black suit mahogany. Ignoring the pain, Melancholy hurriedly deflected another one of Charlotte's carefully aimed slashes.

It was but a few heartbeats before Mel finally landed a hit on the elusive assassin. His blade scraped across Charlotte's face, a gash forming where his sword-tip once was. She turned and grimaced as she moved one flipper up to her wound, before turning back towards her opponent. "Woo haven't seen da wast of mwe, Mewanchowy Wose!" she said before dashing off into the alley, agilely hopping onto a dumpster and flipping up the buildings running on their rooftops. Mel would've pursued his foe, but he was far too puzzled. How did she know my name? was all he could think.

Trivia

 * Melancholy has a ticklish rib cage.
 * His name was just a coincidence, and not in any way related to his behaviors at all.