Kid cringed as he watched. Mary had probably cut the inside of Garry's mouth to shreds by now. She placed the tip of her knife at the corner of Garry's already bloody mouth.
"How about we put a smile on that face, huh?!" Mary was practically screeching as she slit Garry's face even further, making it look like he had a huge smile going from ear to ear on either side of his face. Garry thrashed about. The metal stung where it dug into him. Throwing the knife aside, Mary took hold of his neck and started to hit his head against the floor. Soul winced as he heard every thud when Garry's head connected with the floor.
"Kid…" he warned. Kid tugged a bit at his collar.
"I know, Soul!" Kid said, "remember the plan!" Soul rolled his eyes as a inhuman strangled noise rose from him. Grabbing Maka's hand, he was bathed in light, and when the light was gone, his body was replaced with a long red and black scythe. Maka gripped the handle tightly.
"Screw the plan!" Soul cried, "he's gonna fucking die if we don't do something! Ready Maka?" Maka nodded.
"Let's go!" she agreed, then swung Soul in a circle above her head.
"Maka! Not so fast! I'm getting dizzy!" Soul protested. Raising him high above her head, she charged Mary, who was now slashing at Garry's face again. Garry swung his head from side to side, trying to avoid the blade.
"Mary! Your soul is mine!" Maka cried as she closed in on Mary and swung the blade down on Mary's head, but stopped short.
"Maka! Do it!" Soul shouted. Why had Maka stopped mid swing?!
"I'm trying!" she said, straining against Mary's hold on her arm. Garry, noticing that Mary was occupied with something else, scrambled out from under her. In the blink of an eye, Mary swung her arm, and Maka (with Soul in her hands) sailed through the air and crashed into Garry. There was a loud thunk as she fell on him.
"Shit!" Maka muttered as she got off Garry and rolled him onto his back. His eyes were closed, his face a bloody mess. He groaned.
"Maka!" Soul said as he transformed back into himself, "are you alright?!" Maka nodded, frantically checking Garry for a pulse.
"Yeah, but I don't think he is," she answered, we have to get him out of here, now! These wounds need to be healed and fast, or he'll look like this for the rest of his life."
"I don't hunk we need another Stein," Kid commented, "Liz! Patty- now!" With a light jump, they transformed into the twin guns Kid always used as weapons- moonlight glinting off the metal. Mary sneered at him and hastily ran her knife between her teeth.
"Didn't your mother teach you it's not polite to play with guns?" she asked sarcastically as she threw her knife like a javelin. it hissed as it spun through the air, then met its target: Kid.
The blade ripped through the fabric of his clothes and sunk itself deep into his chest. He gasped as he fell to his knees, grabbing the handle. Liz and Patty returned to their human form.
"Don't worry, Kid, we got this," Liz reassured him as Patty changed back into gun form. Liz tingled as the handle hit her palm, the metal cold against her skin. Placing her hand on the trigger, she pointed her sister at Mary, who stood over Garry, Soul, and Maka. Soul had went back to being a scythe, Maka wielding him defensively. Liz's hand shook as she tried to keep her focus. Be careful Patty Liz thought, we don't want to hurt Maka or Soul- nor Garry, especially.
"Hahaha! Go it!" Patty laughed as a ball of energy formed at the mouth of the gun. She pulled the trigger, and the purple blast of energy sailed through the air, landing in Mary's face.
Her small body flew until it crashed into the wall. When she hit the floor, her body crumpled in a ball. The painting of the doll watched the scene, looking as if it were watching a nice television program. Liz trembled as the doll then opened its mouth to emit a low pitched laugh, making the room look as if it were shaking. Tsubaki and Black Star were trying their best to protect Kid from the other dolls in the room that had started moving, Black Star using all sorts of martial arts techniques.
"Tsubaki! Help us!" Maka shouted as the ground began to quake. With a thundering boom, a crack began to wind along the floor.
"Go, Tsubaki!" Black Star said, "I got Kid, help them!" Tsubaki leapt lightly across the gap in the floor and grabbed Maka's hand. She took hold of the end of her ponytail, which turned into a chain. Swinging it above her head, she tossed it over to Black Star, who caught it in mid-air.
"Hold on!" she warned and Maka wrapped her arms around Tsubaki's neck as she jumped into the chasm. Soul was trying to pick Garry up by himself. The unconscious boy's body was heavy as Soul finally heaved him over his shoulder with a grunt.
"Soul! C'mon!" Maka shouted. Soul backed up with Garry in his arms, then ran towards the gap. With all his strength he tossed Garry across the gap.
"Catch!" he shouted as he then jumped in himself, grabbing Maka's ankles so he wouldn't fall. Black Star's eyes widened as Garry hurtled at him. He tightened his grip on Tsubaki's chain and tugged, pulling the three of them up and out just as they were about to smash into the wall of the abyss. Patty had transformed back into a human and she and Liz were now frantically trying to pinpoint where they would be able to catch Garry's body.
"Got him!" Patty laughed as Garry landed safely in her arms. Because he had a lot of momentum, she ended up falling as he landed on her. Pushing him off her, she sat up, waving her arms. Liz wiped her forehead, sighing with relief.
"I'm okay!" Patty shouted with glee. Rubble fell from the ceiling as the doll in the frame laughed again.
"Let's get outta here!" Black Star gulped as he saw Mary started to get up, using the wall for support, "Tsubaki! Smoke bomb mode!"
"Heh, heh, heh…. you can't leave!" Mary shrieked, "NO ONE CAN LEAVE!"
"Got it!" In a puff of green smoke, the group disappeared, leaving Mary screaming in agony.
Lord Death, Spirit, and Stein were huddled in front of the full- length mirror, watching intensely as the scene played out before them. Spirit was rocking back and forth as he watched Maka and Soul fight Mary.
"Make Daddy proud, Maka!" he suddenly shouted at the glass, even though he knew they wouldn't hear him. Stein rolled his eyes as he took a pack of Marlboro's from his lab coat pocket and took one out. With a sigh he lit it, the air soon filled with cigarette smoke. Lord Death waved the smoke away from him.
"Do you really have to smoke in here?" he asked, annoyed. Stein shrugged as he held the cigarette between his fingers and blew a cloud towards the mirror, fogging the glass.
"Do you have to watch everything they do?" he asked. Spirit snorted as he watched Soul toss Garry's body across the chasm, "You idiot! He could have fallen in!"
"Well, no," Lord Death answered.
"Then I can smoke," Stein said matter- of- factly as he stubbed the cigarette out with the toe of his boot. Spirit was now holding the mirror tightly, his face squished against it.
"Maka! My little Maka did it! She saved the guy!" he cried with happiness as if she hadn't ever done this before.
"Get over yourself," Stein said as the image in the mirror faded. They were soon staring at their own reflections again, "We'll have to patch them up, you know."
"Who?" Spirit asked.
"Were you not watching?" he asked with a flat tone.
"I wasn't really paying attention to the others," Spirit admitted.
"Well, the three of them- Tsubaki, Death The Kid, and Garry," stein counted on his fingers as he listed the names, "Tsubaki only needs a bandage for her arm, but Kid will need help getting that knife out. If they already pulled it out, he'll just need some disinfectant and some rest. Garry on the other hand…" he trailed off as he thought about the boy's injuries and smiled. He was going to have fun with that one, that's for sure.
"Yeah, what happened to him was pretty crazy," Spirit rubbed his head and gave a nervous laugh.
"It wasn't crazy," Stein said, "it was cruel. It was abominable. it was horrific, it was-"
"I think we get the point, Professor," Lord Death interrupted, "I believe they'll have to skip a few days of classes to recover. We'll have Marie and Sid help keep them on track in the meantime." Stein and Spirit then grabbed the files from his desk.
"I guess we won't be needing these then!" Spirit then began tearing the paper in half. Before he could make it halfway through the page, Stein swiped it from him.
"Dumbass! We need these!" he said, "we'll need circumstantial evidence and statistics to help with this case!" Spirit raised his hands in defense.
"Okay! Okay!" he said, "we should go to the front to meet hem, they're probably gonna be here soon!" Lord Death waved Spirit and Stein towards the door.
"Good idea," he said, "I'll be here if you need me, so go on."
"Are you sure?" Stein asked, "I mean, your son was inured-"
"Who cares?!" Spirit interrupted, "I get to see my Maka!" In a rush, he ran out the door and down the hall, screaming Maka's name joyfully.
"Ignore him, he's a sentimental idiot," Lord Death said as he and Stein watched his retreating form until they couldn't see him.
"I know that," Stein gave a chuckle, "but are you sure you don't want to come?" Lord Death nodded.
"Knowing my son, it would probably hurt him to let his father see him like that," Lord Death said.
"You mean he doesn't want you to see him injured?" Stein asked. Lord Death shook his head.
"He doesn't want to hurt his pride," Lord Death explained, "and he doesn't want me to think of him as a failure."
"But they didn't fail," Stein said, "they rescued the boy…. man….. whatever he is." He was really going to have to figure that out if he was going to help the kid heal. I'll need to fix the students medical records, then, he thought.
"I know, and he did all he could," Lord Death said, "but my son always feels he can do more than what he's capable of. He doesn't want me to be disappointed in him."
"Well, are you? Disappointed in him, I mean."
"Of course not," Lord Death shook his head, "I am loud of my son in every way and I applaud his efforts to everything he does. He's the best thing that ever happened in my life, and I hope that one day, he'll be able to accomplish everything he's dreamed of. Now enough of this mushy-gushy talk- go and bring the others in.