"Why didn't he die?" Cross swore loudly.

He spun on his heel and sprinted in the direction of the explosion, not paying any of the exorcists and finders any attention. After he got past the crowd to an open space, he started to chant without breaking pace.

On abata ura masarakato on gataru! Grave of Maria Limit release!

He halted to a stop and made a few complex maneuvers with his hands. All of a sudden, a dead black coffin bound in chains rose from the ground, leaving a gaping hole where it came from. He started off again, sprinting at an inhumanly pace. The black coffin floated inches above the ground behind him.

Cross turned a corner and was gone.

Everybody else barely regained his or her senses, and everything immediately broke into confusion. Every finder that was there rushed to get their equipment. Kanda and Lavi sprinted after Cross. Lenalee and Anna still just stood there, Lenalee looking into Allen's empty room in disbelief.

Komui ran out from one of the mass of people, his face wrought with fear. Without slowing down, he dove into Lenalee, hugging her tightly.

"LENALEE!! Are you okay?! Are you hurt anywhere!?" Komui sobbed, still clinging to his sister.

"I'm perfectly fine, Brother! The only one hurting me is—" She was cut off by her brother's scream.

"WHERE IS HE?!?! I'LL KILL HIM!" he suddenly cried.

"…You!! You're crushing me! Get off!"

Komui instantly detached himself from the girl. "…I'm so glad that you didn't get hurt, Lenalee…," he said softly.

"Thank you, Brother. But we need to find what that look-alike did with Allen! Come on, Anna!" Lenalee took the Anna's hand and started to run in the same direction as Lavi, Kanda and Cross.

Before she went no further than ten feet, a shake resounded in the opposite direction. Lenalee and Anna skidded to a halt and looked at each other. Wordlessly they took off in that direction. Lenalee jumped away, gone in the blink of an eye, while an angel wing and a bat-like wing appeared on Anna's back. Crouching, she took off after Lenalee, flying low and fast.

--

Lavi and Kanda sprinted off after the womanizing general. Just as soon as the two finally caught a glimpse of his red hair, an explosion from behind them halted the two exorcists in their place. Lavi looked ahead and saw that Cross continued on, ignoring new calamity.

"Should we continue on or go back?" Lavi turned to Kanda.

The sword-bearing exorcist looked the bookman successor in the eye.

"You go back. I'll go help Cross."

"What? No, I'm staying with you."

"We don't need a General and two strong exorcists just to take on one Noah. Hell, Cross could probably do it by his self. You go help everyone else."

"But…."

"NOW!" Kanda's stern tone had the junior Bookman scurrying.

Just as soon as Lavi turned to go back, a third explosion came from high above them.

"What?! How fast does he move?" Lavi asked, looking at the giant cloud of dust and debris that pointed out the location of the enemy.

"I'll get it! You go back and help!" Kanda ordered.

Kanda went into a low crouch, and then jumped off the balcony, high above the ground. Lavi just watched in amazement as Kanda landed safely and smoothly on the other side. He turned around to the redhead.

"What are you doing!?" Kanda yelled across the open gap. "Go help them!"

With that said, Kanda took off towards the stairs. The cloud of debris was roughly four stories above him.

There was another shake, and Lavi looked above him. High above, almost at the very top, there rained rocks down. He smiled faintly to himself.

"Well, now Yu can't object. Big Hammer, Small Hammer!" Lavi shouted, activating his Innocence.

He drove the spike on top of the head into the floor, and then grabbed the handle that was protruding high up. He extended it, rising fast. He looked up at his destination. After seeing nothing in particular, he looked back around.

Lavi continued on at a speedy pace. He looked over and saw that Kanda had just reached his destination… but something was off. Lavi slowed his ascent to look more closely at his fellow Exorcist. Kanda had a strange expression and stance. His face said he was angry, but his stance showed he was afraid.

Kanda? Afraid? Lavi had never thought it possible. The Exorcist was always so calm and level headed. Sure, he may get a little angry at times, but was never afraid. What could he possibly be facing to be scared?

Lavi, with one weary last look, sped upwards again. He had his own enemy to face. Kanda had his. It was not his problem. He heard several explosions from behind him. Turning to look, he saw a pair of glowing wings flying towards one. Zokalo dropped down to one that was lower down while Cloud rode Lau Jimin up to one that was at half-mast of the building. He saw Tiedoll also drop down, except he went to one that was on the other side.

Sighing, Lavi turned back to look at where he was going.

Just a few more feet, Lavi thought to himself.

Ten feet…. Seven feet…. Five…. Three…. One…. He arrived at the proper floor and wordlessly stepped onto the destroyed balcony. Calling his hammer back to a more useful size, he took a battle-ready stance.

Lavi took one cautious step forward. There was still dust all around him; he couldn't see anything. Next instant it was gone; blown away by some mysterious wind.

Lavi saw himself looking into his own eye.

"You…!" He clenched his teeth as he looked at his inner self. Lavi had fought his bookman side one before, and it was not a very easy fight. He nearly killed his friends.

"Yo."

--

Kanda raced up to get to his final destination. As he ran, he looked over and saw the bookman successor staring at him.

Go do your own damn work!

Kanda reached the proper floor. All around him there was dust and debris. He couldn't see in front of him. Then suddenly there was a slicing noise, and several of his hairs around his ears were sliced off. The dust blew away from an unknown wind and Kanda saw who his opponent was.

No….

"Yu! How have you been?" The boy standing in front of Kanda said happily.

"You bastard!" Kanda tightened his grip on Mugen. His face and words showed anger, but he was truly afraid of this boy standing before him.

"Now, now. Is that anyway to treat your old friend?"

"Shut up! You're dead! I killed you!" Kanda's knuckles were now white.

The boy's smile faltered for a split second, but it was instantly covered up by a smile. "That wasn't your choice… I know you didn't want to do it. So it's fine!"

"Shut up, Alma!" Kanda cried out. He couldn't let the reappearance of his best friend effect him.

"What's wrong, Yu? We're still friends, right?"

"Not anymore…" Kanda whispered, softly.

"I…am sorry to hear that…" Alma whispered back.

Kanda was quiet.

"Well, I guess this is goodbye?"

"Goodbye, Alma…my friend."

Kanda Yu and Alma ran at each other, swords drawn ready.

--

Lenalee landed at the base of the cloud she had been heading for. Anna had split up and went for yet another cloud. It seemed oddly quiet, though. Like all other sound was muffled.

Lenalee looked around. The bare walls of her home were dusty and had chips and scratches taken out of them. Looking back at the cloud, she took a step forward, heel clacking on the ground. That sounded muffled, too. She looked down; her ankles were hidden in the dust.

In fact, everything was muffled. Everything seemed to be slowed down, as well. She looked over and down, she saw Zokalo get hit. He flew back, but much too slow to be real. She turned her head back. The dust blew gently in place, but that was slow too.

She heard a faint noise. Something that was clear. She took more steps into the cloud. Her thighs were now invisible in the dust. She heard the sound again. It was a sort of a grunt.

Curious, Lenalee stepped forward again. Now all the way up to her chest was invisible in dust. She turned her head slightly, to capture more of the sound. She took another step forward. Time seemed to slow down even more. Up to her neck was hidden.

She heard a thump and a crack. Lenalee took a final step into the cloud, and her body, all the way past her head, was hidden in the cloud. The moment she entered, the cloud blew away and revealed what was making the noise. Lenalee let out a blood-curling scream.

--

Hey, everyone! Thanks for reading my new chapter, and I hope you enjoyed it!

It's kinda funny... I'm in Cullowhee, North Carolina right now. Ugh. Stupid 10 hour drive.

Anywhoo, remember to go to my profile and check out the picture of anna that MCutie drew!!! I'd really ppreciate it! Oh, snf while you're there, participate in my poll! :D

Okay, for your weekly question....what's the longest drive you've ever been in? Like mine has probably been like 16-17 hours. What about you?

Thanks for all of your wonderful reviews! I really, really appreciate it, and it's really the only reason I keep writing this :)

I'll see you all next time! Paka!