Chapter 30!

Finally!

I have reached a milestone!

Enjoy!


It was the day after the attempted assassination of Lord Death. Lone Saber was creeping quietly through the dark sewers. Behind him were Ruby and Sun, both walking silently except for Ruby's steady stream of colorful complaints. Their weapons were held tightly in hand as they waded shin deep through the freezing water.

"I hope this is worth it," Ruby muttered. "This sewer is so gross.

"It isn't a sewer," Sun whispered. "It's a storm drain."

"Still, I hate it!" she whispered back. Lone Saber couldn't help but agree with her. The tunnels, though large, still made him feel claustrophobic. Azuzai had told them to get close to the school by coming through these tunnels, which were elaborately set up with many dead ends, as if it had been designed to confuse people.

"I think we're lost," Sun muttered. Ruby groaned loudly. So did the katana in her hands.

"Both of you, be quiet," Lone Saber muttered. "We're almost there. Just 5 more minutes of walking."

"Way to be rude," Sun replied. Ruby "humphed" loudly in displeasure.

"I'm sorry guys," Lone Saber sighed. "It's just that we are all so close to being able to leave. I just want to get this mission over with."

"We all do, trust us," Ruby muttered.

"Let's get a move on," Sun suggested. "You did say that we're almost there, right?"

"Yeah. It's just around the..." Lone Saber trailed off, listening. They could all hear the sound of metal on concrete, followed by the sound of multiple splashes. Ruby cautiously glanced around the corner.

"It's some of the kids from the DWMA," Ruby cursed.

"Yeah," Sun agreed, looking towards them using his incredibly high soul perception. "The tunnels are blurring my soul perception, but I can just barely see them. What do we do?" he asked, turning to Lone Saber.

"We need to engage them," Lone Saber said, readying the double-bladed scythe in his hand. "We don't have to kill them, though. Just defeat them," he added, his violet eye looking at them each individually.

"Alright," Ruby muttered. "We should get ready to ambush them."

"Yes," Lone Saber said. "Ambush formation 7." Sun and Ruby both moved into their positions quickly, and with anticipation.

...

"Come on, guys," Avalon called from her scythe form. Wade had just removed a man cover and jumped into the sewer. Midnight followed, chainsaw first. Jeremy came last, having some difficulty getting both of the hammers through the hole.

"Why are we down here?" Midnight asked, looking around and casually slinging her dormant chainsaw over her shoulder, almost taking out Jeremy's eye.

"I think I saw something with my soul perception," Wade said.

"Let me see," Jeremy suggested.

"Don't bother," Issac said. "These tunnels have spells placed on them that makes it almost impossible to detect a soul's wavelength. You would require a very good mastery of it to see even the slightest trace of a human down there. Wade has such mastery."

"And I don't?" Jeremy asked.

"Nope," Issac said, overly cheerful. "And please watch your soul's wavelength. I'm having trouble remaining in sync." Jeremy muttered angrily under his breath, making Kuri frown in her weapon form. I wonder what's up, she thought. Maybe they're just a little tired and stressed out. Yeah, I think that's it.

"Anyway," Wade said, eyeing the arguing partners. "We are practically going into this blind. We have no idea what they are capable of, where they are, whether or not they are hiding, and many other variables."

"Yes, we know that," Kuri said. "Spirit just told us to check it out."

"Yes," Wade agreed. "So let's go check it out." He turned and led the way, followed by Jeremy and Midnight. He carefully turned a corner and paused. The water was deepening the further they went into the tunnel, which raised some concerns if they faced any enemies in combat.

"What's wrong?" Midnight asked.

"I'm not sure," Wade muttered, squinting around. "If only my soul perception was a little stronger. All I can sense near here are a few rats and what I believe to be a giant spider."

"S-s-spider?" Avalon asked nervously. "With spider webs and stuff?"

"Yes," Wade agreed.

"If you swing me through that, then I will kill you," Avalon threatened.

"Yes ma'am," Wade mumbled. It was always safer to agree with her then to argue. It also ensured that you'd live longer.

"Anyway, let's continue," Jeremy said, brushing past Wade to take the lead. Midnight followed, distractedly.

"Are you okay, Midnight?" Nami asked, concerned. "You're wavelength is going crazy."

"Well, I was just remembering something that we learned last year," Midnight murmured. "You remember when we were learning about the geography of Death City and it's surroundings?"

"What about it?" Wade asked. Jeremy shifted from where he stood, further down the tunnel. He was eager to continue and get out of the storm drain.

"Well, remember when we were discussing the wild life?" she asked.

"Yeah," Kuri said, recalling the lesson. "There are bobcats, and cougars, and chuckwallas, and rabbits, and coyote, birds, groundhogs, lizards, toads, snakes, and all sorts of plants."

"Yes," Midnight said, stopping abruptly. "But remember the one animal that does not live within a 270 mile radius of the city, due to fear of the witch-cat?"

At once, everyone froze.

"There are no rats in Death City," Issac said in realization.

"Then what is it that I am seeing?" Wade asked, staring at the spot where he saw the rat souls. He blinked in shock and confusion. "They're gone," he said in awe.

"No, we're not," a voice sang from above. A girl with long, curly blue hair dropped down from the ceiling, wielding a katana. The butterfly birthmark on the girl's face seemed almost menacing, which was strange for a butterfly. She landed on Midnight's shoulders, driving the black haired girl to her knees. She immediately threw newcomer off, down towards the part of the tunnel they had originally entered through the man cover. The girl shook herself off and charged at Midnight, who met her half way, the chain saw's whirling teeth clanging against the tempered steel of the katana.

While Wade and Jeremy were distracted, another of the enemy made their move. Jeremy felt the water around his shins shift slightly. He began to turn, only to feel a pair of hands grab onto his ankles and pull him backwards. A small boy emerged from the water, his black plastered to his skull. He looked slightly ridiculous, especially with the golden pickaxe in his hands. Jeremy smiled cooly and swung Issac at the boy's head, hoping to end the fight quickly. He did not anticipate his opponents incredible speeds, dodging each attack with considerable ease, trying to get close enough to do damage with his own unconventional weapon. Suddenly, the pickaxe didn't seem so ridiculous.

Wade knew that there must be a third enemy somewhere, but he couldn't tell where. A quiet whistling over his left shoulder gave away his enemies location. Wade spun around and blocked a potentially deadly attack with the middle of his scythe. He was surprised to see that the attacker was also welding an almost identical scythe.

"Well then," his enemy hissed. "This makes an interesting twist, doesn't it?"

"I'll say," Wade muttered, barely holding back the enemy's scythe attack. He wouldn't say that they were equally matched, but they were close. His enemy appeared to have a level of anger and rage that Wade did not, giving him the upper hand against the DWMA student. They still fought with some difficulty, due to their severely limited space

Over with Midnight, she was barely avoiding death against her opponent, who was smiling each time the katana whizzed by Midnight's throat. Midnight couldn't block with Nami either, because every time the katana hit it, it released a burst of magic, hurting Nami and slowly numbing Midnight's arms. She was only surviving because of her speed.

"Hey Midnight! How are you doing?" Jeremy called out.

"I'm doing okay!" Midnight shouted, biting back a cry as the katana hit the chainsaw especially hard, causing both meister and weapon damage.

"Would you like to switch?" Jeremy asked, backing up towards her.

"Sure!" Midnight shouted. Jeremy continued backwards. Once he had almost reached Midnight, he surged forward with his hammers, knocking the pickaxe weilding boy to fall into the water. Midnight, due to a lack of space, backflipped over Jeremy's head, narrowly missing him with her chainsaw. She landed with a splash as her new opponent picked himself up off of the ground.

Jeremy faced the girl with the katana without th slightest trace of fear. This unnerved his opponent. Still, she had a mission to complete and freedom to gain, so she charged, swinging the katana. Jeremy caught the blow easily with the hilts of both hammers. His enemies face showed worry when neither of the hammers cried out in pain. The damage that was given off by the blade when it was struck had been evenly distributed between both of the twin hammers, so it felt like someone had sat on you suddenly and then gotten up instead of feeling like you were being stabbed to death by nails. Jeremy smiled and went on the offensive, quickly driving the girl back. A brush of air next to his ear nearly made him lose concentration, but he ignored it. Probably just the wind.

Midnight was also having more success against her new opponent. Their speeds were almost equally matched. Almost. Midnight was faster by less than a second. She assumed that the reason behind that was because of her excessive training with her weapon partner that this boy probably lacked. She smiled when she saw the boy's face. It was obvious that he had come to the same conclusion as she had. She, too, began to drive her opponent continued to push him back until the others were out of sight. She couldn't even hear them anymore.

"Do you have any last words?" she asked.

"No," the boy said. Suddenly, a smile spread on his face. "Just that you aren't seeing everything." Midnight was confused by his comment, but brushed it off. Despite the fact that she was winning, it was very hard fought. If she let him get inside of her head now, then she would lose. She couldn't let that happen.

That just left Wade with his opponent, who did not seem like he was going to give up easily. Wade decided to try and paralyze the other boy with his soul wavelength. It would require opening up his guard completely, but that was no worry. If he could take down Cerberus in his beast form, then he could easily take down this guy. His opponent, sensing Wade's brief distraction, swung his scythe, aiming to decapitate him. Wade ducked and, in the blink of an eye, focused his soul wavelength, shooting it straight into his opponent's stomach. The effect was so strong, the entire tunnel shook.

But, instead of falling to the ground, the enemy striked back sideways with the back of his scythe, catching Wade in the stomach and throwing him against the curved floor. Unbenounced to Wade, the enemy pair had been resonating their souls, preparing for the perfect opening to attack.

And Wade had completely missed it. The enemy brought down his scythe, which was now crackling with energy. Wade rolled out of the way as the scythe cleaved into the earth like butter. The enemy yanked the scythe out of the concrete and swung sideways. Wade had no choice but to block this blow head on. The force was like a bomb going off. As the scythes collided, Wade was thrown back against the curved wall, somewhere between sitting and lying down. The force wad hard enough to make him see stars. The other boy stayed on his feet, his scythe no longer crackling.

"Wade! Wake up!" Avalon shouted. Wade couldn't reply. He felt like he had just been hit by a truck.

"What's going on?" Midnight yelled, turning to see what had happened. That almost got her killed, the katana of her enemy slashing a hole in her t-shirt. She returned her focus to her own fight. Both herself and Jeremy were too far down the opposite ends of the tunnel to be of any help. All they could do is fight their own battles and hope that Wade could finish his.

The one-eyed boy bore down on Wade, swirling his own double-bladed scythe like a slow, lazy windmill.

"It's a pity, too," the boy said, his violet eye gleaming. "After all, you're going to be killed by the distraction, not the main event."

Wade was dimly aware of one of the scythe tips being leveled with his chest, and slowly raised above the boy's head. Wade could detect a hint of hesitation, and maybe some sadness in the boy's single eye. It was quickly replaced by cold determination. As the scythe began to move, Wade relaxed, awaiting the burst of pain that would be followed quickly by death. He knew that it was impossible to avoid. The other boy seemed surprised by Wade's relaxed state, making him hesitate again. But, just like before, he brought the scythe back and swung down, this time with no hesitation.

There was the loud noise of tearing flesh, followed by screaming from the DWMA students. Midnight slammed the side of her chainsaw into the hand of her opponent, causing the pickaxe in his hand to go flying. Midnight leveled the chainsaw with the fallen boy's face. She could see him shaking with fear. Without a word, Midnight removed the chainsaw and ran back to the tunnel where the screaming was. She forgot about the dip in the floor, causing her to trip. Nami turned back to her human form, trying to help a wet and cursing Midnight up. Midnight, still on her knees, looked closer at the water and swallowed hard. It was already taking on a reddish tinge from all of the blood. Nami finally succeeded in pulling her partner to her feet, and the two of them continued down the tunnel.

"Jeremy!" Midnight screamed. "I think Wade's been hurt!"

Jeremy blocked another attack from the katana with Issac, slamming Kuri into the girls side a split second later. His foe fell to the ground, clutching her presumably broken ribs. Jeremy paused, hearing Midnight shouting for him. The katana transformed back into its human form of a red haired girl with piercing grey eyes. She looked up at Jeremy, daring him to finish them. Instead, much to the girl's relief and confusion, Jeremy just turned around and ran towards the screams. He passed the one-eyed boy, who was running after his comrades, away from the man cover that was their original target.

"What happened?" Jeremy asked, falling to his knees next to his injured companion.

"Scythe through the stomach," Nami said tearfully. Both she and Midnight were shaking.

Kuri and Issac transformed back into their human form "There's still a chance that-." Issac cut Kuri off with a shake of his head. Kuri stared sadly, tears running down her face. Issac wrapped his arms around her.

"It's a very small chance of recovery," Jeremy said sadly.

"It missed the aorta. We still have a chance," Issac said. No one breathed a sigh of relief, though. They knew how unlikely the survival was.

Wade swallowed hard and looked at Avalon. They were both stained with blood and shaking. Avalon was crying.

Wade just wondered why Avalon had taken the scythe for him.


Chapter done!

Yeah. Stuff happened.

Point out my mistakes.

Please don't kill me.

Thanks,

~CatKkit.