Hey guys, so so sorry if you thought I was dead, but college has been keeping me on my toes and I have an art show coming up in September. So here's a little insight to show you how I am doing on my stories:

Pokemon Destiny Kanto-Started a new chapter, but is becoming difficult to continue. I may be going back to rewrite A Pokemon's Destiny, because compared to my more recent pieces it's garbage and noobish.

A Time Traveler's Destiny-Also started with the new chapter, but also having a hard time putting it together. As of right now, Jason is about to fight Falkner, and I've been trying to do my best in wording the imagery just right.

Astral-I haven't started on any recent chapters for it, but the ideas that I have in my head are still there, don't worry guys.

Bryce's Kanto Adventure-Started on the third chapter, but still thinking about how they'll be arriving in Kanto and how it will all play out.

Into Kingdom Hearts-I had very high hopes for this story, but I might take it down just because I don't think I'll be able to finish or even work on it. Sorry guys...

Pokemon Ancient Version-Before I can continue this story, I need to get together with my friend so we can come up with more Pokemon for the region (he told me he's got ideas for about 30 new ones, some with a Fairy-type).

SABL-FIGHT SCENE! Still in progress.

Spectrobes Revival of the Krawl-Honestly, I actually forgot about this one. Don't worry, though, when I have time I'll try to get back to it, but until then it's still on hiatus.

Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Net-Oh boy, you guys must be mad at me for not updating this. However, I'll tell you why. Spoiler just to let you know; In the upcoming chapter, Jacob is paired up with Yusei while the other two duel, and insane epicness will ensue. There's just one problem: I have yet to have made a Yusei Fudo deck, mostly because the deck lists online are incomplete or just don't provide a clear list. If anyone can help me on this, I beg of you, send the list to me ASAP so I can finish this.

Anyway, it's time to R&R, PM, and Enjoy!

Chapter 21

Death City, Mid-January

Robert instinctively woke up and looked at the clock. It was almost 8 in the morning, and he sat up in bed stretching his arms. He had been taking it easy for a while; ever since the incident both on the island and in the Death Room, Robert was instructed not to overwork himself. That meant just about everything he did for his morning routine.

He got out of bed and got himself dressed. Stone-Hammer knocked on his door, and Robert opened it. Stone-Hammer was already set to go, and he had already made their MREs. They sat down at the table, and he took out his breakfast and began to eat. After breakfast, Stone-Hammer transformed into his sword form, and Robert attached him to his belt. He left the apartment and headed down the stairs quickly, still avoiding Maka and the others. Ever since his talk with Lord Death, he's been keeping his distance from everyone; not just Maka, but Ms. Mjiolnir, Sid, Stein, and Spirit as well.

As he left the apartment, he heard Maka yelling at Soul. Robert smiled and continued up to the school. 'Hard to believe it's been nearly a year. It feels like only yesterday I started school here.' Stone-Hammer grunted, and he smiled a little. 'Now, it's finally time.'

He began walking up the steps to the school and felt something. He couldn't quite describe this feeling, only that it was strong. As he neared the top, the feeling got stronger and stronger, and he saw why once he was looking over the top step. Standing in front of the school was Professor Stein, along with Sid, Spirit Albarn, Marie Mjiolnir, Justin Law, Azusa Yumi, and his mother. Things were about to get interesting.

Robert kept one hand on Stone-Hammer as he walked towards them. He kept an eye on them, especially on Azusa and Stein. They parted for him to pass, and Robert walked past them, still keeping one hand at the ready. Before he reached the door Robert ducked, and the door exploded. Robert whirled around, drawing Stone-Hammer at the same time, and rolled to the right as Sid fired another shot. Justin rushed forward and brought out his blades, slashing downward while Robert blocked with Stone-Hammer.

"I take it this is the test of the body?" Robert asked, shoving Justin away. Stone-Hammer changed into his war hammer form, and Stein stepped forward with Spirit in his weapon form.

"It is, and in this test you'll have to defeat every one of us." Stein slashed to the side with Spirit, but Robert dodged by bending backwards, and then slamming Stone-Hammer into the ground after standing up. Stein jumped out of the way, and this time his mother charged, three spikes jutting out of her arms. She swiped at him, and Robert blocked with the handle.

Robert laughed, "You, I'm going to enjoy fighting against." He pushed her off, Stone-Hammer turning back into his sword form, and he repeatedly slashed at her. Justin blocked one of the downward blows, and pushing off. "In fact, I'm going to enjoy every second."

Death City, Outside apartment building

"Maka, sometimes I wonder how we ended up as partners," Soul said as they left their apartment building.

Maka resisted giving Soul another Maka-chop, and instead said, "I wouldn't have had to wake you up the hard way had you woken up on time."

"For crying out loud Maka, it takes us no more than 15 minutes to reach DWMA doors. Yet you insist on waking me up an hour and a half early."

Before Maka could retort, the familiar "Yahoo!" of Black*Star sounded from behind them. They turned to see Black*Star jump down from th rooftop, Tsubaki transforming out of her weapon form.

"Hey Black*Star," Soul said, walking over to him and high-fiving him, "how's it hanging?"

"Not much. Tsubaki and I are close to 99 Kishin egg souls. Looks like we're gona beat ya to it!"

'Not unless you screw it up again,' Maka thought to herself. Overhead, Kid flew over to them, hovering ten feet above the ground.

"Hey Kid," Tsubaki said, waving to him. They walked and talked for a while before arriving at the steps of DWMA. Maka felt something wrong, and it was coming from the top of the stairs. She hurried ahead of the others, who shouted at her to wait up. Black*Star was able to catch up to her using his speed, and Kid increased the speed of his board.

"Mind telling us what's going on?" Black*Star asked.

"Something's wrong, I can sense a powerful force up at the top of these steps."

"I sense it too," Kid added, "but it's coming from multiple sources." They arrived at the top of the stairs, and saw Stein, Sid, and the Death Scythes fighting Robert.

"All right, Battle Royale!" Black Star shouted, leaping into the fray. Stein noticed him, and used a blast of Soul Force to blast him away.

"This fight is between us and Robert," Stein said. "Stay out of it."

So they did. Soul and Tsubaki, left behind by their meisters, arrived at the top soon after, breathless and tired. "What's going on? Is that Robert?" Soul said, noticing the fight going on. Maka nodded, only able to watch Robert defend against the onslaught of the Death Scythes. Robert's mother tried another attack, this time slashing at him at a fast pace. Robert easily dodged, and brought out his own arm spikes. He blocked another slash from his mother, and quickly punched her in the abdomen.

She coughed up a little blood, and Robert attacked again, using both palms to force her away. Robert felt good doing that; he had put in all his hatred towards his mother into that attack, and now she was down for the count. Sid and Azusa got his attention next, attacking with multiple bolts at once. One of them hit his arm, causing blood to spurt out a little and retreating the spikes in his arm. Sid fired another bolt, and Robert was able to dodge again.

"Soul Resonance! Spirit Smasher!" Stone-Hammer's weapon form changed, and he attacked by slamming the hammer into the ground, causing a shockwave that made Sid lose his footing. Robert then charged forward while Sid was unable to attack, and swung right at his head. It impacted, and Robert swung it around to throw Sid into the DWMA wall. Robert faced the remaining Death Scythes and the lone Meister.

Stein and Spirit were partnered up, while Ms. Mjiolnir acted on her own like Justin. "So, it comes down to the final three," Robert said. Maka saw their souls begin to manifest; Justin had a guilotine at the top, which branched off down the sides of his soul; Ms. Mjiolnir was yellow with blue electricity streaking all around it; And Stein was blue with a screw impaled through the center. Each of their souls was a large size, about as large as Stein's when Maka first saw it.

Robert's soul was even larger, and it was a mix of blue, red, purple, and even black. Chains wrapped around the entire thing, with spikes scattered across the surface poking between the chains. Robert charged again, Stone-Hammer changing into his sword form, and he slashed at Justin first. Stein and Ms. Mjiolnir attacked, only for Robert to move out of the way and let their attacks hit Justin.

Robert stabbed the ground with Stone-Hammer, and a large blue kanji spread out to encompass him. The stone around him shifted, followed by a shock wave towards the Death Scythes and Meister. Ms. Mjiolnir was caught off guard, and took the most out of the attack, allowing Robert to make his attack. She attempted to block, only for her hammer arm to be pushed away and then hit full force. Ms. Mjiolnir was forced back, but she could no longer continue and fell in exhaustion. That left only two Death Scythes.

Justin attacked again, but Robert dodged again and slashed. He didn't draw much blood, but he cut the wires connected to his earplugs. Justin noticed this and jumped back. Stein attempted to attack again, but Justin stopped him. Justin turned to Robert, and said, "I was listening to some decent music that helped me concentrate. But now that you've severed me from my music, I have no choice; you officially have my full attention."

Stein relaxed a little, and Maka saw both Justin's and Robert's soul flare up until they were almost equal in size. Justin made the first move, bringing out his blades and then jumping into the air. Robert prepared himself, and saw a smile across Stein's face. If he was smiling, then whatever Justin was doing must be bad. His attention returned to Justin, and a white glow emanated from his blades. "Law Abiding Silver Gun!"

A silver light shot from Justin's blade, and Robert tossed Stone-Hammer to the side. He held his hands out, and the blade struck him. Some of the light streamed past, and it cut into the ground. Justin was sure he had won, but noticed Robert was still standing. 'But how? No one had ever survived a full on attack.'

"Confused!?" Robert shouted. Justin looked closer, and saw a purple aura emanating from his hands. "One perk about being part witch, I can use defensive spells to protect myself." Justin lost his concentration, and Robert jumped out of the way of the blast. Justin's attack ended, and Robert drew another kanji. Justin dropped down, but before he could the stone around him erupted and smashed into him. Robert continued this bombardment of stones, Justin slicing through most of them, until he suddenly stopped and charged.

He grabbed Stone-Hammer and slashed, just as Justin moved his concentration from the stones to Robert and held up his blades. Robert struck with all his strength and anger, and Justin was thrown back. Just as Robert thought, he was caught off guard and couldn't apply a proper defense. Justin slumped to the ground, and Robert turned to face Stein, his final opponent. As expected, he was completely expressionless, except for a small smile.

"As I expected Robert, you have grown much stronger. You are using just about every ability you have at your disposal. But the fight ends here." Robert retrieved Stone-Hammer, and prepared to strike. "Unfortunately," Stein said. Spirit transformed out of his weapon form, making Robert confused. Stein looked around, and so did Robert. A small crowd of students and other teachers had gathered, those that were already at the school and those just arriving, and all eyes were on them. "We will not be your final opponents." Robert's attention returned to Stein, confused.

'Was Justin Law my last opponent?' Robert thought to himself. 'Or is there someone else I have to fight?' Stein moved back and looked up, smiling a little. Robert looked up as well, and couldn't believe what he was seeing. Maka, Kid, and Black*Star looked as well, as well as the crowd that had gathered, and a collective gasp gathered.

'No way. Him?' Robert watched as Lord Death himself flew down using some sort of jets. He touched down and Robert tensed up a little, 'Lord Death? He's my final opponent?'

"Well Robert, it looks like this is it. The end of this test, but first you must get past me. I won't make this easy for you."

"Then let's go," Robert said, gripping Stone-Hammer tightly.

"Very well," Lord Death said, his voice getting deeper and his blank mask face turning into an angry expression. He brought out his hands and charged straight for Robert, "Reaper Chop!" Robert dodged and Lord Death's hands crashed into the ground, destroying all the stone in a two foot radius. Lord Death spun around, and Robert used Stone-Hammer to block the attack. His hands slammed into Stone-Hammer, and Robert was thrown back into the side of the school.

Stone-Hammer fell out of his hands, and Robert grunted in pain. He looked up to see Lord Death coming in for another attack, and he held up his own hands. Two kanji flashed on the back of his hands and a light blue shield materialized in front of Robert, protecting him from Lord Death's attack. Lord Death stopped his attack momentarily and moved back, allowing Robert to gain a moment to relax. Unfortunately, it was only for a moment, and Lord Death continued his onslaught.

Robert continued using his shield, blocking his attacks again and again. Finally, Lord Death stopped and moved back. Around them, the school grounds were in very bad shape; stones were overturned, entire sections were gone, and even parts of the DWMA building were destroyed. "It seems you have gone on the defensive, one that I cannot break."

Robert smirked, but still kept the shield up. He was becoming exhausted, keeping this shield up was using his own energy for fuel. "So it seems I'll have to resort to my previous form to end this fight." Maka and the others heard what he said, and Kid seemed the most surprised out of all of them.

"Previous form?" Maka asked.

"We've seen it before," Kid said. Maka and the others looked at Kid and he continued, "During the Battle for the Brew, when we entered the field, we saw him in that form." Maka started for a moment, and looked back to the fight. Lord Death shouted, almost roaring, and the sky lit up. Everyone looked up at the now white sky, and Robert already knew what this was.

"Kid," Maka asked, "what's going on?"

Kid remained silent before responding, "What you're seeing is my father's very soul." Maka was now scared, and looked at Kid like he was crazy.

"Lord Death's...soul?" Robert turned his attention back to Lord Death, who was now glowing with a soft white light. The light became brighter until it enveloped Lord Death completely, and then died down again. Lord Death was completely changed; his previous, cartoonish form was replaced with somthing more demonic in nature. His skull mask now looked more like an actual skull, with eye sockets that were more of a rounded rectangle shape, and the three pointed teeth were replaced with short, rounded teeth. His body was like a ragged cloak, and he had one arm visible. However, instead of his usual foam-like hands, it was a clawed black hand, the word "Death" written on the arm.

"Now, bear witness to my Reaper Cleaver!" Lord Death's voice was now much lower and echoed in Robert's mind. He charged straight for Robert, who kept his shield up, and attacked with his clawed hand. However, much to Robert's surprise, the claw tore through the shield like mist and struck Robert. Robert was sent flying, and as he slid across the ground he left a trail of blood behind. Robert struggled to stand up, and saw blood practically flowing out of his chest. Robert was barely able to stand, his legs like jelly. He looked in the direction of Lord Death and saw he was standing there, blood on his claws.

'I'm not going out like this,' Robert thought to himself. 'But how? I can't get to Stone-Hammer, and his claws destroyed my shield like it was nothing. I...I...' His thoughts became clouded as the loss of blood took it's toll on him. He stumbled forward a bit, and Robert fell in his own blood.

Lord Death sighed, "He has failed." Maka was speechless, terrified. Robert being taken down with a single blow, it seemed almost impossible to her. Lord Death watched as a blue light came from Robert, and a blue orb floated out of him.

His soul.

"Now, I must guide Robert's soul to safety," Lord Death said as he moved towards him. He reached Robert's body, but instead of taking the soul he just stared at it. Lord Death's eyes widened and Robert's soul flared up. It began changing color, from blue to red, to purple, and back to blue. It changed into each of these three colors multiple times, until it stopped at one last color: black. Lord Death had seen many soul colors before, but never had he seen a soul that was black, let alone knew what it meant.

The soul suddenly glowed and grew. It grew and grew, until Robert's body was encompassed. His body twitched and moved, much to Lord Death's surprise, and his body stood up. The soul began shrinking, and returned inside Robert's body. Robert inhaled, and then looked up at Lord Death. Robert's face became a look of rage, and he shouted in rage.

Robert's soul expanded once again, growing faster and faster until all of DWMA was encompassed by the black soul, but even then it couldn't match up to Lord Death's white soul, which surrounded all of Death City. Lord Death looked at the soul surrounding them, then looked back at Robert. He was hunched over, and Lord Death could guess at what was happening next.

With another shout, black tendrils shot out from Robert's back, attaching themselves to Robert's soul. The ropes tightened, and became thinner until holes formed and the tendrils turned into metal chains. It grew dark fast, but small holes of light poked through. Then more light began streaming in as it broke apart, the soul now a mass of chains. There were spikes among the chains as well, and they were all pointed at Lord Death. He looked at Robert, who looked at him with wild, yet tired, eyes.

Robert lifted up his hands, and with a single gesture the spikes flew forward and the chains untangled. Lord Death did his best at deflecting some of the oncoming spikes, tearing them apart with his claw, but more and more came after him, and began tying him up. Some chains were kept away from Lord Death, while the rest were keeping Lord Death in one place. Lord Death looked to Robert, and saw a blank expression. With another gesture, the remaining chains pointed straight at Lord Death and sped forward, impaling him.

Lord Death grunted, and shouted, "Enough!" Lord Death broke the chains easily, and Robert cringed in pain. The chain links receded back into his body, and he looked at Lord Death. The spikes actually did a number on him, the holes all over his body being the evidence. Robert and Lord Death stared at each other, giving the other hard looks. Finally, Lord Death broke the silence.

"You have passed the test of the body."

With those words, Robert fell once again, this time caught by Lord Death, who reverted back to his original form.

I hope you guys are satisfied with this chapter, because this story is about to come to a close soon. I'd say about two or three more chapters and this story will be completed. Thank you for those who stuck with this story until now, and I hope you'll stay until the story is finished. But for now, R&R, PM, and good morning (it's almost 6 am right now).