Lavi leaned his head back, staring at the woman with vivid curiosity in his eyes. "So they call you unlucky Miranda? That's a pretty shitty name, friend."

Miranda gave an over-dramatic sob that Lenalee had already begun to characterize her with, as she wept. "My whole life has been like that! Misery! Misery! I've never been able to do anything in my life!" She threw herself over her creepy clock, which Lavi had already established that it seemingly couldn't be touched by either him or Lenalee.

It was Lenalee who got to her feet, placing a gentle hand on the German woman's back. "Miranda! I'm sure it's fine; you're the host of this Innocence, aren't you? It just proves; you're not useless! I'm sure you'll make a great Exorcist!"

Miranda looked up, her face tear-streaked, but the look in her eyes suddenly excited as she remembered what Lavi and Lenalee had explained to her about Exorcists, Innocence and the Black Order, just before they had been attacked by those gruesome looking monsters. The two of them were so cheerful, so supportive - well, it really was more Lenalee, given that Lavi mostly just leaned against the wall and laughed at her terrible luck - that Miranda could not help but hope. Would she really make a good Exorcist? Would she be able to do something right for the first time in her life? She'd seen how Lavi and Lenalee fought, the former with his huge hammer and the flaming snake he could summon, and the latter with her glowing boots and furious wind attacks. It was the most glorious thing she had ever seen, them fighting against the monsters. Even as she screamed while Lenalee flew her away from the fight, she could not help but marvel: would she be able to do such amazing things too?

"Well, now what do we do?" Lavi questioned as he lazed on Miranda's bed, his arms supporting his head. "We know that it was Miranda's wish that the clock granted, so that time just kept repeating itself. But we don't know how to get out, so we can't get out, so we're stuck here. And unless Miranda somehow manages to deactivate the Innocence, I doubt we're going anywhere soon."

Miranda's head sank again. "I'm...so sorry. It's all my fault! I really can't do anything good!" With that, she whirled away from her clock, too precious to hit, and began viciously assaulting the wall with her head. It was Lenalee who once again leaned down, dragging her away from the wall. "Eh...Miranda! It's all right, it's not your fault! All we have to do is find a way to let your clock understand that you don't want time to rewind anymore, and then everything will be fine..."

Lavi tilted his head to the side, leaning against the wall this time. "Let the clock understand...Aha!" He suddenly jumped up from the bed, a cheeky, smug smile on his face. "Got it!"

Lenalee and Miranda turned to look at him, the former expectant, having been formerly acquainted with Lavi's intelligence, and the latter dubious, although certain that any idea Lavi could think of would be infinitely better than hers, because he wasn't her.

"Miranda said she got depressed because she was fired from her one hundredth - seriously though, one hundredth? I didn't think there were even that many jobs to be found in a small town like this - but anyway as long as we can help her find a new job, one that she likes and does well and won't be fired from, then surely her now-positive emotions will be able to influence her Innocence, so the clock will stop rewinding time?" Lavi explained his theory, looking up at Lenalee as if expecting to be praised.

Lenalee glanced over at Miranda. "What do you think, Miranda? It sounds like it could work, doesn't it? Why don't we give it a try?"

Miranda scrambled to her feet, wishing desperately that she had thought of that brilliant idea first, but instead she smiled weakly. "Let's give it a try, then."

Allen tilted his head, capturing the visage of the three Akumas that remained bowed before them between his thumb and forefinger of each hand, using those fingers to form an uneven rectangle. "Three Exorcists, huh..."

"Two Exorcists and one rather mousy woman who can't stop crying, and who seems to be a host." Roade corrected. "She probably can't do much; she has absolutely no control over her Innocence, that wimp. You should have seen what happened last night; that hideous brown junk of hers just sucked the time from the whole city!"

"Still, it's a good thing I got here before you killed them. That would have been bad." Allen mused, leaning slightly over the roof that they sat on to peer down below, at the apartment that Roade had told him belonged to that host.

Roade leaned against Allen's side, causing him to yelp as he nearly lost his balance, while Roade simply giggled, steadying him with one hand. "Really though, I don't see why the Earl is being so strict about leaving them alive. I mean, one Exorcist can deliver a message just as well himself. So maybe I could kill two of them and-"

"That would be disobeying the Earl's direct orders, Lero! He would definitely spank you for that, Lero!" The umbrella waved its pumpkin head furiously, its expression livid at the thought of Mistress Road disregarding the Earl's direct orders.

Allen lay a hand on Roade's head, steadying her as he smiled at the familiar pressure of her spiky-blue head against his shoulder. "I know it must be hard for you to resist killing them, but really though, this is only the second scene. Just wait until the next act starts; then we can have our fun with these insignificant imbeciles." He felt Roade smile into his shoulder, and knew that he must have triggered the younger (or older? He never really knew which) girl's Noah side.

Roade's voice was viciously gutteral. "You have a point there. But I really do want to play with those two girls though, especially the green-haired one; you have no idea how annoying she was! Running around calling that boy's name "Lavi! Lavi" in that whiny little voice. Just the thought of her makes me angry!"

"The green-haired one?" Allen wondered out loud. The briefest of memories flashed through his mind, of dark-green-almost-black hair tied in two pigtails, of startling amethyst eyes that had remained with him even after the moment had ended.

"What's wrong, Allen? Do you know something about her?" Roade lifted herself from Allen's shoulder, frowning as she turned towards her brother. Allen shook his head. "No, it's nothing. Just...nothing."

Roade's eyes narrowed suspiciously; Allen was a good liar, that was for sure, but it wasn't easy to lie to the person who'd actually taught you how to lie; Roade knew every single one of the little tell-tale hints that meant Allen was lying, and given that his right eyelid was twitching rather more than usual, she was pretty sure the mention of the green-haired Exorcist meant more to Allen than he had expressed. Before she could make mention of it, however, Allen gave her a lop-sided, almost mischievous grin. "Well, I've got a good idea of how you can play with those Exorcists and still follow the Earl's orders."

Roade perked up suddenly, all her previous thoughts cast aside; Allen might not be a Noah himself, but he certainly had the best ideas when it came to playing! Her eyes gleamed eagerly, the moon shining dimly on her darkened Noah skin. "You do? Spill!"

Allen gave a wicked smile. "Okay then. Let's play."

Lavi leaned against the pole of the circus tent, his expression amused as he spoke to himself. "Woah, she actually does look pretty cute when she's having fun!"

The "she" in question was Miranda Lotto; the German woman was now dressed in the attire of a witch, having been hired by a circus that was passing by to sell tickets for them. She was smiling brightly now, even laughing, as she was surrounded by children, their eager hands reaching for the tickets already.

A familiar voice drifted from behind him, exasperated. "Please tell me you're not going to start hitting on Miranda and yelling "strike!" every time you see her now."

Lavi whirled around, the usual playful grin already in place. "She's not quite my type, unfortunately. I like someone with a little more confidence - although I do approve of the older woman bit."

Lenalee bit back a laugh, shaking her head at Lavi's typical childishness. "Really, Lavi, get serious! You're supposed to be watching Miranda!"

"She's doing fine." Lavi waved Lenalee's complaints away as he indicated the German woman. Just then, a young girl approached the Exorcists; Lavi gave her the once-over, as he always did with anyone new he met. Brown eyes, strangely-dyed blue hair, a lollipop and a pumpkin umbrella. She seemed harmless, if a little gothic, so Lavi turned to let Lenalee deal with whatever the kid wanted, allowing himself to get back into his own thoughts.

Lavi allowed himself a small smile; it had been difficult finding Miranda a job in the past three days; she'd been fired from five jobs and in two places they just immediately rejected her, having heard her reputation for being the "unlucky Miranda". Nevertheless, they had finally been able to find a job that Lavi was sure Miranda couldn't possibly screw up - after all, it was just selling tickets to a circus! How difficult could that be?

Lavi should have waited another five seconds before speaking - because no sooner had that last thought crossed his mind when there was a sudden familiar shriek one that Lavi was sure he had heard no less than twenty-seven times since he had met Miranda. Both Exorcists whirled around, Lavi's hand flying to his hammer, only to see Miranda slumped on the ground, her hands over her face as she sobbed, apologizing over and over again, while the owner of the circus towered over her, his wide girth trembling in anger. "Idiot! You let a thief take the money?"

Lenalee darted forward, forgetting about the young girl who wanted to know where she could buy tickets from; even without her Dark Boots activated, her legs moved faster than Lavi's possibly could, making it by Miranda's side within seconds, lifting the older woman up to look her in the face. "Miranda, what happened? Is something wrong?"

Miranda had to fight back her sobs to answer. "Lenalee! Someone bumped into me and took the money!"

Lavi grasped the older woman by the shoulder. "Did you see who it was?"

Miranda turned, her eyes darting about, as her hand shot up. "Th-there!"

Both Exorcists looked up at the roof she was pointing at, only to see a young man running along the edge of the look, the expression on his face smug as he tossed a glance back at them. Lenalee's eyes narrowed. "Don't worry, Miranda! We'll catch him and get the money back!"

They took off after the thief, Lenalee leaping easily onto the roof above the thief with the help of her Dark Boots while Lavi tried hard to keep up from ground level.

The circus owner spat on the ground, his face red. "I entrust you with one duty, one, and you can't even do it! Useless!"

Miranda slumped back, curling back into herself as the tears spilled over, wishing she had the comfort of her clock with her. "It's no use...in the end, no matter what I do, I'm no good. I worked so hard...I'm such an idiot! Why did this have to happen to me? Why does my clock harbour this Innocence? Why me?!"

Just then, her soliloquy was interrupted by a young, blue-haired girl in pink-and-purple stockings who knelt down to her, licking a lollipop absentmindedly. Miranda looked up, startled, but still weeping at her ill-fortune; behind the girl stood a figure, clothed in a black coat, his face covered by a hood. The girl tilted her head with a grin, drawing Miranda's attention back to her. "So your clock is the Innocence, eh?"

Lenalee's eyes narrowed as the thief leapt down into a dark alleyway; without missing a beat, she swung herself over the railing, plunging into the same darkness. The thief jerked to an abrupt halt, whirling around with that self-same smirk on his face.

Lavi caught up with them, panting slightly. "Dead end, buddy! Now give the money back to us!"

The thief's smile widened, and Lavi's sense of dread grew. Instinctively, without any conscious thought, his hand flashed to his hammer, and just in time, as the Akuma exploded out of the thief's skin.

"You!" Lavi exclaimed, recognizing the large, blue-skinned Akuma that fired shots of burning ice. His eyes widened as he whirled back to look in the direction that they had come from. "This...it's a trap!"

The Akuma leaned forward, his (or her? Lavi never quite knew if there was a difference) expression gruesomely malicious. "We've taken the woman. Lady Roade has captured her!"

Lavi and Lenalee exchanged a look. "Roade?" Who the hell was that?

Lavi gripped his hammer, pulling it out halfway, but before he could unleash it fully the Akuma lunged forward. "Ice Fire!"

Ice spread rapidly, covering the entire alleyway in a matter of seconds while the two Exorcists flinched, Lenalee exclaiming. "It's freezing!"

Lavi's eyes narrowed, his expression grim. Miranda. The Akuma said that they had Miranda, and even if he didn't know who this "Lady Roade" was, he didn't doubt the Akuma's words. They should never have left Miranda alone at all - he knew there were Akumas here, after all. They'd attacked them before. How could he have been so stupid as to leave the German woman unguarded?!

"Lavi, look out!" Lenalee shouted, jerking Lavi out of his thoughts. The red-haired Exorcist looked up, only to see the other two Akumas emerging from the glowing pentacles in the ground, their malevolent chuckles ringing throughout the alley.

"Damn it...we've got to focus and destroy the Akumas!" Lavi snarled; he leapt into the air as the multi-headed green Akuma attacked him with a sound wave, shattering the ice at his feet, and swung his hammer. "Odzuchi Kodzuchi, man, man, man!"

"Behind you!"

Lavi's head whipped around, and his eyes widened in shock as the last Akuma attacked him; he tried to swing his hammer around to block the blow, but he was a moment too slow, and the attack sent him crashing across the ice. Lenalee lunged forward, but the green Akuma blocked her with sound wave after sound wave, dodging the green-haired girl's lightning-fast kicks.

Lavi struggled to his feet, yelping as his arm slipped on the ice. He grasped his hammer and looked up - into the face of the ice-controlling Akuma, which grinned gruesomely. "Got you!"

Before Lavi could even move, ice spread up his arms and legs, locking him in place. His eyes darted up in panic, and was met with yet another direct blow of the "Ice Fire".

Lenalee whirled around at the resounding crash - her eyes widened to see Lavi lying on the ground, his hand lying lifelessly, inches from the hammer which had fallen from his grip. She turned back to face her opponent - only to see that they had tripled, and now all three Akumas loomed ahead of her. "And now for you, Exorcist..."

The ringing noise wouldn't seem to stop. Lavi grunted, shaking his head from side to side like a wet dog trying to dry his fur, but he couldn't seem to stop the ringing. Slowly, his eyes opened, adjusting slowly to the dim light. He couldn't move his arms. "Where the hell..."

He looked up, then stared, shocked, at the sight of Miranda bound to her clock with ropes, her arms restrained and unable to move. Arms...his head whipped around to stare down at his own body, only to see similar ropes around his own body, and the sheath that held his hammer conspicuously empty. "What the..."

"You're awake?"

The voice made him jerk to the left, suddenly recognizing the voice of the young girl that had accosted Lenalee and him just before the whole...disaster happened. His eyes widened; the blue-haired girl was there, indeed, dressed in an Exorcist's coat - probably his, given that all he was wearing was just his button-down shirt and pants. Behind her were the three Akumas, obediently following behind the little girl, and a hooded figure that stood slightly further back, the figure's face cast in shadows. And next to them - Lenalee.

She was seated in an armchair, her head down, her eyes dulled and seemingly lifeless. For a moment, he panicked. "Lenalee!" Was she dead?

The little girl held her hand out and hugged Lenalee affectionately, blowing on her bubblegum with a grin as the blue Akuma leaned forward. "Don't call for her! She's Lady Roade's doll."

Lavi's eyes narrowed. "So you're Lady Roade... Are you an Akuma?"

Roade laughed, her voice high and childish. "Akuma? Oh, no." She skipped around Lenalee's chair, heading for the hooded figure, pulling him - Lavi thought it was a him, the figure didn't seem slender enough to be female - forward by the arm. "Al and I, we're humans."

"Humans?" Lavi's eyes narrowed. "Brokers, then. Scum that works with the Millennium Earl to kill more people, to turn more innocent people into destructive weapons of pain and suffering."

Roade leaned against the figure. "Hmm...not quite right either, Bookman, although I must say you're very knowledgeable about the Earl's dealings. No, we're not brokers. Are we, Al?"

The figure looked up, and Lavi started. It was a he, but his face was covered by a clown's mask, the ruby-red lips and wide-mouthed grin so obscene it was almost frightening. "Of course not, Roade. We're not that pathetic, to do all this for money."

"Then why? Who the hell are you people?" Lavi demanded, straining against his bonds. He was getting confused, and frustrated. "If you're human, but not brokers, then why would you be working with the Millennium Earl? How can you even be human, then?"

The figure leaned forward, his voice amused behind the grotesque mask. "But you are human, of course you are, Roade. She's the same as you, Exorcist. Just...better. Superior. More than you can ever be."

Lavi's brows furrowed, his frustration almost boiling over. Now they were just purposely being cryptic, for damn's sake!

It was Roade who answered his question. "Al's right. We are better than you." Lavi flinched as her skin began to darken, turn gray, the skin above her forehead darkening to almost-black to form the crosses that Lavi knew to be stigmata. "We are the chosen ones, the only true humans, chosen by God himself.

"We, of the Noah clan."

Hey guys, so here's the next chapter, and I hope you guys enjoyed it!

First off, you probably noticed that I changed quite a bit of dialogue, even though some scenes are from the anime itself (I'll be referring more to the anime than the manga for this story). The why should be obvious: in this story, until Allen appears Lavi/Kanda will probably be taking over almost all of his scenes, ergo for the Rewinding Town storyline Lavi takes over Allen's position as the Exorcist who journeys with Lenalee. Furthermore, Allen and Lavi are fundamentally different people: whereas Allen is kinder and more generous and helpful, Lavi is more likely to make fun of and tease (although he is also kind). In the original storyline, Allen also took huge offence at humans helping the Millennium Earl, whereas Lavi wonders at it, then accepts it to be a fact of life (he also knows about brokers, because he's part of the Bookman Clan). And in the original story Allen's Innocence arm is pinned with candles to the wall, but I think if Lavi's hand was pinned to the wall I think he probably would never be able to use them again.

This trend will continue throughout the story, in scenes which Allen was originally supposed to be in I will probably replace him with another main character and change the scene/dialogue accordingly (I think it's probably more interesting for the readers that way too, otherwise it'll just be like I'm recycling dialogue you've already seen before.)

In any case, what did you guys think of this chapter? Was it fast-paced enough? I hope you guys remember to give reviews! Thanks a lot, people!