CHAPTER ELEVEN: THE END...

Crona shook with fear at his "twin" that stood above him, breathing heavily and glaring at him with those yellow eyes now bright with hate and rage, no trace of the intelligence he displayed before. The others in the room had no choice but to be a audience to the events, many to shocked to even comment on "how that traitor's gonna die".

"What's happening?!" Maka asked, the worry clear in her voice.

"The Madness is accepting what it is...mindless insanity." Stein answered darkly.

The Madness looked down at the boy with contempt before raising his hand, his fingers now black five curved claws and viciously swung downward at Crona, but the pinkette rolled back into his feet just narrowly avoiding. This act of defense did nothing to hinder the living Black Blood or to stop him from lunging at the boy, his aim true this time. Crona grunted from the slash he received, his robe slashed open like paper to expose his chest and the newly formed five claw marks. The incoming swipe was blocked by Ragnarok, who quickly fitted into Crona's hand as a sword.

"Say the spell!" Ragnarok ordered, but Crona shook his head.

"I-I can't. He won't stop attacking." the Demon Swordsman held the Demon Weapon in a fighting stance. "W-we have to fight."

"Just don't get yourself stabbed again!" Ragnarok said in annoyance.

The Madness took Crona's silent agreement for battle ecstatically, his body movements more animal like as he stood on all fours, radiating dark magic. Nothing else matter to the two enemies, not the murmurs from several students about how and why "the traitor would fight for them", not the Death Room's bright walls that slowly darkened , nothing but the fact that there was one so-called "Son" of Medusa that must be destroyed. One an creation, the other the abused child, two Black Blood users in a fight to the death. The Madness snarled a animal's snarl at he leaps into the air, landing right where his prey stood seconds before his feet reached the ground. Crona swung the sword down, but the Madness pushed the attack away with one arm and used his other to hit the pinkette's stomach. Phlegm with the coloration of oil was spat out Crona's mouth whilst he slashed at Madness, who scurried away like a rat out of the way.

"Scream Resonance." Crona said, Ragnarok's deafening scream having no effect on his ears due to his long exposure to the technique. The Madness snarled through gritted teeth at the scream. Crona took his chance whilst his "twin" shook his head and went to stab, but the Madness recovered just in time to avoid the tip of the sword and delivered a strong uppercut to the chin that knocked Crona flying a few feet away. The Madness took no time to gloat-a uncharacteristic action-and went to slash Crona, who greeted it with a slash of his own that made contact, Ragnarok stained with Black Blood. The Madness took no notice of his bleeding arm as the wound healed itself; now was not the time to show weakness.

"How the hell is he so strong?!" Ragnarok couldn't believe it.

"H-he's too strong." compared to the Madness, Crona had suffered many injuries; his robe was torn in various places, claw marks all over his body and his hair was matted in Black Blood. He grunted as the Madness' grabbed his hair and lifted him off the ground slightly, his other claw holding the pinkette's arm that held Ragnarok. Crona struggled to get his arm free, but the grip became tighter until Crona screamed in pain.

"The kid sure is taking a beating..." Free commented.

"I'm not surprised." Lord Death said. "The Madness has been inside Crona for many years he's managed to predict the actions of his host and learnt how to counter them. If he had kept up the playful facade than he would have been making jokes, leaving him open for a attack. But now..."

"He's not playing around." Sid finished grimly.

"But we can't just do nothing!" Marie said. "We have to help!"

"Yeah, we would if this damn force field wasn't up." Soul grunted. "This is Crona's fight so far."

Speaking of Crona, the pain he felt escalated even higher with every passing second. He received many punches (having lost track after four) to the stomach before being tossed into the air where the Madness met him in a nanosecond to kick him in the back, slash his face and than slam his foot into his stomach. Crona fell like a bag of bricks onto the floor. He gasped as the Madness latched both hands around his throat, desperate to strangle him to death. Crona tried to claw his way out, but the grip was to grip. He gasped, his face turning blue before his body realized the lack of oxygen. Crona uttered one word before losing consciousness, one word that was audible to everyone.

"Maka..."


Everyone in the room became dead silent as they watched Crona's eyes close and clawing hands go limp at his side. The Madness got off and look at his claws, almost as though he could not believe what he did. A ear splitting grin spread across his face as he spoke for the first time since the fight began, a small part of his "sanity" returning.

"See that, Medusa." the Madness stood onto his feet, panting slightly, and looked up to the sky patterned ceiling, his claws crackling with magic. "WHOSE THE SUPERIOR SON NOW!" his hands let out a jet of magic which made contact with the ceiling; it exploded into a hole, exposing the red clouds up above and letting in a downpour of rain. The Madness showed no sign of annoyance at the debris and rain falling down on him as he was too busy laughing hysterically, relishing in his victory. All but one stared at the insane creature in horror.

"CRONA!" Maka couldn't watch anymore. Shen grabbed Soul and began slamming her partner into the invincible bubble that prevented them from interfering, trying to break free. Their friends saw this and came to a silent agreement before following Maka's lead. They're fists and feet stuck the field time and time again, leaving only cracks.

"Students!" Lord Death addressed all those gathered around him, his once high voice now deeper. "Teachers, Immortal and Cat-Witch!" Blair and Free face palmed. "I see in your eyes fear of this abomination that threatens our existence. But there is no reason to feel afraid, Crona has given us his life in a attempt to kill the Madness? Now are we going to let a fellow student's death be for nothing?!"

His speech was met with many people glancing back at Crona, the "traitor" who despite. all the name calling and prejudice, fought for all of them to live. Murmurs spread from the crowd as others began slamming on the force field as well.

"We fight for Crona...we fight for peace and we fight for FREEDOM!"

Soon, everyone was hitting the force field, from Blair using her explosive pumpkins to Spirit slashing it with the blades sprouted from his back. Soon it began to crack. It caught the attention of the Madness too late as the force field broke down and the army ran at the villain. The Madness found himself dodging attack after attack and delivering one of his own; a dark ball of energy scattered some away. He than floated into the air to avoid a slash and was about to counter with a slash of his own when he felt something land on his shoulder. Looking at said shoulder, he saw a second's glimpse of a carved smile on a orange round pumpkin become it exploded, the living Black Blood grunted on the floor, his looking up to see a familiar woman in that outfit that made her so lust worthy.

"Hey there, tall, dark and mysterious." Blair smirked down. Kid took the distraction to shoot the Crona lookalike's back, making him turn slightly as his back healed.

"You-" the Madness never got to finish for Free grabbed him by the throat and threw him to Sid, who delivered a punch to his back, Marie and Lord Death using a combination of a hammer attack/ Reaper Chop to knock him back a bit. Before he could recover, the Madness looked down at his sides and saw two hands placed on him. Stein and Black*Star smirked identical smirks.

"SOUL MENACE!"

Two combined soul wavelengths and a slash from Tsubaki knocked the Madness back. Staggering, his eyes widen comically as he saw a certain pig tailed Meister charging towards her, the scythe in her hands larger than ever.

"KHISIN HUNTER!" Maka and Soul's yell echoed as the attack made contact with the Madness. As expected, it didn't kill him, but it did send him flying into the wall and slid down the floor. The last thing he heard before the wall fell on him was what seemed to be gibberish.


Maka panted slightly, staring at the pile of rubble that buried the Madness. Soul turned back into his human form.

"You think that got him?" Soul rubbed his nose free of any dirt.

"No, only the counter curse can-" Maka started but a rumbling cut her off. All eyes turned to the rubble before it scattered info many directions, barley hitting others. In the middle of where the rubble once was, the Madness snarled in hate, his clothes torn even more.

"Oh, come on!" Patti pouted whilst she and her sister helped Kid up.

"You...you all think that you can stop me?!" the Madness sneered, his hand clutching his bleeding arm made him look more like Crona. The living Black Blood seemed to notice his action and seemed to gasp slightly at his unhealing arm before turning back to the others, his voice trembling with what sounded like fear. "How...how is this-"

"Me."

The Madness stared in shock and anger as Crona, very much alive, slowly walked towards him, despite his own wounds. The Madness thought back to the gibberish he heard...now he thought about it, it wasn't gibberish...

Dimisissem eam, jam fiet homo demens.

The counter curse. The Madness knew of the emotion humans referred to as fear, but never felt it...until now.

"Did you know..." Crona's smirk of mirth did nothing to ease the Madness. "My blood is black."

"Y-you...you get away!" the Madness screeched, pointing his finger at him. "You won't drag me back to hell!""

"Hell?" Crona cocked his head slightly. "Hell...it isn't a place of fire underground, run by a red skinned creature. No. The real hell? he tapped his own head. "It's in here. And it wants you back."

The Madness looked round wildly before bursting through the hole in the room and into the pouring rain outside.

"Ragnarok." Crona said. Just as he said the name of the Demon Weapon, small black wings sprouted out his back and flapped, lifting him off his feet before he went out into the open world, he glanced back at Maka, her green eyes wide with concern. He gave a knowing smile before leaving the room.

"Hey, do you think he'll be fine?" Liz asked. Maka was silent for a while before she answered.

"Yeah...yeah, he will."

"I sure do hope so..." Tsubaki whispered.

"We all do, kid." Free grunted.

"Crona has to put his past behind him." Lord Death stated. " I have no doubt he will succeed."

The newly mortal Madness' attacks were quite sloppy,missing Crona completely, but they both knew why. He was scared, scared of dying. Crona swung Ragnarok, who changed to his sword mode, at the now Madness, cutting his arm slightly. The Madness cringed at the pain before narrowly avoiding a attack. His frightened state made him forget all about his new magic. He attempted to swat Crona away, but the boy kicked him back and delivered a slash to the stomach, resulting in a screech of pain. The Madness spat Black Blood at his "twin's" face; the liquid dissolving as soon as it made contact. Crona grabbed the Madness' face and pinned him to the ground. He raised Ragnarok high over the whimpering mess on the ground.

"No, C-Crona! Please!" the Madness hated how pathetic he sounded right now, but he wanted to live. "Don't do it!"

But his please were futile. One second later, he screamed in pain, feeling the sharp tip of the blade pierce his heart. Crona looked at the Madness with contempt.

"I'm done with you." Crona said coldly.

In his final acts of life, the Madness growled a animal's growl full of rage before his eyes closed, his final breath leaving his body. The corpse melted into a black puddle, a puddle that Ragnarok's mouth took in, fusing it back inside Crona. He breathed heavily. The Madness was gone...the battle was won.

"That was insane..." Ragnarok panted, retreating into Crona's body. "Nice one, dumbass."

"I-it's...it's over..." Crona's pants were more heavy. He knelt down and picked up the visible Eye before throwing it behind his back, a squishing sound and a grunt of thanks telling him it landed perfectly in Free's eye hole.

"CRONA!"

Crona turned and fell flat on his face, the last thing he saw was a blur of black and yellow running towards.


Crona's eyelids and body shot up up as he panted slightly. No sooner had he done so, he noticed that he was in the Academy hospital ward. All round him were empty beds and through the window, the sun shone down on him. Looking down, Crona saw a hand holding his...Maka's.

"M-Maka..." Crona said, smiling as Maka looked at him from her seat.

"Hi, Crona." the ash-blonde Meister said warmly. "How do you feel?"

"Alright, I guess." Crona replied, gripping his covers. "How is everyone else?"

"They're doing fine." Maka said. "They're all worried about you."

"...About me?" Crona slowly said. The pinkette looked down at his sheets, eyes welling up. "Why would they...it's because of me that the Madness came free...it's because of me Sid was injured. It's-"

Crona stopped when he felt lips crush onto his. His heart beated faster as his cheeks went blackish. Maka was kissing him, him of all people. Maka removed her lips and looked at Crona.

"It wasn't your fault and it never will be." Maka said softly, her own cheeks red. "It was Medusa and no one else."

"B-but what will the others say?" Crona asked.

"I'll Maka Chop them if they can't see the boy I love for what he's like." Maka smiled.

"I...I love you too, Maka." Crona said, his own smile widening as the two slowly leaned in again and kissed, ignoring Ragnarok bursting through the pinkette's back and demanding that the "she-pig stop sucking on his punching bag." Outside the room, three boys watched, all with different reactions.

"Heh, about time." Soul's fang glistened as he smirked.

"Ha, pay up!" Black*Star held a hand out triumphantly, smirking as Kid bitterly handed over the betted money.

"Unbelievable." Kid grumbled.


EPILOGUE

The next few weeks were dedicated to rebuilding ruined cities, arranging funerals for the deceased and getting back to their daily schedules. Once Eruka's funeral was over, Free took his leave to travel the world, Death City being a constant reminder of his one and only friend. Sid continued to teach at the academy with Mifune, the two of them sharing lessons on combat and defense. Lord Death brought a new mirror to replace his old one. Spirit continued to see other women, being the womanizer he was, whilst also remembering to spy on his precious daughter on her dates with the "devil child." Many of these spying days ended with him being sent to the hospital with a dictionary shaped dent in his head. Marie helped others recover form the battle, all the while helping Crona struggling how to deal with having a girlfriend. Stein went back to teaching on his unique way, dissecting various animals and being a troll as usual. His hallucinations of Medusa were all but gone now and he recently deiced to participate in the experiment known as "dating". He and Marie remain in a relationship even today. Blair continued to work in the local bar, though she kept her self from strangers. After the Madness, she had to be careful...Kid's symmetrical issues still haunt, though luckily Liz talks him out of it like a big sister. Patti achieved her wish of owning a giraffe...after nearly beating the zoo owner to death, stating that "Mr. Neck Long" needed a new home. Black*Star trained regularly, but not as much as he used to thanks to Tsubaki, who stayed by his side no matter what; the true sign of a loyal friend. Soul stayed out of Maka's way for some time whenever she and Crona were in the same room. Yet he always left with a shake of the head and a knowing smirk. Speaking of Crona...it turned out that his murder of the Madness convinced others that he truly wasn't a traitor and the bullying decreased ever so slightly. Maka helped to increase his confidence and view of life. Maka...he had so much to thank her for: for being a good friend, teaching him all these things and most for all, for being a loving and patient girlfriend. For the most part, it seemed life was good.

The key word is almost.


Crona breathed in and out as Stein helped strap him onto the chair in the dungeons. Once the straps were secure, Stein looked at the boy in the chair. Even now he didn't understand the situation; all he knew was that Crona asked him to help build this chair t keep him in for over six weeks now. Six weeks and no answers...now's a good time than ever.

"Crona!" the boy's head shot up. "What is this all about? Why do you-"

"Professor, this is important!" Crona protested, his confidence that he grew over the weeks more seemed like a dream that never happened. "T-this is the only thing that can keep him contained."

"But why would Ragnarok need to be contained?" Stein asked. Needless to say, he was taken back by Crona's look of annoyance.

"Ragnarok can't help me." Crona winced slightly his head jerking slightly. "It's up to you...Good night, Stein." Just like that, his head went limp, his eyes closed.

"Crona, Crona! What's going on?" Stein had grabbed Crona's face, trying to shake him awake. " Crona? CRONA?!"

Crona's head shot up and his mouth opened. What came out of his mouth shocked Stein to the core...

"Evening, Screwy."


The End?

And that's it. Thanks to those who liked this story.

Sequel is in the works :)

Thanks so much, guys :)