Holy effing hell, I am never doing that again. x_x I am so, so sorry for the delay! It's been many a moon since I've written straight action, and it shows, so I apologize in advance for 1) the delay and 2) the fact that this chapter kinda sucks. xD Stein is hard to write, Marie is hard to write, action is hard to write, and I went through at least eight drafts of this chapter before finishing this one! Shoot me now. I am hoping the next won't be as hard even though it's basically more action.

So, yes, we're finally getting to Stein's side of the story! Or part of it, anyway. There's another character that popped in for fun- he got lost on his way looking for CA, hint hint- so please, don't throw spitballs at me! D:

Thanks to abesgoldenfriend, Kara Black, Unleashed111, xStarxWolfx, and Geo for their kind reviews, and thank you all for your patience and do let me know what you think, even if it's not terrific - the next chapter is the battle with Spirit, Shinigami, and Ashura, and I do want to get it done right! (And, again, I am so sorry for the wait!)


Chapter 9: Harbingers of War


The Death Room lurched; monitors swung wildly from their anchors or broke off their moorings completely to shatter on the floor. Walls shook; the table went flying; Spirit clutched at the large mirror in the center of the room and prayed it wouldn't slip loose as the earth quaked and groaned. "What the hell are you doing down there?!" he shouted above the din.

"We're moving!" Shinigami's face filled the one working monitor, bright golden eyes beaming out from under the mask. Letting out a great whoop of joy, he moved forward; the world swayed and tilted down at a sickening angle. Spirit yelped and clutched the mirror tighter as he found himself dangling in mid-air. "It's working, Spirit! We're moving!"

A crashing noise, and the deafening roar of jet engines – and the deathscythe was suddenly tumbling head-over-heels as gravity jerked in the other direction. "Goddamnit, Shinigami, will you be more careful!" he swore as his broken ribs flared in pain.

Another burst of laughter from the Reaper. "Have you ever tried piloting a city before?! It's a lot harder than those cartoons make it look!" he crowed.

Spirit sat up with his back against the mirror and huffed a laugh. "You're going to get your license revoked at this rate," he teased as the room around him settled into a swaying motion. "I think I'm going to get seasick . . . ."

"If you want my city-driving license, you'll have to come down here and take it from me." Shinigami chuckled and swerved the city around; the crashing of furniture and panicked yelping of his spectators could be heard behind him. "Now . . . Spirit?"

"Yeah?"

"Which way are we supposed to go?"


Finding Medusa's lair had been the easy part. Days and nights of relentless travel on foot, by air, through desert and jungle and city slums, every moment growing closer fraught with nervous tension - that had been the easy part.

Don't worry about Stein, Crona. Focus on distracting Medusa. She's what will keep us from succeeding.

Making plans – that was simple.

Standing there in front of Medusa as she lavished a mocking sort of 'love' on a catatonic Stein . . . Marie felt her Weapon blood boil, her body ache to transform and crush the child witch in front of her. Crona, beside her - "I'm here to stop you, Medusa." - she was fiercely proud of him, standing up to his mother.

Even their defiance was easy.

"So," Medusa asked from her perch in Stein's lap, "here to stop me and rescue Stein, huh? He's been happy here, haven't you dear?" Her childlike hand caressed his stubbled cheek; he didn't move. "Do you want to go with them?"

His head shook back and forth once, twice, three times in short mechanical bursts.

"See? I know you're jealous, but do try to rein it in." The witch laughed. "It makes you sound so desperate!"

Crona looked over to Marie, his thin frame trembling. "This isn't about me," the deathscythe snarled. "This is about him, and the people at home who care about him – something I don't think you could ever comprehend, Medusa!"

Medusa pushed herself to her feet, snake's fangs glinting in her smile. "Are they really going to be waiting for him with open arms? After all the fun we've had?"

Marie's good eye widened. Her teeth ground together; flaxen hair began to wave aloft by the electric power thrumming through her body. She spared a single glance at Crona, his pale hand gripping Ragnarok – and then she shot off the brick with a battle cry, hammer arm crackling with power as she took aim.

Fighting Medusa would be easy.

Fighting the man she loved was going to be the hard part.

The witch leaped aside with a supernatural nimbleness; the brick crumbled under the blow. Stein didn't move, but to Marie's horror went tumbling below. Crona scampered after Medusa, sword aloft and stabbing at her. Marie landed atop another block, watching him clash against a tangle of Vector Arrows, and began to charge another attack. "Medusa!"

"Don't think about attacking me," Medusa snapped from across the room, slamming Crona into the ceiling with another Vector Arrow attack. "You have someone else to worry about."

A hand reached up from the abyss and grasped Marie's ankle.

". . . S-Stein?!"


he sits on a scalpel's edge

(blood why is there so much blood on the floor on my hands on my soul where is it from who did I-)

and the

S hsssss T hsssss A hsssss T hsssss I hsssss C

rakes over his eardrums, sweet sweet pain, and he relishes it

(make it louder make it louder make me forget)

because pain is pleasure and pleasure is pain and the snakes writhe around his ankles, dancing in the

(I left him there I left him in the shadows Sempai lives in the shadows now and the shadows are-)

-screaming, the shadows are screaming again-

(Stein, stop this–)

and the scalpel edge begins to

tip

over

(Please, no more, Stein, please!)

the voices (Sempai) scream and he clutches at his ears

(he begged I marked him my blade my seed MY WEAPON marked mine how dare he leave how DARE he)

and the

shame/PRIDE

in the memory

(the scent of burnt flesh, the taste of flesh breaking and coppery blood, the feel of a body writhing under him, the echoing cries of agony, the sobbing, the breaking, the power)

roils up within him

and the broken wings lay at his feet even now, the wings he tore from his sempai's soul, and the power he felt then trickles

away

and he is so

H hsssss O hsssss L hsssss L hsssss O hsssss W

...

and the snake speaks

-she's back to watch you, Stein-

the screaming in his head is drowned out by

S hsssss T hsssss A hsssss T hsssss I hsssss C

(Marie?)

-Marie's back from the dead to watch you again-

Marie was

was

D

E

A

D

MaRiE marie MariE mARie

(and she had watched again, watched him violate his sempai a second time, tears rolling from under her eyepatch, and why did he feel so guilty for making her cry)

her eyes, her eyes hurt him so much

-he'll never stop screaming as long as she's here-, the snake hisses

and he knows

the snake

is

RIGHT


Stein grinned his madman's smile at her, pupils shrunk to pinpricks under his matted tangle of hair. "You just won't leave me alone, will you," he intoned, his voice suddenly rising into a shriek. "Why won't you leave me alone?! You're supposed to be dead, Marie!" He screamed, swinging her by the ankle across the chasm of the room; she slammed into a block and fell to one knee, panting.

"De- What makes you think I'm dead?!" Her hammer began to glow again. "Stein, I'm alive, I'm fine!"

"Is she?" Medusa leaped over Ragnarok's blade; Crona was making little to no headway against her. "Are you sure she isn't here to get revenge?"

Stein went still. His hand went to the screw in his head; he clicked it counter-clockwise once, twice, three times, the screw making a horrible grinding noise. "Revenge for what?" Marie snarled, sparing the witch a glare. "Quit filling his head with lies!"

"You were there, Marie." One second Stein was across the room; the next he had landed next to Marie on all fours and was scuttling towards her like an animal. "You saw it in the mirrors. You saw it all!" His hands shot out, filthy nails digging into her wrist – and his soul wavelength tore through her, skewed and shrieking. "You saw me break him!" he screamed as she convulsed. "You watched me tear his wings off! But it was worth it, wasn't it? Wasn't it? I saw inside Sempai's mind, Marie!" She cried out; he threw her to the ground, stalking behind her as she rolled. One foot ground into her arm just above her Weapon. "I can see inside yours too. Just like him."

Marie felt a little piece of her heart break. "Stein, please tell me you didn't . . . ." she whispered, staring up at him.

His head tilted curiously; behind them the clash of sword on sword rang out. His eyes were unfocused, pupils shrunk to pinpricks. "Sempai fought me at first, you know," Stein said, and his voice was hollow behind his vicious, manic smile. "I don't think he even knew how fast he stopped fighting and started begging me to stop." He hauled her up by the hair, his free hand grasping at her breast and squeezing until she cried out in pain. The gravely voice dropped to a whisper. "You kept watching – were you jealous? Do you want to be my next subject? Let me see your mind, Marie!"

"Scream Resonance!"

Ragnarok screamed, the sonic blast striking the unguarded Stein from the side. Marie wrenched herself from his grasp mere seconds before the blast hit; Stein was sent flying, his head cracking against the stone of the wall – cracking the stone with the force of his body striking it. "Miss Marie!" Crona cried out, running towards her. "Are you-"

A gush of black blood spurt up from his side. Medusa landed beside him, giant Vector Blade balanced neatly in one small hand. "Now, now, Crona," she mock-scolded as the child went tumbling. "I thought I taught you better than to interrupt the adults when they're talking."

Stein staggered to one knee, blood running down the side of his face. Marie too balanced herself on one knee, bringing up her hammer arm and slamming it against the floor, sending a shockwave across that knocked the witch off her feet. "You did this to him!" she screamed, tears welling in her visible eye. "You turned him into a monster!"

"I let loose what he already had inside him, Marie!" Medusa snarled back, a Vector Plate appearing below the deathscythe; she shot off across the room, barely managing to right herself before she smacked into the wall. "This is what he was meant to be! Stein is doing what he's always wanted to – I just slipped the noose from his neck and set him free!"

"You're wrong! Stein would never-"

"Never what?" She brought up the Vector Blade to clash with Ragnarok, sweeping the demon blade aside easily. Her serpent eyes were bright and hungry in the childish face she wore. "My, whatever could he have done that has you so upset? I thought he just wanted to leave his first partner something to remember him by."

Marie howled, racing off the platform she had landed on and leaping into the air, her hammer arm glowing so bright it lit up the entire room. "How dare you?!"

The child witch jumped to meet her. "Vector Storm!"

Arrows shot from her body, thick and fast; Marie crushed the first onslaught, but a second wave caught Marie in the stomach and crushed her against the wall. "You're outclassed," she grinned, arrow after arrow rearing back and slamming into her. Marie began to cough up blood. "Give up now-"

Black flicked past her vision; a flash of pain, and the Vector Arrows were sliced in half, a gash opening up in the witch's upper arm. Crona held Ragnarok steady, the demon sword's blade glistening with a thin edge of crimson. "Stop it," he panted. "Just stop it already!"

Marie fell, limp; Medusa cut her eyes at him for the merest of seconds before blasting him with her soul wavelength. Crona screamed as she poured the jagged chaos into him. "You dare," she hissed. "You dare raise your blade against your mother, you ungrateful little – I'm going to enjoy killing you, Crona!"

Crona coughed up blood; it spattered against the stone floor. "B- Bloody Needles," he stammered, willing his black blood to harden.

It lay there in droplets, inanimate.

"Can't harden it, can you?" Medusa stepped through it, her child's feet staining black. "I've skewed your soul wavelength. You're useless now." She hefted her Vector Blade above her shoulder. Behind her, Stein was staggering drunkenly towards them, manic grin widening at the sight. "Not that it's a change from how you've always been."

Her child began to tremble, unable to raise his sword in his defense. Medusa smiled sweetly at him. "Time for you to die."

She swung down-

"Medusa!"

-and hit a scythe blade, fierce green eyes glaring death into her own. Maka snarled at her and kicked out, catching the witch in the stomach and sending her flying. "Crona, are you and Miss Marie OK?"

"I'm OK," came the weak reply. Maka held out her hand; he took it, pulling himself to his feet. "But, Maka, how did you-"

"I looked. Really, really hard." Her eyes scanned from Marie, who was slowly getting to her feet, over a wheezing Medusa to the mad doctor, who was staring at her vapidly. As she watched, his lips twitched into a grin. ". . . Professor Stein?"

He began to laugh. And laugh, and laugh, the Madness echoing through the room. "Does Sempai know you're here, Maka~?" he asked, a dangerously playful edge to his voice.

Marie limped over to where the teens were standing, blood soaking her skirt from a wound in her thigh. "Maka, don't," the deathscythe warned. "He's dangerous right now, you don't understand!"

"No, Maka, do," Medusa taunted. "I bet no one's told you what kind of gift Stein gave your father before he left, have they? If you ask nicely, I bet he might tell you."

"Maka?" That from Soul, his red eyes flashing at her from inside the scythe. "Maka, what are you thinking?"

The girl turned back to Stein, who was now just a few feet away from her. He smiled, all teeth, and licked the blood away from where it was spilling from the gash in his forehead. "Don't you want to know, Maka? I gave him a choice, you know. I was going to make you do it instead, but he wouldn't let me." His pupils dilated so wide the irises were swallowed up by them, black holes surrounded by white. "He begged me on all fours to leave you alone."

Crona huddled up closer to Maka, who was beginning to tremble. "What . . . what are you talking . . . ." She bit her lip, then suddenly charged at him with a scream, Marie hot on her heels. "Stop talking about my papa like that!"

He laughed again, shrill and mad. Tears were pouring heedlessly down his cheeks. "You have your father's lips, Ma~ka~," Stein singsonged, dodging the swipe of the scythe blade to grab the Meister by the arm. He pulled her close to whisper in her ear. "I wonder if you're as talented with them as Sempai is~?"

Crack. The flat of Ragnarok's blade struck him across the back of the head; Stein dropped Maka in order to dodge another sudden thrust of the black blade. "Take – your hands – off of her!" Crona shouted, his eyes narrowed in real fury. The third thrust Stein grasped the blade; Soul Force raced through it, blasting the swordsman backwards.

Maka fell to the ground, ignored, Soul loosely gripped in her hands. Marie raced to her, pushing her aside before a shot of Vector Arrows could hit them both. "Maka, Stein's insane," she said urgently. "Don't let him get to you! "

"But-" Maka's hands shifted on Soul, tightening. She looked up at Marie, tears welling up in her eyes. "What is he talking about? What did he do to my papa?!"

Marie bit her lower lip, looking away. "Maka, we don't have time for this, not now. You have to keep it together or you're going to get killed!"

"R-right." She took in a deep breath and rose back to her feet. "What's the plan? You have one, don't you?" Marie didn't answer. "Don't you?"

"Oh my." Medusa stood high above them on the highest stone pillar, Vector Blade swinging behind her. "Stein, why don't you be a dear and finish them off for me?"

"Follow my lead."

"If you're really good, you'll be able to use them in your next experiment."

Marie touched Maka on the shoulder briefly. "Distract him," she murmured below her breath before launching herself at Stein again, glowing hammer at the fore.

". . . Okay. Crona, Soul, let's go!" Maka's brow furrowed in concentration and charged. She swerved around Stein, skidding under his hastily-thrown Soul Force. Marie's swing down missed; Crona followed immediately behind with a wild thrust of the sword that ripped through his labcoat. A second later the floor beneath them exploded with the force of Marie's attack.

Stein flipped back, skidding to a halt at the edge of the stone block; the manic grin twitched. "So much noise," he mumbled. He clicked his screw back another two notches in the wrong direction. "Why won't he stop screaming . . . ."

Maka leaned against Soul, the scythe braced against broken rock, before dashing left. Crona hefted Ragnarok and took off right. Stein threw his hands up to block as the children aimed towards him; instead of attacking they crisscrossed paths. Their weapons crossed behind him, Ragnarok drawing in breath-

Stein whirled around, catching Witch Hunter between his palms and hanging grimly on as the Scream Resonance tore against him. "He screamed for me, Maka!" the madman roared as she bore down upon him. "He was mine first and I broke him-"

Maka's eyes narrowed into furious slits. "Break this."

Glowing. Glowing behind him, Medusa's sudden furious shout, Marie-

Her hands wrapped around him from behind, her head on his shoulder. "Healing Wavelength."


she falls

down

down

D

O

W

N

through blood and guilt

through

S hsssss T hsssss A hsssss T hsssss I hsssss C

through rage and pride and oceans of sorrow

down

down

to

.

.

.

Stein


She lands on her feet on a cobblestone road, the mortar stained red with old blood.

Lights flicker. Shadows dance.

Laughter behind her, a quiet whimper.

". . . Stein?"

The world shifts, wavers. The tang of blood and sex is heavy on the air, static roaring; Spirit's house stands before her, the front door slightly ajar. Glass shatters and voices rage behind it. She takes a step towards it before a small hand grasps hers. "Don't."

Marie looks down. She hasn't seen this face in many years, pale and withdrawn with cheeks still showing the slightest hint of baby fat – Stein, as he first looked when they were students at the DWMA. The child-Stein lifts his face to look at her, dull golden eyes flat and emotionless. "Don't," he says again. "Don't go in there."

Shadows from inside cross the window – the crackle of Soul Force, a body flying across the room – and eyes peer out for a second from within. Dull yellow eyes with slitted pupils, wavering with insanity, in a face she has loved from afar.

Stein's reflection grins at them before turning back into the shadows. Screams echo through the void.

She kneels beside the child-Stein. Her reflection stares at her from the lenses of his glasses – a woman long dead and rotting in the grave. "Leave, Marie," he demands. "Go before you find out-"

"I already know."

The screaming stops for a split-second. Only the static remains, a constant droning hiss. "Why are you here?" he asks, voice flat.

"Because I believe in you," she says. The truth rings like a bell in the darkness; the streetlight behind them flares into life. "Because I want to hear your side of the story. And because I know it's not your fault."

"Not my fault." A humorless laugh escapes him. "So you think the Madness is solely to blame."

Marie takes a step back. "W-well, yeah – Medusa made it so that being near me would weaken your resistance to it! Crona planted something in me that made it worse-"

"And I suppose Medusa gave me the urge to dissect my partner when we were students?" Child-Stein cuts his eyes at her. "Don't be so naïve, Marie."

The screams fade into quiet murmuring behind them. "He was our greatest experiment," the boy reflects. "The only partner we had who didn't treat us like a freak. We didn't understand other people – I didn't really give a damn about understanding other people – and then he came along. I suppose it's what it's like to have an older brother, having him around. He cared. He made us want to understand what caring was.

"And then that bitch Kami ruined it." He spits the woman's name out like a curse. "And they were happy. And he hated him for leaving us behind with all these stupid emotions he didn't understand and I hated him for the experiments I would never finish!"

Marie flinches as his childishly cruel smile is turned toward her. ". . . we? Stein, who-"

"We learned, though." He steamrollers over her question, ignoring it; his shadow stirs behind him. "We figured it out on our own. When I saw him again, before we went after the demon sword . . . I taunted him about Kami. I used his emotions to make him hurt the way he'd done to us." The sharklike grin twists into a look of agony. "And it felt good. It wasn't supposed to feel good! It was wrong! All of it was – it got out of control and – and-"

Her one good eye focuses on him, sorrow lingering behind her gaze.

"Marie, don't look at us like that."

She doesn't speak.

"You don't understand-"

The pity in her gaze burns at the shadows around him. The child suddenly grasps her with both hands and shoves her. She falls hard on the cobblestone, skinning her palms against the rock. "I wanted you!" he screams. He arches his throat – and she can see it now, the mark of a snake's fangs. "I wanted to go after you first, Marie! He wouldn't – he couldn't hurt you, not you! He'd kill Shinigami himself before he'd let me hurt you!"

Screaming. The static of the void crackles as blood begins to roll out of his shadow all around him. Screams that rend the air, coming from the boy's shadow– and Marie realizes with a start that it isn't Stein's Madness that has been staring out at them from the house.

His Madness is who she's talking to right now.

"He couldn't control me. And if he can't keep me controlled, I could hurt you the way I hurt Sempai! I started it, but he was there too, and he wanted him to hurt, and I took that, and he –" He claws his fingers over his face, adding fresh blood to the ancient crimson that stains the cobblestone.

As she watches, horrified, his shadow begins to roil, thin wisps of smoke curling up from it – and it splits from him, a shadow-Stein rising up with grey-gold eyes full of regret. The shadow's voice is the one she knows, the one she loves, so full of confusion and hurt that it makes her heart ache to hear it. "It went too far, and – and Spirit-" Shadow-Stein chokes. "Part of me didn't want to stop! Part of me enjoyed it! It's wrong and – and I knew it was wrong! But every time I tried to get myself to stop, the Madness pushed harder and- I don't understand why I couldn't stop myself! There's something wrong with me, Marie, you have to leave-"

Static bursts again, a hiss of laughter. The streetlight goes dark.

Without thinking, she reaches out to touch the real Stein; the shadows quiver and slip away. "That's why you kept saying 'we', isn't it? Stein, your Madness isn't another person, it's a part of you! You can't just divorce yourself of it!"

The child-Stein – the Madness – stares at her. The shadow behind him, bound to the child, turns away.

"Yes, you have problems with Madness – but you'd never be as strong as you are today without it! It was learning to control it, to deal with people, that made you a stronger person! Now that you're pushing it away, you've let all your defenses down!" His soul wavelength lashes out, striking her a terrific blow; blood sprays from her lips. "Stein, listen to me!"

"I don't want it anymore!" His voice trembles. "I have to live with the consequences of this mess, isn't that enough?"

A spark lights up the deathscythe's hands. "You selfish bastard," she breathes. "I came here to help you. Maka and your students – all those who looked for you for days because they loved you and wanted to make sure you were okay – Spirit, he has to live with the scars and the memory and – and –" She stutters. Electricity crackles around her, incandescent, and the static in the air instantly set ablaze into little pockets of silence. Even his Madness has to recoil from her fury. "And all you can think about is the consequences you have to deal with?"

The child-Stein flinches. Stein - the shadow, his mind – draws up tight behind the boy. His eyes look to hers, the first hints of fear and regret flickering through.

". . . do you think Maka would be here to help us if she knew the truth?" The two of the simultaneously take in a sharp, choked breath. "Don't you think Spirit could have turned her against you if he really wanted?"

The shadow-Stein blinks. His voice quavers just a tiny bit. "I want to – to – what do I do, Marie? I don't know what to do."

"Silly boy." Marie smiles at them fondly, her face aglow. "You accept it. All of it. All of yourself."

"But-" The boy's voice cracked.

"I know. It's not a wound you can just sew shut. It won't be easy, but you have to face it all. You have accept it, and try to make amends." Her arms, the golden glow of her soul, envelop them both – wrapping the two sides of Stein's mind in her embrace. The static goes quiet as her inner light brightens the void. "And I'll be by your side the whole way. I promise."

"Marie . . . ?"

A scream. The world begins to crumble.

"Marie!"


"CRONA!"

Her head snapped painfully against stone; Marie was instantly conscious, the real world coalescing around her. She was sprawled out feet away from where Stein now lay, Maka thrown the opposite direction, shoved aside by-

-Crona.

Crona, who had seen the attack from a furious Medusa and shoved Maka and Marie aside seconds before it hit.

Crona, who now dangled in mid-air as the Vector Arrow meant to kill them pierced straight through his chest and into the rock below him. He hiccuped once, blood black as coal gushing from his lips, before slumping forward. The Arrow vanished; he splashed down face-first into a pool of his own blood.

". . . that didn't hurt nearly as much as I thought it would," Medusa mused over Maka's screams.

"Crona?! Crona! Crona, stay with me!"

"In fact, it didn't hurt at all."

"Please, Crona, hang in there . . . ."

She turned her back on the scene, admiring her fingernails. "Well, Stein?" she asked the man as he began to climb to his feet. "Care to finish this?"


Marie

Marie

the snake stole his Marie

AGAIN

(she's alive she's alive my Marie she's ALIVE)

and in the

flood

of rage and grief

the scalpel blade

tips

over

(scalpels and ether, needle and thread)

and he looks

into

MADNESS/himself

(a mirror a puzzle Adam and Eve systolic and diastolic two halves of the equation)

accept it

accept the Madness

for

MaRie

and even as he does he

knows

(curiosityhateloveangerjoyfrustrationsatisfactiontheneedtoknow)

he cannot

be

(silken hair satin voice the tingle of electricity after the rains – her smile her scent her SOUL)

WHOLE

without-

(the static is gone the screaming is gone it's so quiet now)

without-

.

.

.

.

.

MARIE


Stein loomed over Medusa, manic grin lingering for a second before he grabbed the witch up by the face and hauled her to his eye level. The insanity in his eyes vanished. "Let's," he snarled, Soul Force crackling.

The blast sent the witch flying; she was only able to keep herself from crashing with the placement of a well-timed Vector Plate. Marie raced toward him, not daring to hope. "Stein . . . ?"

He turned to her; she stopped just in front of him and didn't move as he gently curved a palm around the side of her cheek. "You're alive," he said in a tone of wonder.

"And you accepted it," she replied. Stein nodded once. Marie shook her head and embraced him, not letting go until he tentatively returned the gesture. "I was so afraid you wouldn't-"

"I was a fool." Below them, Maka pressed her hands against Crona's chest, trying to stifle the blood flow. "We have to end this. Now. He's still alive, I can sense his soul, but I don't know if he can hold on for long."

Maka looks up at that, all fury and righteous passion and tears. "Then let's finish this. For Crona."

The professor glanced down at her, nodding once. Marie transformed, the heavy weight of her Weapon form held easily in his hand, and he jumped down to the girl's side. Across from them, Medusa was still shaking off the effects of the Soul Force. "Right. Can you manage a Resonance Link?"

Maka huffed. Resonance Link should have been hard, as furious as she was, with Medusa, with him – but this was Stein, and he could match nearly anyone. 'Maka, Marie and I will draw her attention. You'll have to finish this in order to do it without killing the girl Medusa's possessing.'

Medusa began to reshape her Vector Blade. 'You suddenly care about not hurting people?' She shot an angry glance at him, ignoring Soul's hiss of shock. 'Fine. But I don't see how Witch Hunter will-'

'Not Witch Hunter.' He launched himself at Medusa before she could fully recuperate. 'Your mother's special technique.'

The witch dodged, flipping backwards; she brought her sword down against the electrified metal of Marie's hammer. Sparks flew up in an arc around them. "You think the DWMA will take you back after what you've done, Stein?" she hissed. "You'll be lucky if the Reaper doesn't kill you on the spot!"

"He wouldn't have this to worry about if you hadn't interfered, Medusa!" Marie raged.

"He would have been safe with me if you hadn't interfered!" Medusa countered. "I gave him freedom!"

Stein swung the hammer forward, narrowly missing driving Marie's Weapon form into the little witch's stomach. "You ruined one of the greatest friendships I've ever known," he said lowly, "and I will never forgive you for it."

Witch Hunter flared into life behind them. "You plan to kill this host body just to get to me?" Medusa swiped at them, the blade grazing Stein along the side. "I'm flattered."

"Hardly." He pressed a hand against the wound – shallow and long, mostly a nuisance – before running back after her. "That's just the prelude. You really should have cut your losses back at the anniversary celebration, Medusa."

"And let the Academy keep two of their most valuable resources? Please." She smirked, serpent eyes glittering. "I should thank you for disposing of that idiot partner of yours. I haven't been that amused in a long time. You put on quite the show."

Stein's eyes lit up in a murderous rage. "You," he spat. "Enjoy it while you can, because it's all over."

"Genie Hunter!"

Maka leaped up behind her, rage and pain fueling the giant axe-shaped scythe attack in her hands; she swung her partner down in a whoosh that tore past Medusa and Stein, ripping through the air. "Don't ever touch my family again!" she screamed at them, tears streaming from her eyes.

The rock behind them split in two.

Medusa screamed – the child screamed – and the witch was thrust out of the host body in pieces, a ragged projection that was being shredded alive even as she tried to speak. "I'll see you again, Stein," she hissed, her 'body' unraveling. "I'll see you in hell-"

Rachel fell to the ground, unconscious.

Maka let the Resonance drop; Soul dropped back into his human form a split second later, catching her as she began to cry.

Stein let go of Marie, who placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. "It's over," she said. "Let's go take care of Crona."


There was a distinctly annoying tapping coming from somewhere in the Death Room, and for the life of him Spirit couldn't figure out where it was coming from.

They were about four hours away from Baba Yaga Castle; the thrill of travel still hadn't worn off for Shinigami (and probably never would – the being had been locked in one spot for almost 800 years, after all). He and Azusa were taking turns in shifts watching the monitors and keeping tabs on the teams' progress around the globe; he had just awoken from a much-needed nap and sent her off to rest when the tapping began.

"Did something come loose?" he wondered briefly, ducking down –

–and coming face-to-face with a misshapen snout and beady black eyes.

"Gah!" Spirit jumped back, nearly falling over in shock.

"Fool!" the mighty Excalibur exclaimed, tapping his cane on the floor. "I've been trying to get your attention for years."

"Ten minutes, maybe," Spirit corrected, rolling his eyes, "and you would have got my attention a hell of a lot faster if you'd said something."

"Fool! Of course I said something." Excalibur tucked the cane under one arm and looked up at the redhead, beady eyes ever unblinking. "You just weren't paying attention."

He sighed, rubbing at his forehead. Excalibur was one of the most annoying creatures on the planet, but Excalibur was also one of Shinigami's oldest friends, not to mention the ultimate Weapon, and years of dealing with Stein and Shinigami had built up his resistance against 'annoying'. ". . . sure, let's go with that. So what do you want? I'm kinda busy."

The blank stare somehow grew more intense. "You plan to fight Ashura."

"Shinigami-sama and I plan to, yeah."

The creature leaned against one of the monitors, looking up at him. An unnatural silence fell over the room. After a few moments Spirit sat down on the edge of the dais. "Can I ask you something, Excalibur?"

"Fool!" He turned his head. "Of course."

"What does courage mean to you?"

Excalibur tilted his head for a moment before leaping up on top of the tallest of the monitors. "My story begins in the eighth century!" he shouted with a flourish.

Spirit facepalmed.

"It was a dark and lonely time in England. I preferred coffee with my crumpets back then. And that was when I had my first Meister, Arthur, son of Uther Pendragon." His voice lowered. "Uther didn't bathe as often as he should have.

"Yes, the great King Arthur was my Meister." Excalibur paused, stubby arms stretched out in a dramatic pose. "And he! Was! A coward!"

The deathscythe blinked. This wasn't going quite like his usual nonsensical stories. "Your book said he was unspeakably brave," he ventured.

"Fool!" Excalibur bopped Spirit on the nose with his cane. "I lied.

"Arthur was afraid of three-hundred and seventeen different things, including grey tabby cats with white paws, the color yellow, and oatmeal. He was also afraid of blood, and pain." For a moment the oddball Weapon sounded wistful. "He was also always the first one out on the battlefield whenever there was a kishin to be fought."

"I thought you said he was a coward."

"Fool! Of course he was." He sat down, little legs swinging against the monitor edge. "He was always afraid even when he had no reason to be. He just didn't let his fear stop him from doing what he knew was right."

Spirit looked down at his hands, at his exposed wrists and the faint marks still visible there. "Being afraid and acting anyway," he mused.

Excalibur glanced down at him, eyes shadowed by his omnipresent top hat. "Does that answer your question?"

". . . yeah," he said, tugging his sleeve back down over his wrist. "I think it does."


"There. He's stable. He'll be fine until I can get him somewhere to do a better job."

Stein tucked his lab coat a little tighter around Crona's still form, measuring the boy's pulse at his throat. "He's lucky to have the black blood, though. He wouldn't have survived otherwise."

Maka made a soft unhappy noise at the back of her throat; Soul squeezed her shoulder. "Can you guys handle it from here?" he asked. "We should meet back with our group as soon as we can."

"We'll be fine," Marie assured them. "Rachel's fine, and the black blood can use any blood type – I can donate to Crona if he needs any while we transport him. I doubt he will, though. As soon as his wavelength recovers, he'll be able to harden his blood again."

"I wish Sempai was here," Stein murmured. "His ability to influence others' wavelengths would come in handy right now."

". . . Professor Stein?"

Maka's voice was trembling. Marie shot her a warning look. Her Weapon partner glared back at the deathscythe, keeping close to his Meister. "What did . . . you said you . . . you said such awful things and . . . ."

He sighed, reaching for a pack of cigarettes that wasn't there. "Maka, I'm not the one you should ask."

"I asked Papa and he won't tell me!" She glared at him, hurt in her eyes. "Nobody will tell me anything! He's scared of everything and he's hurt so bad they called in an outside doctor and – and it's your fault! What did you do to him?!"

Stein's face had turned pale below the stitches. "Maka . . . I'm sorry." Beside him, Marie touched his hand in silent support. "I hurt your father, badly, and I'm sorry. But if he's not telling you what happened, then he has a reason." He swallowed. "If it makes it any better . . . once I know Crona's no longer in danger, I'll be turning myself in to the Academy."

Maka stared at him, then touched Crona's cheek briefly before turning away. "Let's go, Soul," she said; they raced out of the room without another word, their footsteps a lonely echoing sound in the crumbling antechamber.

"We'd better go too." Stein's voice was quiet. Marie reached up and brushed his hair from his face.

"Are you sure we should go back to the Academy?"

He took her hand in his and squeezed it gently, a faint smile playing on his lips at her choice of words. "Yeah. I think we should."