A/N: Once again, there wasn't a factoid last chapter to let you reel and reflect on that little bit of information.
"Get back!" Stitches yelled, swiping at Medusa again.
At that moment, the charge burst into the cave and was shocked at the first sight.
Mina ran over to the phone on the ground and picked it up. It was her weapon's – she knew it. She dusted off the screen and, despite the nearly empty battery, she had enough time to read the message that had been typed out on it.
To: Thomas
I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. This is something I need to do, but I'm fine. I promise. I love y
A bunch of unintelligible letters followed, and Mina was worried that something dire had happened to Stitches.
That was, until an almighty yell came from the cavern below.
"Why are you still here! I've been here nearly two days, why don't you just go ahead and kill me?!"
The group all rushed forward to peer into the chasm, as they all recognised the voice and were amazed to see what was down there.
There was Stitches Stein, the Deathscythe they all knew and respected, jumping and swiping at something they couldn't yet see. It was hidden behind a stone pillar.
"Stitches?!" Mina and Stein yelled in unison. Stein stepped forward tentatively.
"Stitches… what are you doing?" he asked, quietly. Stitches landed in a crouch and looked backwards at Stein.
"Papa! You guys, you've gotta help me, she's back, Medusa's back! There!" Stitches yelled, pointing at something Stein couldn't yet see. Stein walked forward to look at whatever Stitches was pointing at, and he brought his hand to cover his mouth and he shook his head.
"No." he murmured.
He knew what she was swiping at.
She was swiping at nothing.
"Papa, help me!" she yelled.
"I'm getting backup, wait for me!" Stein called, quickly making his way back to the cohort. He had an incredibly solemn look on his face.
"Okay. Good news and bad news. Good news – Stitches is safe and is going to stay that way. Bad news… we're dealing with madness. A radiating device, I believe." Stein said. Everyone gasped and Stein nodded.
"Stitches thinks she's fighting with Medusa. Obviously, the madness embodies itself as Medusa, and the only reason I don't see her down there yet is because of residual effects of Marie's wavelength." Stein said. Kid stepped forward and began to speak.
"Well, we all have to go and try to destroy the device." he stated. Stein shook his head.
"Stitches won't let us go undetected. I'm… I'm going to suggest something." Stein stated. The group all looked at him and listened, but he was interrupted by Marie, her arm wrapped around a trembling Thomas.
"Stein, I need you here." Marie called. Stein glanced up and walked over to the pair, and Marie looked up at him.
"What is it?" he asked.
"Do you remember, after Medusa was defeated, they think she inhabited another body? And that she possibly had another child?" Marie asked. Stein nodded, and before Marie even had to speak up, his eyes widened and he looked at Thomas, who was sheepish.
"You think you're Medusa's child?" Stein asked, quietly. Thomas shook and glanced up at Stein.
"Please don't say it." he trembled. Stein shook his head.
"We can deal with this later, with all due respect, but Stitches is hallucinating right now. She thinks she's fighting Medusa." Stein said. Marie looked at Thomas, who nodded.
"We need to protect Stitches." he said, his voice still shaky but determined. Stein nodded and he, Thomas and Marie made their way into the group, thankfully, with no questions asked.
"Okay. Black*Star, Tsubaki, Sid, Naigus, Justin. You need to guard the door, now." Stein said. The five nodded and left the group.
"Right. Mina, Joseph, Thomas, Spirit, Azusa. You all need to make sure the device is destroyed. Thomas, you can sense the device, right?" Stein asked. Thomas nodded.
"Right. So, you lead, because you can't be affected by the madness, you locate it and you destroy it. Go." Stein said. The five moved off quickly, following the blonde meister.
"What about us, Doctor?" Maka asked. Stein took a deep breath and looked at Maka and Kid, the remaining meisters. They had their weapons take form when the groups began leaving.
"Maka, Kid… You and I need to fall to the madness." Stein stated, simply. They both gasped and Marie was ready to stop it.
"Before you say anything… It's the only way to get Stitches to trust us while she's insane." Stein said. Maka nodded and stepped forward.
"I'll do it." Maka nodded insistently.
"But she'll come back, right? Stein, she'd better come back. We have two children as well, don't forget that!" Kid's rant was cut off when Stein nodded.
"Of course. I would never put others in unnecessary risk, Kid. Not while I'm sane." Stein stated before he looked at Maka's scythe.
"Soul, you and Maka can't resonate. I don't want to worsen any effects that may remain after your black blood incident. Maka's are reversible, but I don't know about yours." Stein said.
"Okay, Doc." Soul's disembodied voice called.
"I'll go with it… but how do Maka and I fall to the madness? What about you?" Kid asked.
"It's simple for me. Marie stops protecting me with her wavelength." Stein said. Those words formed a seemingly immovable lump in Stein's throat and he had to stop for a second. Marie cleared her throat and sighed, the displeasure evident in her voice.
"Now, you two are going to have to resonate with a weapon and each other without using Soul." Stein said.
"Here." Maka leant over to Kid's hip, but he jumped away.
"Crossing a line, Maka. Crossing it." Kid stated.
"Kid, this is Stitches, and I'll be damned if your symmetry fetish loses her." Maka warned. Kid growled and squeezed his eyes shut, taking Liz out of her holster and shoving it in his wife's direction.
"Just go." Kid murmured.
"I'm sorry." Maka replied.
"None of you will remember this when you're under the madness." Stein told them. They nodded and the four of them began their resonance, and while that was happening, Marie took her human form. Her eyes were red and she snivelled. Stein clenched his fists and walked over to Marie, looking her in her uncovered eye.
"Marie…" Stein looked down at the blonde, "Marie, listen to me." Marie looked at Stein and wrapped her hand around his wrist.
"You're not going to lose me to the madness. You're not." Stein promised. Marie inhaled and nodded.
"I'm too old for this." Marie shook her head and laughed. Stein firmly kissed Marie on the forehead and squeezed her hand quickly before walking back over to Stitches' battlefield without her. He was about thirty feet away from Stitches when he felt it smack him in the chest like a freight train – the madness.
"Medusa." he stated. Medusa looked up with glee and Stitches looked back at her father.
"Stein. I'm so glad you're back. Please, explain to me what this abomination is." medusa pointed down at Stitches, and she growled and turned back around.
"That so-called abomination is my daughter." Stein jumped down the small cavern and landed in a crouch.
"Oh, good, that hammer woman isn't with you anymore. You decided against her?" Medusa asked.
"Far from it. That hammer woman is my wife." Stein stated. Medusa sighed and crossed her arms.
"Oh, please. Marriage is tedious. A genius like you should know that." Medusa groaned.
"And even an obstinate fool like you knows that anything that strengthens a bond of souls is beneficial. You know that, despite your being a soulless being." Stein retorted.
"You've changed." Medusa hissed. At that moment, Maka, Kid and Marie walked into the cavern. Marie was in human form and wasn't affected by the madness, so she couldn't see or hear Medusa.
"And you two. The little shinigami and the girl who… killed me. Well… didn't work out so well, did it?" Medusa asked. Maka and Kid jumped down with Stein and Stitches, as did Marie. She walked over to Stein and took a deep breath.
"Where's Medusa?" she asked, tentatively.
"There. Can't you see her?" Stein pointed. Marie sighed and nodded.
"Sorry. Of course." she said, quietly, taking her weapon form and jumping into Stein's grasp. It hurt her, knowing that her husband was affected by the madness. She knew that Stein didn't know his own mind – he'd been in the field for only a few minutes and had already forgotten why Marie couldn't see Medusa.
But Stein had promised her that he would be okay. And she'd been believing him for nearly twenty years, and he hadn't failed her yet.
As the three who had fallen to the madness looked up at Medusa, her face contorted into a sickening smile.
"And don't think I didn't notice who you brought along with you." she snarled.
"What are you talking about?!" Kid called. Medusa laughed and turned, appearing to look at the blonde leader of the group heading for the madness device.
"That useless creature. My son."
"Thomas, you okay?" Mina asked, following the determined blonde along the inside of the cavern. He inhaled deeply and continued walking. Joseph sighed and walked up to his meister, grasping his shoulder.
"Dude, she's going to be fine. You're gonna save her – we're gonna save her." Joseph reassured him. Thomas sighed and dropped his head, deciding it was a lot easier not to tell Joseph about his possible parentage, sticking to one issue at a time.
"She wouldn't have gone if I was there with her." Thomas murmured. Joseph grabbed the younger man's other shoulder, swivelling him so that he could face him.
"Don't say that. Don't. Because it's ridiculous and you know it. I don't know anyone that's a more independent thinker than Stitches. And have you met my girlfriend?" Joseph stated, sternly. Thomas looked up at his meister and raised an eyebrow.
"It's not your fault. It will be your fault if you don't man up and find that madness device. So go." Joseph pointed. Thomas nodded determinedly and continued walking. Joseph shoved his hands in his pockets and hung back to walk next to Mina.
"That was great, what you did for him." Mina said, her voice wavering slightly. Joseph looked down at her, blue eyes smouldering behind dark tresses.
"You okay?" Joseph asked. Mina nodded and clenched her fists.
"Yeah. Just pissed off with myself." she growled.
"Why, babe?" Joseph asked. Mina sighed and ran her fingers through her red hair and shook her head.
"I'm her meister. I'm supposed to protect her, control her." Mina said. The two of them heard a small chuckle from behind them, and when they turned around they noticed it was Spirit.
"What?" Mina asked. Spirit walked slightly faster to catch up to the younger people.
"Yeah, you're a meister. And, yeah, to a certain extent, you're supposed to protect your weapon. But, geez, if you wanted a weapon to control, you picked the wrong hammer." Spirit shook his head. Azusa had caught up with them by that point, and she nodded.
"Stitches is stubborn. We all love her, but she's stubborn." Azusa stated.
"Like her dad." Spirit smirked.
"And her mother, for that matter." Azusa added.
"And her godmother." Spirit murmured under his breath.
"Excuse me?" Azusa's glasses glinted, even in the dim cavern, and Spirit smirked and bared his tongue.
"At least she's not an idiot like her godfather." Azusa glared, and Spirit laughed and crossed his arms. Mina sighed and nodded, giving a tiny smile. She was glad that Azusa and Spirit were there to keep everyone under control – they'd been through the Kishin's reawakening, this was small and resolvable in their scheme of things.
"I know, it's just… I've always been the one to protect her. During grade school, against bad guys… and I've gone and let her go off and go crazy." Mina sighed.
"Please," Spirit stated, "she's a Stein. She was gonna go off and go crazy at some point. Insanity's like their family heirloom."
"There's no like about it." Azusa added.
"Good point." Spirit replied. Azusa crossed her arms and continued walking forward.
"Stop agreeing with me… it's scary." Azusa stated. Mina gave a small smirk and crossed her arms before they heard a yell from the head of the pack.
"Guys!" Thomas called. They all ran forward and saw it – the madness device. It was quite small for something that could cause so much damage. It was a small, cubic camouflaged box attached to a wall of the confine. It was nothing like they'd expected – they figured they would find some big, elaborate set up.
"We destroying it or what?" Joseph asked. Thomas nodded and held his hand out. Joseph took his weapon form and landed in Thomas' hand. With nothing nothing more than two strong, swift wavelength shots, the device exploded, and apparent shards of something purple fell out with it.
"… Witch soul?" Joseph looked at the debris incredulously, but as he went to touch them, thy disintegrated into black ash. He jumped back.
Stein, Kid and Maka fell to the ground, and it took Marie a second to work out that they'd fallen out of the madness.
It took her another second to realise that Stitches was still standing up. However, it took her no extra time to realise that she still had that look in her eyes. That crazy look.
"Stein… Stein!" Marie called. Stein pulled himself up from the ground, and as his eyes readjusted, he noticed the exact thing that Marie had just before.
No. The battle wasn't over.
It wasn't that simple.
A/N: Witches aren't necessarily trustworthy or truthful creatures. Keep that in mind.
Factoid #43: Insanity is one of the core elements to Soul Eater, and yet I think it's intentionally not fleshed out. The people suffering from it are encapsulated, and in my opinion, I think details are kept in the dark so there is that encapsulated, internal feel to it. So, I have to take creative license with what happens to a character – such as what happens just after they've fallen out of the madness.