Note: I apologize for my absence from this story…I've been so caught up with work and rarely have any time to do anything else. With that aside I do have to say that this story is reaching its end. This has by far been my most popular story and I'm thankful for all you out there reading and enjoying it! Much appreciated!

Grinning, the Kishin licks his lips eagerly as Medusa prepares to tell him her decision.

"Well? What is it?"

"No! Fuck no! I'm not gonna let you have your way even if you bring Noah back!" Medusa hisses angrily as she clenches her fists. His grin fading, Asura lets out a bored groan and rolls his eyes. "Oh you're all no fun! Always doing the opposite of what I want. Its rather disappointing."

Raising a hand towards the Kishin, the snake witch prepares to attack. "I've had it with you…You've driven my patience with your sick game!"

"Oho! Pardon me for driving your patience! I didn't realize you could kill me whenever you wanted!" Asura replies sarcastically with a smirk on his face. The comment only angers Medusa further as she bites down on her lip to the point when it began to bleed. "Don't mess with me you fucking Kishin. Don't you mess with me!"

Laughing, the Kishin eagerly grins seeing that he was agitating her. "What are you going to do? Kill me?"

"Damn right I am!" Medusa snaps as she lets her vector arrow fly towards Asura. Putting his hand out, Asura easily stops the attack as the arrow disintegrates.

Staring in complete shock, Medusa takes a step back. "How is that even possible…!"

Laughing the Kishin grins widely as he steps towards the witch. "You don't really think you stand a chance against me do you?"

"Hey don't get ahead of yourself you damned Kishin! You still got me to deal with!" Black*Star yells out as he leaps into the air behind Asura, preparing to slice his head. Just before he could make contact, the attack is parried and stopped by the now possessed Ox who begins battling with Black*Star. Gritting his teeth, the blue haired assassin mutters to himself. "Damn it…if it weren't for these lifeless puppets I'd have no problem fighting that Kishin!"

With a calm glance to Medusa and Black*Star, Asura lets out a chuckle that soon develops into wicked laughter. "You all crack me up…all this talk about killing me and you can't even lay a finger on me! Its pathetic really! Isn't it, Arachne?"

Medusa's eyes widen at hearing the name of her sister called. What!? My sister is in on this!?

Smiling pleasantly as she sat on a stool from the corner of the room, the spider witch gave a cool glance to her sister. "Yes I agree. It truly is pathetic seeing them try to kill you."

"Arachne, you bitch…" Medusa hisses in a hostile tone as she glares at her sister. Tilting her head and fanning herself, Arachne tilts her head and gives Medusa an innocent look. "What seems to be the problem my beloved sister?"

"You were plotting this whole thing with the damned Kishin all along weren't you!? And you knew I was here but didn't lift a finger!" the snake witch snarled with her eyes twitching from anger. Laughing calmly, Arachne shakes her head and smiles. "Foolish sister…this was all Asura's idea. All of it. I was merely called over as a friend. To watch his little game. And I must say it's been quite entertaining."

"I'm gonna take your soul, you lousy excuse of a sister…!" Medusa mutters as she readies her hands in attack motion.

Back on the island, Maka and the others were all still attempting to deal with Soul's death. Maka was kneeled down besides her deceased boyfriend, holding his hand tightly. No one had said a word since he passed away. Nothing but silence filled the island at this precise moment.

After a brief moment, Kid stood up and glanced over at Maka. "Maka…I-"

"I don't wanna hear it" the ash blonde haired girl snapped with her back still turned to the group. Looking down at his feet, Kid lets out a defeated sigh. He couldn't help but feel guilty for what happened. He had shot Soul. It was because of him that he was now dead.

As if reading his thoughts, Liz gently grasps her mesiter's hand and shakes her head slowly. "It wasn't your fault…you couldn't have known Soul was gonna do that." Eased by her words, Kid nodded slowly as he bit his lip and continued to stare at the floor.

Shuffling over to Maka as he played with his hands, Crona tried to find the words to attempt to comfort her. "Um…M-Maka…d-do you…need anything…?" To his surprise, Maka turns her head in his direction and looks into his eyes with her own calm green eyes. With the shake of her head she turns back to look at Soul and says, "no Crona I'm fine."

Whimpering quietly in Jackie's arms, Pot of Fire and Pot of Thunder had their faces turned away from the scene, not wanting to see the body of another lost friend. Jackie had her gaze over to Patty. The petite blonde had been awfully quiet since Soul's death. The cheerfulness and energy was almost completely drained from Patty. She was hardly herself anymore.

Deep in the forest among the island, Eruka sat on Free's lap with her gaze to the floor. Her hands began to shake and as the male werewolf notice he took her hands in his. "Easy there Eruka. Take it easy."

"How can I? This whole thing has taken a huge toll on all of us," She muttered as she let out a long sigh and shut her eyes. "Besides, nearly half of the people that started here are dead. Who's to say we aren't next? We could die right here, right now."

Eruka's sudden words sent a wave of discomfort through Free's body. "I never imagined I'd die in a place like this. Hell, I never thought I would ever die at all. I'm immortal after all" the male grunted as he looked to the side.

"I suppose one good thing has come out of all of this" Eruka said quietly. "Huh? What would that be?" Free asked curiously. As the frog witch looked over at him, she attempted to smile. "You."

Chuckling, the werewolf pulled his female lover closer to him and grinned. "You got a way with words you know that?"

"I know" Eruka smiled as she leaned forward and kissed Free gently.

Yelling out loudly, Black*Star finally manages to cut through Ox, the possessed boy falling over as his eyes began to fade. "Sorry Ox…nothing personal. But I gotta kill this damn Kishin…"

Grinning, the Kishin claps his hands together. "Very good, I'd expect nothing less from you Black*Star."

"Oh shut up already!" Black*Star mutters as he raises his sword (Tsubaki), ready to strike. "I'm gonna kill you and save all my friends!" At this, Asura laughs an almost too sinister laugh. "Really? Save all your friends? Even Soul?"

At hearing this, Black*Star tightens his grip on his weapon and feels his eyes slightly go uneasy. Even Tsubaki sensed something wrong as his hands began to shake. "Black*Star…?"

The blue haired male began to grit his teeth soon afterwards as he felt his veins pulsing in anger. "Shut up…don't you dare talk bad about Soul…"

"Oh sorry about that. Heh, did I anger you? I suppose I did. I mean it is your fault Soul died after all. You weren't there to help him. If only you had been there he wouldn't be dead" Asura explained with a wide smirk on his face.

"Shut up! I said shut up already!" Black*Star yells out as he charges the Kishin. Rolling his eyes, Asura merely puts out his hand. "Oh please…"

As the blue haired assassin charged at Asura, he felt himself get flung back as a sudden presence filled the air. Falling down and groaning, Black*Star quickly got to his feet as he glared at Asura. "Medusa! I hate to ask for your help but I need you to kill this damned Kishin!"

Hearing her name be called, the snake witch let out a long sigh. "Maybe you can't tell but I'm a bit busy!' she snapped as she was locked in combat with the revived Justin Law who blocked her path, not letting her get to Arachne. "If only this damned zombie priest would let me kill my sister!" Medusa snarled as she viciously attacked Justin with her vector sword. With the overwhelming amount of attacks, Justin soon found himself overpowered by Medusa who manages to cut past him.

Raising her brow, Arachne eyes her sister carefully. "My my…you've gotten stronger now."

As Medusa raised her sword to attack, the revived Noah suddenly stood in her path. Stopping, her attack hand went limp as she stared into the undead male. "Noah…"

Without hesitation, Noah swings his arm at Medusa, hitting her straight in her stomach. Staggering back and finding herself choking for air, her eyes widen and she drops her vector sword. Smiling, Arachne stands up. "Too bad. This is where it ends for you, sister."

Eyes wide, Medusa coughs out blood as Noah suddenly pierced her chest with her own vector sword. "Noah…? You…" Her vision begins to blur as she looks into the eyes of the man who stabbed her. As she looked into his eyes she saw cold, dark and empty eyes. That wasn't Noah. Not the Noah she knew. As she fell to the ground her breathing became softer, her vision fading even more at this point. Unable to speak, she stares up at the ceiling of the hideout and attempts a smile. Noah you idiot…I'm suppose in a way I'll come to meet you. That way my soul will finally be yours to collect. Forever…

With her last breath, she lay motionless as Arachne smiled even wider seeing her sister's corpse. "There she goes. Dead. She was always such a pitiful thing."

Seeing Medusa dead, Black*Star curses under his breath. "It's just you and me now Tsubaki…we're gonna have to do this on our own somehow."

"H-How will we do that…?" Tsubaki asked nervously with a hint of uncertainty in her tone. "You just gotta trust me Tsubaki. We can do this. We have to do this! For Soul and the others! For everyone who's died here!"

"Maka, we have to go" Liz whispered as she put a hand on her friend's shoulder. Slowly looking back, Maka nodded slowly and took one last glance at Soul. Standing up, Maka takes a deep breath and closes her eyes for a brief moment. "Okay…lets go."

END OF CHAPTER 21
R.I.P Medusa Gorgon
DEATH COUNT: 12