Haha, bet you thought I died! Nope, just took a summer writing class, bad Idea by the way. It was boring too, all research and not enough fiction. Bleh! Anywho's notes.

As to update, I am moving out to start real college soon, this could be good or bad for them, not sure.

Most importantly, I am doing this chapter in third person, let me know what you think and if it should stay this way. I don't like flipping it every chapter.

Read and review!

-Back in Black

Om

The air has darkened visibly as a deep purple haze sets in. Maka can feel the power radiate with madness. Stein fades away into nothing but smoke and she left alone on an abandoned balcony.

Alright Maka. Stay calm. He can't hurt you and even if he does you can't die. As long as you have your soul you can't die. As she finishes her thought a potted plant falls to the ground behind her with a crash. She jabs out her arm but the small blade slices through nothing but air.

Footsteps are echoing around the unenclosed space defying all laws of sound. A wild cackle cuts through the air, sounding wild and eerie. Maka feels the corners of her mouth twitch up involuntarily.

"Look out Chaos. I'm coming for you." With less care than she's ever felt Maka skips into the darkness. She wanders around stabbing at any random shadow as the laughter gets louder. Her lips have broken into a full teeth smile but Maka doesn't notice any change in herself.

"I'm going to rip your body apart stitch by stitch until you are just a jumbled heap of meat on the floor." Her pupils have constricted as she looks around slowly, eyeing the mist. "You can't hide forever in your little smoke. I will make you look like ground meat. Would you like some? I can make you a delicious thing we have on earth called burgers or maybe into tacos? Then I could feed it to that crazy bitch Medusa and watch her sick face eat the fucking thing? I bet, you'd like that, huh?"

"Oh, my pet." The voice is right in front of her and she lunges forward with her knife raised high. She is met by nothing but air and slams back into the cold marble. She pushes herself back up, not feeling the blood slowly leaking from the new gash on her knee. "What makes you think you have any chance against me?"

Maka turns and Chaos stand right in front of her. A crooked smile and cracked glasses decorate his face. Maka lunges out going straight for his chest, only to fall through to nothingness again. "This is my world you hold no power here. You are completely-"

Maka arms are roughly pulled back and a hand yanks at her hair. She is brought face to face with Stein leaning over her shoulder looking like a meat starved lion. His eyes shake wildly and his breath stinks of death and decay. "under my control."

He licks at her neck ready in a long languorous motion. It's hot and slimy but Maka doesn't move. Not just yet.

He pulls back his head eyeing down her dress and a perverse smile comes to his face. Seeing her chance Maka jumps and slams her head into his chin. The man lets her go instantly out of shock before lowering his head and cracking it to the side. "That wasn't very nice my pet. You should learn to play nice. After all, an eternity is a long time to spend together."

He fades away again and Maka crouches down ready at the first movement. She keeps seeing images flash of blood and bodies and it's making her want to… laugh. She needs to get out of this mist, it's doing strange things to her.

"I will never be by your side, willing or otherwise. Now stop hiding you coward, or are you afraid to get your ass beat by a little girl? Too much of a pussy to take me on by yourself huh?" Suddenly the mist swirls dangerously. Maka ready's herself.

"I am not a coward. I am just having a little fun. It is you who is not taking this seriously enough." The swirling haze forms funnels before they touch down creating a Stein each place they land. Soon her whole field of vision is filled with nothing but men covered in blood spattered lab coats. She stabs at the closest one only to have him disappear into smoke and another one taking his place.

"But if you want to play that's okay." All the voices speak in unison and Maka flinches away. "Tell me, which one of us is the real one? I'll even give you a hint, the real one hides within but is it me or is it him. And evil look hides the key, I dare you to come and find me." All the men laugh in chorus. It's so loud that they have to hear it inside. Why isn't anyone coming to save her?

She looks around and notices a big change. She can't see anything anymore. Not the sky, the lights, or even the shadowed shapes of things on the balcony.

I need to calm down I need to think! Maka slows her breathing but keeps her eyes alert watching for any movement. Look for the light…

Who gives a shit? Just kill kill kill! You'll have to hit him at some point! Maka jumps as the bandage girl appears beside her. None of the other ghost seem to notice, they just all stare at her with creepy smiles.

"What they hell are you doing here?" Maka takes a swing at the next closest Stein before he dissolves into nothingness.

What, I can't come visit my soul in its time of need? Well fuck you too.

"Don't you hate me anyway? Something about leaving you in the desert?" Maka kicks another one in the chest only for her foot to float straight through. The stein looks down and smiles before fading away.

Well yeah, until I realized you have the Prince of Death tied up to your bed. Tell me, is he a good fuck?

"What the hell are you talking about?" Maka jabs out at a Stein that reappears right next to her. She stabs for his neck but is stopped mid-swing. A scarf is wrapped around her wrist and pulling against her. "What was that for?!"

Well obviously you have to be screwing him nightly. I mean come one, that boy is on you like a hound! How big is his dick? The scarf hardens and pushes Maka forward gently. The knife nicks the man before he evaporates and in his pace is a stone pillar. That would have broken your hand by the way.

"Uh, thanks I guess. This isn't working. I need to figure out this riddle." Maka scans the area around her. Suddenly, she notices something's wrong. Although she had taken steps forward she is still in the center of the orb of mist. "Shit…"

Riddle smiddle. Why are you ignoring me? I want to hear about Death! The girl folds into herself to sit in pouting position. She crosses her arms and looks to the side. She sends out a few scarfs to skewer a few Steins for extra emphasis.

"Why do you even care? Last time you were trying to kill me not pester me about my relationship with Kid."

Ohhhh. So there is a relationship. Finally you do something useful Soul.

"Again, why do you even fucking care?" With the girl out of her head Maka's mind clears a bit. Instead of attacking blindly she slowly studies each Stein.

Cause that bastard can give me my body back! I can walk on earth again except this time I won't have your dumbass to boss me around with your good deeds and shit! I could fuck and kill and steal and eat lots of cheese burgers!

"Cheese burgers?"

You got me in the mood with the ground meat thing… hey speaking of meat-

"You're insane to think he could, or would do that." Same clothes, same face, same stitches, same glasses… same glasses….

Hey lady, you're the one talking to your dead body. How do you think that's going to fly on the crazy scale? A bit of light shines through the haze and a pair of glasses flash in the glare. The others follow instantly but it is that one second of delay that shows her the real one.

"There!" Maka charges through the ghost and towards Chaos. Her eyes are blazing as she runs. She's about there when she trips on something. Her hands manage to reach out to catch herself and slide on the marble. It is coated in something wet and thick. She pulls her hands up to find them covered in blood. Right in front of her is the body of Wes, his face still frozen in pain.

She scoots back instantly until her back slams into more rock. Running her hand up it she stands before the mist clears completely. The girl is gone and she is standing overlooking the balcony. Stein stands floating midair just a few feet away. If she would have dived for him she would have gone careening of the side.

"Very good! You are a smart little mouse. Although, it does seem you had some unintended help. I'll allow it this time but next time I'm considering that cheating." He shakes his finger back and forth at her as he fades away.

"M-maka? Is that you?" She spins around with her knife at the ready. However it isn't Stein standing before her. It is a young woman. Her hair is long and ash colored with bright green eyes. She is dressed in servants clothes and paler than most of the visitors. She's so familiar.

"Who the hell are you?" She takes a step closer and Maka raises the knife higher. The woman freezes and back away before smiling.

"You always were a skeptical child. 'Mommy there is no Easter bunny don't be silly. Why on earth would there be monsters under my bed. I did NOT come from a stork.' I always thought you would grow up to be a very smart adult. I can see I was right." Staring at her longer a fuzzy memory begins to form.

Maka is cleaning her father's room. She can't be more than seven or eight but she is cleaning the pig sty with a smile. While vacuuming the dust bunnies under his bed the vacuum stops sucking. She pulls it out thinking that it must be stuck up with something only to pull out an old shoe box.

Now, Maka isn't one to pry but just this once she can't resist herself. She pulls off the lid expecting to find some great treasure, but inside there is only a small piece of paper and a picture. The paper is written on a napkin, you can even see the brown coffee ring from where it must have been used. Maka's read, the curiosity getting the best of her.

"Spirit,

It isn't that I don't love you, but I must go.

You may see me again sometime, maybe not.

Take care of Maka, I love you both.

-KA"

The picture has a woman holding up her hand and waving to the camera. Her emerald eyes shine in the light as she smiles. Maka suddenly feels like she's found something she shouldn't have and quickly puts the box back. She finishes cleaning the room and does her best to forget about it. Eventually she does.

Maka's eyes start to water as the very woman stands in front of her. She relaxes her hand and takes a step toward the woman.

"Mom?" Her voice cracks as the woman nods. She holds out her arms, welcoming Maka in for an embrace. Maka runs towards her with her arms out. She slams into the woman with tears streaming down her cheeks. Her hands are wrapped around her back and the woman holds her tightly.

"I missed you so much deary." The woman rubs slow circles on Maka's shoulders and Maka slowly stops crying.

"Me too mom." She closes her eyes for a moment only to have a deep male voice right next to her ear.

"Guess who?" Chaos's sick smirk is just a few inches form hers but she doesn't recoil. In fact a different smirk is on her lips, one of triumph.

"I don't know bitch, you tell me." Maka quickly flips the knife and plunges it into the top of Chaos's neck until it passes through his spine and out his throat. The man convulses before being dropped to the ground.

"Next time you are faking someone, don't make them a servant. They don't remember who they are." She stares the man in his eyes seeing nothing but Chaos as the light fades. She gives Wes's body one last sad look before stepping over the dying man and towards the party. In the last second she jumps back to pull out the knife from his bleeding throat and shove it back in it's holder on her thigh.

She passes through the crowd calmly and no one seems to notice her, let alone care that she is covered in blood. The festivities seem to be in full swing and vulgar activities are everywhere. But Maka doesn't have time for that she needs to find Kid and fast.

Luckily she manages to locate him without too much trouble. He is hiding in a dark corner near the servants' door with a grim frown on his face. When he notices Maka his look chances to relief, then excitement, the horror.

Maka's fan had been lost somewhere outside so she just lifts her finger to her lips. Kid hesitates then leans back against the wall as if he doesn't see her. She crosses the gap quickly and silently before coming to rest next to Kid.

"Where in the hell have you been? Are you alright? What happened?" Kid hisses in a low voice. So far nobody has noticed the new wall flower and all continues as normal.

"Balcony, a bit torn up but not too bad, and long story. I have a question."

"A question!? You come up to me, half naked, with scuffed up knees, and covered in blood and you have a question?!"

Oooo, looks like someone's jealous.

What the hell are you still doing here?

I thought I'd stick around and watch all this unfold.

"Fine, what's the damn question?" His arms are crossed and you can feel a foul mood emanating from him. If they weren't alone everyone would immediately back away.

"What happens when you kill a god?"

"What?" He is temporarily shocked out of his mood by her sudden question. He shakes his head back and forth as he tries to remember. "Well it depends, if it's a human death like a fall or a gunshot they are knocked out for about ten minutes before coming back to full power but if they are dismembered and burned it takes longer….why?"

"Ah, well then we better go…like now." She pulls him off the wall and towards the door. She scans the crowd looking for Liz and Patti. Liz's eyes widen as she see Maka and she waves her over. Liz pulls Patti away from a dance and drags her towards the two.

"What on cosmic plane are you talking about?*" The girls arrive and Maka pulls Kid through the door before breaking out in a run. They all have no choice but to follow her as she runs toward the next exit.

"I may have possibly, probably, definitely killed Chaos and now we have to book it before her wakes up. Hehe?"

"WHAT?!" The twin girly screams make Maka flinch but doesn't stop the girl. As they reach the door it opens up to the kitchen and all the servants stop mid-activity to stare.

"Stable." She shout not really caring about asking nicely. A girl near the back points out the door nearest her and Maka pulls the small group along. They knock a few things down in the process but manage to make it without any injuries. When they hit the clearing Maka pauses to look around for the building.

"What the hell did you do Maka?" Kid seems livid and out of breath but it doesn't seem to be directed at her.

"Look I didn't mean to. He cornered me on the balcony and attacked. What was I supposed to do? He wanted to kidnap me for 'experiments' whatever that means." The girls shutter and Maka glances curiously at them. She locates the stable and runs to it only to be stopped suddenly by a wall of black smoke. "What the hell it hasn't been ten minutes yet!"

"These aren't him." Kid's rings elongate into his thin blades and he slices an 'x' through the wall. It shrivels up and dissolved into the air. "They are his familiars, almost like pets. Lilith, Palti, hold them off while I get the horses. Don't let Maka get hurt! There are more coming."

"Damn, there goes my dress." Liz complains before dropping to all fours. Her pupil's dilate to fill her whole eye and Maka can finally look closely. Gold cracks run through the blackness, there is light burning from underneath the blackness. A coating for skin shakes off like dirt revealing her deep red fur. A shadow rises behind her only to be caught on her spiked tail.

"Oh lighten up, even if they don't spill blood," Patti's skin morphs into hard scales and plates before becoming a blue illuminant color. Her eyes elongate into deep watery orbs with deep purple specks. Her voice becomes raspy as she hisses, "but at least you can still hearing their dying screams."

As if on cue, the group is suddenly surrounded by an army of black shadows. Maka backs closer to the girls wondering how much damage we can do to smoke.

"Hey Maka, just remember they can only hurt you when they are solid black. Don't worry about it when they are in shadow form. Great now let's have some fun!" Patti hisses out and Liz howls in agreement.

The army solidifies into black beings with glowing orange eyes. Liz jumps up and over the crowd before spinning mid-air and slamming her tail into the ground. A small crater is formed beneath her and rocks jut up ten feet around her. "Gaia's stomp."

Her teeth tear into the closest monster as she whips around in a circle. Patti is coiled around Maka hissing at anything that comes too close. One ghost gets up the courage to attack only to be met by a mouthful of fangs. She spits him back out but it doesn't dissolve. It simply writhes on the ground slowly bleeding black sludge.

"Alright, if I can't poison you I'll just have to be blunt, huh? Maka get down." She does as she is told and crouches near the belly of the large snake trying her best not to lose her mind. "Feel the cold, from the ages of old. Let not an enemy make it alive, only in the Fall will they arrive. Winter's bite!"

The rounded nubs on the edges of her scales freeze into small, sharp icicles. She jumps directly above Maka while spinning in air. The icicles fly off at deadly speeds and shoot through the surrounding enemies. A diameter of about 25 feet is cleared of enemy's that dissolve away into air.

Patti falls back onto the ground guarding her while Liz tears her way to the gates leaving a path of escape. Maka hears the horses neigh as Kid yanks them away quickly. All they have on is saddles and reigns.

"Maka, Patti!" He throws the girls the reigns to their horses before climbing on his own with the other horse's lead still in his hand. Bronte is rearing and stomping his hoofs sending electric waves shooting along the ground in front of him.

Once the girls are firmly in place he yanks on the reigns and kicks Bronte forward. With the lightening horse leading the pack the group dashes towards the exit where Liz is battling the last few ghost blocking the path.

"Liz get ready!" Kid shouts as the group nears the draw bridge. Liz morphs back down into human form just in time to jump on the horses back as it thunders by. Much to Maka's embarrassment she is completely naked and bouncing all over the pace. That has got to hurt.

However, before long Liz falls back with Patti as they ride through the deserted streets. Just as they thunder out of the main city bridge there is a crashing sound behind them. Maka looks back in horror to see a massive purple hazed shape rocketing over the castle. I swings it's massive head in there direction and Maka kicks her horse harder, knowing they won't be fast enough.

"Hold on tight, really tight!" Kid mutters a few words under his breath and Bronte whinny's in delight. "Charge of the Light Brigade!"

Lightening shoots out from Bronte's hoofs in a web encompassing all the horses. Maka feels her horse stumble before evening out. There is a moment of pure silence before a wall of air slams into her nearly knocking the girl from her horse. They are flying across the ground so quickly all she can see is a blur as she desperately tries to hold on with her hands still slick from the blood.

"Maka!" His voice is nearly lost on the wind bit she is able to hear it. "Call…. Morphus's stone….red one!" Maka struggles around in the front pocket of her saddle back hoping the stone is still there. She had forgot to bring it inside with her not knowing what it actually did but never had she been more glad about that.

As soon as the stone touches her hand it starts to glow and pulse a red light. Suddenly a beam of red shoots up before expanding out. She is met by a friendly face with bright blonde hair.

"Heya Maka, what the-" his big blue eyes are bright with confusion as he takes in the speeding landscape.

"No time. Chaos is after us. Kid said to call you but I don't know what-"

"I got it. We'll be ready at the border. Is that the Charge of the Light Brigade?"

"Yeah why?" he nods before shout orders down the hall.

"We'll have three horses waiting. See you soon, be careful." And with that the window minimized and he was gone. Maka slips the stone into her nearest pouch and attempts a nod to Kid. It isn't very noticeable but he managed to pick up on it.

"Kid! Close…..border….. danger!" Patti shouts over the roar of the wind. Maka tilts her head only to have it snap back with the wind. The wind rips at her hair, blinding her for a brief moment. But, as the hair is ripped away from her face she wishes she had never looked back.

A monstrous sized version of the ghost is barreling its way towards them. Even at this rate it's easy to see that it's gaining. As it travels the ground before it darkens to nearly black and its form blocks off the sun. It's inching too close too fast. Maka knows they aren't fast enough.

"ALMOST THERE!" The apparition rears up over the party and opens its fiery orange maw. As she stares into it, Maka can make out the lost souls burning in the flames of hell. The heat is unbearable and a deep throaty laugh explodes from the ghost.

"Maka Albarn! You are MINE!"

Notes:

"What on cosmic plane?" What on earth. Get it? Haha puns.

Side note: Bandage girl, as I shall call her is re wrapped. She's still a rotting corpse just in a toilet paper coffin.

What did you guys think?