Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Eater.

HEARTBREAK

Not even the Death Room had escaped the gloom that hung over Shibusen, like the stench of a decaying corpse. The once baby blue sky had taken on a foreboding and mournful grey. Even the clouds seem to frown, and Death the Kid couldn't place it, but something about his father felt off. It annoyed him, aggravating his sixth sense.

"Ah, looks like we're all here," Shinigami-sama beamed, looking round the stage.

Beside the weary Reaper stood a handsome mirror displaying three unique figures; standing with his hands wedged firmly into his jacket pockets, Soul looked as impervious as ever, cool and calm in the face of danger. A young man, with blue spiked hair, stood behind Soul. His face was darker than memory, and his eyes were as sharp as his loyal weapon and friend. Tsubaki stood behind him, her complexion ghostly compared to the man's tanned flesh that sported a Black Star tattoo.

Their eyes met those of Maka. Her smile had erased near all evidence of the bags lurking underneath her sockets. Rex seemed to stand half slumped at Maka's right, but her father towered above her on her left. The glasses of Shibusen Professor Franken Stein gleamed next to his old partner and…research assistant. Cross armed, Sid Barrett had his back angled to his partner, Mira Nygus; their shoulders met, pointing like an arrowhead towards the Reaper. She, too, had her arms crossed. Their energy was inspirational. Stationed motionless to their left, Kid stood between his partners, Elizabeth and Patricia.

Quite the team… Kid thought to himself. But, will it be enough…?

"I'm sure you're aware of the recent incidents," Shinigami-sama began, his eyes narrowing; he looked like a detective skimming the library of knowledge encased inside his mind. "A Witch has escaped the Wasteland."

Kid's heart rocketed to his throat. He couldn't speak. He couldn't breathe.

"I didn't think that was possible," Professor Stein drawled, his voice poisoned with suspicion and armed with curiosity as he turned his screw head thrice. "Was the barrier broken?"

"It was completely shattered," Shinigami-sama confirmed. "But we'll return to the how later. Right now, the who is much more important." He continued gravely. "The Witch that escaped is most commonly known as the Shadow Queen."

"Ah, Shadow, Queen of Vampyres," Sid Barrett recollected. "I thought she was dead."

Wearily, Shinigami-sama shook his head. "She was defeated, not destroyed."

Kid took a hesitant step forward. "Father, have you been able to determine how she escaped?"

"Ah," he rose, his spirit rising with him, "luckily, yes, we have. But…not in the way I hoped," he denied, lowering and shaking his head once again. "The night before last, we lost a Death Scythe."

The uproar was deafening. Instantaneously, it escalated.

"About that, Shinigami-sama," Soul addressed. "We were able to confirm your suspicions."

"Suspicions?" Kid echoed.

His father nodded. "Unfortunately, for reasons still unclear to us, Death Scythe Talon Prowler and his former Meister, Malcolm Vincent, were attacked and killed in their apartment two nights ago."

"But," Soul added, "the blood from Havok Prowler, son of Talon an –"

"Havok was at the scene?!" Spirit jumped.

"Er, his blood was." He pulled out a crumpled and hurriedly folded piece of paper. "Analysis confirmed it was fresh and had been heavily contaminated by an unknown organic compound."

"Hasn't Havok been missing for the past four years?" Mira narrowed. "Wasn't he even considered dead at one point?" she furthered.

Spirit nodded, gripping his fists. Out of the corner of his eye, Stein studied his friend as he pushed his glasses up his nose. "Does this mean his soul's devolved and he's been working for the Shadow Queen all this time?"

Twisting his head to the side, Patricia suppressed a giggle at Kid's glare. Elizabeth raised a finger to her lips. Patricia copied her twin smugly. "Why would you say that?" Shinigami-sama asked.

"Huh? I thought Havok was human. He – He was never enrolled into Shibusen."

"He couldn't have done all that alone if he was human," Black Star butted in, making Soul smirk, brandishing a set of serrated teeth. "I mean, the bookshelf was cleaved in two. Personally, I say it looks something like the Fen Blade…"

Tsubaki raised a hand to her Meister's shoulder. As he folded his arms, she nodded in ernest agreement. "The atmosphere's energy was all wrong, Shinigami-sama. It was suffocating."

"You're not wrong," Shinigami-sama praised. "But the Shadow Queen is far more powerful than the Fen Blade. She's notoriously believed to be the first to master Soul Possession and to use her shadow as an extension of herself. It's this ability that has enabled her to create perfectly functional clones."

"Clones…" Stein repeated at a gasp, his voice shuddering.

"And like the Fen Blade," Shinigami-sama continued, "the Shadow Queen's primary form is that of a weapon, a scythe to be precise."

"The first Death Scythe, to be historically accurate," Kid advanced.

Like a broken record, his father nodded. "Correct, Kiddo. The Shadow Queen was one of the Eight Mighty Warriors that fought during the Grim Times. Unfortunately, she was swallowed by Asura in his attempt to consume human souls. Her…extractation proved to be provocatively problematic."

"How was she contained?" Maka asked.

"I couldn't even beginning to guess!" Shinigami-sama denied. "The High Witch Mabaa took care of her containment, imprisoning her within her own decaying madness…" Lost in thought, he paused, raising a white gloved hand to cough and clear his throat. "Now, if I could have a moment alone with my son, Maka, Black Star and their respective weapons…"

Spirit gazed out into the desert, his eyes hovering over the trampled remains of the sun as it tried to tear through the clouds cloaking the horizon. He heaved a heavy sigh and inhaled, only to choke on smoke.

"Oh, Stein," he groaned, spluttering between his coughs.

"Weren't you the one who told me not to lie to pretty young girls?" he asked, rotating his screw.

"Egh, you need sleep, Stein. You're not making any sense."

"You're a terrible lair, Sempi... What aren't you telling me? What are you hiding?"

"What makes you think I'm hiding anything?" Spirit grimaced, shovelling his hands into his pants pockets. "It's not like you to fumble in the dark, Stein."

"You know Talon, don't you?"

"He's a Death Scythe! Of course I know him!" he raged.

"It's more than that, isn't it?"

"...Some things are best left alone, Stein," Spirit finally defended, stalking past his old Meister.

"Things have changed," he countered effortlessly. "Havok's changed. Wouldn't you agree?"

Stopping dead in his tracks, Spirit rowed on the sadistic scientist. "You knew Havok?!"

"Observation is my greatest asset." He paused, savouring the moment, twisting his screw head once again. CLLLIIICK. CLLLIIICK. CLLLIIICK! "So, care to share stories?"

His head drooping, as if weighed down by his soul, Spirit caved. Better to tell him now then let him do his own...research. "I – I knew his mother."

Stein dropped the cigarette he didn't remember lighting.

"I really don't understand you, Maka," Elizabeth yawned.

"I'm just too wired to sleep, Liz! Besides, I need to tidy the apartment. I'm not letting Soul, or anyone for that matter, sleep on the sofa. Well, Blair's an exception…she's a cat, after all."

"Sofas can be comfy, sis," Patricia beamed.

"I know they can, Patty," Liz humoured. Where she gets the energy I'll never know…

"Don't read into it so much," Rex groaned. "Maka's just a neat freak, that's all." He dodged her famous Maka Chop. Does she hide the book in her coat…? "I don't know about you, but my bed's calling to me."

"I wish Kid would take a page out of your book," Liz groaned. "I swear he hasn't left that library in days. All he does is work!"

"Just be thankful he's not reorganising the damn thing," Maka laughed.

However contagious the joke, the laughter aged faster than a cheetah could run. Moaning, cursing under her breath, Liz stormed back down the hall. Patty skipped along at her heels as Maka descended the stairs smiling. Rex trailed behind her.

"Don't they make a great team?" Maka sighed.

"Supposed so," Rex shrugged, smirking.

"What?"

"Just wondering how you're gonna handle two weapons."

"I'll see how it goes with Soul first, Rex. It's been a while, and I'm a bit out of practise. Well just go from there."

"– greatest asset…"

"Huh? Who's that?"

"Sounds like Stein, I think."

"Ah, great! I can ask him for some advice on duel weapon wielding!" Maka exclaimed with glee, rounding the corner with a spring in her step.

What had I expected? Nothing like this! Still, this is Spirit I'm dissecting… "You knew Havok's mother..." he repeated, crediting his resourcefulness. "Have you told Maka?"

"I know how it must sound, Stein, but don't let your mind – however brilliant it may be – jump to conclusions," Spirit scolded tersely. "But, yes, I knew…and loved Havok's mother."

Rex didn't hesitate to clasp a hand over his Meister's mouth. Maka slapped it aside as they melded into the wall, listening intently.

"You're going to have to be clearer than that, Spirit."

Opening his mouth to argue, Spirit growled. "I can't believe I fell for that!"

"A lot of people do. Don't think yourself special," Stein bypassed, lighting a cigarette.

Leaning against the balcony railing, Sprit confessed. "I guess there's no harm telling you. But, you have to keep it a secret. Soul knows now, and maybe even Black Star and Tsubaki. If I'm gonna protect Maka…I'll need your help."

I can take care of myself just fine, you pervert!

"What are you protecting her from, exactly?"

"Her mother, Stein. Her mother."

Rex repeated his offence, silencing his Meister once more.

"Kami…? What –"

"Long story short, Kami didn't want to stay in Death City. When I told her I wouldn't drag Maka around the world for her, things just fell apart. Kami would take more missions, longer missions. Before I knew it, she had a new partner: Talon."

Stein pushed his glasses up his nose, the sun's suffocated rays bouncing off them into oblivion. "So Kami and Talon…"

Miserably, Spirit nodded. "Havok is Maka's half brother, Stein, her baby brother!"

Regrettably, Rex couldn't muffle his Meister's wail. "Maka!" he cried, reaching for the fleeing and sobbing child.

His voice echoed, intensified by a familiar shout. Spirit tore down the hall as a hand grasped Rex's shoulder. The dim hallway light made it impossible for the Weapon to see through the sheets of ice clouding the eyes of Shibusen's most trusted Professor.

"This is something they need to work out on their own, Rex. Go home."

Crouched on his knees, Rex rose to his feet. "If it's all the same to you, Professor, I'd like to stay." His eyes sparked, like a light bulb blazing. "Besides, Maka wanted...me to ask you something…."