She stumbled towards him, lurching as she walked, her sword dragging on the floor behind her. Her eyes were wide and filled with madness and fear. She was laughing, and the laughter bounced off the walls, making it sound as though there were hundreds of her.

He took a step back, his breath catching in his throat. They knew that there was a very powerful demon sword in the desert, one that was attacking the small towns that were scattered throughout the sands. But they didn't know it was her. They were hoping it wasn't her.

She continued forward, her hair swinging with each step, mouth twisted into a wide grin.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, her laughter slipping through her words.

"I know you, right? You're the one! The one! But what one? Kid? I know Kid. Yes. That was a long time ago. But so much fun." She stopped walking and tilted her head to the side. "What was that? What was that, Kid?" Her eyes were darting around, looking at everything but him.

His frown deepened, and he tightened his hold on the guns. She didn't move any closer.

"No. No, it wasn't fun. I betrayed you. Yes, yes I did." She shook her head. "But, wait. Are you Maka? That's who I betrayed. It wasn't you. I DIDN'T BETRAY YOU!" she screamed, raising her arm and pointing at him, finally making eye contact. "I DIDN'T! YOU'RE NOT MAKA!" She began to walk towards him again, her gait jerky. He took another step back, careful to step around the rocks that littered the floor of the ruins, trying his hardest to ignore the skewed symmetry and pay attention to the girl that was now only twenty feet away.

"Kid! Kid! Isn't this silly?" She laughed harder, her face twisting into something that frightened him. Then she paused again and stood there, thirty feet away, staring at him. "No. You can't come, not-"

Suddenly she pitched forward and screamed, dropping her weapon and clutching her head. Her sword liquefied and disappeared into her arm, and she stumbled to the left, her scream increasing in volume, causing Kid to wince. He raised his weapons, his heart beating faster.

She doubled over, and then Ragnarok burst out if her back with a scream of his own, growing and expanding until he was bigger than Kid had ever seen him.

Kid gasped, raising his weapons so they pointed at the demon sword, knowing that the bullets probably wouldn't even make a dent in it. He ignored Liz and Patti, who were talking back and forth nervously, somber, (even Patti,).

Ragnarok looked around him, his tongue licking his lips feverishly. He grinned at Kid.

"Well! Look who's going to be eaten!" He leaned forward, grabbing both sides of

Crona's head, weaving his fingers through her hair and pulling up. "Your soul looks tasty, at least!" He yelled, jerking her head back. She let out a cry of pain and almost lost her balance. "Glad it was you and not Maka! Yours always did look better!" He let go of Crona's hair and grabbed her face, pushing his hands together. "Let's go, Crona!"

She didn't say anything to him; nothing to make him stop. She just nodded, her eyes now more sad and fearful than they were mad. She stumbled forward as Ragnarok disappeared back into her body, opening her palm, ready to grasp his hilt.

Kid closed his eyes for a second and took a breath. He had to kill her. There was no saving her now.

Opening his eyes he saw that Ragnarok was just finishing forming.

"Liz. Patti."

"Yeeeeeah?"

"What is it, Kid?"

He could hear their voices catching. He had to work hard to keep his own from catching, too.

"I think- I think we're going to have to kill her."

He didn't get a response from either, but he heard then grunt and saw their faces set when he looked down at them. When he looked back up, he saw her walking towards him again, her sword held across her body, left arm gripping her right shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Crona." He whispered, and began to fire.

She jerked back as a bullet after bullet crashed into her. He could hear her let out a gasp with each hit, but he didn't stop firing. He began to walk towards her, trying his best not to let old friendships make him stop. She wasn't the same girl, not anymore.

Suddenly he jumped towards her, just like he did when they first fought, and brought his guns down on her head. She cried out as she crashed into the stone, and blood began to leak out of her mouth. He stood above her, hoping that that was the end but knowing it wasn't. She looked up at him, her eyes sad, and said, "Are you going to be punished if you lose, too?" Before he could speak, she twisted and thrust her sword upwards, her eyes squeezed shut. He tried to jump out of the way, but he was too slow and she was too quick; the sword managed to go through the right side if his stomach.

He gasped, feeling the blood begin to rush out of him, the pain begin to send sharp messages to his head. She yanked towards her and the sword was ripped away and he felt his mind go numb. He fell to his right, hands covering his side, his weapons getting his blood on them, too. He didn't hear them cry his name, he only heard Crona say, "At least I get spaghetti tonight." before he crashed into the ground. He grimaced and curled around his stomach, pressing his hands into the wound.

"Kid! Kid! Are you okay!? KID!"

He cracked open his eyes and saw Crona stagger to her feet and walk so she was standing over him.

"You're going to be punished? If you lose? Like me. Like me. Ragnarok'll take away my dinner. It's spaghetti. My favorite. And then I'll go to the room. She still uses it. It's still dark." She raised her sword above her head. "But how can they punish you if you're dead? She still uses it because I'm not Kishin yet. Why? Thousands. Thousands. I have thousands of souls. What's your punishment? She also likes fire. I hate fire. It hurts. It hurts. Kid. You're Kid. You won't be punished. Your dad is nic-"

Her eyes went dead; they no longer held sadness or fear, even. They stared ahead, at the sands of the desert.

Kid looked at her, gasping. He tried to get to his feet, but when he shifted the pain was too much and he almost blacked out. He cried out, his voice echoing.

Her head snapped forward, her eyes trained in him.

"You were a friend. But you hurt me. You- you shot me. On a ship." She began to breathe rapidly. "But you were nice to me. You showed me how things worked. You stayed with me when... when... When the blue man was there." She gasped, doubling over. "And I DID betray you! I lied to you! I betrayed you, too! You and Maka! What about Black*Star? Who is he? And Soul? Tsubuki? Patti. And Liz! I remember Liz. She's here. She helped me, too. I betrayed all of you!"

He saw tears begin to stream down her face. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I didn't want to! I didn't mean to! But you have to love her! You have to love your mother! Maka said so!" She froze and then slowly began to rise. "You came here to kill me? Because I betrayed you. I don't want to be punished. I don't want to go to the room. I WANT TO EAT! I DON'T WANT TO BE LOCKED UP!" She raised her sword again.

"Kid! Move!"

He gasped and shoved his hand down, trying to dodge.

But she brought the sword down, slicing the boy. She got the weapons, too, as they clattered out of his lifeless hands.

She was able to eat that night.