A/N: I'm back. That's right, I'm back.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own D. gray-man. I know, huge shock, isn't it?

NOTES: Innocence Break is the second stage of Innocence in this AU. It allows you to essentially launch massively offensive attacks, but drains you very quickly and has life threatening side effects. It sounded good in my head okay.

Chapter Ten Part I: Rivers

"Life is for the living.
Death is for the dead.
Let life be like music.
And death a note unsaid."

― Langston Hughes, The Collected Poems

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:

Lenalee screamed.

The monstrous abomination before her was Suman, and yet it no longer was.

Too weak to resist the sudden pull of gravity, she collapsed on her knees, and Miranda knelt down next to her helplessly. The latter racked her brains for a method out, for a miraculous solution to Suman's plight and Lenalee's despair. For Suman could not be dead – moments ago he had just assured her that it would be alright, that everything would be fine, that there was no cause for her worry. The broken monster in front of her could not be Suman, for any moment now, the real Suman would surely walk up to them, the usual nonchalant expression on his completely unharmed face, and Lenalee would cease her tears and break into a watery smile. Yes, yes, Miranda was sure of it. She looked around to make sure.

No one.

And the other girl too dissolved into tears.

Allen stood before the harbinger of death, his eyes locked upon the ghastly sight. It was not an Akuma – he could not see any soul being forcefully attached to it. Lavi shook the boy.

'Lavi, what – what's that?'

'Suman's Innocence is attacking him. That's a Fallen One.'

'Why… Why?'

'He… for want of a better explanation, rebelled against his lot. Against his Innocence.'

'…'

'Come on, let's go stop him. Grief comes later.'

Is that what happens? When you refuse your Innocence?

Allen felt something icy slide into his chest.

Kanda sped across the courtyard, sidestepping any remaining Akuma. Flocks of them had floated away, blind instinct directing them to the Innocence in its most raw, destructive form.

This cannot be. He had died to make sure of it.

Rushing towards what his heart begged him to run away from, Kanda steeled himself for what was to come.

Kanda never hesitated - it was a sort of personal motto. For he lived his life sword before mind, and he had seen people live and die. To hesitate would be to cost him the precious seconds that he needed to claw his existence back from certain mortality.

'SUMAN! SUMAN –'

'STOP IT, ALLEN-!'

'NO, not Suman, why -'

'I'm useless, if only-'

And yet he hesitated. He was harsh, he knew, and a group deaf to the words he needed them to know would not be helpful in the least.

'Lenalee, stop crying.' She paid him no heed. He pressed on.

'Go evacuate the village.' No response was heard.

'Hmph. They could die for all I care.'

Everyone stopped and looked at him.

'If you care for the fate of these people, then go.' said Kanda, with a note of finality.

Allen squeezed Lenalee's shoulder and handed her Timcanpy. A golem capable of tracking humans would be useful.

'Walker, Lotto, come with me. Lavi, follow Lenalee.'

Toma was scribbling furiously in his notepad.

Suman Dark X

Good fighter, excellent manipulator, good planner, decisive and fast to take action. FALLEN

Lenalee Lee

Fair fighter, indecisive, unsuited for battle, too feeling and sympathetic.

Yu Kanda

Excellent fighter, suited at battle, lacks co-operation, lacks planning, stubborn.

Allen Walker

Good fighter, indecisive, battle range is very far, sharp senses, too feeling and sympathetic.

Lavi Bookman Jr.

Excellent fighter, excellent planner, far battle range, extremely good instinct, suited for battle, good team member.

Miranda Lotto

Poor fighter, excellent ability (time manipulation, apparently), unconfident, indecisive, extremely unsuited for battle.

What a fruitful Mission! Indeed the Principal made the right decision to continue it this year, Toma thought to himself, going back to his binoculars like an avid birdwatcher.

'Kanda, stop - Are you going to kill him? This is Suman-!'

'Why can't you just get it through your thick skull that this IS NOT SUMAN! He's long gone, long dead, NEVER COMING BACK!'

Desperate, Allen attempted, 'There's definitely a method to get him out – We could pull out his body-'

The tintinnabulation of metal sounded as Allen blocked Kanda's increasingly strong attacks.

'Are you trying to get us all killed-?'

BOOM. The Fallen One crushed a clutter of huts. The buzz of Akuma surrounded them.

Ignoring everything else, Allen and Kanda parried and blocked each other.

'TIME RECORD, HALT!' Miranda roared. The two fighters froze halfway in motion.

'WHY ARE YOU FIGHTING EACH OTHER? WHY? CAN'T YOU BOTH JUST SHUT UP AND – and-'

All the bite had gone out of Miranda's voice.

'-And save Suman… stop his pain?'

She undid time record. Allen and Kanda fell to the ground, disorientated.

.

.

'I-I'm sorry, Miranda.'

Allen rearranged his claw. Kanda gestured his sword to what remained of Suman.

'You pin down the Fallen One, I cut him out. Lotto, keep the Akuma at bay with that sphere thing.'

Nodding, Allen expanded his claw to trap Suman, swatting away the swarms of Akuma, and Miranda focused on creating a circumference large enough. Kanda slashed his sword, summoning hordes of ghostly apparitions that tore through the foul concoctions of man and machine, littering them all with ashes.

A large cloud of smoke and debris bellowed and cleared: The Fallen One wailed and struggled, but remained firmly clasped under Allen's gigantic claw.

'Now, Kanda!'

Kanda leaped onto the shell of a man. Soon enough, he located the gaping depths that Suman's original body was located in, and started to extricate it, lopping off the pieces of fiber attached. Suman himself moved painfully, his eyes coming to a poignant rest at impassive Kanda. Help, he mouthed.

Kanda sunk ever deeper into the pool of plasma, trying so hard to free Suman.

Alma would want that, too.

He would want closure, a chosen death.

Lavi had shouted until his voice was hoarse. Where was Lenalee? He and Timcanpy had combed every nook and cranny in the area, and there was no one, nothing left - except for the myriad of Akuma that continuously descended from the swarms overhead, attracted to his Innocence, to the scent of the living. They exploded in the swirl of fiery heat that Lavi produced.

'Lenalee, Lenalee!'

There were so many Akuma. Lavi began to feel his arms ache and his breathing rate grow alarmingly fast.

A level three Akuma loomed over Lenalee, griping her hair with massive, clumsy fingers. It peered over to the smoking carcass of a level two Akuma, the shredded remains of a well-tailored suit and a shotgun lying next to it. Another level three Akuma, ripping off the uncanny resemblance to Lenalee that it wore as a mask, stood sentry over the area, deploying its ability of concealing presences.

'Picture: Little girl, far from home, about to die tragically in the hands of the main villain.'

'Shut up with that,' said Akuma-Vivian, 'It's really annoying.'

Akuma-Artist replied, 'Picture: The tortured artist remains calm despite the dagger-like insults thrown at him.'

'Shut up or I'll kill you. And claim girlie all to myself.'

'...Picture: Foolish sidekick offends the swashbuckling Master Villain.'

'…I think she's awake.'

Indeed, Lenalee stirred feebly. Her eyes soon adjusted to the two Akuma in front of her –

I can't take out all of them! How, how?

'Hello, little girl,' Akuma-Vivian mocked. Lenalee felt the tension on her scalp slacken - Akuma-Artist was not a careful one.

'Goodbye, little girl-'

'INNOCENCE, BREAK!'

The dark boots transformed, sleeker, colder –

Narrow blades appeared on the soles. They meant that Lenalee would not be able to rest or land, but she would gain a higher offensive ability.

She kicked - flew up three paces, brushed against a claw, and stabbed into the Akuma's head. Expecting the sinking sensation of cutting flesh, Lenalee instead felt the clash of metal - the fingers of the Akuma lunged – once again trapping her locks in its grasp, like the tangled hair of a neglected doll. Akuma-Artist peered at Lenalee through insect-like eyes.

'That's a feisty one, isn't it?' it crooned.

Lenalee could feel her scalp burning from the pulling.

'Let's finish her off.' Akuma-Vivian swooped down.

The girl could see the Akuma choosing which finger to stab through her, on which finger would her own blood run too free and too fresh.

No – No!

Desperate, Lenalee pulled out a shard from her shoe, and sliced it through her hair.

I can fly, I can make it, I can –

She couldn't. She collapsed, a heap on the ground that would be her final resting place-

'Accept your fate, girl! Only one road is paved for all of you pathetic users of Innocence!' Akuma-Vivian crackled afresh, its fingers morphed into a crude lance.

Lenalee started crawling, handfuls of scorched earth one after another, her heart seemingly determined to use up all her allocated heartbeats before her time was up –

I… don't want to die! Save me!

'Please, kill… me.' Fallen-Suman begged, his voice barely above a whisper.

Tears streamed down Allen's and Miranda's faces as they choked on words unsaid. Kanda unsheathed his sword once again.

'Alright. Goodbye.' He readied his blade.

.

For he already belongs to Death, what is the use in bringing him back?

Leave him in peace where he belongs, and let his sorrows cease forevermore.

Alma had always had a thing for bad poetry, Kanda thought.

.

Blood splayed onto every surface, and ran like rivers, seeping into the ground. Miranda clasped her hands together, and Allen stood firm, blinding white in the sea of crimson.

'Akuma presence there - LENALEE!'

A-Allen?

You came.

And the frightened little girl finally caved in to unconsciousness.

Miranda grabbed her as she fell. The chopped, frayed hair, the pallid face, and the numerous scars and bruises - she took them in, guilt sinking her heart.

Kanda and Lavi assumed battle positions. Allen dug into the remnants of the Akuma's concealing shield, forcing it to disintegrate and reveal the enemy. Out they rose, two metallic structures of mass destruction - Kanda swerved and stabbed, Lavi schemed and protected.

'Innocence break.' An electric current coated Kanda's sword and sheath, and he dashed forward, swiftly impaling an Akuma. A heavy groan, a bright flash – ashes. The other Akuma was flying away, far out of reach.

'Kanda, hammer!'

Lavi expanded his Innocence, Kanda leaped onto it – and with a forceful swing, Kanda was airborne, and he plunged the twin weapons one after another into the thick metallic hide of the monster. An explosion – then silence, bar the thud of the sword user's landing.

He looked completely fine, but slowly, Kanda arched backwards and collapsed.

A/N: Chapter 10 pt. 2 will be out as soon as I finish it. It will be very short, just to let you all know.

Please leave a review for the needy author.

I'll go around all your fanfictions and leave reviews too. /desperate/

EXTRA: Please tell me if you will like Chimera to include romance. Of course, romance will still not be the main point, but it does add an extra bond between certain characters and makes the entire fanfiction much more enjoyable (says my shipper mind). So? Romance Yes / No? What pairing(s)?