Regular Story line: Death City
Soul angrily looks back at the abandon building ignoring the pain in his body as his blood oozes rapidly down his body. He feels a bit lightheaded but he has to get back to the DWMA and hopes Lord Death or Maka's father don't kill him. Although, Maka's father can be a creep when it comes to him flirting with woman left and right, he does care for his daughter and that distraught look on his face was something Soul wasn't looking forward to. Soul takes his motorcycle to find a secluded alley with a mirror to see if he can contact Lord Death. His head is pounding but he needs to report this to Lord Death as he finally encounters a mirror, he writes down the number and sees Lord Death staring at him.
"Hello, hello, what's up? This is new seeing you call me, Soul" Lord Death say with a cheerful tone
"Yeah, something came up. Is Maka's dad there?" Soul ask as he places his left hand on his right lower arm to suppress the bleeding.
"No, he stepped out. I told him to go home but he wasn't going to go home until he sees his daughter." Lord Death answers. His daughter rang in his head as he looked at Lord Death with a cool expression.
He needs to remain calm and show no sign of worry but those words keep swimming around his head like a buzzard waiting for his prey to die. Soul doesn't know if the sweating is from him feeling guilty or the bleeding, but so far it could be both. He feels a bit dizzy as he holds onto the wall and looks back at Lord Death.
"Soul, are you alright? You seem to be sporting some nasty wounds there." Lord Death ask with a worried tone
"This is nothing, but something happened while encountering the witch." Soul says as he grips onto the border of the wall tight. There is a tight grip around his throat as he struggles to explain the situation.
"Oh? What happened?" Lord Death questions as Spirit enters the room then stops to hear what happened. The atmosphere seems tense, almost somber as he looks at Soul. Soul forces himself to look into the mirror and direct his attention to him, but the worried look on his eyes makes Soul regret what he has to say.
"The witch took Maka." Soul confesses as he forces eye contact with Spirit.
"What?" Spirit mutters as his skin becomes pale from the shock.
His daughter, the one who he is desperately trying to win her love is now taken from him. The divorce took a heavy toll on him, but this will certainly kill him. The look on his eyes drills its way deep into Soul's mind as he witnesses what despair looks like. The way a grown man can rush towards the mirror with sadness in his eyes but anger in his voice makes the guilty feeling grow inside Soul.
"What did you say?!" Spirit shouted with tear in his eyes as Soul tries to maintain eye contact with him.
"Maka miscalculated an attack and got wounded then got engulfed in a weird purple substance." Soul explains as the scene replays in a continuous loop in his head. The sheer terror in her eyes was now embedded in his memory.
"Spirit, calm down. This isn't Soul's fault." Lord Death emphasizes as he notices the anger in Spirit's tone with Soul.
"I'm sorry." Soul apologizes as Spirit looks at Soul's red eyes and sees a cool, calm, and collected person. However, he sees that he isn't the only one hurting right now.
"Come back to the DWMA and we'll meet you in the dispensary." Lord Death says as he attempts to break the tension.
"We'll get her back, Soul. However, you're bleeding all over the place so come back before you collapse." Lord Death adds as Soul nods his head. The call ends as Soul looks at the mirror to see the extensive wounds on his body.
Soul sees the world spinning as he grips onto the handle of his motorcycle then climbs on top. He races back to the DWMA before he does collapse from the blood loss. He closes tries to distract himself to avoid seeing that look on Maka's face, but it won't leave. He fights the urge to turn his motorcycle around and attempt for round two but the dizzy spell brings his back to reality. He notices that the sun is still setting on the horizon and most of his friends are probably home by now, which is quite a relief for him.
However, he sees his friends waiting for him and Maka outside of the school. The guilty feeling returns back and tries not to imagine the look on their faces when they find out. Waiting for Soul and Maka, Black Star, Tsubaki, Kid, Liz and Patty wait for their return to congratulate them on their victory. The moment Soul enters the DWMA, he dashes past them ignoring his headache as he enters the DWMA.
"Oh, he thinks he's bigger than me now!" Soul shouts
"Where's Maka?" Tsubaki ask as she looks around
"Maybe he dropped her off somewhere and came to take care of business" Liz answers
"Something is happening!" Patty exclaims as she looks at her sister.
"Something is wrong." Kid mutters
"What?" Liz questions as she fears what he has to say.
"One of his shoulders is punctured but the other one isn't." Kid mentions as he storms into the DWMA trying to fix the problem.
"You're something else…" Liz sighs as Patty lets out a burst of laughter.
Infirmary
Stein and Naigus stop the bleeding and cover Soul's wounds before it becomes infected. Soul remains still throughout the whole procedure and remained calm as they stitched a few deep wounds.
"Keep this up and you will end up looking like my shirt." Stein says as he finishes the last stitch.
"The last thing I need is a lecture right now." Soul retorts as he turns his head away from Stein and Spirit.
Spirit leans against the white wall as he fixates his attention on Soul. His calm demeanor irritates him as he doesn't show any emotion to what happened. Spirit wonders how much he is keeping inside him as he watches Soul avoid eye contact or barely speaking.
"You're lucky you made it before you collapsed." Spirit comments as Stein marvels at Soul's wounds.
"These wounds are impressive." Stein exclaims as he analyzes each wound with care and awe.
"How so?" Naigus questions as she approaches next to Stein to look at the wounds.
"It seems that she missed each vital artery by an inch. Either she has bad aim or she was playing with him.
"What kind of witch was she?" Stein ask
"Raven." Soul answers as she stares at the white wall.
"Guess it was the latter." Naigus says
"Great, we got a playful witch. Maybe we should send Blair and her on a play date." Soul comments as Spirit senses the anger in his tone and slight irritation.
"Explain what happened in there and maybe we can find a way to kill her." Stein commands as Soul turns his head to face Stein.
"She reverts back to her raven form every now and then but she lost it when Maka broke one of her boarded up windows. We thought we were able to deflect her attack but it was so dark that I couldn't make out with what happened. I knew she dropped me and then I saw her on the floor bleeding." Soul recalls as he lowers tries to control the wave of emotions inside him.
"Sounds like she uses darkness to fuel her magic." Naigus adds as she looks at Stein.
"Maybe." Stein agrees as the door opens wide as Black Star enter the room while Tsubaki tries to withhold him from entering.
"You think just because you're a death scythe makes you bigger than me?!" Black Star argues as Soul clutches on to the hospital sheet tightly.
"Sorry, we heard that Soul came back and we wanted to congratulate him." Tsubaki apologizes.
"Sorry, we tried to stop him." Liz apologizes as she carries an unconscious Kid on her back
"He was so riled up about Soul's wound then collapsed on the floor thinking if his candles were perfectly aligned and if the picture frame was perfectly centered." Patty laughs as Liz sighs.
"So where did Maka go?" Liz ask as she senses an uneasy tension in the room. Soul clucthes the hospital bed sheets tighter as he pictures how worried she was even though she was in a worse condition than him.
"Enjoy the limelight now but I will make a better comeback than ever." Black Star warns as Soul coldly looks at Black Star.
"Know your audience." Soul lectures as Black Star looks around to see no one is in a celebratory mood.
He backs away from Soul then looks around at the somber group and turns his attention to Soul as avoids his eyes. Kid slowly opens his eyes to see everyone in a somber mood.
"What happened?" Kid ask as he approaches Soul then hesitates as he senses a melancholy atmosphere.
"I'm not a death scythe. Maka got kidnapped by the witch we were fighting and I tried to get her out but Maka demanded that I leave. I tried to get her out but that substance wouldn't let her go. I pushed her too hard and she got hurt." Soul explains as he feels a tight grip around his throat as he fights not to cry in front of his friends.
He wants to keep his cool and calm demeanor but this situation is pushing his limit. Spirit looks at Soul then cautiously walks towards him feeling a sense of fault for raising his voice at him earlier. Spirit gently places his hand on Soul's good shoulder then gives him a reassuring squeeze.
"It's not your fault, Soul." Spirit reassures as Soul's red eyes look deep into Spirit's eyes. Something is different with Spirit as Soul notices that Spirit's parental side is showing.
"What?" Soul mutters as he remain his calm composure.
"You stayed with her to the end and never wanted to leave. You tried your best, Soul." Spirit explains as a small wave of relief floods Soul.
"The substance was purple?" Stein ask
"Yeah, why?" Soul questions as Stein adjusts his position.
"I heard about this before but it ranges from witch to witch. It could be a sac that engulfs their victims." Stein explains
"Will she be okay?" Tsubaki ask as she feels an uneasy feeling in her stomach.
"It depends what she wants with Maka." Stein says as he reaches into his pocket to find his cigarette.
"She kept mentioning her collection and how she wanted Maka for it." Soul says
"She could have Maka there for an ulterior motive." Naigus adds
"Unfortunately we don't have enough time." Stein says as he grasps the cigarette in his hand.
"What?!" Soul shouts as he closes his eyes from a sharp pain in his body.
"These sacs have an adverse effect on their victims and from what I got from previous knowledge these sacs have the ability to sustain their victims. However, once inside they start to lose a sense of you they are until this witch takes their soul." Stein explains as he places the cigarette in his mouth.
"So it's a protective coat for a soul?" Kid ask
"Basically there are two, the sac and the body. The body holds it until this witch takes it then the body merges with the sac." Stein answers as his teeth bite on to the cigarette.
"So if the soul is left in the sac, the sac absorbs the soul leaving the witch with nothing?" Liz points out as Stein nods his head.
"Precisely, the sac keeps the body alive until the witch wants to take the soul then the sac eats the victim, easy clean up." Stein comments.
"We'll leave tomorrow morning to get Maka and hopefully save who else is inside those sacs." Spirit announces
"Now, it's time for my major comeback." Black Star shouts as gives a wide grin.
"Wait for me, Maka." Soul whispers as he looks at the window.