Heyo, Ima back.

Within the time period of the last chapter and now, we got CHAPTER 219 announced and released, along with the HUGE bombshell about the Earl.

Although, now, I have to figure out where I wanna go, since I didn't expect the whole Earl bomb (actually, I kinda did, but not so soon..). And, with the series running again, that throws everything I had planned up into the air. Luckily, I am planning to follow the main story line up through till around the time the gang goes after Cross. After that...I dunno what I'll do.

Darke13: That...is actually kind of right. It wasn't what I was looking for, but that makes a lot of sense. Two Scooby Snacks for you (unless you want internet cake or something..)! And thank you!

jazz91121: Woah, hold up! And don't worry, your update, its right here. *smiles*

gabiey: Thank your for your compliments! It makes me happy that people appriciate this story!

Disclaimer: Katsura Hoshino's. Not mine. If so, Chaoji's would be dead.

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As soon as the first flames were spotted by the scouts, he knew there was trouble.

Charlie had been with the Order for a few plenty years now. He grew to know when there were large, echoing gunshots or mysterious ghost fires, it was a sign that Akumas were around. But, didn't the ground teams catch the three demons?

Sticking his head out of the building window, the head of the elite search-and-protect squad looks back towards the part of town where the remaining Finders were.

It looked like a distant war zone- well, techincally it was. Explosions went off in a pattern, screams grew from a low number to a large, endless screech. The chaos was already taking up a large part of town: and its touch was expanding.

With all of this insanity, Charlie figured that the exorcists still hadn't arrived, despite Toma's assurance. At this rate-

Returning back inside the building, the head turns to his remaining team of five finders. Each one had some sort of scared or worried expression. Whether they were worried for their lives or the Innocence, however Charlie couldn't tell.

"We have to protect the Innocence!" he exclaims, trying to hide any fear from his voice. He was scared for his life too, after all. "At least, till the Exorcists come!"

Suddenly, the group grumbles. Someone even scoffs loudly, as if blowing off Charlie's remark.

"Sir, we haven't any word of Toma since he left the meeting point. We have no idea where he, and the Exorcists, could be." one of the Finders exclaims, with others starting to join in.

"Yeah! Where are they?!"

"Shouldn't they be here by now?"

"We're they killed by Akuma as well?"

"What are we gonna do?!"

As each of the Finders started conspiring on where in the possible world their saviors were, their voices started raising, and remarks started to turn into shouts, and soon they were screaming at each other.

"EVERYONE!"

Shutting everyone back up, Charlie takes the reigns of the operation again. "We have a job. We have to fulfill it. Besides-" he begins, sneaking another look outside the nearby window. However, what he sees surprises him.

A glimmer of green shone through all of the red and orange of the nearby flames. It flashed again, as it started moving around fiercely. Charlie couldn't tell what it came from, but he knew it was no Akuma.

It had to be the Exorcists.

"T-the Exorcists are here! Quick, put up a barrier!" Charlie commands, looking back at his team.

Eyes wide, the remaining Finders obey, setting up the defensive devices to their protection stage and setting them all up in a large square. While they work, muttering about how he was lying, Charlie walks past and towards the target they had to protect.

Two people sat curled on the floor, in each others arms. One of the persons was a young girl of sorts, a eyepatch covering half of her face and blonde streaks of hair barely sticking out. The other, however, was covering their entire face, shielding any possible way of identity. Both wore terribly-old rags and hats, and assorted bandages covered old and new wounds.

"The Exorcists should be here soon to escort you back to the Order," Charlie says, looking down at the two persons. "You will stay here until they come. Until then, stay behind this force field. Okay, Ghost of Mater?"

Suddenly, the second person coughs violently, causing both the girl and Charlie to turn sharply. The girl grasps her accomplance's one hand tightly, as the person (he?) used the other arm to cough into. Although the Finder leader couldn't tell for sure, he was sure he saw blood.

"Guzol! Guzol, are you alright?" the girl cries quietly, her face growing frantic and worried for her friend.

With a small laugh, a old, tired voice responds: "I am fine, Lala..."

"Guzol..."

Turning to the old (?) man, Charlie frowns. "Sir, are you alright?"

Despite the man looking back up to the group leader, the Finder still couldn't see this man's face beyond shadows from his large hat. "I assure you, I am alright." he manages to say, before coughing slightly yet again. As the girl tries to comfort her friend (?), Charlie leaves the two, gaining the signal from his men that the force field was ready. Backing out the field area, the large box slowly forms in the large library, surrounding the two people in a white-rainbowish aura. Looking at the box and how it shimmered was almost awe-inspiring.

"Charlie!"

The leader wasn't even able to blink before the gunshot rang out behind.

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There was no way Allen heard what he had.

The Akuma...evovled?

Akuma can't evolve...can they?

All Allen knew, in his five years of destroying Akumas in their Rapid forms, he never encountered a single 'evolved' Akuma. Not once. They all looked like giant, demented balloons made of machine parts and wielded large cannons. They didn't have limbs or faces.

On top of that, it spoke. Akumas never had any speaking capabilities.

"What's wrong, exorcist?" the creature taunts from across the bridge. "Are you scared?"

Ignoring the Akuma's calls, Allen looks up at the skull hovering beside the creature. Looking at it made the young teen disgusted. The black-print letter, symboling the host person's soul, was now faded, like marker that had been wiped away. The skull had a crack running through the center, and the original white color had deteriorated down to a dirty white.

Turning his attention back to the enemy ahead of him, the young exorcist couldn't help but become angry at himself. He failed to save the Finders. He was feet away from saving them: and yet they floated away in black ash. He failed to save the person the Akuma had taken over: he even failed to save the Akuma right in front of him from being taken over by its power.

Suddenly, the Akuma launches itself forward, running across the stone bridge in a flash. Targeting the young Exorcist, it swings its large arm around.

Caught off guard by the sudden movement, Allen jumps up, barely dodging the clawed monster. Landing behind, the white-haired teen pushes himself back towards his opponent, slashing fiercely multiple times. Hoping that he'd catch the Akuma off-guard was a lost dream, as it then turns around blocks all three of Allen's attack.

Meeting the exorcist cut for cut, the two end up at a stand still, struggling not to let the other win.

"You know, for my first fight, you're not to bad, exorcist!" the Akuma rasps, letting a creepy evil grin take over his expression.

Blood pumping, Allen cuts through the creature's defense and slashes towards its chest, but is blocked yet again by the opposite right hand. However, the newbie would quickly find that his decision would lead into a downward spiral.

With a sudden pull, Allen is launched back by the Akuma and thrown across the bridge, back towards the burning town and buildings. Flying backwards, the exorcist crashes through multiple layers of wall after wall, floor after floor, until finally landing in the ruble of some building, some place.

Pain spread like the surrounding flames across his back and arms. His head ached uncontrollably, heart beat resonating in his ears. His sight was jumbled; he could make out red and orange from nearby, but he could also see the broken roof of the building he was in.

Turning his head slightly, ignoring the terrible shock of pain in his neck, Allen sees his left arm, still activated and white, despite the cuts and the large gash on one side. But, slowly, the green flame surrounding his shoulder disappears.

Before Allen could even register his arm's deactivation, his eyes slide closed and mind goes black.

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"Master Kanda, shouldn't we look for Master Walker?" Toma shouts over the wind towards the silent Exorcist ahead of him. It was a frustrating deal: ever since Allen had run off after hearing the gunshots. Kanda didn't care one bit: he just watched his partner leave.

Ahead of Toma, Kanda just 'che'd and continued on his way, landing on a rooftop and continuing his run.

Kanda, on the other hand, didn't put his emotions ahead of him. Instead, he held the mission over his head like a umbrella. They had to find the Innocence, the Ghost of Mater, and the Finders that were guarding it.

Of course, now they had to add 'destroy surrounding Akuma' on the list. Kanda, assuming how naive the stupid moyashi was, probably went after the Akuma to 'save their souls' or what ever he was babling about when they were coming into town.

Suddenly, separate from the flames and other gunshots, a single gunshot from the center of town rings out. Snapping his head around, Kanda watches as a Level One Akuma appears in front of his site, one of its barrels aimed inside a building window.

"Master Kanda, is there an Akuma nearby?" Toma shouts again.

With a single nod, the Finder recieves the message. Frowning, Kanda reaches back and grabs his Innocence, his sword Mugen, and draws it from it's sheath.

It was a frustrating fact the only Exorcists could see Akuma. This meant for more casualties, as well as naive and ignorant Finders. And, as the single Akuma keep shooting inside the building through the window, all Kanda do was just assume that Finders were inside, dying one by one.

"Mugen, summon misfortune; Innocence, Activate!"

Touching two fingers to the dull side of his blade, Kanda drags them along the edge, turning the sword from just sharp to a blade that could kill any other-worldy creature.

As he jumps off of the last closest roof, Kanda slices through the killing machine, causing it to explode in another fireball that lit up the night. As more flames started to touch and spread through the nearby materials, Kanda places his sword back in its sheath. Noticing the amount of bodies still in tact, he looks at each, hoping for at least one survivor. The one thing no one could take away from the room was the large rainbow-ish cube in the middle of the room. The cube was a defensive mechanism: it was protecting something, and that something was the innocence.

The only way for the cube to be deactivated was through the code the Finders set the defense mechanisms with. But, Kanda didn't know the code. So, hopefully one Finder was still alive.

Looking around, Kanda was lucky. One was sitting against what was left of the wall, coughing up some blood. Quickly, the Exorcist hurries over to the dying man.

"Tell me the deactivation code." the blue-haired teen demands. "You don't want your death to be in vain, do you?"

Slowly, the dying Finder nods his head. "Th-he code? 'H-Hav-ve...h-hop-e..'" he utters breathlessly, his head going slack as his body starts to dissolve into black ash.

Letting out a sigh, Kanda turns away and moves his attention towards his next task.

A few minutes later, the cube fades away, revealing the components inside. Two people, a young girl of sorts and another un-identifable figure sit in each others arms, grasping each other tightly.

Noticing Kanda's prescene, the girl stares up at him. "A-re you the Exorcist?" she asks nervously. "Are you here to save us?"

The older teen does not reply: instead, he remains silent. He holds out a hand to the crouched duo, his expression staying stark.

"Come with me if you want to live."

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When feeling returns, his eyes flash open.

Sitting up with a jolt (ignoring any remaining pain), Allen looks around, alert and awake.

"I-I'm alive!"

Looking around the the ruble beside him, the memories of what had happened to him come rushing back. The dying Finder, the Akuma evolving (?), and how he was sent flying itno the building.

Slowly, the younger Exorcist stands up, finding that his balance wasn't affected by his tumble. No broken bones, either. Even Allen was awed at how he was still alive.

Deciding that keeping his Innocence unactivated would keep the Akuma away, Allen slowly escapes the ruble piles around him, pushing through the many buildings and what was left of them.

Eventually, once he reaches the sidewalks, Allen takes in a good look of his surroundings. The evolved Akuma had disappeared: and now, towards the center of town, there was a large gaping hole where smaller flames burned. The rest of town was almost silent now: the other two Akuma were gone as well.

"I have no idea where to go...or where BaKanda is..." Allen mutters, trying to figure out where to go. With a shrug of his shoulders, the white-haired exorcist continues on, going back to the bridge where he originally met the evolved Akuma. Crossing it, he heads towards the large crater in the building in the center of town. Maybe BaKanda and Toma were there?

However, after losing site of his destination, and taking lefts and rights in hopes of finding his way, Allen slowly finds himself going in circles. Eventually, he finds a small crawl space in one of the buildings, and starts crawling around. After finding the crater building through a crack, he tries to make his way up to the building.

But, after a good fifteen minutes, the Exorcist finds himself curled up, hugging his legs.

"I'M LOOOOOST!"

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I have been in a real Terminator mood recently...

Sorry about the chapter!

See yous later!

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Letting down the old man from his back and onto the floor, the little girl closes the room door behind him.

Slowly, Kanda walks to the room window, pulling down the shade to try and hide any clue of their prescence. The girl then sits beside the old man, their hats hiding their faces in multiple shadows.

"Alright, which one of you is the 'ghost'?" Kanda questions, crossing his arms. Toma could've possibly known: however, Kanda had sent him after the stupid Moyashi.

Suddenly, the old man speaks up. "I-I am the Ghost of Mater.." he starts, letting out a few coughs, causing the young girl to worry again.

Kanda's eyes widen. He didn't expect it to be the old man. "You know what I need. I'll be taking your Innocence." he replies, walking over towards the duo.

However, the girl suddenly lunges out between the two. "Wait! You can't!" she exclaims, worry planted in her tone.

"Oh? And why not?"

The girl frowns. "B-Because...I'm Guzol's d-"

Now, it is the old man who interjects. "No! This girl..she is just a girl who I found in town! She has come to care for me often! Do not hurt her!"

"Alright then. Ghost, do you have the Innocence?" Kanda questions. He wanted to know which of these two had the Innocence. There was a reason the Finders wanted to protect these two.

"I do. It is the core in which powers me.." the old man replies slowly. However, the girl yet again barges into the conversation.

"Please wait though, exorcist!" the girl exclaims, placing her arm over her friend. "Guzol..his time is about to run out! Please! Wait until Guzol dies peacefully! We will give you Innocence then!"

Hearing the girl's plea, Kanda lets out a sigh. He didn't know why he was doing this. "Fine. But, I want it before the end of the night." he demands angrily, almost growling.

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"Exorcist? Come out, come out, wherever you are!"