"Well..." Alexai stammered, looking for the right words. The room had suddenly become quite hot and the atmosphere was tense, as if something would happen at any moment.
"Yes?" asked Lord Death, all amusement in his voice long gone.
"Technically yes, I am a deserter. But I have good reason! The new Guildmaster is insane. He's taken the Creed and completely destroyed it. He kills innocents in the streets!" Alexai said finally, and Maka gasped in horror. Lord Death remained calm, but put a comically oversized hand underneath his chin.
"This isn't good. Who is the new Guildmaster? And what happened to Armand?"
"Armand is dead. Died fighting a pre-Kishin. The new Guildmaster is an old assassin who calls himself Chekov," Alexai answered, and at this the death god tensed up ffor a moment before regaining his composure, turning from the small group and muttering softly to himself for a moment.
"This isn't good. I suppose you know that Chekov is a Demon Weapon?" asked Lord Death, not turning to face them.
"Yeah."
"Yes. The Demon Glaive. It's no wonder he stepped forward to take power...but what could he planning?" Lord Death muttered, more to himself than to Alexai. After a few moments, the death god turned around to face them.
"Very well. We can't allow him to continue on hurting innocents, and we especially cannot allow a Weapon of his power to become a Kishin. The results would be...quite bad. Soul? Maka?"
"Yes Lord Death?" they said, almost in unison.
"I can't afford to send too many students, but as luck would have it only you two, Stein and Spirit know that Alexai is here. We may be able to send a team in to face him. If he hasn't already corrupted the rest of the Assassin's Guild, there's a good chance you'll be able to overpower him and take the Guild back. For this mission, failure isn't an option. Clear?"
"Clear as mud," Soul said, his shark toothed grin coming out, "when do we start?"
"Immediately," Lord Death answered with finality.
Meanwhile...
"Sir, Alexai is missing from the ranks," a completely white clad man said, entering the dimly lit room and dropping to one knee before a large throne-like chair. Sitting in it was a man wearing similar clothing to the man before him, only his was white and didn't conceal his face as the white clad man did. His eyes glowed a hostile looking red, and in his hand was a triple bladed boomerang, the dull shine from the overhead lights making it seem less dangerous than it really was. The kneeling man stayed that way, his eyes fixed on the grizzly bear skin rug he was on, not daring to look up at his superior.
"So. The little bird has flown the coop, eh?" the man in the throne asked, his voice lightly laced with a Russian accent. He laughed, a dark thing that sent chills through the kneeling man's bones.
"Yes, Guildmaster. But don't worry, we have agents going after him even as we speak. We'll find him and end him."
"See that you do. Dismissed," the man said, and the kneeling man stood, a look of relief on his mostly covered face. He turned to leave, and just as he made it to the door, he was stopped.
"Oh, and peon?"
"Yes, Guildmaster?" he asked, but was cut short as one of the blades passed through his chest. He stumbled for a moment, trying to speak but unable, before falling to the floor, staining the wood crimson. With a small groan, his body dissolved, leaving only a pale red soul behind. The bladed boomerang returned to its master, bringing the soul with it. The Guildmaster looked at it with an almost bored expression before swallowing it.
"Never bring me bad news again," he said, as if still speaking to the man he had just slain.
Back in Death City
Maka stood outside the DWMA with Soul at her side. They exchanged a worried glance before the former returned her gaze to the assassin before them. He seemed lost in thought as he gazed out at the city. After a while, Soul spoke to him, putting his hands in his pockets.
"So. What exactly are we going to do now? How did you even get here?"
"Honestly, I hopped from plane to plane, sneaking aboard using the cargo holds. It was tough going but I made it. Then it was just getting into the famed Vault of your Lord Death and stealing something. I'm not even sure what that little bobble did, but it worked in getting your attention." He turned and smiled weakly at them before continuing.
"I'm actually impressed with you Maka. Most people can't keep up with a trained Assassin."
"Oh," she replied, blushing a little and looking away with a tiny smile, "well, thank you Alexai." Soul rolled his eyes at this.
"That's all well and good, but I don't think we can even take a plane this time around. If what you said back there is true then chances are you're going to have other assassins on your tail. We'll have to find a way to get there in secret. Plus, I think our chances at actually fighting this Chekov guy would be best if we could catch him off guard," Soul said, putting a hand under his chin as he passed Alexai, walking down the stairs. Maka chuckled as she followed.
"Wow, Soul. Normally you just rush in headlong. You know, 'throw caution to the wind' and all that?" she said, laughing.
"Well, either way he's right," interjected Alexai, following the duo, "The best offense against a group of assassins is to...well...be better assassins, I guess. We'll have to be one with the shadows and-"
"You won't have to do that, Brother Alexai," came a sinister voice from above. The three looked up to see a group of six assassins, three on the building to their right and three on the building to their left. Each of them was dressed similarily to Alexai, but their heads were covered with bandages. Their eyes were a light red color, and each of them held a menacing blade.
"Oh no..." Alexai muttered, a small click coming from the hidden blade on his wrist.
"Oh yeah," Soul said, drooling as he smirked and turned his arm into a scythe, "C'mon Maka. Let's do a little of that caution throwing you mentioned!"
There you are, enjoy! I don't have much more to say but stay tuned and please, R&R for me!
