Sorry that this took me so long! School has started up again, so I'm really busy at the moment!
I attempt to write fight scenes in this chapter. I think it turned out okay.
Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, followed, and favorited this story! You guys are all amazing!
Maka is sinking rapidly. Something is horribly wrong, she thinks dimly, trying to fight to stay in control. It's a losing battle, though—with every second she's losing awareness, drowning in the overpowering madness. The liquid that surrounds her is viscous and sticky, like mud or honey. Each struggle she makes to free herself drains her energy and traps her further. For the first time since the incident in the church, Maka feels a deep, bone-chilling fear.
"Soul!" she screams. She can barely sense his soul anymore. "Someone help me!" she calls with the last of her strength. She hears Soul yell something in response, but can't make out what it is. Lashing out with one final attempt to free herself, Maka drowns, with Soul's yell and the demon's laughter ringing in her ears.
Maka continues to laugh madly, her expression vacant. Soul, still in scythe form, is getting increasingly worried. "Hey, Maka!" he calls, hoping to get her attention and get an explanation for what's happening. Unfortunately, Maka's brilliant green eyes stay blank, devoid of her usual spark, and she doesn't respond at all.
"Maka, are you all right?" Tsubaki calls from across the bridge, her expression full of worry. She's still crouched by Blackstar's side. For a moment, Soul is hopeful that Tsubaki can snap Maka out of this—but no luck. Soul can barely sense Maka's soul anymore, which terrifies him. He might not have soul perception like Maka does, but he can almost always sense his meister's soul. Not being able to sense Maka's soul is like not being able to feel one of his limbs.
Even their opponent seems perturbed by Maka's strange behavior—the wolf-man has his head cocked, a confused expression on his face. Before he can say anything, though, Maka is staggering forward again, scythe raised. Her movements are erratic and clumsy, seemingly without purpose.
But suddenly, she lashes out, lightning-quick at their opponent, nearly slicing him in half. He jumps backwards and dodges the attack, his confusion turning to shock. "What the hell?" he exclaims, staring at the shallow crater formed in the bridge by the impact of the scythe.
Soul can't believe his eyes; Maka has always been strong, of course she has, but this strength is simply impossible. He reaches out to feel her soul again, and once again, can only feel the slightest hint of it.
Maka just laughs madly, continuing her assault. Despite her slumped posture and aimless movements, each blow she makes precise and strong. The wolf-man attempts to put up a fight, dodging at first and then reciting a spell to make a wall out of his tail, but Maka slices through the barrier like it's made of tissue paper. "This is boring," she complains. "Don't you have anything new to show me?" Grabbing onto his face, she slams him face-first into a one of the bridge's pillars, causing cracks to form along its entire length.
Soul is starting to seriously worry about all the damage that's been done to the bridge: it could fall apart if Maka keeps this up. "Tsubaki!" he calls out, hoping she can hear him. It's hard to concentrate around the sheer ferocity of Maka's assault.
Fortunately, Tsubaki's head jerks up immediately. "Soul! Are you sure you guys are okay?"
"Yes," he grunts out through gritted teeth, as Maka once again slams the wolf into the pillar—apparently their opponent is too dazed to fight back at this point. He's pretty sure that everything is not okay, but it's not like Tsubaki can help them now. "Take Blackstar and get to safety!" he commands urgently. Out of the corner of his eye, he can see her nod and scoop up Blackstar. Good. They're safe. He turns his attention back to the battle, just in time to hear Maka continuing to lecture their opponent.
"Don't you want to try anything like eye-gouging or fish hooking?" she asks, cocking her head and looking disappointed. Her green eyes are full of derision.
"What the hell," the wolf-man mutters again. His nose is bleeding, and he's covered in scratches. He looks about as confused as Soul feels.
"No? Well maybe you'd like to tear out my tongue!" Maka challenges, bringing her scythe up to take a swipe at his neck. She misses, just barely, and he takes the opportunity to take a swipe at her. He catches her in the right side with his claws.
Despite the fact that that had to hurt, Maka barely reacts at all. Her expression doesn't change, but she does bring her right hand up to investigate the wound. She presses a couple fingers to the gashes, then brings them up to her face to examine them. She looks bemused. "Wow, it's black. It's so pretty!" she exclaims, then licks the blood off her fingers.
Yuck, Soul thinks to himself. That's definitely uncool. Wait, black blood? That's a really bad sign!
Their opponent had been distracted previously as Maka seemed unaffected by his attack, but now he's brought his hands up and is chanting another spell. Soul is panicked for a moment, frantically trying to warn Maka, but it's no use. "Ice cylinder!" announces the immortal. Soul braces himself for the worst.
Instead of actually attacking them, however, the ice materializes around their opponent, completely sealing him in a clear prison. Maka giggles to herself for a moment, in which it becomes clear that he's well and truly trapped in there, then raises the scythe again, ready to deliver the killing blow.
"Maka, stop!" Soul yells, as loudly as he possibly can. "You've already won!" She still can't seem to hear him. He's completely at a loss for what to do. He should transform back—Maka would be much less dangerous without a weapon, but he's pretty sure that he needs to be resonating with her to fix whatever is going on here.
Fortunately, Tsubaki chooses that moment to come running towards them, Blackstar close behind. "Soul, Maka!" she exclaims. Maka halts her attack, turning around to look at the interruption. "I called the DWMA! Professor Stein and Death Scythe are on their way right now!"
What would we do without Tsubaki here? Soul wonders to himself. "Maka! He calls again, straining to feel any response from his meister's soul.
Somewhere, deep within her murky prison, Maka's eyes fly open at the sound of her name. It's barely loud enough for her to hear, but it's there. "Soul!" she calls back as loudly as possible. Maybe she can get out of here after all.
Soul feels his heart leap when he hears Maka's voice. It's very faint, barely audible, but the fact that she's responding at all reassures him that this isn't a lost cause. Alright, Maka, let's see what you've gotten yourself into this time.
Thank you for reading!
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