It was lunch time. Soul was wandering the old castle like school. As amusing as Patty could be, Soul wasn't sure he could deal with all the people in the lunch room without Tsubaki there to curb his insanity. She'd said that she'd gotten a pass to go take a quick peek at the public library. One of the teachers, who'd had blocked lunch, chaperoned her. Soul hoped they'd have enough information by tomorrow to start setting things in motion.

Somehow the white haired boy had made his way into the library. He didn't care for books, though Tsubaki seemed to like them. He traveled deeper into the maze of shelves, his finger lightly trailing on the spines. The library was silent, save the soft crinkle as someone quietly flipped their pages. Soul liked the silence. In his life style there wasn't a lot of chance for peace and quiet. There seemed to be only one other person occupying the room with him. He lazily made his way to the other person.

The maze continued with twists and turns. Soul smiled at the odd place. Maybe coming to the library more often wouldn't be so bad… Suddenly his last turn stopped him in a small study area. There were about six tables scattered around. A few had books or materials but only one had a person. She was leaning forward, getting her face up close to the book open before her. Both her ash blond pig tails were fisted in one hand, as to not let them fall one her pages. The skin of her shoulders and neck was clear and pale.

Soul took a step closer, smirking. He could take her now. He was startled out of his thoughts by a voice.

"You're going to want to take that step back."

He looked around for where the voice had come from. No one was there. The Maka girl hadn't moved.

And yet when the voice came again, it was obviously from her. "If you're trying to sneak up on someone, you should do it in a crowded place. Or at least not wear motorcycle boots."

Her voice was different from earlier that day. Before it had been soft, hinting at flirtatious, completely bubbling with happiness. Now it was calculating, harsh, as strong as a leader giving demands.

He snickered. As interested as he'd been in the petite doll like girl from earlier, she didn't come close to this version; her when facing an enemy. He quite liked her on guard. She moved to look at him, twisting in the seat. A harsh scowl crossed her face.

A low chuckle escaped his throat at the expression. She raised an eyebrow then continued to speak with a stoic expression, "Also, if you're planning to, I don't know, kidnap me, think again. Next time you think of going after someone, you should do some research."

She waved her hand at their surroundings. "We're in a library, now's the perfect time."

Soul took a step closer, not in the least heeding her advice. She rolled her eyes at him. He gave her an award winning smirk, "Why would I research? I like to learn through experience," he said.

She started stacking her stuff and packing up. "Trust me, if you want to win against the Meisters, I'm not the weak link you're looking for."

With that, she brushed past him. Soul was not happy. In fact he grouched around sulking for the rest of the day. When the day was finally over, the Weapons met at their new hideaway. It was an old apartment building. The owner had been holding on by a thread and with a few well-placed words by Liz (and a gun to his head) the place was theirs.

As Soul got comfortable on one of the couches they'd commandeered, Tsubaki walked in worried.

"Please tell me you did not touch that Maka girl!" she shouted at him.

He raised an eyebrow and shook his head no. With a sigh of relief, she sat next to him. "Good," she said, "that's good."

Soul looked at her quizzically. "Why, may I ask, is that a good thing?"

Tsubaki looked through half closed eyes and long lashes to the other side of the room. Soul would not be happy for her advice. If anything, the information she had gathered would edge him on. She looked at their albino leader.

Biting her lip, she regrets telling him even before opening her mouth. "Well, here's the thing; we aren't the first to come up with this ever so original plan."

He made a motion for her to continue.

"Well, the first time the opposing gang succeeded. They had her tied up across town, guarded by almost the entire group. Unfortunately Black Star, the blue haired one, found out."

She paused, after a gulp she began again, "He wiped out their entire gang. I mean one vs. two hundred at one time. He killed four people and sent almost every survivor left to the hospital. When they recovered, twenty were asked to join the Meisters while the rest were run out of town by some of the lower rankers.

"It happened three more times. None of them made it as far as the first. It seems they took precautions. Everyone who's gone after her have been left unconscious with a few broken bones, courtesy of the blond tooth pick."

Upon ending she gave an almost scared look toward Soul. He had an evil smirk. Tsubaki's fears were realized, he was more excited now.

xxxxxxxx

Kidd lounged listening to a report from Kim. She'd been making the normal rounds when she'd seen some activity at one of the old apartment buildings. She wasn't sure if she should check it out or not, so she'd gone back to home base to ask.

Kidd looked thoughtful for a moment then realized there was only one group it could have been. There was no need to check. He told her not to worry and she went on her way. With her exit came Maka's entrance. She snuggled close to him, getting comfortable on the perfectly symmetrical coach.

He smiled at her, lips ever symmetrical. Nothing like that Albino's smirk had been, she thought. She blinked, then looked away; trying to get the other gang leader's half smile out of her mind. When her thoughts were cleared again, she closed her eyes and leaned into Kidd. His suit was slightly stiff but comfortable. He smelled of metal, gunpowder and the tangy scent of freshly spilled blood coated in hand sanitizer. Not thinking about who it could have been, she let herself drift off.

Around 9:30 Black Star woke her up. Kidd was gone, but he always had business to do. Maka yawned as Star escorted her to her apartment. Upon arriving she set about researching the new comers. Her eyes flitted over her computer screen as she read article after article of previous towns that'd been victimized.

Everywhere the Weapons went they left a trail of blood. A constant stream of local gangs were taken down and pulverized. Maka was looking for the equivalent to "patient zero", their first town. She found it. Her eyes widened at the information in front of her. Maka closed the laptop in front of her and went to bed.