Ch. 13
"I think we should be leaving now."
"Yeah that's probably a good idea."
Pulp Fiction 1994

I wasted no time in jogging towards my car and driving towards the DWMA. Along the way I drove slowly to make sure I wouldn't drive past Crona by mistake. As I drove down the streets, I looked both ways and rolled my windows down in order for me to get his attention in case I spotted him. I was approaching near an alley when I suddenly heard rambunctious cheering, laughter, and the desperate shouts of despair. Hearing the commotion caused me to suspect Crona's whereabouts. I stopped the car, slammed the door shut, got out in a hurry, and what I saw upon entering the alley filled me with aggravation. A group of lowlife scumbags, whose ages ranged anywhere from sixteen to twenty, were huddled around taunting and kicking at someone who was on the ground cowering and trying to protect themselves in vain. The victim was curled in a fetal position, and was covered in garbage, undoubtedly from the nearby dumpster. The moment I spotted the pink hair, and recognized Crona's voice pleading for a reprieve, I growled with unfathomable wrath, and vile thoughts of hostility coursed through my mind. I walked towards them and hollered to get their attention, "HEY YOU WITLESS PARASITES! YOU WANT A FIGHT SO BADLY, THEN STEP TO ME!" As my roar resonated within the alley, they shifted their focus from their battered prey, turned around, and all of them stepped towards me leaving my friend beaten, covered in trash, bruised and in tears on the ground.

The leader of the group who smelled of cheap whiskey and cigarette smoke walked up to me snickering and asked before he spat in my face, "What the Hell do you want, fuckface? You gonna try to rescue your little bitch girlfriend here?" As his spit oozed down my face, through clenched teeth I hissed, "You miserable pussies didn't even have the balls to give him a fair chance to defend himself, and you dare to act so tough. I pity you lot of spineless, assholes. Because by the time I'm through with you, they'll have to scrape off the ground and cremate whatever remains of your carcasses." They must have thought I was either joking or insane, because they all began to bellow with uncontrollable laughter. Through their braying they asked idiotic things such as; "What are you gonna do?" "You gonna take on all of us by yourself?" "Are you blind, or straight up stupid, bro? There's six of us and only one of you." "We're gonna put you in the hospital, you don't stand a chance against all of us." "Why don't you just piss off before you end up like that weak loser on the ground?" They continued to mock me to their hearts' content, but after some time, I forced two long blades to emerge from the palms of my hands. They glistened in the sunlight, but instantly turned black and seethed with an aura of putrefaction. I also allowed my soul wavelength to expand to harrowing levels in a show of haunting power. Immediately their laughter ceased and they stood on guard. I stared intently at the six of them and addressed them through a morbid smile "The first mistake you made was assaulting my friend. Your second mistake was royally pissing me off to no end. However your worst error in judgment was grossly underestimating me. You struck out three times in one instant, and now you're about to die slowly and painfully at the hands of a Death Scythe. I am Vladimir Blutmesser, and I will take great pleasure in torturing all of you."

Upon hearing my words, most of them trembled with crippling fear and scurried away like scolded dogs with their tails between their legs. Yet the leader of the bunch and a friend of his stood their ground showing no fright, and faced me in utter defiance. I found their display of courage to be quite amusing so I made the blades protruding from my hands vanish, but approached them nonetheless. "So, you're gonna put up a fight then? Good, but before I dismember you both, I'd like to know what your names are so I have something to carve on your tombstones." The leader's friend wasted no time in transforming into his weapon form; a large war hammer with a sharp back spike. He landed in the other's hands to which he swung his weapon several times as he boastfully introduced himself and his partner, "I'm Brad Matthews. A War Hammer Meister, and this is my partner Tyler Swanson. We are slayers of evil, and we will crush every bone in your body." Unimpressed with the duo along with their miserable flaunting, I scoffed as I jokingly rubbed my fists against my eyes and started taunting them. "Oh dear me! Dumb and Dumber are gonna give me boo-boos." While cracking my knuckles and popping my neck I rolled my eyes and insulted them one more time before the inevitable fight ensued. "Oh, how convenient. A large, slow and clumsy weapon for an idiot mouth-breather like yourself. This is going to be easier than lighting my next cigarette."

My barb must have depleted their very limited patience because Brad leaped with his hammer in his hands swinging it down towards me. His attack was absurdly easy to avoid and I stepped away from the impact area. The blunt end of the hammer crashed against the ground crumbling the cement, and I didn't hesitate to throw a right hook. He did surprise me with his quick reflexes by lifting his arm up to block my punch. "Too slow, idiot!" he yelled. "Now it's our turn!" He then swung his war hammer with the back spike aimed towards me, but I fell back thus avoiding contact. As the momentum from his attack brought his hammer to crash into a concrete wall and get stuck, I took the opportunity to commence my brutal assault. I sprung up to my feet and launched my fist once more, upper-cutting him right on his chin. As my fist made contact with his chin, I could hear and feel bone cracking and heard his pain laced whimper. Although my attack stunned him briefly, I wasted no time in headbutting him in the nose and kicked him against a wall. He staggered while bleeding profusely with his weapon still in his hands, but as he collided against the wall he dropped his weapon. I sprinted towards him and drove my shoulders ferociously into his ribs. The impact was enough to not only fracture his ribs, but also embed him in a crater within the wall. He slid down to the ground bleeding and unconscious while Tyler, his weapon partner, reverted back to his human form charging towards me to defend his Meister. His right hand converted to its weapon form and he swung at me maniacally while screaming with each swing. His attacks were pathetically facile to avoid, and I was grew horribly bored and irritated of dodging his primitive attacks. I saw his arm descending towards me and caught it. He desperately attempted to free his arm from my vice-like grip, but I didn't hesitate to break it despite his punches, kicks and bites to my own arm. The sound of bone snapping reverberated within the confines of the alley which was then followed with ear-splitting howls and screams of agony. Tyler collapsed to the ground cradling his contorted arm, while gasping heavily and demonstrating his very colorful vocabulary. I approached him slowly and when he saw my proximity to him, he began to kick furiously to keep me at bay. His left foot came towards me and I clutched his leg with the same iron grip I used on his arm. Amidst his squirming, pleas and the plethora of kicks I received from him I, once more, proceeded to shatter another of his limbs, and he responded with anguish-laced cries.

Now towering ominously next to Tyler's beaten body, I gazed deep into his eyes which displayed evident horror. I frowned and spoke sternly to him as he trembled on the ground. "If you have any last words, now's the time to speak your mind." Not even a second passed and tears streamed from his eyes as he began to cry. "Please, don't do this. I'm sorry. I'll never bother your friend again. Just let me go. I'M BEGGING YOU PLEASE!" He gasped as I drew my right hand back from which a double-edged blade protruded from my palm and lunged it towards him. Tyler sobbed and whimpered as he slowly looked to his right and saw the very blade from my palm pierced deeply into the ground just inches away from his face. I scoffed and addressed him one last time. "Listen very carefully, you pathetic piece of excrement. If I ever find out that you or any of your cowardly compatriots harass or attack ANYONE associated with me, I will hunt you down and crucify you outside the city. Honorable and revered Weapons and Meisters, my ass. Fuck you." I knelt down, scooped him up and slung him and his Meister over my shoulders with ease. The same dumpster they used to cover Crona in filth was still open, and I dumped the two inside shutting the lid afterward. "Now you both lie in that which describes you both as individuals: trash."

I dusted my hands along with whatever debris lingered on my clothes from the ordeal. I then looked down and saw traces of dried blood on my shirt but shrugged with indifference. Walking over to Crona, I extended a hand which he accepted and walked with him towards my car. "Are you alright, Crona?" He looked down and answered timidly while fidgeting with his hands. "Y-yeah I'm fine, thanks. My black blood already healed m-my injuries." I nodded at his reply, opened the trunk, grabbed a towel and laid it over the seat. Crona entered my car in his timid demeanor, and I got in the driver seat. Before we drove away, I looked towards him and the intense sadness emanating from him broke my silence. "Crona, would you mind telling me how everything happened? I'd like to know in case Lord Death, or anyone asks." He looked down and told me everything with tears steadily flowing down his somber face. "I-I was walking to Kid's house, when they saw me and started following me. I walked faster t-thinking they'd leave me alone. They started throwing empty bottles at me, called me awful names, and when I walked into the alley, they c-chased me. I didn't know how to deal with them. They were from the Academy, and I didn't want to get in trouble. So I let them beat me." He still looked down at the floor and wept silently as I took in every word he spoke. After a few moments I sighed and looked at him. "Crona, look at me." He slowly looked up yet refused to really make eye contact and I resumed speaking to him. "I'm sorry for what happened to you just now. Had I known of the morons that linger in this town, I would have picked you up myself and offered you a ride to Kid's house." He said nothing, and I took his silence as a means to continue. "I'm going to make you a promise." Instantly I got his attention and he looked into my eyes as I resumed. "From now on, whenever we go anywhere, I will personally come and pick you up. That way; you're not alone, and no one will bully you ever again. Would you like that?" He continued to look into my eyes and saw the sincerity in my oath. He smiled vaguely, nodded silently and sat back relaxing into his seat. Seeing him smile, and seeing his frayed nerves finally at ease brought a smile of my own to my face.

I got the car running and we drove to the school. I had the song "Surf Riders" by The Lively Ones playing and was silently bobbing my head along to the beat. Crona however sat silently while still smiling, but lacked any interest in the music. Crona realized where we were going and asked as I drove. "Why are we going back to the school, Vlad?" We arrived at the entrance and I chuckled as I asked him, "You wouldn't want to go to Kid's house smelling like trash would you?" Instantly he shook his head and I smirked. "Go shower, Crona. I'll be right here waiting for you, take your time." He nodded, got out of my car and ran up the stairs of the school as I sat and waited for him while smoking in my car. About five minutes later my phone starts ringing and I see it's Maka calling. "Shit. She's probably wondering what's taking so long." I threw my cigarette out the window and answered my phone.

"Hey Maka. What's up?"
"Hey Vlad. Where are you guys? We've been waiting for nearly half an hour. Are you alright?"
(I sighed and braced myself for the Hell that was to come after I told her what happened.)
"Ummm...yeah, about that. There was an incident when I went looking for Crona."
(Immediately Maka understandably sounded upset and worried about Crona's welfare.)
"Where is he?! Is he alright?! What happened, Vlad?! Answer me, now!"
(I had to hold the phone away from my ear to avoid going deaf in my early twenties.)
"Maka, please calm down. Crona's alright. We'll both tell you what happened when we arrive, but relax and know I'm telling the truth when I say Crona's fine. He's getting changed and we should be over soon."
(Maka sighed and calmed down; because her tone returns to its tranquil state.)
"Alright then. We'll be here waiting for you guys. Just please hurry."
"Yes ma'am. I'll message you when we're on our way."

Just after I hung up the phone Crona came flying down the stairs and towards my car. emWell, speak of the Devil, /emI thought while chuckling. Crona reached my car, got in, buckled up and looked ready to rock and roll. As he was getting situated in my car I sent Maka the message: [On our way now]. "Ready to go, Crona?" I asked. He nodded in confirmation, to which I turned my car on, and we finally sped off to Kid's house.

Hello everyone. Sorry I took so long to update this story. Many things happened and got in the way of my writing, but have no fear. I now have less obstructions to keep me from working frequently on this story. I hope you like this chapter. It took a lot of time to proofread, revise, and assure its quality. The next chapter should take less time to be uploaded, so stay tuned. Thanks again for keeping up with the story and maintaining interest. Until next time.

-Lonelyphantom21