Sometimes the world will crush you. Sometimes you just wish the pain and hardship was over. In reality life on your own may very well crush you, you can go far yet if you fall you have start all over again. The burden of the world may be too heavy to bare, but like the world is homed to it's own horrors, it is home to its wonders as well.

Ch.12 With friends like these

"No...please no don't hurt me." begged a man, who was cornered by a witch. The witch only smiled before saying, "I've finally found you." as arrows burst from her arms, and went to the man who was now paralyzed in fear. This was it, and the man knew it, all he could do was close his eyes and wait for the end.

Back in reality

Hollow awoke from his slumber because of yet another nightmare. This one though didn't make any sense to him, the man in his dream was not him. Though it seemed the man did something to make the very witch he met in the school yesterday want to kill him. Hollow remembering the problem he now had, just sat in bed and wiped off the sweat that was now dripping down the scars of his face and body.

Hollow still could not believe the situation he was in now. He had strange powers he did not understand nor had back in Lordran. He had to teach his new "students" things they could not possibly understand, had to keep consuming souls, and now had a witch who knew what he was. What she could possibly want with him was something that he pondered on all last night, and couldn't for the new life of him figure it out, but he was sure she would use the knowledge she knew against him in the future. For Hollow it seemed he could never get a brake, 'It's Lordran all over again.' he thought, with a headache that was now growing worse.

Hours later

Hollow had put on his armor and went to his pack to fetch Dex. When he went into his pack he saw Dex still broken in half from his fight with the strange boy, girl, whatever that child was. He also realized, he no longer had a weapon to fight the kishin with. He would try to fix Dex, but he no longer had any titanite left to help rebuild it, and he didn't know how to mend it with the souls he had. Hollow was stuck and he knew it, not only was he not able to repair Dex, but Death would surely pair him up with a weapon partner.

Hollow already knew having a partner was bad idea, not only because of past experiences, but also because they would know that he consumed souls. Really if he knew all this would be his fate, he would never have become a thief. It was because of that little choice his past self made, that put him in this situation. Hollow thought this because to him, thievery was how he got into this mess, when he was alive he stole people's belongings and lives, when he became undead he stole their lives and their souls, and now for stealing the souls that belonged to Death he was forced to mentor children.

Hollow had to wonder if his karma was finally catching up with him. If this wasn't the case then Death had to have been offended when Hollow did something he had no idea would bring the shinigami's wrath. Whatever Hollow did, he would try and apologize to Death, and tell him to call off class Cerberus, that was it, and that was exactly what he would do. As Hollow walked down the stairs to the exit, he noticed that Kid, Liz, and Patty were gone. 'Must be on a mission.' thought Hollow, who obviously would leave the groups business to themselves. It wasn't his business to worry about them,...not for long anyway.

As he approached the exit, Hollow heard knocking on the door. When he answered it, Hollow saw Spirit, one of Lord Death's death scythes. It hadn't been the first time Hollow had seen him, he could remember the nasty glare this man gave him when he came back from the pyramids, and just yesterday he let his own daughter hit him in the head with a book. For Hollow the whole thing made him see the little man with red hair as pathetic, and whatever he was here for would most likely be for a very stupid reason.

"Oh um...hello Hollow, how has it been?" asked Spirit. Hollow just cracked a brow, but then shrugged his shoulders to let Spirit know that it wasn't going so well. "Oh you must be nervous about the job aren't you?" Hollow only glared at the man before saying in an agitated voice, "What does thou want of me, speak quick, I must gain audience with thy Lord." This time Spirit cracked a brow, he really wondered if people actually talked the way Hollow did back then. 'Jeez didn't those knights learn normal english.' he thought.

A moment had passed before Spirit spoke again and said, "Well I'm here to thank you for saving my daughter yesterday." Hollow just tilted his head to the side, waiting to hear the rest of what the death scythe wanted to say. For Spirit the whole thing was awkward, how could he talk to Hollow if the man was wearing that creepy looking skull mask along with the cowl that looked like it was made of crows feathers. It was sometimes like this with Death, but you could usually tell what he's thinking if you listen to the tone in his voice. For Hollow he had no tone, and he always sounded angry or tired, really he had the personality of a rock.

"Well um...I just wanted to know if you'd like to hang out, since you are going to be my daughter's teacher, I only thought it best that we get introductions out of the way." said Spirit. Hollow just glared at the death scythe before replying "No." Hollow then proceeded to walk past Spirit, and be on his way to the academy, but Spirit was persistent and stopped Hollow before he could go any further. "Look just hear me out." Spirit pleaded, "This will only take a moment of your time, so would you please come with me?"

Hollow only growled before nodding his head, if the man said it would only take a moment then he could bare it. "Just one question, do ya like beautiful women?" asked Spirit. Hollow's face behind his mask just took on a face of 'Are you serious.' and replied saying, "Well yes, why would I not?" Spirit just smiled before saying, "Oh you'll see." Needless to say, Hollow felt uncomfortable with the question, he didn't know why the death scythe would just ask out of nowhere."Come along now my friend." said Spirit and a jolly voice. Hollow just glared at the man and thought to himself, 'We are not friends.' and followed Spirit.

The two just walked along side by side, Spirit had his hands in his pockets as usual, and Hollow wanted to know where exactly this man was taking him. The two walked in utter silence, until Spirit spoke up and asked, "Hey Hollow, you ever fall in love or thought of having kids?" Hollow just widened his eyes at the question and looked at Spirit with the same face he made earlier. "Listen," began Spirit, "If the questions make you feel uncomfortable, then sorry, but I just want to know what kind of person will be teaching my daughter." This eased Hollow's suspicion of the man, for a moment he actually thought Spirit was trying know him better, if this was about his daughter Maka, than he wouldn't have anything to worry about. It wasn't like he would actually accept the job, so he saw no harm in answering the question.

"Spirit is it?" asked Hollow, who received a nod from the man confirming his name. "Well to oblige the answer to the question thou has asked of me, no, I have never truly given thought to finding a wife or of bearing children." Spirit's eyes just widened before replying, "Yeah but has the idea ever come to mind?" Hollow thought it over and answered, "Yes, but certain events told me otherwise, but aside from that, I have had experience with raising younglings." Spirit just took on a serious face before saying, "Is that why you gave up on that idea, I understand everyone lives differently, but the last part sounded almost tragic. Are those kids you took care of the reason you gave up?"

Hollow not liking the questions Spirit was asking replied in a stricter tone, "Art thou getting to personal? If you are then I suggest thou leave it. I chose to live a life alone, nothing more. And even if I had decided to help bring children into the world, they would be lucky if they never saw it for what it truly is. I simply could not bear the thought of my blood having to suffer as I have." Spirit just backed off, and said, "Sorry didn't mean to pry, but was it really that bad back from the time you came from?" "Put it this way." began Hollow in a normal tone, "If thou were an individual with a...certain problem, would thee not worry for thy own child's well being?" Spirit thought about it for a moment before smiling and said, "Huh, well at least I know Maka's in good hands, you seem to care a lot for the youth."

Spirit then looked to see if Hollow reacted in any way after complimenting him, but again he couldn't tell what the man in armor was thinking. The creepy armor concealed everything from head to toe. This only prompted Spirit to ask, "Hey is there ever a time you go out without that armor." Hollow only answered in an emotionless voice and said, "I need it for protection." Spirit only gave him a look before replying, "Yeah if you're on a mission, but you're in Death City, it may have its problems, but it's mostly peaceful. Don't you have any other clothes to wear besides that hellish looking thing?" Hollow only gave Spirit a glare, which made Spirit quickly reply in a frantic voice saying while waving his hands, "Oh um I didn't mean to insult your style, I was just curious you know since people can get really scared of something like you, no, that, oh damn, sorry."

Hollow only glared at the man before saying, "Are we done? I would like to leave now." Spirit only shook his head and said, "But we haven't been to that special place yet, please just see this through." Hollow only sighed before continuing to follow Spirit, though he was pretty sure the whole thing would end disastrous.

An hour later

"Here we are, Chupra Cabras, one of the greatest places a man can be." said Spirit, with hearts in his eyes. Hollow only looked at the man, wondering what the name could possibly mean. Hollow just assumed it must have been a tavern or "restaurant" as people would say in this era. As soon as the two entered the place, they saw many beautiful women waving at them, and looking at them as if they were lusting. Hollow's mind was just blown, 'By the lords.' he thought, 'This man has taken me to a whore house.' Spirit then walked up to a counter and started talking to the beautiful woman at the counter to give both he and Hollow some company. Then a group of three women came out, Hollow didn't know what to do, he honestly never had this experience...or so he thought remembering that he didn't know all there was to himself when it came to his past life experiences.

When the three noticed Hollow, two of the women backed away because of how frightening he looked. Only one remained, and looked at Hollow with lust in her eyes. Hollow noticed that this woman wore something similar to a witch's costume only much cuter and more revealing. He also noticed that the woman had "purple' hair, with cat like eyes, smooth light skin, wore a hat that reminded him of Logan, and had two big, 'Oh my.' thought Hollow. The woman was absolutely stunning and right now she was all his, "Hello there tall, dark, and scary." said the woman with a seducing voice. "Easy Blair he doesn't have anything else to wear, and I'm not sure he's had experience from where he came from." said Spirit in a jolly voice, as the two women that disregarded Hollow sat on each side of him."

"Oh don't worry." said Blair in a sweet tone, as she turned her attention back to Hollow, "I'll take real good care of him." She then guided Hollow to a seat right next to Spirit, and sat upon his lap. At that moment Hollow just kept staring at the woman as she started to remove his mask and cowl. When both were off, they all saw Hollow's face, and were amazed at how many scars the man had. It wasn't just the huge one on the front of his face, but also on his neck and jaw line. Everyone just looked at Hollow's face in amazement, while Blair began to caress him with her smooth skin, and moving his messy hair to get a better view of his gray eyes.

"Wow" cooed Blair with a cool face, "I didn't realize how handsome you are without that scary armor." All the other women could only agree, if not for the messy hair and the scars, Hollow would be a regular heart throb, despite looking so frail. Hollow just looked at her, not hearing what she said. This caused Blair to smile, it seemed to her that men back then were just as easy to seduce as the men in today's present time. Then without warning Hollow's lips were upon hers, Blair really didn't know what to do, never before had a man ever gain enough courage to actually act upon their desire, and none with as much passion Hollow was putting into the kiss.

After a moment Hollow broke the kiss leaving a dazed Blair, until what she realized what had just happened. The whole thing just made Blair feel dizzy, causing her to fall to the floor with blood flowing out of her nose, which struck Hollow as odd. To make the situation even stranger, Blair had reverted to her true form, which was a purple haired cat, still wearing that silly looking hat. Hollow's eyes had widened, and could not hear the complaints the other women were shouting towards him. 'Did I just kiss a cat?' he thought with complete horror.

Finally he noticed the angry glares the women were giving him, and the shocked face of Spirit, whose mouth was hanging open from what he just saw. "Sir I think it's time you leave." said the woman behind the register. Hollow just glared at Spirit before putting his cowl and mask back on, and proceeded to make his way out of the place. "Wait" said Spirit in an apologetic voice, "It wasn't his fault, he didn't know we weren't suppose to get intimate." The woman only gave him a glare before replying, "Well you should have warned him. Get out, and never bring him here again, you're just lucky that your one of our favorite customers or else you'd be banded like him."

Outside Chupra Cabra

Hollow just walked away, not caring for Spirits apologies. "Look I'm sorry." he began, "I didn't think you would actually do something like that." Hollow stopped walking and glared at Spirit, before saying in a strict tone, "Thou could have warned me. I did not know the fruit within that building was forbidden...or even human." Remembering the fact that he just kissed a feline made Hollow's skin crawl. Hollow had done many strange things back in Lordran, he flirted with a crossbreed, and actually kissed a witch that had a spider for her lower half, but never before would he imagine actually kissing a cat that could take the form of a human. Now it wasn't for that specific reason Hollow was angry, that was only part of it, but it was because Spirit had put him in a situation he couldn't handle. Really, for Hollow what had happened back there was just embarrassing, he wasn't even sure he could live it down.

Hollow just kept glaring at Spirit, until he said, "No wonder thy own daughter does not respect thee. You are a pathetic adulterous, one that has no respect for thyself or for women. Really, thy wife and child must be disappointed, its best thou pray none, especially thy own wife does not discover this." Spirit only looked down before replying in a regretful voice, "My wife isn't with me anymore. She had found out what I was doing and we divorced." This word "divorce" struck Hollow as odd, never had he heard of such a word. Acting on curiosity Hollow asked, "What does thou mean when thee says divorce." Spirit only cocked an eyebrow and answered saying, "It's when people, who are married decide they don't want to be together anymore, and go their separate ways."

Now this struck Hollow as odd, back in Lordran, people who were married never departed from each other. No they would always find a way to work out each other's problems, and support each other. That was a part of marriage if you truly, deeply loved that person, but if you just leave then it would mean this person never truly loved at all. "But" began Hollow, "What of your child's feelings? If you two had just left each other, then who is left charge of the child you two brought into the world. In fact is this why thy own child acts as if thee are pure scum?" Spirit only gave Hollow a sideways glance, this caused Hollow to bring up the next question, and he asked, "And what of your own wife? Where is she now?"

"I DON'T KNOW." shouted Spirit who was being enraged by Hollow. It was enough that his own daughter had thought less of him, but for this man, who had no idea of how the world worked today to judge him, well he just didn't have to take it. Spirit then continued on saying in an angry voice, "After she left, she went to explore the world, and only ever sends Maka a postcard telling her where she is. But it wasn't my fault, I just couldn't help it, who're you to say anything, you don't even have anybody of your own." Hollow just glared at Spirit before replying in a cold voice, "I may have not known the warm feeling of love, but I know thy own responsibilities, and one was taking care of my younger siblings. I may not remember much from my past, but recent events have shown me mere glimpses of who I once was, and I can assure you that I was dedicated to my own family."

Spirit just gave Hollow a glare before letting what he had said sink in, and realized what Hollow was telling him. "Now I ask thee this." Hollow said, staring coldly at Spirit, "Does thou love thy own daughter?" Spirit immediately answered back and replied, "Yes, of course I do, I'd never want to see her hurt." Hollow only nodded before asking, "If thou truly cares for thy own daughter, then why does thou hurt her by going to such places as the one we had been in, is she not enough?" Spirit didn't answer, he hadn't thought about that, this caused him to think, 'Am I really hurting her by doing something so small as flirting with other women?' When he looked to Hollow, he saw the disgust through the holes of his mask, Hollow then finished his speech by saying, "I do not care for your problems, for they simply are not mine, but if thou needeth advice I would suggest to thee that thou must get thy own priority's straight." With all that said, Hollow left Spirit and started to make his way to the academy.

At DWMA

"Ahh hello Hollow hows it been?" asked Death in his normal jolly voice. Hollow only looked at him before replying, "Please do not ask, this morning has been rather strange." Death just shrugged at the answer and continued on saying, "Well, you should be glad to know that the children I have assigned to you have all agreed to take your lessons." Hollow only froze before replying in a distressed voice, "WHAT, how, why would they agree to such a thing?" Death answered the question gladly saying, "Well Maka is still grateful for you saving her and Soul back in Italy, and she thinks you can bring the best out of both her and Soul, after displaying such skill and strength. Black*Star and Tsubaki agreed because you had helped save their friends, while Black*Star said something about getting to know his rival better. And Kid, Liz, and Patty agreed because they liked you from the start, and since their still new to the academy, they wanted a teacher they already knew and were comfortable with."

"But..but...my lord..I...I" Said Hollow trying to find the words to reject the job that he felt was being forced upon him. Finally he managed to think of them and replied to Death saying, "But my lord I am here to refuse thy offer, please reconsider." Lord Death just held out his hands and shrugged while saying, Sorry Hollow, but the job is yours." Hollow only crossed his arms before replying, "Well what if I just refuse to do so." This made Death think, he knew Hollow would just refuse to do anything, but he knew a way to get him to train them all, in fact he was sure this plan would end up with Hollow cooperating by the end of it. "Okay then Hollow," said Death beginning his proposition, "If the students should give out and no longer want to be in your class, then I'll officially end class Cerberus, deal?" This caused Hollow to smile, what Death had propositioned just made it easier for him, all he had to do was train the kids, and he was pretty sure the training would be torture for them. Oh, yes needless to say for Hollow, the whole class was finished before it even began.

"And oh yes, nearly forgot," said Lord Death, remembering the other thing he was going to tell Hollow. "Maka said you lost your weapon back in Italy after that fight with the strange boy, so I found you a weapon partner." 'Damn, the girl told him.' thought Hollow, not wanting to take on another problem after finding the solution for the other one. He didn't want a weapon partner, it would only mean he was at risk of exposing himself. "Oh but don't worry," began Death, explaining the situation to Hollow, "This person knows of your "problem" and can be trusted, so don't worry about trying to make her a death scythe, she's already one." Hollow couldn't believe it, Death was going to lend him one of his weapons, and apparently this person was a she. 'Great' Hollow thought, 'Now I have to deal with constant nagging.'

Back at Death's house

Hollow had finally gotten back to the house after a whole eventful day. It seemed he would have to go back to the academy tomorrow in the afternoon just to meet his new apparent "partner". The whole situation stunk of disaster, Hollow just knew it would end that way, heck it always did for him. All he wanted to do right now was sleep, despite knowing that it was only 6:00 pm in the afternoon. He then started removing his armor, until there was nothing but the tattered robes he wore under it covering part of his torso but mostly his private areas. He then went into his bed, and instantly went to sleep, hoping that this time a nightmare would not plague him.

In the nurses office

Maka stood over Soul watching him to see if he would awake any time soon. Her friends Black* Star and Tsubaki were also there to see how their friend was recovering. They all talked to each other about different things until finally Maka brought up their new class. "So what do you guys really think of the new class Lord Death gave us?" Tsubaki was going to reply, but Black*Star beat her to the punch, and said in his rowdy voice, "If anything it gives me a chance to get back at that guy and Death's son, I bet they're all there laughing, thinking that they actually beat a star like me. But soon they'll know better than to underestimate me." Maka just rolled her eyes at Black*Star's bravado and looked to Tsubaki for her answer.

"Well" began Tsubaki, trying to think of a reason, "I was just curious as to why Death chose us to be in the new teacher's class. Don't you think it's odd, I mean the ones that actually fought with him before, and now under his guidance?" Maka found it odd as well, why would Death specifically want them in their new teachers class it just didn't make any sense. She thought about it, but couldn't think of any answer, so she just turned to Tsubaki and shrugged. Then Black*Star answered his partners question by saying, "Because we're the best, and there's nobody else that can match my power. And if you think about it, that guy is pretty strong to able to defeat me, and your witch hunter Maka. It could be that our new teacher picked us out cause he saw great potential." Both Tsubaki and Maka's eyes widened, they had to wonder if what Black*Star had said might have been true. Though this answer still didn't answer the other questions they all had about their new teacher, just who and what is he?

Death's house

Hollow was in the abyss fighting an endless wave of kings that kept coming at him. Despite how many he'd slain they just kept coming in endless waves. Eventually one of them grabbed him and held him in its grasp. Hollow just prepared for the feeling of having his very soul sucked from his body, but the feeling didn't come. The king just glared at Hollow, who had fear in his eyes at what the king was planning to do. Then the king brought Hollow close to its face and roared causing Hollow to scream in fear, the king then rammed headfirst into Hollows mouth. Hollow not knowing what it was doing just kept screaming as he consumed the king until eventually he swallowed it. He then fell to the floor and tried to puke it out, but it wasn't coming out.

Hollow then got back to his feet and realized the other kings had disappeared after swallowing one of them. A moment passed before the giant primordial snake Kaathe appeared before Hollow, with his malevolent smile. He then bowed to Hollow while saying, "Blessed thy lords safe return, it hath been too long." Hollow then tried running, but an invisible barrier kept him from leaving the place. He then turned back to Kaathe, who's smile grew even wider that it was just scary. Then Hollow felt his body trembling and found himself on the floor writhing in pain where his heart, and the dark sign branding him one of the undead of would be. As he looked down at his chest he saw the spiral around it become as sharp as needles, while it enveloped his entire left side. He then turned to his right to see that his armor had clung to his very skin as his right arm became dark with sharp claws on his right hand.

As Hollow went through his painful transformation, he noticed that his darkwraith armor clung to his very skin as if it actually were. He also noticed that he grew a few greatly in size and height, while his legs remained unchanged. "Thou hath become a fifth final king to rule them all my lord. Art thou not pleased?" asked Kaathe who looked at Hollow in awe. Hollow just looked at himself before shouting in a demonic voice, "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME." Kaathe only smiled before replying, "My lord, I have only revealed your true self, and I must say it is beautiful. Here look at thyself in the mirror below." Hollow just glared at Kaathe before actually looking down into the dark that had become his reflection. What Hollow saw in it, made him want to scream, what he saw before him was his own reflection which was completely deformed.

The upper right of his torso grew largely in size along with his right arm and the spiral on his chest, making his lower half look smaller. Though his upper left hadn't changed as much from his normal size, unless he counted the fact that his left arm also was a dark grey with claws, but it dangled uselessly at the side, do to the fact that the overgrown spiral on his heart had took its place. His lower half was also dark gray, but they showed no sign of deformity, they just looked like his normal legs only much taller when it came to height and size, Hollow was sure if he took a step the ground beneath him would rumble. As for his face, Hollow couldn't tell, his mask clung to his very face, but he saw horns jutting out of his skull, this made him open his jaw to pure shock. This action made the terror of what was happening even worse, because when he opened his jaw he realized his skull mask had become his face, and also opened its mouth.

Back in reality

Hollow awoke from his nightmare in the middle of the night. He then ran to the bathroom and looked into the mirror, he then breathed a sigh of relief. The dream he had, hadn't come true, he was only thankful for that. Then he noticed something strange, the spiral on his left near his heart was glowing with darkness, much like humanities glow. He then rubbed it in hope of it going away, but it just kept glowing, making Hollow feel like he needed another soul quickly. He then went to his pouch where only 5 kishin souls remained, he then took one and swallowed it immediately after touching it. When he did this the glow faded, but along with it Hollow, who had fainted on the floor.

Hours later

Hollow had awoken after his episode from last night. He then looked down to his chest and saw that the glow was gone, which made him breathe easily, but also raised questions as to why these things were happening to him. As he got up he realized that it was morning, and that the sun was strongly bright. Well for Hollow it was, because as the sun shined its rays on him, he backed away. For some reason the sun irritated him, so he couldn't handle it being in his eyes. Hollow then immediately placed on his armor, feeling a comfort in it he had never felt before. Until now he never truly noticed or appreciated how comfortable and secure the dark armor made him feel until now, it was as if just wearing it made him feel indestructible.

After Hollow finally got over his sudden need, he remembered that he was supposed to go to the academy to meet his supposed partner. He then made his way to the door, and was about to open it, until he heard knocking. When he opened it he saw Spirit, who looked nervous and was also holding a bag in his left hand. "Hello Hollow." he began, "I wanted to come by and say that I was sorry for what happened yesterday." Hollow just glared at the man, resisting the sudden urge to suck out his very soul from his body. Realizing what he was thinking, Hollow snapped out of the thought and paid attention to what Spirit was saying, despite wondering what on earth made him feel like doing that.

"So you gave me advice yesterday, and your right." said Spirit being modest. "What does thou want, if thou seeketh I, for what reason could it be?" asked Hollow, who was irritated. Spirit just took the abrupt question and answered saying, "Well if I'm going to kick the habit then I'll need the help of a few friends like you." Hollow just didn't know what to say, the man had just complimented him for pointing out the wrongs he was doing, and was even calling him a friend. This was needless to say unexpected for Hollow, who listened to Spirit say, "That's why I invited Stein and Sid to hang out, and since their also teachers who work with your students I thought you might want to ask them how to handle the kids."

Hollow only gave Spirit a glare, he didn't know what to do in the situation. The man had just asked him if he wanted to hang out with others as friends, even in Lordran with the friends he had, he'd never done such a thing. Hollow took a moment to think about it, weighing all, the goods against the bad, until he nodded his head and agreed, despite thinking that it would end badly. Spirit only smiled before calling out to the other two and saying, "See guys, I told you he would come along." Hollow then looked up from Spirit and saw Stein, who had a bored face, and said, "Well this was unexpected, I thought for sure you would turn down the offer. Oh well I guess my calculations were wrong, so you can come out now Sid." At that moment a man with blue skin, who's black hair was in corn rows, with a white tank top, and blue jeans popped up from the ground.

On reflex Hollow tackled him to the ground, while he pick pocketed the knife from the man who looked like a hollow with blue skin and muscles. This caused both Stein and Spirit to get in and stop Hollow from stabbing Sid, who took out another knife from his shoe and was also going to stab Hollow. "Whoa you 2." said Spirit as he and Stein pulled both undead off each other. Spirit then held Hollow off until he told him, "Hollow, that's Sid. Calm down." Hollow then stopped his struggling and looked upon the bizarre looking undead. Now his anger turned to embarrassment as Spirit and Stein released the two of them, he then looked at Sid who had his arms cross. "I am...sorry, I had not known the undead were friendly in this era." said Hollow, who tried apologize for his mistake.

Sid only raised an eyebrow before he bursted out with laughter at what Hollow had said. "Don't worry" began Sid, "Unless it's me, most of the undead are flesh eating monsters. So really don't worry about it, I get this a lot. Heck you should have seen how your new students took me and Stein when they had to go for extra lessons some time ago." Hollow made a face behind his mask, and then regained his composure, trying to ignore the fact that he made an embarrassing mistake. "Alright before we go anywhere first things first, Hollow you seriously need to change out of that armor." Hollow just looked at Spirit if he were mad, was he seriously suggesting that he go somewhere without his armor?

"Look Hollow" began Spirit, "It's not that we don't like your armor." At that statement they all avoided eye contact and coughed, revealing that it was actually part of the reason. "Okay" continued Spirit, "It is, but imagine how other people will react if you come into a place looking the way you do. It would be really awkward and could cause some trouble, so Sid, Stein, and I came up with some clothes for you to wear. Oh and don't worry, I noticed how timid you were when Blair removed your mask yesterday, so I got you a coat with a hood on it." Hollow only looked at the bag in his hand assuming that inside it were his clothes, which only settled to irritate him. "No, I shan't wear what you bring before me. What am I to thee, a child? I will never put that on"

At a bar

The men walked through the double doors of the bar, Sid being the first, Stein being the second, Spirit being the third, and Hollow being the fourth wearing his new attire. Hollow wore a long tail coat with a large hood that covered most of his face, along with a green v sweater vest with a black tie, and white button shirt underneath it, while his lower half wore black dress pants and black shoes. Needless to say Hollow felt like a sissy in the clothes he was wearing, while the other 3 thought he looked just fine. "You see" said Spirit in a jolly voice, "You look just fine, and it seems I got the right size for you, but I have to say I would have never tooken you as a mighty warrior with your kind of build. Honestly I don't mean to insult you, but if you told me that you actually forced Sid to the ground with the incredible amount of strength he had, I would have callen you a liar, and I actually saw you do it." Stein and Sid could only agree with Spirit, the guy was right, without the armor Hollow would wear he looked like a very skinny frail man who would break if you were to punch him.

The four then took their stools and ordered their drinks, when they received them they all took a gulp. Spirit then looked to the other three saying, "Hey guys I bet I could drink more than all of you." The three all looked at each other before looking back to Spirit, Stein then said in his normal bored voice, "Well there's no doubt about that. You probably drink a lot due to how depressing your life probably is right now." Spirit then got depressed at the statement as a waterfall of tears came out. Hollow not knowing why he cared, came up with something to try and lighten the mood. "You know," he began, "This is all nothing compared to the drinks of my age." The three just looked at Hollow before Sid asked, "Yeah just how old are you? All I really know is that Lord Death said you came from a different time, but to be honest you look no older than we are. Hell you look like your somewhere between 25 or 26, but if that's not how old you are then what are you really?"

Hollow took a moment to think about it, and gave his guess saying, "I am probably millennia's older then all of you." This caused them all to look at each other before Sid and Spirit began to laugh, while Stein just remained silent. Spirit then said between fits of laughter, "Millennia hahaha...there's just no hahaha...way you could be that old." The two continued to laugh until one man in the bar shouted at them to shut up. This caused all of them to turn around and glare at the man, who was now walking towards them. The guy looked intimidating with the tatoo's and muscles he had, but this in no way frightened any of the four on the stools, though Hollow could have sworn that he heard the man's voice from somewhere before. The man seeing the looks of anger from all of them asked in a threatening voice, "So what was so funny that you freaks had to ruin our peace?" They all looked at each other until Spirit spoke and asked in a serious voice, "Who are you calling freaks punk?" while giving the man a glare.

"Oh please" the man spat in a disgusted voice, "I know who all of you are, hell everyone knows the "mighty" heroes from the academy. But what I can see is a dead beat death scythe that doesn't have the respect of his own daughter, an insane doctor that was stupid enough to plant a giant screw through his head, a freak of nature zombie teacher who should have stayed buried, and the newcomer that is said to be some kind of monster." This caused all of them to glare at this one person, who actually went out of his way to find personal knowledge about them, but they were all more angry at this man then suspicious at the moment to realize it. Spirit was going to do something about it, but Hollow stopped him and spoke up.

"I am sorry but have we somehow offended thee? We are just people no different from you, albeit strange yes, but do we not all have problems?" Hollow asked in a very pleasant voice. The man only laughed before replying, "Well isn't this cute, it seems without that armor of yours, you're just a kiss up. I mean really, why were people so afraid of a man that hides his true weak form under some scary looking armor from hell? You can't even look me in the eye can you, no you need that hood to cover your ugly little face because you're just a little coward." Hollow's face from beneath his hood immediately frowned at the reply, the mysterious man saw this and smiled. "Oh it seems that I have upset you, you gonna do something about it?"

"Why you." growled Spirit getting up from his seat, only for Hollow to stop him. Hollow then said, "I appreciate the act of chivalry my friend, but do not worry I can handle this." Hollow then drank some of his beer before throwing it into the air distracting the man long enough for Hollow to uppercut him. The man then went flying back into another person, who in turn knocked over someone who was drinking their beer. A few seconds later a whole bar fight broke out, Hollow fought off men coming from each side and only got hit once when they smashed a chair against him. Stein used different fighting styles, not getting hit even once as men started to charge him, while Sid held 2 guys in a head lock while he used his very legs to fight off any other attackers. Spirit only lasted a moment in the bar brawl before a woman came up and hit him in the unmentionables, making him topple over and lie on the floor holding them.

An hour later

Hollow, Sid, Stein, and Spirit emerged from the bar victorias, actually happy at how things turned out, even Stein had his creepy smile indicating that the whole thing was fun. Sid just talked about how cool it was when Hollow punched the guy that had insulted them in the face, while Hollow was helping a beat Spirit out of the bar. While Hollow helped Spirit, Spirit told Hollow through a bruised face, "Sorry this wasn't what I was planning, I didn't mean for things to get so out of hand." Hollow only looked down at Spirit before saying in a cool voice, "There is no need to apologize. This experience was actually...fun." This caused Spirit to smile as Sid said in a pleased voice, "Hey guys you know what we should do? We should hang out like this all the time, just go to a bar, hang out, have fun, and if someone says anything we beat the crap out of them. How does that sound, why not make it a regular thing?" They all just looked at each other before smiling and nodding their heads.

At DWMA

Hollow had finally arrived back at the academy after changing back into his armor. He had decided if he were to hang out with the group again, that the new clothes he had would be his attire for that time. As he climbed up the school to the Death room, he saw Death as usual, along with a woman. Hollow's eyes just widened the woman looked almost like Priscilla, but average size, but aside from that she looked like she shared a resemblance to Kid. The woman looked to be in her early twenties, had yellow eyes, dark hair in a pony tail with white stripes on the left side of her head, wore boots, dark short shorts, with a black tank top and thin sweater, and was looking at him with cold eyes.

"Oh hello Hollow, glad to see you came, I thought for sure that you would deny coming here." said Lord Death in his normal happy voice. Hollow only looked at him before turning his attention back to the woman in front of him. "Oh yes," began Lord Death, "Meet my eldest daughter Deedee, she will be your new partner." When Death had said that, Hollow's eyes widened, the fact that Death also had a daughter had stunned him. Until now, Hollow thought Kid was an only child, he wondered for what reason he could have had for never speaking about her. The whole thing just sounded really strange for Hollow, he really hadn't seen it coming.

"Can we just get this over with." said the woman in a cold voice, to Hollow she sounded really tough, he figured if this had been Lordran then the woman would surely be a knight. "Well," she said walking to the center of the room, "Are we going to do this or what?" Hollow only froze for a moment before coming to his senses and walking to Deedee. At that point Death began to explain, "Now Hollow I know this may sound strange, but you must resonate your soul with her soul." Hollow only looked at Death dumbfounded, until Deedee said in a harsh tone, "He means we have to connect to each other's soul wavelengths to officially be partners, but I rather doubt it possible that you can do it." Hollow just looked at her offended at what she had said. She then continued saying, "Oh but it's not just your soul that's weak, believe me no one can resonate their soul with mine."

Hollow just glared at her before turning to Death, and asking, "How do I do it?" It wasn't that Hollow actually wanted to be her partner, but it was because he wanted to see the look on her arrogant face when he actually became her partner. "Well," began Death, "The first thing you need to do is clear your mind. The next step is to concentrate and try to find each other's soul wavelength. And the final part is connecting your souls to each other." Hollow only took everything Death had told him in, and closed his eyes. He then breathed deeply and concentrated, but after a moment nothing happened. Hollow only looked to Death who shrugged, while Deedee spoke up and said, "Jeez you're a pain, fine I'll do most of the work, just close your eyes."

Hollow did as he was told and closed them shut, until nothing but pure darkness remained. In the darkness Hollow saw a blue light and walked up to it. Curious as to what it was he poked at it, which caused Deedee to speak up and say, "Hey that tickled jerk, please stop poking my soul." When she said that Hollow's eyes widened, he just stood there in the darkness as he stared at a soul that was still bound to a living person, the whole experience just really excited him and made him think. If he and his people were able to do such things in Lordran, then many lives and souls could have been saved. "Hello anytime soon." said Deedee, snapping Hollow out of his thoughts. Hollow then stuck out his arm and saw how it was becoming black like the rest of his body was, until he became a dark ball and something locked his soul to Deedee's.

Hollow then opened his eyes, and saw huge green waves of energy come from his very body. He also realized that he had a giant wicked looking scythe in his hands, and he couldn't believe how beautiful it was. Deedee's scythe form reminded Hollow of how Priscilla's looked but only much darker, while three stripes were put onto the blades surface. At that moment Death started clapping, and said in a very happy voice, "Bravo, I knew you could do it Hollow, well done. And as for you Deedee, didn't I tell you his soul was strong enough to match yours." At that moment Deedee switched back to her human form, but she didn't have that cold look anymore, she just smiled. Then without warning she tackled Hollow, who had to take a few steps back from falling over, and hugged him tightly.

When Hollow looked at her, he saw that she not only had her arms around his shoulders, but her legs wrapped around his waist as well. Hollow just stood there in that awkward position as her arms and legs wrapped around him even tighter. Death who saw the whole thing as unpleasant then said, "Um okay Deedee...I think he gets the point. You can let go now." Deedee then let go and gave Hollow a smile, and said, "After all this time I actually found you, I didn't think it was possible, but here you are." Hollow didn't understand what she meant when she said she'd finally found him, could it be that he was the only one to actually be her partner? "Well," said Death getting Hollow's attention, "Now that you have a partner I should explain the benefits. Of course you know that human weapons can't be broken, and that someone will be watching your back from now on." Hollow looked to Death and nodded confirming that he already knew that part.

"Now here comes the exciting part," Death continued, "You should also know that when you resonate with each other, you reveal and use the power and strength of your souls, and possibly unleash a secret power you have. A good example would be that one time you fought Maka, her and Soul's souls resonated, and combined to make witch hunter." This information was stunning to Hollow, so if he were to connect his soul to Deedee's then he could possibly unearth a secret power within his soul. "Now" said Death "Are there anymore questions." Hollow did indeed have more, but before he could ask Deedee grabbed his arm, and with a strong grasp started pulling him while saying in an excited voice, "Enough chit chat partner let's take on a mission." Hollow tried to pry himself from her grasp but found it very difficult to do so, he then looked to Death who seemed to be shouting something to him.

"OH YES AND HOLLOW BE CAREFUL, DEEDEE CAN BE A BIT-" Death didn't even have time to finish Deedee, had left the room in a complete hurry to the mission board. At that point she was now dragging Hollow, who couldn't believe what was happening. 'Only I could have such strange friends as these.' he thought as Deedee kept dragging him.

In a dark place

"Ahh" said a voice in the dark, "Thou hath returned, were you able to see how our lord is doing." The man from the bar only kneeled before the voice before saying, "He's doing fine, but the ass packs quite a punch." The voice only laughed before saying, "Thou hath followed thy orders to the letter, you may continue to walk in this new land so long as your allegiance aligns with ours." The man only nodded his head and waited for the voice to tell him that he could leave. The voice did this and said, "Now go and fulfill thy duty...what was thy name again." The man only laughed before replying, "Don't worry about my name I'm simply crestfallen."

Boom end of chapter. Alright I hope you all enjoy my new OC character Death's Daughter or Deedee for short because she won't be the last. Hate it, love it, review.