Author's Note: Hey people. I was going to wait until Friday to post this, but I couldn't wait. As an excuse I'll say that this chapter will be posted to celebrate the last day of summer. Oh how I will miss it! You do have to wait until Friday for chapter 10 though. Maybe later.
Maka and Soul were standing in the Death Room; Lord Death was sitting at a small table, sipping tea. Maka shifted her weight from foot to foot, impatiently awaiting Lord Death's reply. They failed their mission to retrieve Amane. Whether or not Lord Death was displeased was still a mystery. Finally, Lord Death finished his tea and placed the cup on the table.
"So you failed at retrieving Amane?" Lord Death asked.
Maka and Soul nodded their heads.
"Well…" Lord Death began.
Maka and Soul leaned forward, waiting to hear what he'd say.
"That's alright! Just go again!" he finished cheerily.
"We might fail again though." Soul partially argued.
"I know. That's why you'll go again, but this time with Kid, Black Star, and their weapons." Lord Death informed.
"When do we leave for the mission?" Maka asked.
"Tomorrow afternoon." he replied.
Meanwhile, Amane and the twins were in the middle of repairing the hole in the wall.
"You just had to kick her into the wall didn't you, Amane?" Masahiro grumbled.
"It's not my fault that they attacked me." Amane muttered.
"Shut up, you two, I'm annoyed enough with having to fix this hole." Masanori said.
"When do you think they'll be coming back?" Masahiro asked.
"Some time soon, I bet." Masanori replied.
"Yeah, so keep this stuff out. We might have to use it again." Amane commented.
Amane then stood up and grabbed the keys to the house off of a table. The twins looked at her curiously as she began heading out the door.
"I have some things I need to pick up." Amane shouted as she closed and locked the door behind her.
The next day, Maka, Kid, Black Star, and their weapons began heading towards Amane's house. Kid was walking behind everyone, looking at his feet. His heart felt somewhat heavy, yet he felt more angry than sad. How could Amane not tell him about this? Sure he's Lord Death's son, but that doesn't mean he'd tell his father about her being a witch. Okay, maybe he would. And was Amane just pretending to be his friend? He had to find out.
Kid continued walking, not even realizing everyone had stopped until he bumped into Liz. The girl turned around and looked down at her meister, raising an eyebrow.
"You okay, Kid?" she asked.
"Fine." Kid replied.
"Do we all know the plan?" Maka asked.
"What plan? There's really no way to catch her off guard. We're going to have to walk through the front door again." Soul said.
"No worries. We'll have her in no time, thanks to me!" Black Star scoffed.
"And what is your plan genius?" Kid asked sarcastically.
"It's simple. I'll just charge in there and she'll be so busy being awe struck by me, that someone could knock her out." Black Star stated and everyone sighed.
"Just go in, get her, then get out. If we start fighting, who knows how long it will take. The twins might come in and help her out. It's best we do this quick." Maka ordered.
"Well are we going to get this over with or not?" Soul asked.
At that, Maka began leading the way to Amane's house. When they made it there, Kid made his way up to the door, then knocked on it a few times. The door swung open, causing Kid to take a step back in shock. He took a few steps forward and poked his head inside the house and looked around.
"That's strange… It's bright outside, yet it's pitch black in here." Kid observed.
"I don't think we should go in there." Liz said, taking a few steps back.
"Let's go! Let's go! Let's go!" Patty shouted as she giggled and pumped her fist in the air.
Maka walked up and stood next to Kid. She peeked inside then looked at the others, "He's right. I can't see a thing."
"Thank you for noticing." A voice said, seeming as if it was coming from nowhere.
"Yeah, we worked hard to make it that way." said another voice.
Everyone looked around, trying to figure out where it was coming from. Right when they least expected it, Masahiro jumped out of the ground and shoved Maka and Kid into the darkness. Masanori picked up Tsubaki and threw her into the darkness, and then he and his brother jumped in there. Masahiro and his brother had dug holes earlier and disguised it, so that they could hide in there and do exactly what they just did.
Black Star ran into the darkness, with Soul following close behind him. Leaving Patty, who was currently trying to drag her sister in too.
"Come on, sis! We have to go help everyone!" Patty shouted.
"No! What if there's ghosts in there!" Liz argued.
After about a minute of arguing, Patty picked up her sister and threw her in there, then jumping in after her. Liz landed on back, her sister landing on top of her.
"Would you two quit fooling around?" Kid said.
"Hey, Maka, was the inside of her house like this the last time you were here?" Tsubaki asked as she looked around.
"Not at all." Maka replied.
They were all standing in a strange hallway, which looked a lot like a dungeon hallway. There were a few candles along the walls that emitted little light.
"I guess we just go straight." Soul said.
The group began walking, some of them crawling on the ground. More specifically, Liz crawling on the ground, while the rest of the group walked on as if it were nothing. Eventually, they came to a large circular room. The room was completely empty. Everyone knew that there was something suspicious about this.
"Something's not right here…" Kid said.
Then suddenly, dozens of bodies fell to the ground from the ceiling. They all stood up and began surrounding the group. Tsubaki and Soul transformed, while Patty tried to get her sister to concentrate. Black Star was just about to strike one of the people, but he was stopped by Maka.
"What!" he shouted, annoyed.
"They're all humans and they're alive. We can't kill them." she said.
"Well then I'll just seriously injure them." he said.
"No, Black Star!" Maka snapped.
"Hey Maka, they must be unconscious or something. I see strings attached to them. That must be what's making them move." Soul advised.
"Great then we just cut the strings." Maka said.
Kid looked around at all the people. Where did they all come from? And how was Amane able to do all this? Obviously she was prepared for them, but they weren't prepared for her. Suddenly, a large dark hole opened up underneath him. Kid could feel the ground disappear from beneath his feet. One moment he was getting ready to fight, and the next, he finds himself falling.
Liz and Patty quickly dropped to the ground and tried to catch him, but they were too late. They shouted his name and prepared themselves to dive in after him. A black beam-like thing pushed Liz and Patty far enough away from the hole, so that it could close up. They quickly got to their feet and ran over to where the hole once was. Liz looked up at Maka, a panicked expression plastered on her face.
"Maka, Kid is gone!" Liz shouted.
"What?" Maka questioned. "What happened?"
"The ground ate him!" Patty shouted while Liz nodded her head.
Maka thought for a moment, and then glanced back at them, "We'll get him later. Right now we have to take care of all these people."
Liz and Patty nodded, and then joined the fight.
Kid found himself falling for about a minute or two before he finally hit the ground. He found himself in a bright, beautiful hallway that seemed to go on forever in both directions. Kid stood up and dusted himself off. He walked up to a door in front of him and tried to open it. The knob wouldn't turn. He tried the door next to it, same thing. After unsuccessfully trying to open a few more doors, he quit. He began looking at the pictures lining the walls. He saw one that was perfectly symmetrical. It was of a beautiful beach with clear water and an awesome sunset. Kid reached up and touched the painting. The moment he touched it, it fell to the ground. He quickly picked it up and went to hang it back on the wall. However, when he went to hang it up, it wasn't a wall anymore. There was a door. He reached out for the door knob, which was shaped like a wing. He tried twisting the odd, shaped knob. It didn't work. He then pulled o the knob, which leaned toward him a bit, and then a click was heard. Kid then pushed the door open and walked inside.
He entered a small, dark room. There was a large, purple chair in the center of the room with a small side table next to it. The chair was a velvet armchair with gold details. In front of the chair was a rectangular, full body mirror.
Kid approached the armchair and stopped dead in his tracks right when he realized who was sitting in it. He slowly placed the picture down on the side table and stepped in front of the mirror.
Amane was sitting in the chair, an emotionless expression on her face. She glanced up at Kid, "Please stop standing in front of my mirror, Kid."
Kid glared at her, not budging a bit, "I refuse to."
"Move, Kid." Amane demanded.
"No!" he nearly shouted.
"Masahiro, Masanori!" Amane called.
The twins walked into the room and grabbed hold of Kid's arms and pulled him out of the way of the mirror. Kid tried to pull away, but their grips on his arms were too tight. Kid glanced over at the mirror that Amane was staring at. Instead of seeing her reflection there was an image of Maka and the others in the room that he had been in not too long ago. Amane was watching the fight intently, examining each persons fighting style. After sitting in silence for a few minutes, Amane finally looked away from the mirror and at the twins.
"Masanori, get duct tape and a chair, I think that Kid is getting tired of standing." Amane ordered.
"Yes ma'am." Masanori replied before running off to do her bidding.
He came back with the stuff and he and his brother shoved Kid into the chair. They duct tape his ankles to the legs of the chair. They then wrapped the tape around the chair and Kid's arms. After that, Amane dismissed the twins and then continued watching the mirror.
Maka and the others had finished cutting all the strings attached to the people. As they began to walk away, holes opened up beneath their feet and they fell in. Maka and Soul found themselves in a maze of mirrors; Black Star and Tsubaki were in what looked like a kitchen of an abandoned house; while Liz and Patty were in a graveyard.
Kid saw all this in the mirror. He looked over at Amane, wondering, how did she do all this? Amane noticed his stare and she glanced at him.
"What is it Kid?" she asked.
"Why are you doing all this?" he asked.
"Two simple reasons." She began holding up one finger, "First reason, because I can." She held up a second finger, "And two, for revenge."
Kid looked at her questioningly, "Revenge? What did we ever do to you?"
"We'll have plenty of time to talk about this later. I want to watch and see what happens next." Amane replied, turning her attention back to the mirror.
Soul transformed back into his human form. He and Maka looked around, confused.
"Uh… where are we?" Soul asked.
"I'm not sure." Maka replied.
"What is this? Some sort of fun house?" Soul asked, irritated.
"Calm down, Soul. Let's just find our way out of here, alright?" Maka said.
Soul nodded and began walking around, trying to find an opening.
Maka also began looking around; she then turned back and looked at Soul happily. "I found it!" she said.
Maka turned back around to run down the path, accidentally running into the mirror next to it, causing her to fall backwards. Soul burst out laughing, while Maka stood up and dusted herself off.
"When you're done laughing we can go." Maka growled as she began walking away.
Soul wiped a tear from his eye and took a deep breath before running after Maka.
Black Star and Tsubaki looked around the kitchen at all the worn or broken cabinets, the dirty and broken dishes that were lying everywhere. In fact, the whole kitchen was dirty and a complete mess. Some of the floorboards were missing and mold was growing in some corners of the ceiling.
"Hah! If they think some messed up kitchen is going to stop the Mighty Black Star, then they're wrong, Yahoo!" Black Star shouted.
"Please stop shouting Black Star." Tsubaki pleaded.
"It's not like there's going to be anyone in this run down place." Black Star said, "Let's do some investigating, Yahoo!"
Black Star pumped his fist in the air and started stomping through the house happily as Tsubaki followed close behind him, looking back and forth suspiciously. As Black Star was parading through the house he stepped on a weak board and his foot fell through, causing him to trip. His face hit the ground, making it red. He quickly scrambled to his feet and continued walking. After that, Tsubaki began inspecting the boards before she stepped on them.
"This hallway just won't end." Black Star said.
"I think I see a door up there." Tsubaki spoke as she pointed at it.
"Good eye Tsubaki!" he shouted as he ran up to the door.
When they reached the door, Black Star swung it open and stepped inside. They were in a kitchen.
"Weren't we here earlier?" Tsubaki asked.
"Maybe there's more than one kitchen in the house." Black Star suggested.
Tsubaki considered this for a moment until she saw a hole, "But that's where your foot fell through the ground." She pointed out.
At that, Black Star began running down a different hallway, only to end up in the kitchen once more. He continued at this for awhile until Tsubaki placed her hands on his shoulders and stopped him.
"It's no use, Black Star." She said.
Liz and Patty found themselves falling out of an open grave, which might mean that they had been falling up. Liz looked around and her eyes widened as she clung to her sister. Patty was just standing there laughing at the fact they had fallen up, out of a grave.
"Patty! Stop laughing!" Liz whined.
"But, it's funny." Patty giggled.
"We're in a graveyard! With zombies and dead people… Or maybe even ghosts!" Liz sobbed.
Patty patted her sisters head, "It's okay sis."
Patty took her sister by her hand and started leading her through the graveyard.
"Wait, Patty! Maybe we should just stay back at the grave. I'm sure someone will find us." She said as she tried to pull her sister back to where they were.
However, when she looked back at where the grave was, it was gone. Liz looked around frantically. Where could it have gone? She began panicking more than she already was, until her sister spoke.
"Look, sis! There's the exit." She giggled as she pointed at the way out.
"Yay, thank you Patty!" Liz shouted as she began sprinting to the gate, dragging her sister behind her.
Liz stopped dead in her tracks when she saw what was right in front of her. There, blocking their way out, was them? Staring right back at Liz and Patty were Liz and Patty, only they were more dead looking.
"Why are there dead versions of us!" Liz shouted as tears streamed down her face.
Patty began laughing as she pointed at the zombie like versions of them, "Sis you look disgusting when you're dead." She giggled.
"Shut up, Patty!" her sister shouted.
Just then the zombie Patty transformed into a weapon and her sister caught her and began attacking.
Soul and Maka walked out a door labeled exit and entered a circular room with mirrors on every inch of the walls and ceilings.
"This place just gets weirder every time." Soul said.
He and Maka walked to the center of the room and looked around. Laughing was heard and it echoed throughout the room as the two looked around to see where the source of the laughing was. In every single mirror, it was them, laughing.
"What kind of place is this?" Maka asked.
"Well how should I know?" Soul said.
"It was a rhetorical question."
"Sorry."
All of the mirrors started to glow and then a beam of light from each of the mirrors went to the mirror directly above them. The mirror above them shattered into pieces as another Maka and Soul fell from it. They weren't exactly like the real ones. They were more of a grayish color and their eyes were completely white.
"Soul!" both of the Maka's shouted.
The Soul's nodded in response and transformed. The fake Soul's weapon form's color was basically the same except in place of the red part, it was purple.
Maka swung her weapon around, the opposite one mirroring her movements. They both lunged forward at each other and the fighting began.
Black Star punched a hole in the window above the sink. Instead of shattering into a million pieces, it just stretched out as if it were made of rubber.
"What the hell!" he shouted in frustration as he ran over and punched a wall which did the same exact thing as the window.
"Black Star calm down." Tsubaki pleaded.
Another Tsubaki, with a cooking apron on, stood up from behind the island, "Yes, Black Star. You wouldn't want to tire yourself out before the fight."
A Black Star, dressed as a chef also stood up from behind the island. "If you're worn out the fight won't be fun."
Tsubaki jumped in surprise and ran over to Black Star, transforming into her weapon form. Black Star's face showed that he was more than happy to defeat himself.
Amane watched in satisfaction as everyone had been evenly matched by their strange duplicates. Kid's eyes were wide in amazement and terror. How is it possible for her to manage all this?
"I wouldn't have been able to manage all this myself. Before this house was my own, it was owned by many other witches who had put spells on different parts of the house to protect themselves if there's ever an intruder. Honestly, that's the only reason why I got this house." Amane said as if she had heard the question that Kid had asked in his mind.
Kid and Amane continued watching each fight. Maka was being back up into a wall, Liz and Patty towards an open coffin, and Black Star and Tsubaki also towards a wall.
Maka bumped into the mirror behind her as she continued blocking all of the attacks. She couldn't back up any further. She gasped in surprise as she fell through the mirror as the fake Maka smiled in satisfaction as she watched her opponent fall into blackness.
Liz was in her weapon form since she was too terrified to face the zombies in her human form. Patty had been backing up as they advanced on them slowly. The zombie Patty transformed back into human, or zombie, form and charged at the real Patty. She punched Patty in the stomach, making her fly back and into a coffin. Instead of hitting the bottom of the coffin, she kept falling.
Black Star angrily thrashed out at the imposter. He couldn't get backed into a wall. Not the Might Black Star. Unfortunately for him, it was happening. He felt his back against the wall. To his surprise, the moment his back touched the wall, the imposter stopped attacking. Black Star tried to charge forward to attack, but he began sinking into the wall. He struggled to get free but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get free. The imposter watched as Black Star disappeared into the wall until he was completely gone.
Maka, Soul, Black Star, Tsubaki, Liz, and Patty, all fell up out of the ground of Amane's front yard and into each other. They all scrambled to their feet and relief swept over them as they saw that their friends were all right. All, except one.
"Where's Kid?" Maka asked.
"We don't know." Liz replied.
Maka looked at Amane's house, then at her friends. "The witch must have him. We must report this to Lord Death right away."
Everyone nodded their heads in agreement and quickly made their way to the DWMA.