Two days later-

The group stood in Stein's office patiently as he went over his next plan. This group included Black Star, Tsubaki, Maka, Soul, Kid, Patty, Spirit, Liz, and Lord Death himself. "I've done quite a bit of snooping around and I have some pretty valid leads. In the northern part of the city, there is an abandoned house. Neighbors and witnesses say that strange noises can be heard of the nighttime. Noises that sound a lot like chants."

"Lets go in and wipe it clean." Black Star clenched his fists with excitement.

"Don't be so hasty." Spirit added, "We don't know how many there are.."

"Well there are a lot of us, besides there can't be that many witches right here in the city."

"Unless they were using a certain enchantment spell." Stein continued, "This would explain how the witch that possessed Maka had gotten so close and the fact that none of us detected her."

"Because they have a base nearby with witches to keep her spell strong and conceal her." Soul added.

"Correct. Now, before we go in, I want everyone to glance over the blueprints I have obtained for the house. It's a very old house, probably one of the oldest here. There are bound to be faults in the framework. So be careful." Maka stepped forward and leaned over the table which scratching her chin. She eyed the large blueprint, "There are three exits and ten windows.."

"It may be wise to send in a recon." Spirit suggested, "Someone to scope it out over night."

"I'll do it." Kid volunteered. "I need Maka to come with me, though."

"Then I'm going." Soul stepped forward.

"Of course, you're her weapon. Maybe this time she won't be so defenseless."

"No need for defense, " Stein interjected, "This is solely a recon mission. Do not engage." Stein nodded and sent them out to prepare for their mission. Maka was trying to wrap her brain around what had just happened. Why did Kid need her for this mission? It was local and he had Patty and Liz.

She walked side by side with Soul whom could sense her emotions fairly easy at this point. His large hand snaked around her waist and rested on her hip. "Stop worrying." Maka gave a sigh and leaned into him as they walked. "It won't be like last time, I'm going. It'll be fine, I promise." Once they made it home, Maka headed to the kitchen. "I'm hungry Soul.."

"We have a few hours, wanna cook or get a bite downtown?"

"Well actually... I was thinking." She gave him a menacing smile as she opened the refrigerator. "We could play a game.." Soul stepped into the kitchen with both brows raised as Maka pulled a bottle of chocolate syrup from the fridge and placed it on the counter, along with a can of whip cream. Soul's eyes glanced between the condiments and Maka as he waited for her to continue. "You like chocolate, right Soul?"

What in the hell was he going to do with her? This was never something they had done before. Of course they were just kids back then and sex wasn't really a thing but now, years later, it seemed like that was the main source of tension in the house. Sure, when he was sixteen and a little hormone crazed he had thought about sex.. and Maka.. on every flat surface of their shared apartment.. but now, he liked to think he had it under control. Maybe it was Maka he needed to worry about.. She was going to tire him out before the week had passed.

"Well?" She stood with one hand on her hip and a smirk on her face, "I know you like whip cream." He shook his head and bit his lip, "I'm gonna' get you pregnant."

"Birth control." She retaliated with a grin and the shake of her pointer finger.

That night(hours later)-

Soul was perched in a tree, staring through a window on the second floor while Maka remained on the ground just out back of the house. Kid was in the bushes posted in front of the house while Liz and Patty laid on the roof. Half of the night was quiet and filled with Soul constantly looking toward the back of the house at Maka. She was silent and kept her eyes on the back door, she only briefly glanced up and made eye contact with Soul. She blushed and looked back to the door. Soul smirked and turned his attention toward the roof. Patty and Liz were on the lookout for any suspicious characters walking nearby. Liz shook her head as if to say they were seeing nothing yet.

Patty let out a quick whistle, which put everyone on high alert. A young girl pranced about in the front yard before heading into the house. Soon after, a group of women headed into the house while cackling. They certainly sounded like a pack of witches, to Soul anyway. The second story window lit up red and then blue as spells were being cast. The group waited for a few more minutes, at least until thy heard chanting. Soul looked to Maka who was still watching the back door, then back up to the roof. Patty and Liz were gone. His eyes widened and he looked to the bush in the front yard only to find that Kid was gone as well.

Where in the hell did he go? What about Liz and Patty? He caught a glimpse of, what looked like, Patty slipping into one of the side windows. What the hell were they doing?! He looked back to Maka who seemed confused as well. Was this the shit he pulled last time? Did he put Maka in this position? He boiled over with anger and gave Maka the signal to wait.

Why would he continuously charge in against orders? This was the second time..

Something was going on and Soul was not going to charge in, his instincts screamed for him to wait and that alone was unusual because he was a natural fighter. He sat for a moment and watched through the window, all of the spells had seemed to stop. Where were they?

As he sat and mulled it over, mulled everything over, he scoped out the surrounding area for him. There was no one suspicious around, it was completely quiet; Far too quiet.

This was a trap. He flagged Maka back and she looked confused at first. He wanted her to back off? But why? Kid was in there, they couldn't leave!

Out of the corner of his eye Kid was standing in the middle of the room with a smile on his face. It was over. "It's a trap! Get away from the door!" Maka jumped slightly then a loud, shattering noise busted through the side of the house. Soul was covered with glass, "MAKA GO!" He leaped down from the tree and ran toward her.

"What the hell is going on?!" A flash of light uprooted the ground next to her feet. That was powerful magic. "Where is Kid?!"

"Right here." He stood on the back porch with three witches beside him. "..Kid..what..what's this?" Maka took a step back. Soul put himself between them, firmly in front of Maka. "This is it, Maka. He lured us here. He wanted you to come with him so he could pit you against all of these witches and then if you survived that he would probably kill you."

Maka stared at Kid as if waiting for him to deny it, but he didn't. He only smiled. "You were trying to kill me last time, weren't you? And the witch that possessed me? She was able to do it because of you, wasn't she? You betrayed us!"

"Bring them into the house." Soul deflected a spell with his arm and growled. "Take care with Soul Eater, his body can't be harmed by your spells. He's a unique sort of Death Scythe."

"Kid why?!" Maka narrowed her eyes on him, but he didn't get to answer her as they were encased in a large yellow light and thrust into the house. The door shut behind them and they landed roughly on the floor. "Now that we have company.."

"Where is Liz? And Patty?!" Maka stood.

"Oh, they left a long time ago..maybe around the time Soul did."

"Then..who..?" The two witches behind him waved and smiled.

"Damn it..!" An aggravated Soul struggled with his newfound bindings. "What the hell is this?"

"It's a spell we designed specifically for you. Your body deflects our powers, however this spell isn't meant to harm you. Just restrain you." Kid smiled. Maka glared and wasted no time acting. She swung and Kid stumbled back with surprise. He waved off the witches and dodged another blow. "Let me talk to her, girls. Maka always had a way of listening to me."

"Maka stop it!" Soul couldn't break free and Maka was going in out of anger. Kid would kill her. "Maka!"

Chairs and a table had been slung in the process. Glass was shattered as the two meisters went completely around. Hits were exchanged more than multiple times, until blood was drawn. Maka made a swift kick to Kids gut and caused him to spew blood on the floor in front of him. "I'm tired of playing with you, Maka."

"Kid stop!" He smacked a closed fist across her face and pinned her on the floor beneath him. Another fist, this time on the opposite side. "Get the hell off of her!" Soul grew more and more upset by the minute.

"The spell is growing weak." One of the witches warned. Kid gave a laugh before continuing, "Yeah, the funny thing about Soul Eater is, the madder you make him the stronger he gets. We need him as strong as possible, don't we girls?"

"..what?" Soul looked up from the floor, "Me?"

"You ever wonder what happens if a witch consumes the soul of a death scythe?" His red eyes widened, "We need you at maximum power, Soul Eater. Luckily, I know how to manage that."

"Kid.. don't .."

"Your weakness is your friends, if anything happened to them you would probably lose it. I just had to pick one, and thanks to you back at the hospital, I found our lucky candidate." He clenched his fist tightly and struck it across Maka's face a lot harder that time. "So, I got to thinking, I wonder how angry you would get if you watched her suffer. How much power would we get if I killed her, Soul?! While you watched!"

"No! Kid! Stop!"

Another fist across the face.

"Kid! Please!"

Another.

"Kid!"

To say Maka's world was spinning was an understatement. She must have hit her head because she couldn't quite shake the dizzy feeling she had. She could make out Kid hovering over her and she knew he was hitting her. Soul was trapped.. she could hear him. He was yelling.. no, screaming..

"Kid, please stop!"

Begging. She could hear him begging, Kid was going to kill her. Maka could feel the raw emotion rolling off of Soul. "Are you mad yet, Soul Eater?!"

"Kid!" With one last hit, he threw her head to the side. Her hair splattered across the floor and she struggled to keep consciousness. Through hazed vision she could make out Soul on the floor just a few feet from her. The worried expression on his face threw a wrench into the pit of her stomach. She didn't like seeing that expression on him, he didn't wear it very well..

"Just kill her already. I'm sure he'll be mad enough then." One of the witches whined with annoyance.

"No!" Soul pulled against his restraints and the witches cursed as the held tightly to the magic binding. "Hurry up and do it, we're going to lose hold!" Kid grabbed a hand full of Maka's hair and ripped out her hair bows before tossing them to the side. "I always did prefer it when your hair was down." Maka took one last look at Soul, she just wanted to see his face one more time, but instead, she was nose to nose with a Tsubaki flower. There was a blue kanji painted on the petal.

"Uhh, and. .." He cleared his throat, "If you need me, ever. Just summon me or something." He handed her a paper tsubaki flower with a blue kanji painted on the petal.

"That's what this does?"

"Yeah, it's a ninja trick. Just put a drop of blood on the flower and yell out whatever kanji is painted on it and boom, there I'll be."

The base of the flower was soaked in blood already. Thank God for Black Star. Maka scanned the Kanji over quickly, she had completely forgotten about wearing it in her hair! Even after she had taken it off to shower and sleep, she put it on the very next morning because it meant something to her! Black Star gave it to her!

"FRIENDSHIP!" That was the last bit of breath she could muster at time. Everyone looked at her like she'd grown another head, even Soul. The flower disappeared into a shimmer of blue mist and Kid laughed. "What?"

Maka closed her eyes and opened them again weakly. "Maybe I hit her too hard." Kid howled in laughter and threw his head back. He leaned back and then forward again, but when he opened his eyes there was something off. He gasped and jumped slightly out of surprise.

"Am I late?" Crouched over top of Maka and right in his face was a certain ninja with a very long death reaping sword. Soul Eater looked up at the familiar voice and physically sighed with relief. "Oh thank God.."

"How did you..?"

"You've been pickin' on Maka again, huh?" He grabbed a fist full of Kid's shirt and hoisted him up with him. "Guess Lord Death was right. He suspected it was you all along. We just needed proof. This was your test, Kid, and you failed." Tsubaki glowed with anger inside of Black Star's grip and Maka could hear her voice.

"It's okay Maka, you can sleep now. We'll take care of this traitor."

Kid was obviously angered and he lashed out at Black Star. Maka couldn't really make out what was going on, she was barely conscious but somehow Soul had managed to break loose. She heard screams, glass breaking, boards cracking and slicing in half. Soul Eater entered her vision, he was cupping her face and smiling. She felt him kiss her forehead. There was blood on his hands, she didn't see it but she could feel it. She closed her eyes and everything faded to black.