Author's Note: Hello everyone, I know this is very recent seeing as I just posted a chapter last night, but I'm trying to get the ball rolling so I can finish up this fanfic and work on new projects. I really hope everyone reads this note only because it's going to explain something about this chapter. I normally don't like using original characters in fanfics, however seeing as most the witches are ones that are fought in Soul Eater, I had to improvise. I hope I did a good job at profiling a witch that could have been in Soul Eater, although she's fairly generic, I do admit. This being said, she doesn't have as much to do with the storyline other than this chapter. Also, I have news: I'll be giving you guys a five-chapter fanfic as a holiday present! Woo! It'll be a Fairy Tail fanfic, again only five chapters, but hopefully you like the series enough to want to read this fic. Check my profile the week before Christmas! During the next installment I'll have an official release date! Thanks for your support!

Chapter Seven

Kid looked around the dark, abandoned clock, wondering where the target could be. His mind flashed back to what his father had told him about his new assignment. "Now today I will be assigning you to take out a witch. She's not as powerful as some of the witches you've gone up against, however she's powerful enough that she's been terrorizing a small fishing village. Your goal is to simply take her out."

"Anything we should look out for?" Kid had asked. "Her theme is time. She seems to like magical clock bombs to go along with it, so be aware there will be explosions." Nothing new then... Kid had thought to himself.

He was now finding himself in an abandoned clock tower where the witch was said to be hiding. Be hind him the small fishing village resided, which now had very little inhabitance. "Where do you think she could be, Kid?" Patty asked innocently. "Well, she likes the ticking sound of clocks, obviously. So it was no surprise that we'd find her in a clock tower. She has to be somewhere in here, resting." He paused for a moment. "She's probably had a long day of tormenting innocent bystanders." A grim tone filled the air as he let the words settle in.

Liz, who was slightly cautious, stated, "We should probably check the top of the tower. There's nowhere else but up." Kid nodded and began to run up the spiral staircase, and fast. He recalled what he'd seen in the fishing village; a lot of people had gotten injured. She may not have been deemed to be as powerful as some of the previous witches he'd battled, but she certainly knew how to cause destruction. I'll make her pay for the damage she caused.

As he reached the top of the tower, he found himself facing an old wooden door. He pushed through it and saw the figure of a very thin woman standing there. "Ah, I saw you come in. It was only a matter of time." The witch snickered. "Tick, tock, tick, tock." She chimed as she slowly turned to face the trio. As she revealed her face in the pale moonlight, you could see only long, straight, black hair fall down to her waist. She had no bangs, but only one large white eye could be seen from the left side of her face. "As you can see, I'm blind." She snickered. Her long white cloak fell behind her as she walked along the circular walls of the tower, towards Kid.

"I guess my handicap won't excuse me from your punishment, Death's son." She hissed his title. "No. It won't." Kid said firmly. With that, the witch hissed into a maniacal laugh and conjured two clocks into her hand. "I'm afraid you've run out of time!" She laughed as she threw them at Kid. He jumped, and just as he'd suspected, the clocks blew up once they'd hit the floor. "Wow, Death wasn't kidding when he said she liked time bombs." Patty commented as she and her sister switched into their weapon form.

"Very cute." Kid said grimly. "But not very strong." He began to fire Liz and Patty with all his might. However, each bullet seemed to fly pass the witch as she flew to avoid. She levitated from just outside the clock towers balcony and looked at Kid. "Such a shame. I really never wanted to have to hurt an instrument of time." She said sadly. Kid watched for a moment, not sure what she meant, an saw her float a ways back and conjure more clocks with her hand. She began to throw them, but as Kid braced himself, he realized that she wasn't throwing them in his direction. She was hitting the midsection of the tower. "Liz, Patty, looks like we're going to have to jump." He warned.

"Wait Kid!" Liz screamed as Kid jumped over the edge and into a forest of trees. The two girls squealed as Kid kept his body perfectly straight. Branches and shrubs broke his landing and as he climbed out of the growth, he looked back towards the clock tower. "That was so close." Liz panted. "We're not out of the woods yet." Kid said in irony. He saw the clock tower crumble, slowly but surely, but there was no sign of the witch.

"Looking for me?" he heard an eerie voice call from behind. He turned to see the time witch, looking at him with her one blank eye. Before she could say another line, he began to fire with all his might. The witch swiftly dodged each bullet. Kid narrowed his eyes in order to get a better shot, but as he focused in, and explosion hit him from behind.

"So focused on hitting me, you didn't even realize you stepped on one of my bombs!" The witch laughed as Kid fell over in pain. His face hit the harsh forest floor. "Kid!" Patty screamed as the two girls transformed. "Can't save your meister now, can you girls?" The witch bellowed in front of them. Her hackling only seemed to grow louder. Kid had just taken an extreme blow to the back of the head and seemed to be out for the moment. Patty crumpled next to him and began shaking him lightly. "Kid! Kid! Wake up!" she pleaded.

"Patty! Transform and we'll take her out! Kid won't do us any good right now!" her sister called from beside her. Patty could hardly understand a word she'd just said. Her mind was far too crowded with thoughts of the pain Kid must be in. "Patty! She'll get away!" Liz yelled. Patty felt her body shake all over, she needed to know Kid would be okay. "Patty!"

"Okay!" Patty cried with warm tears in her eyes. She transformed and Liz began shooting. The witch could still dodge them and she taunted, "You're an even worse shot then your meister!" In the reflection of the gun's shine, Patty's reflection showed her, staring intensely on Kid's still body. "Patty, focus!" Liz barked. If Patty's soul didn't stay focused and strong, there was no way Liz could work with her to defeat the target.

Kid opened his eyes, slowly. Ouch. He blinked and looked over, seeing his partners still battling the witch. He stood up, shaking but still holding a strong pose. "That's it." He grumbled. Patty watched in awe. "Kid! Kid!" She cried. Kid called to the two girls, "Liz! Patty! Let's take her down. She's out of time." A harsh glare pierced his eyes. It was time to get serious.

Liz transformed and, both weapons in hand, Kid stood still. "This ends now." Kid said darkly. Patty was finding it hard to keep steady. She knew the command Kid was about to give. And while she'd been in battle with her comrades many times, and had preformed this move without fail, this time seemed to be different. Seeing Kid lying there like that had made her feel helpless. She'd had feelings for her meister for a long time, but ever since the incident with Blair she'd found herself becoming far more sensitive. Get a hold of yourself Patty! Kid needs you! She internally barked at herself.

"You've made me mad. Time to bring justice." He glared beneath his black and striped hair. "Liz! Patty! Soul Resonance!" he called. Patty's eyes widened. She needed to do it now. A power began to surge, and she could feel Kid and Liz's souls resonating, but her own lingered back. "Patty!" Kid cried. "What are you waiting for!" The witch watched the failing trio with amusement. "The poor thing is blinded by pain and love. No wonder she fails."

"Shut up!" Kid screamed. "Patty," he turned his attention to the younger sister. "I need you to do this."

"I'm sorry!" she cried. Come on! She pushed her soul hard enough, but it barely resonated with the rest. Out of a puff of smoke, Kid revealed his two large Death Cannons. "You're dead now." Kid smirked. The witch's eye widened in surprise. He began to aim and with impeccable aim he shot right at her on the third shot. The witch screamed in pain and fell on her back.

Kid walked over to her injured body and stared at her coldly. The witch groaned but then looked up at him. "Hehehe, you think this is the end? Just wait, more witches will come! From all over! And once we're all in Death City there will be nothing to stop the uprising!" Kid didn't waver. "There will always be witches. There will always be uprisings. Nothing the academy can't handle."

The witch hackled again. "Our powerful sister has returned to us. And believe me, she shall be the most threatening witch to shake Death City. I am but a small soul; my loss means nothing. Go on. Kill me." She smiled. And Kid gladly carried out the order. Her soul glowed brightly and that was all that was left of the witch. Liz and Patty turned human again and Liz looked at her sister. "You have one less than me, you take it." Patty, red-eyed, nodded slowly and ate it.

"Let's head back to the academy. Once we get there we'll have a discussion on what happened tonight." Kid said, his voice very annoyed with the night's events.

By the time they'd gotten to the academy's doors, it was very late into the night. Kid lead the girls up all the twists and turns that lead to Death's office. They walked through the door and Death greeted them. "Hello! Hey! How's it going! How was the mission kiddo?" He asked his son happily. "It went well, however a lot of damage was done."

"No worries, I'm sure the villagers will pick up and moved on. At least the witch is gone now and can cause no more damage."

"Well, there was something very strange about her." Kid began to explain the witch's final words. "A sister of the witches has returned, hm?" Death said, holding his large hands up to his chin in wonder. "Now that is very interesting."

"What does it mean?" Kid asked. "Is Medusa or Arachne back?" Death pondered his son's questions for a moment and then shrugged. "Don't know! For all we know it could be a new witch entirely. But we won't know until we see more actually happen, I'm afraid to say." Kid nodded understandingly. "Well then, I shall leave you with that. Just tell me if you need anything else."

"Yes, go home and rest!" Death nodded happily. As the trio walked out the doors and into the hall, Kid stopped them. "Patty, we need to discuss what happened tonight. I haven't seen you that wary since you first started training. Why did you loose your edge tonight?" Patty looked down at the floor and blushed. "I, um... I'm not sure."

Liz leaned against the wall and watched silently. She could tell why Patty had froze during the fight, but telling Kid would have to be up to her alone. "Was it me stepping on that time bomb?" Patty looked down at the floor in shame. "Patty, you've seen me get injured tons of times. Remember Anubis? What made tonight that much different?" Patty remained silent; she was not about to tell Kid the real reason she'd gotten so frightened. Kid sighed and placed his hand on his forehead, rubbing his eyebrows in frustration. "I'm not mad, Patty. Look whatever happened tonight was not as bad as it could have been. In fact it wasn't even...that bad." He forced out the last part to make her feel better. "So whatever your personal problem is, take your time and fix it." He looked up at her. "We are one of the strongest teams the academy has. We need to stay strong."

Kid left without a word and headed down the hall. Once he'd turned a corner and disappeared, Liz walked toward her sister. Patty's eyes were filled with tears that she was trying to desperately to hold back. "Patty, you need to keep your emotions separate from missions." Patty shut her eyes tight as Liz gently placed her hands on her bare shoulders to comfort her. "What do you mean?" Patty tried to hide her feelings, even from her sister. "Patty, I'm not dumb. I can tell you like Kid a little more then a weapon should like their meister. But you have to be careful. Tonight could have gone horribly wrong if you didn't push yourself to focus." Patty wept lightly. "Patty... It's okay... I know it's hard... But it'll get better..." Liz closed her sister into a hug.

"How do you know?" Patty sniffled. "Well... Surely this isn't your first crush?" she asked. Patty looked up at her sister with large blue eyes that told her a very different answer then Liz had originally thought. "Oh..." Liz grumbled, understanding. "Well, trust me Patty... It'll get better." She reassured.

Patty looked down at the ground and continued to weep. She felt so lost and alone despite her sister's love and comfort. She didn't feel bad because she'd screwed up that night. Sure it was one thing, and Kid being disappointed in her was another, but the real reason she felt so guilty was because she had worried, during the fight, that Kid would have died with love in his heart for Blair, and not for Patty.