Well, my friends, here it is: the newest chapter to "Witches Man, Witches." (I thought I'd put a little intro in here so that you all knew I was human haha.) Anyway, here's the story thus fa-

Er: Oh can it, they should know what's happened if they've read through.

Shut up Erik this is my story, so I'll run it…*looks over at Minora*

Mi:….*stares back, not blinking*

Uuh…uuh…yeeeeeah anyway.

B*S: *Busts door down* HEY, WHEN ARE WE GOING TO GET BACK INTO THE STORY HUH! I'm BORED!

Tsu: Black Star don't be rude…

So: No, he's right, this is totally uncool.

Would you all shut up, please?

Er: Why don't you just get on with the story?

Mi:…*twiddles thumbs nervously*

B*S: C'MON LET'S GO!

All right all right fine! Where's Maka so she can start this thing?

So: She was right behind me a second ago…

Mi: A sound Soul, dwells within a sound Mind, and a sound Body.

…...creepy.

Black Star and Tsubaki stood outside the entrance to a dark cave in the woods. Black Star had his hips and his legs apart, standing as if he were the most important person in the world, while Tsubaki stood with her hands clasped in front of her while she gazed into the cave.

"Well Tsubaki, let's go!" Black Star exclaimed, his voice literally echoing throughout the cave before him. Tsubaki looked shocked and also exclaimed, "Black Star! Not so loud!" then she realized that she had yelled too and gasped, putting her hands to her mouth. Black Star looked back at his partner and grinned widely, showing all his teeth while he gave her a thumbs up.

"Don't worry about a thing, Tsubaki! This X guy is as good as toast now that I, Black Star, am after him! After all, I'm going to surpass God one day!" he said, his voice almost getting louder with every word. Tsubaki sighed and replied, "Of course, Black Star," then looked around at the forest around them. After a moment, she asked, "So why did we come here anyway, Black Star? Isn't this where Maka and Soul are supposed to be looking for that Witch?" Black Star merely replied, "Well, if this X guy is supposed to be working with the Witch, wouldn't he be somewhere nearby?" Tsubaki nodded and said, "Yeah…that would make sense. That was very clever of you, Black Star!" After she said that, Black Star started to laugh loudly, saying, "Yeah! I'm a genius like that!" After a few minutes, he finally calmed down enough to say, "Either way, this guy isn't likely to be a pushover. Let's go, Tsubaki, Kusarigama mode!" She nodded and transformed, Black Star catching her deftly as he walked forward, all the while thinking, "I'm coming for you, X. I hope you're ready."

Maka and Soul were resting now, since they had been out here for a few days now. Luckily for them, there was a small town just nearby, where they had replenished their supplies so that they could keep looking for the Shining Witch. "It's strange," thought Maka, poking at the fire they had made, "I can feel her nearby, but it's distorted. It's not like she's different than any other Witch…more like it's hidden behind some sort of barrier or something." Then a thought occurred to her, something she thought maybe she should have realized a while ago; maybe she was hidden behind something, some sort of barrier that kept Maka from finding her lair, and from letting her see her soul properly. As these thoughts coursed through her mind, she felt herself getting sleepy, until she finally passed out.

Soul watched Maka rest against the trunk of a tree while he prodded the fire he had made. "Without any help from her," he thought, somewhat frustrated, "just what the hell is she doing over there? Sleeping? Geez…" As Soul gazed at his partner, he felt his eyes begin roam about her, mainly the features of her face and skin. Her face was set in a somewhat frustrated frown, but it wasn't unattractive to him. As a matter of fact, what he saw was something as near perfect beauty. He noticed the way her pony tails hung over her shoulders, and found it amusing when she began to fiddle with one as she really began to get into whatever dreams she was having. She adjusted herself as she was sleeping and part her skirt pulled up a little, revealing a larger portion of her thigh, something that Soul found his eyes lock on. He felt his face get warm as he stared at her porcelain skin. Then she pulled the skirt back down, and he thought he had been caught, but to his relief he noticed that her eyes were still closed. "I wonder what she's dreaming about," thought Soul, the pale flesh still fresh in his mind. He began to imagine what it would feel like to touch it…then caught himself, thinking, "What the hell Soul, what are you some kind of freaking pervert? Get your head out of the gutter." But despite what he told himself, the thoughts kept going through his mind, until finally he began staring at Maka with an almost hungry look on his face. And it was at this moment that Maka emerald orbs snapped open, staring dead at Soul, who was still looking at her in that strange way, and whose face was now burning hot, his cheeks pink.

"Soul, what are you staring at?" she asked suspiciously, trying to follow his gaze, which was now fixed on the little bit of her thigh that was still exposed. When she caught onto this, she turned bright red and said, "S-S-Soul! What the hell?" Before Soul, now flustered and embarrassed, could answer, Maka nailed him with a "Maka Chop" with her book, which looked like a Japanese to English dictionary.

"Gaaah! Maka what was that for!" he exclaimed, to which Maka angrily replied, "You were….you were…." She turned bright red and kicked him once, twice, three times before she stormed off into the woods, leaving Soul to tend to his new injuries.
"God, I can't believe him! I mean, my own partner, a nasty pervert! I swear, all men think about is sex!" she said as she stomped through the forest, no twig or leaf or sprout safe from her heavy footfalls. At one point she noticed a squirrel sitting in a tree nearby, watching her with its tail twitching while it munched on an acorn. She looked at it angrily for a moment, but when it didn't move, she screamed, "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU LOOKING AT?" At this sudden outburst, the squirrel squeaked and fell from the tree, landing on its back with its tail still twitching. She would have felt kind of bad about that, had she not been so incredibly pissed off. "Hypocrite," she caught herself thinking, and stopped stomping. After all, had she not done the same, just the other night?

When it had been raining, and Soul had gotten them to the town nearby, where they stayed at a local inn, using what little money they had. They were completely soaked through by the time they got to the room, so she had gone to the bathroom to change, but now before she saw Soul change his shirt. The look of his body had captivated her attention, and she had the feeling that she had looked just like he had. "Maybe he wasn't just being a horny teenager…maybe he feels how I feel." At this she sat on a stump and put her chin in her hands, looking over at the still twitching squirrel, pouting. "And just what do I feel for him?" she thought to herself, her anger dissipating and giving way for her coming sulk. She knew she loved him, but what if he didn't feel the same? What if just saw her as something to use for his amusement? The very thought made her nauseous. "No…that's not Soul." She thought, knowing full well that Soul was her best friend and wouldn't do anything like that, ever. "What if he said no?" Well, she supposed she could live with that. Granted, she wouldn't be happy about it, but at least she would know. Then she felt her stomach do a little flip when the next thought rolled through her head.

"What…what if he said yes?" she bit her lower lip, and she felt her heart flutter uncontrollably at the thought. After all, besides her dream of making him a Death Scythe, that was something that she had always wanted. "No…not wanted…needed. I need it…I need him." After a few minutes she felt better, and as a plus, she had made a decision. She would tell Soul tonight, and get it over with once and for all. She stood and looked down at the squirrel once more, which was still out cold on the ground. She muttered a quick "I'm sorry," before she started to walk back to the camp. At least that was where she had planned to walk to, until she felt it, its presence as obvious as if someone were announcing it. She looked left and saw it; a cave entrance. It didn't look like anything special, but using her Soul Perception she could see it…the Witches wavelength…pouring out of the cave as if it were smoke billowing out of the gaping maw of a dragon. In all honesty, it kind of scared her. "But we found her, finally we found her. Sorry Soul, but I guess I'll have to tell you later..." she thought, kind of put out that it would have to wait, but still running to go get him, remembering this spot, all the while crying out, "SOUL! SOUL! I FOUND IT!" And as she yelled his name, she couldn't deny that it felt good…right.

"Lilith, Gate C and Gate A have been breached, one by the scythe-meister pair that I spotted earlier. Seems she just kind of stumbled on it on accident. From what I heard from the few recording systems left over from Arachnophobia, this pair is definitely after you, mistress," reported the man, still dressed in the black cloak and hood of his master. She glanced at him and wondered listlessly if he ever changed, "and the other gate, Gate A, has been breached by a second weapon-meister pair, also from the Academy. This one was an obnoxious brat and a rather attractive woman. Unfortunately I couldn't hear much of their conversation, since the boys incessant yelling was actually enough to bust the speaker. But I do know that they are looking for X." The Shining Witch glanced up from her crystal, which had gone dark quite some time ago, and said, "Oho, 'rather attractive' you say? Looking at other women now, child?" The man merely replied calmly, "Of course not, mistress. Just making an observation."

"Of course it was. But this business with X has me somewhat unsettled," She said, gazing pensively into her dark crystal, an almost bored expression on her face, "I haven't chosen a new X yet, as you know." At this the man jumped, showing true excitement, "I am more than ready to accept this honor, mistress." At this remark she chuckled and said, "Oh, child, your wavelength is indeed powerful enough, but I can't put the original into just any old Meister. No, I'm afraid that just won't do. But you may prove useful to me, if you are willing to serve." The man, now excited like a puppy about to go on a walk, said, "Anything for you, mistress." She smiled and said, "Very well, this is what I want you to do."