Let's get one thing clear,

I HATE everything.

Except for violence,

Violence is important to me.

-Drake McClissey

Soul Eater: Blood Laced Wine

In Class Crescent Moon.

Kid fidgeted in his chair.

"Why are we back in the classroom?" he asked himself.

About thirty minutes earlier the class had arrived at the new training room, only to find a note from Stein instructing them to head to the classroom.

It detailed something about a substitute for the class.

Strangely, only the people who were participating were now in the classroom, the other students were nowhere to be found.

He looked to the side, Liz and Patty were looking around, they seemed oblivious to the strangeness of the situation.

Spirit was sitting at the front desk, he was fiddling with his hands.

"Why are we getting a substitute if DeathScythe is already here?" Kid wondered." More importantly, who are they?"

He turned to BlackStar and Tsubaki, BlackStar was asleep while Tsubaki was trying to wake him.

"As helpful as always," Kid muttered, he turned back to Spirit, who seemed about to fall asleep himself," what's going on?"

He turned once more.

"What do you think is going on Maka?" he asked.

Maka seemed startled by the question, she laid the spine of the book she was reading on the worktable.

"What do you mean Kid?" she asked.

"I think he's asking about the sub." Soul muttered, he was leaning back in his chair.

Kid was surprised by Soul's comment.

He was right.

"Well, yeah," Kid managed," I was wondering about the substitute."

"I dunno," Maka admitted," it seems strange sure, but is it really that important?"

Kid caught on to her last comment.

He looked at Spirit once more.

"No, I guess not." He muttered.

He looked at the chalkboard.

"Something's-" he thought to himself," off about those two today."

Maka resumed her reading, Soul rest his head on the workplace behind him.

Kid shook his head slightly.

A tall woman strode into the class, a lot of students turned their attention to her.

She wore sleek sunglasses that covered her eyes.

Her grey hoodie and sweatpants seemed out of place, Kid noticed she wore no shoes.

Her hood covered her hair, though a few ginger strands sprung from under the fabric.

The woman walked over to Spirit, they exchanged words, curiously he didn't seem to flirt with her.

"Who is this?" Liz asked.

Spirit rose from his chair, he waved to Maka and strode out.

Kid turned to Maka, much to his surprise she was done reading and looking right at Spirit.

It was her expression that caught him off guard.

It was calm and normal, not annoyed and angry like the other times her father showed affection towards her.

Kid looked at the newcomer, she pulled her hood back.

"Hello class," her cheerful voice beamed, she waved her long ginger hair out of her hood, it swayed until it reached her thighs," My name is Elizabeth, I will be your substitute for the next few classes."

Kid recognised her, though it took quite a lot of thought, she was one of the teachers for almost all other classes, almost.

She had never even set foot in an EAT classroom if he had remembered correctly, she was just a trainer.

From his seat, something on the left of her neck caught his attention.

The black elongated eye tattoo seemed to stare back at him from under the folded hood, it had three tendrils wriggling up her neck and over her left jaw, they stopped at the same height as her nose, but never left her cheek.

On her right cheek he saw a stitching from her cheekbone to under her hair, it seemed similar to Stein's stitching, but he couldn't tell if it was real or not.

She seemed to look right at him from under her sunglasses.

"What is she doing here?" he muttered under his breath.

"Some of you may know me," Elizabeth stated," but I believe most of you don't have a clue who I am."

She took a short bow.

"I hope we can become better acquainted in the days to come." She said in a sweet voice, she smiled at the class.

"Her smile is either real or she is a tremendous actor." Kid thought to himself.

Her hand gestured towards the door.

"Shall we go?" she prompted, the participants of the class exchanged looks, but nonetheless they began to make their way over to the door.

Kid's gaze never once left the sub, curiously, she stopped Maka and Soul from leaving.

He attempted to stop, a hand pushed him forward.

He looked at the face of DeathSmith.

"That isn't any of your concern." The boy seemed to hiss.

Kid looked forward.

"Where's Alexis," shot through his mind," if he's still here why is she gone?"

He cast one final look at Maka, Soul and the sub.

The sub made a gesture towards the door, it slammed shut obstructing his view.

He looked at it surprised.

"Wasn't she at the desk?" he asked himself.

He lagged behind, DeathSmith was nowhere to be seen.

He watched the door, after a few minutes it opened, the sub followed by Soul and Maka strode out.

Everything seemed normal, but that was the problem.

"What the hell is going on with them?" Kid asked himself, he pushed himself away from the wall, he moved to follow the other students.

Outside of "The Town"

Maka blinked awake or as close to it as possible.

She rose to her feet gingerly, she stretched out, her joints cracked.

She looked at the Altered, they were all sitting away from her and Soul, they were looking into the sky.

"Finally awake are we?" DeathSmith mused, he turned to look at her," Wake up your partner, we leave in ten."

"Uh," she stammered, she nodded," r-right."

She moved over to Soul, who was sprawled out on the sand, she shook him a few times, he stirred.

"Oh man," he groaned as he sat up," remind me to bring something to sleep on next time."

He brushed the layer of sand from his heavy clothes and stood up.

He turned to the Altered.

"When are we going?" he asked.

Alexis turned to him.

"Ten minutes." Came the answer.

"What about breakfast?" he asked.

DeathSmith laughed.

"You want to eat?" he asked with a chuckle.

"Is that a bad thing?" Soul asked.

Alexis giggled into her gloved hand.

"I don't think he knows what he's getting into," she managed," what's the point of eating if you're just going to throw it up later?"

"Who says I'm going to throw up?" he shot back.

Even Echo was getting laughs in.

"How can you not know?" Echo chuckled to himself.

"Not know what!?" Soul almost yelled, Echo seemed to cower from his voice.

The Alexis and DeathSmith looked at the scared Echo, they turned to Soul.

"We're going to watch a bloodbath that's what." DeathSmith almost spat.

"What?" Maka asked.

"Haven't you been paying attention to the plan," Alexis asked," we're going to wait for the right moment to begin, so we're going to watch."

Maka and Soul looked at each other.

"You can eat if you want," DeathSmith stated," but if I were you I'd go in on an empty stomach."

DeathSmith took a swig from a flask, as did the other Altered.

Soul sighed heavily.

Maka simply shook her head.

"How are we even here," Maka muttered," won't the others find out?"

Alexis heard this and chuckled.

"Don't worry, Shroud has us covered," she said, she drank from her black flask," they won't even notice you're gone."

Maka and Soul exchanged looks.

Time crawled by, eventually Soul felt the ten minutes would never come.

DeathSmith clicked a pocket watch shut, he tucked his silver flask into a pocket and rose at the same time as the other Altered.

They began to walk past Maka and Soul.

Soul rose, his hand stopped DeathSmith from moving, DeathSmith eyed him.

"You want our help?" Soul asked, DeathSmith blinked the question away," We do this, you tell us what the hell is going on!"

Soul and DeathSmith stared at each other for what felt like forever.

A smile broke over DeathSmith's face.

"Alright." He agreed in a friendly tone.

Soul was taken aback.

"Wait, wha-" he stammered," just like that?"

DeathSmith nodded.

"Yeah, you help us and we may even become friends." He offered, he pushed past Soul and slipped his mask on.

Soul stared at the boy as he walked away from him.

A hand on his shoulder caused him to turn, Maka's face filled his view, her mask was in her hand.

"C'mon, let's go." She stammered, she almost pushed him forward.

He sighed and put his clear white mask on his face.

"This had better be worth it." He muttered before moving to follow the others with Maka in tow.

They walked over the large dune, a few buildings could be seen in the distance.

"Long walk." Maka muttered.

Soul sighed.

It took almost an hour to reach The Town.

The group was now in one mob of people, the masks scanned the area.

There was a store of sorts made from one of the three wooden buildings, the owner seemed to glare a them from over the counter, a variety of cold beverages were filed into fridges behind him.

The second building was slightly larger than the store, though they couldn't see inside of it.

As they neared the largest building, cheers could be heard.

The large man standing out front eyed them.

He wore a hood over his head, his tanned face was obstructed by a cloth, his black jacket and pants covered every speck of flesh.

They stopped a few feet from this person, he looked them over.

DeathSmith raised his right, gloved hand, he pulled the glove enough for the man to see the eye tattooed to his palm, he flipped his hand to show him the second eye on the back of his hand.

The man's expression softened slightly, he jerked his head towards the door.

Much to Maka and Soul's surprise, the man left his post, he walked off in a random direction, into the sands of the desert.

Before they could ask, the others had pushed the doors open.

This building was large enough for large sparring ring that was set below ground level in the sand.

The rest of the building was filled with a random assortment of people.

They people were cheering as loud as they could.

The group moved towards the ring, the walls of which were lined to the ceiling with a chainlink fence.

When they could see inside the ring, Maka saw that a fight was going on between two men.

The larger man punched his opponent in the face, blood splashed into the sand.

The smaller man fell, his bloody face was swollen and beaten.

He didn't get back up.

The crowd roared in approval, someone strolled out and dragged the loser out of the ring.

Maka now saw that the ring had two waiting areas, one was filled with a various selection of people, the other was empty.

A bell was rung by a man on an elevated platform, he was dressed in fancy clothes, his pale skin seemed out of place, he waved a person out of the waiting area.

DeathSmith pointed at one of the people in the room.

"There he is." He stated.

Maka and Soul followed his gaze to the black haired boy.

He almost looked identical to DeathSmith except his hair and his eyes.

His right eye was as red as blood, his left shone gold.

He looked as if he didn't stand a chance of winning.

He simply looked at his hands, while the other people in the room were pumping themselves up.

He almost looked bored.

Maka noticed he was wearing a thick bracelet on his right wrist. Bandages covered the flesh of his right arm.

A bandage covered his left cheek, to his earlobe.

"Really," Maka muttered, she turned to DeathSmith," that's your brother?"

The masked boy nodded.

"The other should be around here somewhere, aha," DeathSmith muttered, he pointed to one person who was standing on the other side of the ring," there."

This one had white hair with silver lancing through the white, he looked rather young despite this.

His pale flesh stood out, he wore a grey tuxedo with a white under shirt, his white gloves hid his hands.

He was looking at the fight now taking place, he seemed to be studying it.

"Okay so," Soul began," now what?"

"Now," Alexis repeated, she huffed in amusement," we wait."

The fights continued, every time the tank of a man won, during the fights Maka got to see his face.

His shirtless torso was covered in muscles and healed scars, he stood a head taller than everyone he faced, his shaved head twisted as he cracked his neck.

His chiseled face had a ring pierced into his nostrils, he roared at his opponent as he walked onto the sand.

"Why would they do this," Maka asked," it's obvious they're going to lose against him."

"People do strange things for money and power," Echo mused, Maka was surprised by his tone, despite being surrounded by people, he seemed almost calm," this is nothing."

Maka looked back down at the ring.

The small man crossed the tank's chin.

"That big one is the house champion," DeathSmith explained," he's never been beaten, not once."

Maka watched as the large man punched his opponent in the stomach, the smaller man flew into the chainlink, blood poured past his lips.

The champ took one step forward, he grabbed his opponent's head and twisted it sharply, the crack was heard over the roar of the crowd.

Maka stared in disbelief as the champ simply threw the dead man to the side, his crumpled body landed in a heap.

This time, the black haired boy was pushed forward, much to Soul's surprise, he was as tall as the champ.

He nudged Maka's shoulder, her gaze never once left the body of the man who was being dragged out of the ring.

Soul noticed this.

"Even with the mask on I can see she's freaking out," he thought," this isn't a place for her."

Before he could voice this, DeathSmith placed a hand on his shoulder.

His mask jerked towards the ring.

"Now we watch," he stated, his voice almost made Soul shudder," it's about to begin."

Cutter had no idea that they were in the stands, he wasn't looking either.

He strode out into the sand of the ring, he looked at his opponent.

He shook his head disappointed, this wasn't going to be much fun.

The fight began, Maka now had her attention fixed on the boy in the ring.

He seemed handsome in a strange way, he wasn't overly muscled, but his bare chest and stomach showed that he wasn't weak either.

He still looked like he had no chance in winning this fight.

She began to feel sorry for this boy as he stood almost eye to eye with the man she had witnessed kill a number of people in almost no time at all.

Despite the overwhelming odds, the boy seemed - bored.

His half lidded eyes closed as he shook his head.

The bell rang.

The large man thrust his fist forward, the blow threw the boy into the chainlink he slumped to the ground.

He spat out some blood, but rather quickly rose to his feet, he cracked his neck.

The champ punched him in the gut, then crossed his cheek.

The boy was thrown into the sand.

He rose to his feet, a drop of blood escaped his lips.

"He's not even trying to fight!" Maka thought to herself.

The large man grabbed the boys throat, he lifted him from his feet.

The boy grabbed the champ's hand, he broke one of the larger man's fingers with a sharp pull, the champ slammed him into the chainlink.

The champ punched him in the gut and dropped him, his foot landed on the boy's chest, he hit the sand.

The champ stomped on the boys head, he kicked the boy in the stomach.

The champ turned away and eyed his broken finger, he obviously thought the boy was done.

DeathSmith raised what looked like a detonator, he thumbed the button.

Cutter rose to his knees, he wiped the blood from his face.

His bracelet clicked, he eyed it surprised, it unlocked and fell to the sand.

He searched the crowd, his gaze soon fell on the group of masks looking down at him.

He grinned his sharp teeth, his left eye began to burn.

He held his left eye, blood leaked from under his palm.

"About time." He chuckled as he rose.

Maka saw the boy's bracelet fall, she also saw him look right at them.

His face had a large menacing smile crack over it, the boy held his left eye.

She soon noticed blood rolling out from under his hand.

"His eye is bleeding," she thought to herself," well I guess that's not too surprising."

The boy stood straight, he yelled at the champ, who turned with a face of rage.

The champ ran towards him, the distance was closed in one long stride.

The boy ducked beside the champ's fist, he smiled at the man.

His hand fell from his face.

Red had crept into the gold of his left eye, it looked like someone had flicked blood onto the gold, his pupil was elongated, like a cat's.

The boy punched the champ in the stomach, much to Maka's surprise the champ coughed up blood onto the boy's face.

"Oh Cutter," DeathSmith sighed," you couldn't keep it clean could you?"

Maka turned to DeathSmith.

"That's Cutter?" she asked, DeathSmith nodded, she looked back down into the ring.

Cutter wrapped his arm around the champ's neck, he pulled his hand out of the champ's belly, blood coated his fingers.

Cutter reeled back and head-butted his opponent, whose nose crumpled into his skull, a dent formed in the large man's skull.

The champ fell backwards, he landed in the sand.

The cheering stopped.

Cutter pushed him out of the centre of the ring with almost no effort, the large man didn't resist.

The boss desperately looked for an answer as to what had happened, finally he waved the remaining five slaves out of the waiting room.

They strode out with a varied amount of enthusiasm.

Cutter turned to them, no one in the building made a sound.

DeathSmith looked across the room, there the white haired boy was looking at him.

Hush gave him a sarcastic salute with two fingers.

Cutter was approached by one of the slaves, he quickly slammed his knee into the man's chest, the man flew back, blood shot from his lips.

Another slave rushed forward, this one crossed Cutter's cheek and punched him in the gut.

Cutter barely blinked, he grabbed the man's arm, he stooped and punched the man's knee, which gave way.

As the man fell Cutter rose, he twisted and elbowed his opponent's jaw, the bone visibly shattered and his neck snapped back.

The body fell to the sand.

A third rushed forward, Cutter twisted on his foot, his inner knee wrapped around the man's neck.

Cutter's body seemed to twist unnaturally.

Cutter looked into the eyes of the remaining two fighters as he roughly closed his leg around the man's neck, the bones snapped and the man's arms hung limp, Cutter let that body fall as well.

One of the two fighters wasn't feeling very confident, he shook noticeably, the other ran forward.

Cutter's arms swiped the man's abdomen, the flesh separated.

He screamed in agony.

Cutter pushed the cut man onto his back.

His sharp teeth flashed, he opened his maw and bit the man's shoulder.

Maka turned away, Soul however couldn't stop looking, his wide eyes were hidden by the mask.

The dead man hung from the teeth on his neck, the flesh was stripped to the broken bones as Cutter feasted.

The final fighter whimpered, Cutter's head rose, he turned to the man, his crazed smile cracked from ear to ear.

He slowly strode over to the man, who slumped to the ground.

A gunshot was heard, everyone's attention lay on Hush, who held a jet black pistol, it was about five times as large as a normal handgun, it's magazine jutted from the bottom.

Even Cutter turned his head.

The air hung heavily.

" ." Hush ordered as he raised a second pistol. "NOW."

Everyone ran for the door, this obviously had gone too far for them.

The boss jumped from his platform, he was stopped by DeathSmith, who placed a blade on his neck.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

Maka and Soul searched around for Alexis and Echo, but they had disappeared.

Maka was bumped by the fleeing people, she was soon on the floorboards, she was trampled, her right shoulder popped from its socket she yelped it pain, she felt hands grasp her and pull her up, her vision was filled with Soul's mask.

"At least he's here for me." She thought as she held her shoulder, it felt like someone had forced broken glass into her shoulder.

Soul managed to get her away from the crowd, she winced when he leaned her against the fence.

The crowd vanished a few seconds later, the air returned to its silent state, almost.

The sound of someone eating caught Maka's attention, she looked back into the ring, she immediatel regretted the act.

In the ring was Cutter, he had an arm in his hands, he was ripping the flesh from it with his teeth.

Soul forced her to look away from the red sand filled ring.

The bodies looked like pulped meat rather than something that used to be alive.

"Don't look." Soul ordered, she barely managed to obey.

Soul sighed heavily.

A loud crash caught his attention, he turned to see Cutter had smashed out of the ring, blood dripped from cuts on his arms, Soul eyed the chainlink.

He saw that on the inside of the ring there was razor sharp metal fastened to the fence.

He looked back at Cutter, who was sizing up the boss of this establishment.

DeathSmith waved Cutter away, who saw Maka and Soul, his expression changed.

Cutter shot forward, he was in their faces before they could react, his black hair was dripping red.

"I don't recognise these two," he hissed, he eyed their masks, he turned to DeathSmith, who had left the boss with Hush," brought some snacks did you?"

"No," Alexis replied from behind Soul, he glanced behind him to see that Alexis and Echo were there," they're with us."

Cutter hissed at Alexis.

"You're no fun." He stated.

DeathSmith snapped a thick collar onto Cutter's neck, he turned the dial a few times.

Cutter straightened, his mouth agape.

His left eye bled, the red was purged from the gold with every second, his pupil shrunk to a circle once more.

He cracked his neck and stood up straight.

He looked around.

"Oh," he muttered, his voice was now calm and collected," what happened?"

He walked over to Hush, who handed him a brown parka.

Maka ripped her mask from her face.

"What the hell just happened!?" she hissed.

DeathSmith crouched beside her.

"We got them back." He replied.

Cutter was talking to Hush now, Hush pointed at Maka and Soul, Cutter followed his gaze.

His face changed to that of surprise.

He strode back over and pushed DeathSmith out of the way, he now wore his heavy clothes.

"Get that parka off." Cutter ordered as he crouched beside her.

She looked at his face.

"What!?" she almost yelled, she pushed herself away from him, he raised his hands defensively.

"Your shoulder's dislocated," he explained, he turned to Alexis," get her something to bite, I should have something in my stuff."

Alexis nodded and turned to go.

"C'mon Echo." She called, Echo moved to follow.

Cutter began to unzip Maka's parka, Soul slammed into him, his arm turned into a scythe.

Soul rested the blade on Cutter's stomach.

"Don't touch her." Soul hissed.

Cutter looked at him.

"Well, you obviously know how to relocate a shoulder," Cutter mused, he pushed Soul's blade away from him," without pinching off any blood vessels, of course."

Cutter gestured towards Maka.

"Be my guest." Cutter ordered, he stared into Soul's eyes.

DeathSmith grabbed Soul's shoulder and pulled him away from Cutter.

"One second Cutter." He muttered.

Cutter clasped his hands together.

"It's not like we have someone in pain right now," he replied sarcastically," take all the time you need."

DeathSmith spun Soul around, he ripped the mask from Soul's face.

"What are you doing?" DeathSmith asked.

"He's not touching her!" Soul stated angrily.

"Who's going to fix her shoulder?" DeathSmith aked him," you?"

Soul searched for an answer.

"You can." He tried.

DeathSmith shook his head.

"Cutter is the one who handles that," he replied," he can do it properly."

Soul looked at Maka, who shook her head.

"Cutter is fine," Alexis stated, she strode over to Cutter, she handed him a small column of wood," he's not crazy anymore."

"I take offence to that," he mused with a smile, he accepted the wooden bar," thank you."

Everyone turned to Soul.

"How is he not crazy?" Soul asked.

Cutter tapped his collar.

"Leash." He muttered.

"What?" Soul asked.

"That collar keeps him sane," DeathSmith explained," it's fine, he's fine."

Soul thought for a few seconds.

"It's ok Soul," Maka assured him," really."

"Fine," he yelled, he pushed DeathSmith away," whatever!"

Cutter bowed slightly.

"Thank you," he said, he crouched on the right of Maka," now let's begin."

Cutter turned to Soul.

"It's Soul right," he asked, Soul nodded," well Soul, if you wouldn't mind helping me."

Soul sighed and moved beside Maka.

"Remove her parka," Cutter ordered, Soul unzipped the heavy clothing," alright now, lift."

Soul and Cutter lifted Maka enough for Alexis to pull the parka out from under her.

"Ok, let's lay her on her back," Cutter began, they lifted Maka from her sitting position, they lay her on her back, she winced with almost every shift," sorry, now-"

He trailed off.

He moved the wooden bar in front of her mouth.

"Bite on this." He ordered.

"What for?" Soul asked.

"So she doesn't bust her teeth," Cutter replied annoyed, he turned back to Maka," now bite."

Maka gripped the bar in her teeth, Cutter moved to the side, a black thread wrapped around the wood, he raised her head and moved the thread around her head and to the other side, where he looped it a few times.

"Alright," Cutter sighed, the thread seemed to disappear up his sleeve.

He pointed to Maka's left shoulder and arm.

"Place your hands here and here," he ordered as he did so, Soul gingerly obeyed," and put some pressure on it, can someone get her feet?"

Alexis moved, she crouched and wrapped her hands around Maka's boots, holding them in place.

"Ok," Cutter sighed, he grabbed Maka's right forearm, he leaned forward and eyed her shoulder," it's behind the socket so I'll have to pull."

He shifted back into position.

"On three, ok?" he stated, Maka and Soul both nodded," put pressure on her shoulder, we don't want her springing up."

Soul nodded.

"Ok," Cutter sighed, he tensed slightly," one-"

He pulled and twisted Maka's arm, it snapped back into place with a loud crack, she screamed as her teeth bit into the bar in her mouth.

Soul struggled to keep her down as she tensed.

After about a minute she stopped, she calmed down.

Cutter looked at her shoulder with interest.

"No vessels blocked," he muttered, he sat on the floor," alright, good job everyone."

"Why'd you do that!?" Soul shouted.

Cutter turned to him.

"Do what, pull at one," he asked," the worst part about this is knowing it's going to happen, so I skipped the countdown, it hurts less."

Cutter moved for the bar in Maka's mouth, he unraveled the thread and removed the bar.

They gave her some room, she gripped her shoulder.

"Alright," Cutter mused, he rose to his feet," where are we going?"

"Death City." Alexis replied.

"Ooh," he started," home of Lord Death himself, a real honor."

Soul helped Maka into a sitting position.

"You ok?" he asked.

She nodded.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She winced.

Cutter handed her a sling, she eyed it.

"It would probably be best if you wore this." He said seriously.

Soul swiped the sling from his grasp.

"Thanks." He almost spat, he turned back to Maka and began to hook the sling over her neck.

After a few minutes the sling was in place and adjusted.

Soul helped her onto her feet, Alexis handed them Maka's parka.

Maka was soon dressed in her parka, her right sleeve hung limp.

She grabbed her mask and slipped it back on.

DeathSmith handed Soul his mask, he eyed it.

"So what do we do with this guy?" Alexis asked, she looked at the boss.

Hush raised a pistol, two rounds soared through the air and knocked the man to the ground, one in his neck the other in the back of his head, a black liquid oozed from the shots.

"What guy?" Hush asked, he spun his guns in his hands, they burst like balloons filled with black ink, the ink stained gloves, the black crept up his sleeves.

Soul watched the ordeal with wide eyes.

"The hell was that?" he thought to himself.

DeathSmith shook him from his thoughts.

"C'mon," he called as he pulled Soul to the door," we need to talk."

"About what?" Soul asked.

The others moved towards the door as well.

"The truth." DeathSmith replied.

At the academy.

Kid watched the lesson with interest.

"This Elizabeth seems to know her stuff," He muttered as the sub retaught a meister how to swing a sword," I guess that's a given though."

The sub's neck twisted, the black eye stared at him for a moment before it "blinked" as he referred to the sub turning away from him.

"No symmetry at all," he hissed silently," it's sickening."

Liz noticed his expression.

"Well look who's finally back to normal." She laughed.

He turned to her.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Ever since Alexis showed up you've been acting-" she tried, she searched for the right word," normal."

He chuckled.

"Are you worried about me?" he joked.

"Well, even after you and her talked, sure you've started your routines again, but," Liz continued," you've been distracted by things other than symmetry lately."

He frowned and turned away.

"She's right, of course," he thought to himself," I have been neglecting some things, I guess I'm just rattled about all this."

He sighed.

He turned to Maka and Soul, to his surprise, they were leaning up against a wall.

Maka had her book again, no surprise there, Soul was staring into space, no surprise there.

What caught his attention was how they were doing it.

"It's like they're – forcing themselves to do that," Kid thought," what is going on with those two?"

In the desert.

"Imitations!?" Maka and Soul blurted.

The group's pace didn't slow, DeathSmith simply turned to face them.

"Yes, we have copies of you two wandering around the DWMA." He replied, his voice seemed bored.

"I still can't believe you guys managed to get that working," Cutter praised, his uncovered hair dripped red," bravo."

"Well it was simple really," DeathSmith mused," using the abilities of our dear Shroud we can create two realistic copies."

Soul cocked his head.

"Only two?" he asked, DeathSmith nodded.

"And that's at the best of circumstances," he stated grimly," unfortunately we have two people that are needed for this, one male one female, hence we could clone you two."

"Wait," Maka muttered," the clones are actually people?"

Cutter sighed.

"You brought them along and you haven't even explained anything?" he asked, DeathSmith eyed his feet.

"They're Shroud's weapons." He stated.

Back at the academy.

Kid walked out of the class, another wasted day in his opinion.

"Why do we just sit around all day," he asked aloud," we did that already why walk to this new room?"

Liz shook her head.

BlackStar was heard making similar statements, though they implied how he wasn't showing how great he was.

Maka and Soul walked right past the group.

"Hey Maka, Soul," Kid called before they got too far," where're you going?"

They stopped and looked at each other.

"Home." They replied at almost the same time.

Kid's gaze narrowed slightly.

"Well we don't have school tomorrow," he started," wanna meet up at the basketball court?"

They exchanged looks.

"Yeah sure." Soul shot back before they disappeared into the crowd of students.

Kid crossed his arms over his chest.

Liz noticed his stern look, she sighed.

"What's wrong now Kid?" she asked.

BlackStar walked past Kid with Tsubaki in tow, he waited for them and any other students to leave.

"I don't know," he finally admitted," just – something."

He stood there staring down the hall.

Liz put a hand on his shoulder.

"C'mon," she prompted," let's just get home."

The next day.

"How do you guys do this!?" Maka almost wailed as they passed into Death City.

"Do what?" Alexis asked.

"Walk all day and night." Echo explained.

Maka shivered slightly.

"Make up your minds," she managed," first you say you won't move around at night and suddenly we aren't stopping for anything!"

Soul shook his head, though he did agree.

"It's important that we arrive at this time," DeathSmith explained, his tone as bored as ever," last time we were ahead of schedule.

"Well what was all that 'we don't function like you' or whatever about," Soul asked," you seemed serious."

DeathSmith turned.

"I was." He stated before looking ahead, Soul sighed.

"I thought you'd tell us everything." He muttered.

"What you've learned is enough for the moment." Alexis stated sweetly.

Her voice seemed to hold a silent order, it simply said 'let it go' which was the exact opposite of what Soul wanted to do.

They walked towards the academy, taking some detours to avoid any stray crowds.

They passed a certain point, DeathSmith felt familiar eyes on them.

"Dammit." He breathed.

Kid dribbled the ball, he faked out BlackStar and moved to pass it to Liz only for Maka to intercept the ball, she moved towards the net.

"Damn." He almost spat as the ball fell through the net once more.

"That make's ten to nothing," Tsubaki called," Maka's team wins."

"Hey," BlackStar blurted," I'm on the team."

"Yeah but you're not the captain." Maka laughed, she pointed teasingly at BlackStar.

Kid watched Maka.

"Yeah," he thought," something's not right."

"Wow Maka," Liz praised," you've gotten a lot better at this."

"Yeah I guess so." Maka replied.

Kid panted for a few more seconds.

A strangely familiar feeling crept into his awareness.

Somehow it felt, different however.

"It's more intense." He muttered.

He looked around.

A flash of a white mask moved behind a building.

He quickly ran towards the corner.

"Hey Kid," Liz called," where're you going?"

He reached the corner and peeked around it, much to his surprise, an entire group of similarly dressed people were walking, they had a single person in a tuxedo with them.

"There's more!?" he almost yelled, the others had caught up.

They saw these masked people too.

"Does anyone have a mirror?" Kid asked.

The real Maka felt strange walking through Death City in her disguise.

She felt like she was sneaking into a hostile area, this feeling wasn't helped by the accusing looks from literally everyone they passed.

She shivered slightly.

The Altered stopped, she almost bumped into Cutter, but caught herself in time.

She looked past him, much to her surprise, there was Kid, his arms were crossed over his chest with Liz and Patty in their weapon forms.

He looked very angry.

"What are you doing here?" he asked DeathSmith, without realising who it was, his grip on Liz and Patty tightened.

He seemed to notice Alexis' mask, he shook his head.

"Just passing through." DeathSmith replied.

"Don't give me that!" Kid yelled, he turned to Alexis," and what are you doing with these guys?"

Alexis seemed to try to disappear into her clothes as she fidgeted.

Surprisingly, Cutter stepped between Kid and Alexis.

He was the only one other than Hush to not be wearing his mask.

He turned to Kid.

"Who're you to yell at her!?" he asked angrily, he cocked his hooded head.

Footsteps were heard all around them, Maka looked to see that DWMA agents clad in suits had surrounded them, they looked at them.

She wanted to disappear now.

"Masks off," Kid ordered," now."

Maka felt a pang of fear.

"Damn," she thought," if he see's Soul and me-"

She couldn't finish the thought, DeathSmith took a heavy step forward, he brushed Cutter back.

He looked Kid in the eyes.

"No." he replied.

Kid tensed slightly.

"You don't have a choice!" he stated angrily.

This earned him a chuckle from Cutter.

"What's so-" Kid tried.

"Take us to Lord Death," DeathSmith ordered, Kid almost flinched," we need to speak with him."

"Masks off." Kid repeated.

Hush suddenly had his pistols in his hands he tapped the barrels together, Cutter flexed his fingers, they were barely visible under the sleeves of his Parka.

Even Alexis tensed slightly, her right hand began to shift to the side of her case.

Echo cowered under the gaze of the agents.

Soul wrapped an arm around Maka.

Death Smith broke the tension with a wave of his hand, the group relaxed, with the exception of Soul, Maka and Echo.

DeathSmith turned to one of the many alleys on the street.

He looked back at Kid.

"Take us to Lord Death or your hidden friends die." He threatened.

Two longswords fell from his sleeves with metallic clicks, the thin switchblade swords were held lazily towards the alley.

Hush picked up on DeathSmith's gaze and immediately aimed down the alley.

The two Altered stared Kid down, who was starting to grit his teeth.

A few seconds passed.

Hush's finger pulled the trigger slightly, though the gun didn't fire.

"Fine!" Kid yelled in defeat," you win."

Hush immediately relaxed, though he kept the guns out.

"We'll escort you." Kid stated.

"That was the plan," DeathSmith assured him as the groups began to move," your friends can follow us too."

Kid clenched his fist.

Soul patted Maka's shoulder, after a few meters she turned to him, he gestured behind them.

There behind the agents was the rest of the gang, complete with BlackStar, Tsubaki, Maka and Soul.

The copies waved to them.

They both looked forward.

"This is weird," Maka muttered.

"Yeah." Soul agreed.

It took about an hour to get to the death room.

Luckily there weren't very many people at the school, though it seemed like all eyes were on the Altered as they passed.

Maka once more felt like she was in hostile territory.

When they walked down the gauntlet of guillotines, Cutter looked around, he seemed enthralled by the death room.

On the platform, Lord Death was talking to Spirit and Azusa, all three turned to the group.

On the platform the Altered shifted nervously.

Lord Death looked at the agents.

"I think you can leave now." He said in his usual voice.

"But-dad," Kid stammered," they-"

"I think we can handle them on our own." Lord Death offered.

With a varied amount of enthusiasm, the agents left, when the last one had disappeared, DeathSmith stepped forward.

"Thank you for this chance Lord Death." He said with a bow.

Kid stepped forward.

"Alright," he said," now masks off."

Cutter turned to Kid.

"It's alright." DeathSmith assured him.

He reached up and pulled his mask off and his hood down.

He clipped his mask to the front of the book on his belt.

Kid was surprised.

"Wha- bu-but you've been in class!" he stammered.

"Do you mean me?" a voice asked, a boy with white, black tipped hair stepped out from behind the mirror on the platform, he waved at Cutter, who waved back.

Kid turned to the newcomer.

"Why hello Forge," Lord Death greeted DeathSmith," long trip?"

"It wasn't the best walk, but it served its purpose." DeathSmith replied politely.

The room was silent.

"Forge?" Maka asked silently.

"You two know each other?" Kid asked his father.

Lord Death nodded.

"I know all of them." Lord Death stated, much to the groups surprise.

Liz and Patty returned to human form.

"Now would you please?" Lord Death prompted.

Alexis removed her mask, Echo hesitated.

"It's alright Echo." Alexis stated as she slipped her mask into her case.

He nodded and removed his mask, it took a few deep breathes to pull down his hood.

His bluish hair swayed over his pale face.

His eyes remained closed, a large stitching dropped from the centre of his scalp, it traveled down to his left nostril then turned and disappeared under his left earlobe.

His eyes opened.

His right eye was brown with some grey, his left eye however, didn't even have an iris nor a pupil, it was just an empty white void.

His right eye looked around the room as he held his mask, he avoided eye contact with anyone.

Soul removed his mask almost at the same time as Maka, the surprised faces of the group were evident on everyone, except for the copies.

"What the hell!?" Liz blurted.

The Maka copy giggled, it's voice wasn't Maka's anymore, it was slightly more mature.

Both copies grew almost a head taller, their skin paled.

The woman who was pretending to be Maka stretched her shoulders, her long brown hair swayed slightly, she wore a bigger version of Maka's uniform.

The man pretending to be Soul cracked his neck, his brown hair shifted.

He wore a bigger version of Soul's uniform.

Both of them had blue eyes.

"That was getting boring anyway." The woman cooed.

Both of them walked over to Shroud, who simply smiled at the gang's confused faces.

"Will someone explain what just happened!" Kid shouted.

Lord Death began, but before he could a woman came running down the gauntlet of guillotines.

Everyone's focus turned to this newcomer.

"L-Lizzy?" Hush attempted, he squinted to see better.

Elizabeth reached the platform in a few seconds, she almost tackled Hush, though he stayed upright by swinging her around.

They kissed while they spun.

When they stopped she slugged him in the shoulder.

"That's for leaving without saying anything." She stated as he rubbed his shoulder.

"Ok ok," he stammered, "it won't happen again."

She turned to Cutter and 'Forge' much to everyone's surprise, she hugged them both.

"Brothers!" she beamed," it's so good to see you again!"

Everyone stood shocked.

She soon stopped and looked around.

"What's with all the people?" she asked, she pushed her sunglasses higher on her nose.

"How'd you know we were here?" Hush asked.

"Please," she retorted," half the city knows."

"Stop, stop, stop," Kid ordered," how does our little teacher know you guys?"

Without even looking Elizabeth grabbed Hush's left hand, she pulled his glove off and raised her own left hand.

The steel rings gleamed.

"They're married." DeathSmith stated.

"I thought he was your brother." Maka blurted." Why'd she call you brothers?"

"He's our brother in law," Cutter stated, his red stained hair swayed slightly," she's our sister."

"Enough!" Kid yelled.

Everyone looked at him.

"What the hell is going on!?" he asked once more.

Lord Death coughed.

"Perhaps I can shed some light on this." He muttered.

He moved to the mirror, though he kept facing them.

"I think you should all get better acquainted," he stated," everyone, meet Elizabeth Zorski, Seth Zorski and Drake Zorski."

DeathSmith, Cutter and Elizabeth all looked around nervously.

"They are the sons and daughter of Greg." Lord Death finished.

Author's Note: hey it's Gorse.

Man that took a long time to finish, I don't even know why, it's not like I'm doing anything at the moment.

Anyway, good, bad, awful let me know.

Btw DUN DUN DUNNNN shit's been revealed.(yay)

So, if anyone saw that coming, nice, everyone else that doesn't possess ESP yes that just happened.

This was planned for a little while nut I couldn't bring it in until now.

So DeathSmith, Cutter and Elizabeth are all related and are the offspring of one Gregory Terrance Zorski.

And yes that means he pulled a Medusa not once, but multiple times.

Don't worry, next chapter is a wall-of-text explanation of the stuff going on.

Man this is getting rushed.

I like just introduced Lizzy and suddenly she's important.

And yay Echo finally has his face in the open.

The fighting needs work as does my pacing.

Seriously, there barely was any real carnage at all.

This chapter seems so rushed to me and I'm the one who wrote it.

Damn it.

Let me know if it was alright.

Whatevs see you next chapter, BYYEEE.

-GorseT