When the curtain fell and reality reasserted itself, Belzenef was amongst the first to get ahold of himself and stop cheering.

Straightening up quickly, checking to see whether anyone had noticed, he satisfied himself that he was still as anonymous as a Cat could be in a crowd of humans.

With a surge of relief, he caught sight of an orange portal glowing, up in the corner of the room. Assuming he could persuade GLaDOS to let him through, he'd be out of there in the next minute.

Yes, that was true. But he didn't actually spread his wings, or take flight.

Instead Belzenef walked out of the theater with the main crowd. Not quite admitting to himself what he was doing.

He emerged into a well-lit hallway, and took his sweet time observing the paintings which hung along the walls. He didn't want to get caught up in the cast and crew's antics, but he was in no real hurry to go home, either.

Though there were many things worse than being a glorified errand-boy as a way of debt-redemption, it was certain that, the instant he returned, someone would have some stupidly pointless task to assign to him. Why not enjoy things when an opportunity for a break came along?

"Belzenef," said a voice behind him.

The tan Cat repressed an urge to flinch. He recognized that voice.

"Hello, Chloe," he greeted her.

Belzenef turned around to see a Cat with dark green fur and yellow eyes, which were only a shade lighter than his.

"My, my, my," she said, "aren't you supposed to be working?"

"The Human Cat is around here, somewhere," he said. "I'm to report on her progress in creating that Death Scythe for the Coven."

"Unless I'm mistaken," said Chloe, "she was the one onstage who seemed to enjoy candy?"

"Ah, yes," said Belzenef. "Well, I'll go and track her down, then. Shall I?"

He turned and began to hurry down the hallway.

Chloe stayed where she was, but made one final parting remark. "Be careful, Belzenef," she said. "Don't think the council hasn't noticed how chummy you've gotten with these humans. If I were you, I'd keep your distance."

Belzenef repressed a sneer. Well, of course he'd taken a shine to these people; they treated him with some manner of respect. Even if they were slightly worse mannered than a basket of wet kittens.

But all he said was, "Will-do."

With that, Chloe transformed into a cobra and slithered away.

The Cat of Chiroptera walked down to the end of the hallway, making sure to keep his expression blank.

At the end of it, he was glomped by an ecstatic Blair.

"Belzy!" she said, "Come on! You're coming to the after-party!"

He really shouldn't, Belzenef knew.

"Fine," he said.

Because sometimes you just had to think beyond your career.

The advantage and disadvantage of being surrounded by humans, Belzenef thought, was that their tall stature normally meant that Cats in their midst went unnoticed.

Occasionally, this was useful, as it allowed more easily for espionage. Currently, however, it meant listening to one of the Ouran weapons bad-mouthing the play while being stuck behind her and gaggle of friends, who didn't see the big deal with taking up an entire hallway.

"... that was the most confusing thing I've ever seen!" said a girl with scarlet hair. "Why couldn't they have just cast humans for all the human roles and weapons for all the weapon ones? "

"And the weapons didn't even have any lines!" said one of her entourage.

"Or at least they could have left the robots out of it!" said another.

"Quite frankly," said the first weapon, "it's a disgrace, and I've half a mind to complain to the principal of this school for allowing such an insensitive piece of 'art' to leave the drawing board..."

And so on.

Honestly, Belzenef thought they were correct on all counts, but he had a feeling that creating high-art hadn't exactly been the goal of their conglomeration of a theater company.

After two or three minutes of weaving through human ankles, the two Cats arrived at the Third Music Room and entered.

Inside there was food, a few streamers hung along the walls, and family had shown up, for those of the cast and crew who had family.

Near the center of things, he saw Hitachins talking civilly with Kim, and Fuyumi Ohtori speaking with Kid. Off to one side, even the Ouran wallflowers had gathered the courage to approach Soul, who was playing piano, to request a favorite song or two.

Tamaki Suoh, who the Shibusen students finally seemed to have warmed up to, was chatting with Maka and Ragnarok.

Chrona was being dragged across the room by Angela, who wanted to show her something.

Belzenef sighed. This was a nice dimension. He was glad the Cobra Cat had left.

Or, at least, Belzenef assumed she had left—until the shot was fired.

The sound of a gunshot rang throughout the room.

Those with sharp eyes saw that the assailant was an Assassin who'd sniped from the rafters. She was a Cat, one who Belzenef had talked to mere minutes before.

She was gone the next moment, vanishing like a streak of light through the door.

There was a great cry of outrage as Kid—as the younger Shinigami, Belzenef corrected himself—fell to the ground. The Tanuki Witch and the mad scientist were at his side a moment later, frantically checking his vitals.

The Chameleon Witch was the first to run after the assailant, assuming the form of Black-Star—who was running beside her—while she did so.

The Samurai was quick to follow his daughter; Maka and the Holy Sword and followed them.

The Hitachins, Tamaki, Hani, Mori, Sapphire, and Silver were more or less following the crowd, when they left.

Tezca Tlipolca followed as well, because there was no kill like overkill.

After seeing fourteen people rush out after the Assassin, those who remained in the room decided to see whether there was anything they could do for the young Shinigami, since it was unlikely that they'd be of help when so many had left already.

Belzenef, for his part, merely stood there in shock.

This wasn't something he'd expected.

Then again, since this really was Chloe's handiwork, that meant that the Coven had declared the Shinigami of this universe to be enemies, and he was fraternizing with them.

Just like Chloe—to see him and not tell him anything about it. She was probably trying to get him executed for treason.

He really needed to get out of there.

Admittedly, he felt a pang of remorse that he was now enemies with these people. As far as deadbeats went, Blair wasn't bad, and some of the others were even downright civil.

Still, it wasn't like their understanding would go very far, once they realized it had been one of his people who'd shot their beloved death-god.

Belzenef turned around, and made to leave through a less-obvious exit than the main door, probably a window.

He found himself face-to-face with a wall of black.

"Leaving, are we?" asked Nekozawa.

"Charming," said Belzenef, preparing to fight.

"Are you sure you really want to go?" asked the Witch, seeming almost concerned.

"You saw," said Belzenef, nodding to the fallen Shinigami. "That was Chloe who shot him," he said, "and, sooner or later, someone's going to piece together that we're the same species."

"Do you really think so little of us?" asked the Panther Witch, almost looking hurt.

"...or that I was probably the last one to speak to her before she went postal," finished Belzenef, refusing to react to what was probably an insult.

"No need to worry about that," said Umehito. "I was eavesdropping the entire time. I can vouch for the fact that she was threatening you and not filling you in on the assassination plan."

Belzenef shot him a sharp look. "I don't know if you've noticed," he said. "But I belong to the Coven's Council, body and soul. I can't be otherwise."

"We have money," said Nekozawa. "Not a lot, mind you, but enough to redeem a debt or two. We'd be willing to help."

"In return for what exactly?"

"Intelligence," said the Witch. "We need to know what that bullet was, and what it did to Shinigami-kun."

Belzenef thought about it a lot, but he realized this was a 'limited-time offer' so to speak, and so he thought quickly.

"Fine," he said, taking flight and landing next to Stein and Blair.

"The Assassin was an acquaintance of mine," he told Stein. "She's the Cobra Cat, so whatever she did, it probably involved magic and snake venom..."

Meanwhile, Tsubaki was standing at a far enough distance that she wouldn't get in the way, but near enough that she could still see Kid.

"Hello, Tsubaki," said Haruhi's voice at her side.

Tsubaki was watching Kim pass out, after she'd used up her magic reserves trying to heal Kid. Stein had managed to wrench the bullet out of Kid's chest, but the wound was still dark and obviously tainted.

"You care about the death-god, don't you?" Haruhi asked.

Tsubaki nodded, not bothering to speak.

Now the Death Scythes, Liz, Patty, Soul, Justin, Marie, and Spirit were transfusing wavelength to Kid from Sid, Stein, and a few other meisters, in an attempt to buy time.

"Would you die for him?" asked Haruhi.

"Yes," said Tsubaki, without thinking.

Then, she took a moment to actually think about it, and realized that 'yes' was indeed her answer.

She wrenched her eyes away from Kid's still unmoving form to look the Dragon Witch in the eyes.

"Why?" asked the Shadow Weapon.

Haruhi took her by the hand and led her over to Kid's side, where Nekozawa and Belzenef were conversing in hurried tones. Kasanoda was talking to Stein, explaining what they wanted to try.

The professor nodded, giving his approval.

The Death Scythes were doing another wavelength-transfusion in preparation, this time with Lord Death as the donor.

Kid's breathing steadied, but the hole in his chest remained unchanged.

"There's a spell that might help," said the Dragon Witch. "A kind of power-transfusion, a bit like what Stein has already tried, but more potent. We think it's worth a shot, but we need you to do it," she said, looking Tsubaki in the eyes. "You specifically," she finished.

Tsubaki nodded.

"There's some risk involved," Haruhi continued, as they reached Kid's side. Kirimi was using her powers to slow Kid's metabolism, as a further precaution. "Not a great amount of risk," said Haruhi, "but it is significant. Somewhere between donating a kidney and donating bone-marrow. In all probability, you should you survive... but there's a chance you won't, so it's easier to ask if you're willing to die for him."

Tsubaki took a breath. She glanced at the Nekozawas, elder and younger, at Kasanoda, and at a woman in blue, Haruhi's father, who she remembered meeting earlier that night. Finally, she looked at Haruhi.

"Do it," she said.

Haruhi nodded.

She knelt down before the dark-haired weapon and took Tsubaki's hands.

Kasanoda and Ranka moved over to stand at her shoulders, upon which each placed a hand.

Nekozawa placed a palm on Tsubaki's forehead.

They began a slow chant, all speaking in unison, which was entirely unimpressive the the naked eye.

Stein, who possessed Soul perception, was very nearly slack-jawed.

Lord Death's wasn't paying attention to them; his eyes were on Kid.

For a second or two, Tsubaki wasn't sure that anything was going to happen at all.

The next second, she had lost control of her body and fallen.

She really, really hoped that was supposed to happen.

And her last thought, before darkness claimed her, was that she hoped to wake again.

Chrona and Ragnarok, once they realized there was nothing they could do, had stood very still and quietly throughout the whole affair.

The meister clutched onto her weapon's arm and sobbed quietly about how she 'didn't know how to deal with this.'

And Ragnarok?

He watched.

He saw the unsuccessful attempts at wavelength transfusion. He saw Belzenef come over and help them. And he saw the Witches converge on the fallen death-god's form, Haruhi towing a shell-shocked Tsubaki along with her.

Ragnarok saw them arrange themselves around the black-haired weapon with an air of purpose; he watched as they began a spell; and he saw Tsubaki fall, though Ranka and Kasanoda caught her before she hit the floor.

Tsubaki's unconscious form was engulfed in an energy of some sort, which the Witches funneled off into a spell that Kirimi was weaving.

When they could gather no more power into it, the small blonde placed her hands on Kid's chest and finished the incantation.

The spell sank into his skin, and—finally—the corruption, which had thwarted their previous efforts and prevented healing, was gone.

It would have been a great victory, if it weren't for the fact that Kid still had a mortal wound, and all their healers had just depleted their powers.

Before they could work themselves into too great a panic, though, a tendril of darkness arced from Lord Death's aura over to his son.

The elder Shinigami was as surprised as anyone to see it happen, but he hurried to Kid's side in case proximity with a familiar energy would help.

It seemed to, as Kid's own Shingami healing-powers kicked in, and all the shadows in the room soon gathered themselves around his wound, shrouding it from view.

Then, there was a flash—not of white—but of darkest black, and Kid's injury, though not healed by any means, was bleeding much less heavily, and had half healed over.

"Someone get me a gurney!" bellowed Stein.

A few minutes later, after Kid had been ushered out of the room, most of the party-goers had left.

Liz and Patty, though they looked very much like they wanted to go worry over Kid's bedside, were sticking around to make sure the others were alright.

The five Witches were all still conscious, though they were rather more somber than usual.

Tsubaki had woken up soon enough, and when she did, she found that everyone else in the room was clustered around the bullet Kid had been shot with.

"We need to analyze this," said Chrona, leaning against Ragnarok's shoulder, examining the bullet in her hand. Only she and Ragnarok had been able to touch it without feeling intense pain. "The question is..." continued the black-blooded meister, "...would Stein or GLaDOS do a better job?"

"Stein has his hands full trying to save Kid's life," said Ragnarok. "I believe my sister would be the better choice."

"Does GLaDOS know you call her 'sister?'" asked Chrona.

"With any luck, she never will," answered Ragnarok.

"Hang on," said Tsubaki. "I probably have strength enough for this." She closed her eyes and concentrated.

"Uh," said Kasanoda. "You might not want to—"

But Tsubaki had already morphed her arm into a portal-gun and fired.

A portal appeared on the wall, connecting to the one they'd left in the central AI chamber on their last visit, but it was easily three times the size of a normal portal.

"What just happened?" asked Tsubaki, staring at her own arm in perplexity.

"One of the side effects of the spell," explained Haruhi. "You're actually a Death Scythe now."

Tsubaki blinked.

"... I'll probably be really confused on that point, later," she said, "but for now I'll leave it alone."

She held out her hand to Ragnarok, who took it. Chrona held Ragnarok's hand, and the three of them entered Aperture.

GLaDOS' voice came over the intercom. "I see we have some intruders. Please wait a moment while I prepare the neurotoxin."

Tsubaki rolled her eyes. "But if we're killed by neurotoxin, you'll never know where this came from," she said, gesturing to the bullet in Chrona's hand.

GLaDOS turned towards them. "All right," she said. "You've intrigued me: what is it?"

"Half an hour ago," Tsubaki said, "someone tried to assassinate Kid. He's currently in critical condition, and all we know is that they used this bullet to do it."

"He's considerably weaker than a normal Shinigami," said the AI. "a standard bullet could very well have killed him at this point."

"This is no ordinary bullet," said Tsubaki. "Kim, the Tanuki Witch, used up all her power reserves just to help get the bullet out, and no fewer than three wavelength transfusions were performed to clean the wound to the point where it wasn't getting worse by the second, and he still looks like he's going to die. Whoever did this made the bullet incredibly powerful. It's only through sheer dint of effort by many people of power that Kid's still alive."

"And Stein?" asked the AI

"Performing surgery as we speak," said Ragnarok. "The whole event occurred less than thirty minutes ago."

"I'll analyze the bullet, convey my findings to the screwhead or to the elder Shinigami," she said. "We'll discuss payment later."

"Goodbye GLaDOS... and thank you," said Tsubaki.

Upon arriving back in their own universe, they noticed that the Ouran Witches were still there, and so was Kyoya Ohtori, who must have arrived while they were gone, as he hadn't been at the play or the party. He was talking in quiet tones with his sister.

The two siblings looked up when Tsubaki and company returned.

"I feel so awful," Fuyumi told them. "It's very likely that that bullet was meant for me."

"Unlikely," said Anya, "Something like that would be overkill for anyone human. You were just in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"I'm curious, though," said Kyoya. "His responses sound more like a human's than a death-god's, from what Fuyumi has told me."

"Yeah," said Hero. "Kid's a Shinigami, but he's also a weapon. His powers grow in proportion to the number of soul's he's consumed... which, as of now, is less than ten. It'll be awhile yet before he's a Death Scythe, and has full-level Shinigami powers again."

Hero missed the significant glance the Ohtori siblings exchanged at the word 'again'.

"Anyway," said Marcus. "Let's go set up a vigil."

Those who were still in the third music room (Team Harudori, Liz, Patty, Tsubaki, Soul, the Ouran Witches, Blair, Belzenef) left en masse and made their way over to the infirmary.

The Ohtoris were still trailing after the group of them, for most of the way, as though uncertain what to do.

The Shibusen students seemed to notice this, and Anya, Meme, and Tsugumi dropped back to walk with them.

"We're headed to the infirmary to wait for news on Kid," Meme told them. "You're welcome to come, but don't feel like you have to."

"We'll stay," said Fuyumi, still looking horribly guilty.

When they arrived outside the infirmary, they saw a number of people standing outside the room, out of the walkway and spread out, so as not to block it.

Here, Tsugumi and her meisters stopped.

Marcus Law and Blair went over to where Lord Death and the Death Scythes, Spirit, Azusa, Marie, and Justin, were consulting quietly and exchanging worried glances. They spoke to Marcus, briefly, before he returned to the group.

Blair then informed them of what had happened. Apparently, she and Belzenef both had recognized the Assassin as one of their people. And those who had set off to apprehend her hadn't returned yet.

Now, nobody was sure exactly where any of them were.