Soul and Zerence stared at each other furiously. They had been sent to an abandoned factory in Utah. Apparently the factory had some unclean history with workers tripping into the smelters. After the owner, Mr. Merky, had shut the factory down, people were still found on the scene. Dead. While the idea of getting back into work excited Soul, having to do it with Zerence spoiled it. For some reason, some strange reason, Soul didn't trust Zerence. Something about him seemed so... off. It also didn't help to know that Zerence had a strange artifact that he could turn into any weapon of his choice. Something like that had a witchy kind of vibe. So, after three gruesome hours of walking through desert sands, lost, they finally reached Merky Waters Steel Factory.
"Hmm... somehow, I thought it would be scarier. Bigger, more... dead." Zerence mumbled to Soul. "He tries to get to know me. Tries to socialize. I'll give him a chance." Soul said, "I know what you mean. Factories shouldn't look so small. Be careful. Alright?" With a nod from Zerence they entered the building.
Two entities popped out of the shadows next to the factory. "Spirit. Be careful, quiet, and on your guard. Last thing we need is Zerence kn-" Stein was cut off by Spirit. "We? WE? Stein, Lord Death wanted me to come along to keep an eye on you. I personally think shadowing Zerence is wrong, He han't done anything bad" Stein scoffed, "It's not about what he did, but what I fear he MAY do, if my assumptions are correct."
"Stein, you... let's just get this over with. You owe me a drink if Zerence turns out to be innocent, okay?" Stein and Spirit entered the run down factory, keeping close to Soul and Zerence.
*Merky Waters Steel Factory: Floor One*
Soul and Zerence looked around. There was nothing. Nothing except a few old vats and tubs of sludge. Even the railings to get to the upper floors were rusted and decayed. All the windows were boarded up tightly, so light was a scarce resource in this nightmare's paradise. The only thing they could make out was a door that said FLOOR -1. "Isn't that the basement?" Soul said, confusion struck upon his face. "Dude, don't question it. People are dying in here. I wouldn't be surprised if a witch was behind this. Let's... Hey, is something the matter?" Soul was in tears. "Maka... Maka wouldn't want us to go down-" Zerence burst into shout. "MAKA IS GONE! WE ARE DOING EVERYTHING WE CAN TO GET HER BACK! NOW QUIT ACTING LIKE A WHINING CRY BABY AND LET'S GET GOING!" Zerence grabbed Soul by the arm and dragged him through the door.
"Hey, Zerence.. Ow! Let go of...Ouch! Stop dragging me! I have feet!" Zerence shot a look of utter hatred to Soul. "You sure don't act like it." Zerence dropped Soul on the steel floor. "Now tell me, do you think THIS is part of a factory?" Soul got up and looked around. All around the room, black tentacles were strewn across the floor, ceiling, and walls. Skulls and various body parts lay upon the floor. Unnatural red orbs were pertruding from the walls, providing an eerie lighting. "Okay. Maybe there is a witch here. Should we- Hey! Get back here!"
Zerence broke out into a full fledged sprint down the hallway. As Soul ran along the hallway after him, the tentacles were awoken from their slumber and proceeded to attack him. "Aw, crap! Hey, why aren't these attacking Zerence? Agh!" One tentacle had managed to tear some skin off of Soul's right arm. "Ugh... to Hell with all this!" His left arm turned into a scythe blade. He cut his way through the tentacles. Making turn after turn in this maze of corridors. Eventually, the tentacles had disappeared. And so did Zerence.
*5 Minutes Later*
"Zerence! Zerence, where the hell are you!? Ugh! I'm gonna get lost in this damn place! I swear, if Zerence left without me, I'll never forgive him. How did Zerence manage to get through these halls without being attacked? Is it some anciet Zerence-ish secret, or...?" Soul wandered aimlessly through the maze, pondering Zerence's abilities to get through the halls.
*Floor -1: Maze*
Stein and Spirit quickly ran through the halls. "Whatever did these to the tentacles, I hope it's on our side." Stein looked behind him. "Oh, come now. Even if it wasn't, we could still take it on and win." Stein stopped abruptly. Spirit almost ran into him. "Hey, what the hell Ste-" Stein ran his finger over Spirit's lips. "Shh! I hear something. It's coming this way. Quick, over there!" Luckily for Stein and Spirit, there was a sliver in the cracks big enough for a couple people to fit into.
Stein and Spirit watched the hallway as they heard footsteps, growing in volume. Stein peeked out to see...
"Zerence! What's he doing here!? Without Soul!? Did they get seperated or...?" Spirit prodded Stein. "Hey, Stein, what is it?" Spirit poked his head out to see Zerence calmly walking through the halls, a smug smirk strewn upon his face. He turned to the left at a three way stop in the halls. "What the hell is Zerence doing here!? Without So-" Stein grabbed Spirit and they resumed their shadowing of Zerence. "Damn. What is this? The way he twists and turns through these halls, it's like he knows the layout of this building."
*Meanwhile*
Soul had now put his hand on the right side of the walls. "Maka taught me this. Put your hand on the right side of the walls in a maze. Never fails." Soul walked the halls, keeping his hand to the wall. "This would be a lot less painful if I didn't have a gash in my arm." Soul turned the corner, only to be knocked down. He looked up to see Zerence, rubbing his forehead. "Hey, watch where you're going, dumbass!"
Soul yelled at Zerence. "Oh yeah!? Well, where the hell have you been!?" Soul glanced behind Zerence. For a second, he thought he saw something. Something tall, and close. "At any rate..." Soul looked back at Zerence. "It's a good thing we got back together, Soul. I couldn't have completed this mission without you. Do you imagine the kind of Reaper Chops I would suffer if I left you behind?"
Soul glanced back once again. "Yeah... chops. Say, did you see-"
"But there's more to this than just Reaper Chops. I personally needed you here Soul. I couldn't be here if it wasn't for you." Soul was focusing sorely on the supposed shadows behind Zerence. "Yeah... needed here." Soul made out some definite features on one of the shadows. It was wearing some kind of cape, maybe a lab or trench coat. It had some kind of object sticking out of it's head. It reminded Soul of Prof. Stein, but just a little. "Wait, that's it!"
"Zerence, I think Stein is here with us!" Zerence swung around, and his smile turned to a scowl. "What!? I thought we were alone! I mean...uh...I wish we were alone. I needed to tell you something." Soul raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?" Zerence blushed. "Turn around, I'll whisper it into your ear." Soul turned, and Zerence put one hand on the left side of Soul's neck. "Soul..."
Stein and Spirit came running in, completely uncovered. "Hey, Soul! Zerence!"
Zerence ran his hand down to Soul's shoulder. "Soul... I... I'm..." Stein and Spirit questioned what Zerence was doing, but did not stop running towards them. All of the sudden, they saw Zerence do something unexpected.
"Soul... I'm gonna kill you." Zerence launched his Sanotama, transmormed into a golden dagger, into Soul's lower abdomen. Soul was caught with a look of utter shock, pain, and anger on his face. He fell down, clutching the wound, as it had stabbed all the way through his body. Blood ran from his mouth like a river. Soul and Stein watched in horror. A sinister smile had decided to move onto Zerence's face. "To be fair, I did warn him. Hehehe."
Stein and Spirit looked at each other. "Spirit, I need you to look after Soul while I fight-" Spirit grabbed Stein's shoulders. "Are you mad!? You won't have a weapon if that happens! And I... And you... And Soul..." Stein took Spirit's arms off his shoulders. "I know you're a bit confused, but I got this. Besides, you need to make sure Soul doesn't bleed to death." Spirit nodded, and ran towards Soul. But Zerence swung a golden sword to Spirit. "Oh no, no. I need him dead. I WANT him dead."
Stein landed a Soul Force on Zerence with him distracted. Zerence crashed through the walls and into a room filled with large containers filled with molten steel. Stein ran through the hole in the wall. Stein ran over to Soul. "Shh. Shh. Calm down Soul. Let's get this wound treated." Spirit looked at the distant Zerence. "So, Zerence WAS a villain."
Stein looked at Zerence. "Why? Why kill Soul?" Zerence started to laugh, which just grew and grew. "Let me just say this. I didn't undertand it either. But, orders ARE orders. Any DWMA member would agree with me, right?"
"WHO'S GIVING YOU ORDERS!?" Stein had a horrid image cross his mind. "It's... it's Lord Kothis, isn't it?" Zerence nodded. "I was always a faithful one. Kothis saw my potential. From there, I became his utmost servant. He gave me strict orders to kill of the meisters who were at the battle with Karina. Their weapons, too."
Zerence swung his sword at Stein, who easily jumped out of the way. However, before he could land, Zerence kicked Stein across the room, mere inches away from fallen into the molten steel. Zerence jumped on Stein's legs. "You know... Molten steel is bad for a human's health, what with the melting of their skin and organs. Too bad it wasn't radiation. You could go pale, get some green hair, and hey! You're already crazy!"
Stein swung his arms up and knocked Zerence down. Zerence stood up when he was tossed into the vat of steel. Zerence screeched as he sunk into the depths. Suddenly, Zerence popped back up. "Good acting, right?"
Zerence laughed. "I'm afraid molten steel won't have much of an effect on me. Surprising though, that you got through my traps. In case you're still confused, let me explain. Lord Kothis and I needed a way for me to off the meisters and weapons. So, we created a factory. A killing factory. We knew Lord Death would have his focuses on it. So, after the new students came in, I made sure to subtly bring it up to Lord Death. I made sure me and one of the weapons came along."
Zerence took a swing at Stein a couple of times, one of which nicked Stein's legs. "I know it wasn't in the plans, but Lord Kothis will be glad to have you dead. I'm sure of it." Spirit spun towards Zerence (in his weapon mode) and almost cut Zerence. "Soul has been taken care of. He's no longer bleeding, but we should hurry and-" The whole building started to shake.
"Ha! I didn't mean that I would kill you in a one on one match! I'm no fool! We're so far into the basement, by the time my Self-Destruction Bomb explodes, you'll still be trapped inside! HAHAHAHAHAHA!" Zerence jumped into a vat of molten steel, and disappeared. Stein ran and Spirit turned back into a human. "Spirit, grab Soul. We need to get out of here! NOW!"
So, Stein ran, Spirit behind him, carrying a sleeping Soul in his arms. They had barely made it out. Not even five seconds after they got out of the building, mainly due to the shortcuts Stein made, the building collapsed in a heap of flames. Soul woke up. "Hey. What... what happened?" Stein told him everything. "Let's go," Stein said, "And inform Lord Death of what happened."
*Outskirts of Death City*
Soul, Spirit, and Stein were quiet most of the way, occasionally talking about Zerence's betrayal. When they arrived at Death City, they went dead silent. Death City was up in flames. Everywhere, the innocent citizen's bodies clutter the streets, their burning corpses reaking. As Stein, Spirit, and Soul ran to the DWMA, they saw it had collapsed. It was a crumbled heap of junk. It was torn apart. In the ruins, the bodies of fellow students and staff members lie, covered in blood. Soul almost barfed when he saw Kim Deihl and Jacqueline O. Lantern's bodies.
However, the thing that had disturbed them the most was the students who hadn;t been killed, but rather, frozen. In stone. Kid, Liz, Patty, Black Star, Tsubaki, Amberlee, Jason, and Krystal had been frozen in stone. Lord Kothis appeared, laughing. "I see you enjoyed my gift. Yes. Now that your precious organization is ruined, I'm one step closer to beating you. Oh! Don't let me forget about your friends! I do hope you will forgive me, but I had to take one with me. A certain...Crona."
Soul had a flashback. A flashback to Maka losing her soul. He remembered fighting Crona. "What is it with Crona!? Why does he interest you!?" Kothis smirked. "The boy has black blood. Why wouldn't I... oh? You want to know more about the incident back at my lab. Well, I am a master of deception. He was merely a copy of the original. I was surprised Lord Death could see through my lies. However..."
Kothis' smile grew wider, and his pupils grew smaller. "I knew he would think of checking on Crona, so I had to act fast. I made everyone forget about Crona's existence. Imagine, no one letting you out of your room. Not knowing you were even there. It must have been agony. When I came here and destroyed everything, Crona was the first to defend everyone, though. I was intrigued, so I took him with me. I have a feeling you'll be seeing more of him. HAHAHAHAHA!"
Lord Kothis disappeared in a haze of black smoke. Stein growled. "We have to find Lord Kothis. I swear, I'll make him pay." Stein was looking all around. "I don't see Lord Death. Maybe he got away..."
*Lord Kothis' Lair*
Zerence bowed on one knee. "I'm sorry, master. I have failed you." Kothis Laughed. "Is that what you think you did!? HAHAHA! I like this one, Karina. He ADMITS his mistakes! HAHA! You didn't fail me." Zerence looked up. "I didn't?"
Lord Kothis stood up. "HA! You merely provided a distraction so I could tear Death City apart. Though I would've wanted Soul to be dead, it is of no consequence. Besides..." Lord Kothis turned around. There, behind him, were three cells.
Cell one had Crona, weeping in the corner. "Now, now child. Don't cry. Soon, I shall use you as a tool of ultimate destruction!"
Cell two had a bunch of small, red stones in it. "I almost have enough Philosopher's Stones. If I could find the final five stones Death hid from me... Speaking of which..."
Cell three held a larger than normal orange soul. Lord Kothis smiled harshly. "Ah. Lord Death's soul. A fine bargaining chip. Well, it looks as if he won't be around to fulfill our bargain. Hehehehe."
Lord Kothis turned around, and looked into the portal that overlooked Death City. "HAHAHAHA! Soon, I can return home. Soon, I can regain control of everything I've ever had! HAHAHAHAHA!"
