I'M. SO. SORRY.

This update is so late! I just got so carried away in writing poems and I had so much homework for school and...
You know what. No excuses. I just hope the next one will be out soon!
I also had writer's block. I don't normally get it, but I kept changing perspectives and events.
Also, I finally did a bit of Soul's POV. And Black*Star and Tsubaki will be coming soon (I don't know why I have a problem writing about them. Well,I do about Black*Star :P)
So yeah. Enjoy!

Soul's POV

Holy shit!

I didn't even know what was going on anymore. From my position, I could see both Kid and Cloud just standing there. Cloud. What was he, anyways? I mean, that whole materia shit isn't normal. Those beams literally burned my blade, and if I dared to stand in human form, they would have burned my skin right off! Now they weren't even a worry. Cloud definitely wasn't from here. Not that I thought he was before, though.

What was worrisome was that we had no idea where the witch was.

This is so not cool.

"Maka! What the hell are you doing!? Don't just stand there!" I yelled at her. This was hopeless.

"What do you want me to do? We don't even know where sh—" Maka was cut off when she was suddenly kicked in the back, collapsing to the ground. From what I could see there was no one behind us. Damn!

Kid and Cloud were knocked down as well, Cloud clutching his chest and Kid grabbing at his head. I could hear Liz and Patty's cries to Kid asking if he was OK. Isador was beating us up, and we didn't even know where she was.

"Maka! Are you OK? Get up and defend yourself!" I yelled hopelessly. She tried to get up only to be kicked down again.

I looked in Kid's direction. He got up and was now moving at an unbelievably fast pace. Being a reaper sure has its advantages.

Suddenly, I was knocked out of Maka's hand once she had gotten up. I contemplated switching back to human form but decided against it. It wouldn't help Maka one bit.

Being beaten wasn't cool at all.

Cloud had gotten up as well, and was now moving around the same pace as Kid was. Wow, I got to learn how to do that! They were both trying to avoid Isador's hits, and from what I could tell were doing a pretty good job of it. My meister, however, was back on the ground.

"God dammit, Maka!" I yelled, frustrated.

"Wait, look!" she yelled back.

She was looking at Cloud. I focused my attention on the newcomer and witnessed the materia in action again. He twirled his sword, tucked it in its case, and did some kind of hand motion.

"Barrier"

"Cloud, you already used it! This isn't magic!" I heard Kid yell.

Nevertheless, an eerie green light seeped from Cloud's arms and feet and spread to the rest of us. Orange and red symbols contrasted against the green.

Isador screeched from wherever she was. The high-pitched noise stung my ears.

"This isn't for magic. Barrier is physical, MBarrier is magical. If this wears off, be sure to let me know."

Damn. He looked like he wasn't even breaking a sweat doing all this. Cloud wasn't even trying, and already he saved our butts twice!

Maka and Kid stood rooted into place. When I asked, she said that she could feel someone hitting her but it didn't hurt so much. Cloud, however, was on the move. He was spinning around and constantly looking around him, alert. I noticed that his sword started glowing.

"Wha-"

CHIIIIING!

Before I could get two words out, Cloud's sword collided with something.

Isador was visible, gripping her arm. She scowled before disappearing again, blood trickling on the spot she just was.

"How'd you do that!? I can barely get a hold of her with my soul perception!" Maka yelled at him. Cloud looked completely bored.

A low growl sounded throughout the cold air of Italy.

"This is getting annoying." Cloud glanced around him, looking pretty pissed. Kid was off in his own world, shooting wildly. One in like 50 shots actually hit home.

"Stop"

Again!?

He did the twirling and the motions again, and the green light with the symbols showed up again. But this time, it didn't seem towards us or anything. Instead, a random clock appeared out of nowhere directly above Kid's head. It then cleared to show Isador, holding a deadly purple beam threateningly near Kid's head, ready to slice him in two. Kid stared, and with no time to spare started blasting her with pink bullets. They seemed to be having no effect. This was totally un-cool.

I felt myself being swung around as Maka charged for her. Cloud followed closely behind, and Kid continued to fire. Cloud made it before Maka did, and he jumped high into the air, sword glowing. With a strangled "Aaaarrgh!" he brought the sword upon her still body, which was now surrounded in pink dust due to Kid's constant firing, and-

CHIIING!

-sliced her in half. And half again. And again. And again until she was nothing more than a cut up mess.

Maka suddenly screeched to a stop as Isador's body was enveloped by what looked like black ribbons. Once that had cleared, all that remained was one sole purple and yellow soul.

Liz, Patty and I returned to human form and gawked, trying to comprehend what had just happened.

Kid slowly walked up to the soul and did something with his hands. The soul obediently disappeared into his open palm. He then walked up to Cloud, who was watching with an unreadable expression.

"Nice job, Cloud," he simply said. That's it? I ran up to the both of them.

"That. Was. AWESOME!" I yelled. Liz and Patty followed behind me, nodding in agreement.

Maka came up as well.

"If only Black*Star and Tsubaki were here to see it. Seriously though, that was amazing Cloud!" Maka was smiling hugely.

"That was nothing. After all this is over, I'm outta here." He turned around and started to walk away, but stopped when he realized something.

"Uh, how do we get home?"

Kid's POV

After what I had just witnessed, I was eager to get back and discuss it with Father. Also, the weight of carrying a witch's soul wasn't easy. I was starting to feel a little sick and tired because of how powerful it was, however I didn't bother to voice my discomfort. Doing a hand motion of which I have practised over and over again, a bright skull appeared on the ground before opening into a portal which led to the Death Room. I motioned for the others to step through before I did. Cloud was the last of the group, and moved in a rather uncaring way. He intrigued me. I needed to know if this power he held could defeat the Kishin. It sure seemed like that to me, but I wasn't one to jump to conclusions.

"Welcome back, kiddos! How was the big battle?" Father said, a little too cheerful for my mood right now.

Cloud completely ignored him and instead walked straight past, hand resting on the handle of his oversized sword. We all stared at his back as he walked straight out of the Death Room without a peep. A loud bang echoed as the door was slammed shut.

"What's up with him?" Soul mumbled.

"So…I'm assuming everything went well?" Father said after a moment of silence.

"Yes Father, a little too well. I understand you watched the whole event unfold?" I said, a little impatiently.

"Yes, but it wouldn't hurt for you to tell it again! I'd like to hear what you saw, kiddo."

Well, I saw way too much to want to discuss it. Knowing he saw the whole thing, I didn't want to voice it again, but I know that Father wanted to see my perspective.

"This materia…without it, we probably would have died. It seems as if Cloud has one for everything. Also, his strength and speed. I didn't see his full potential, but I saw what seemed like his bare minimum, and even that was nearing my own reaper capabilities. I can only imagine what his power is like at full. But will Cloud be able to face the Kishin Asura? I'd like to know."

"Good! And Maka?"

"Huh?" She seemed quite out of it.

"What did you see, looking at Cloud's soul?"

"Oh…well, his soul seemed relatively stable throughout the whole battle, but I wasn't paying too much attention to it. I was more focused on Isador's." Maka seemed quite upset on her lack of attention.

"I understand. You all must be tired! Everyone, dismissed"

I nodded towards Liz and Patty, Liz looking quite tired and Patty in her usual mood. We walked with Maka and Soul towards the exit of the Death Room. I needed to talk to Cloud.

"Er, Kid? Would you stay behind for a minute?" Father called after me.

I stopped and gestured for Liz and Patty to go on. From the look on Liz's face, I could tell she didn't want to face Cloud without me, but I brushed it off. She can handle it.

Father and I waited in awkward silence as we waited for the others to leave. Finally, once they were gone, Father cleared his throat.

"Kid, you and I both know that there's more to Cloud than meets the eye. I'm sure everyone does," he stared at me, the black holes for eyes boring into me. Not even I knew what Father looked like behind the mask. It's something that always bothers me.

"Yes of course, Father. What are you getting at?"

"Well, I don't know enough about him to fully trust him. He seems to have…other things on mind."

"That's to be expected. He doesn't trust us either."

"What did he tell you?"

"…What do you-"

"What did he tell you?"

I stopped. How did Father know Cloud told me more? I had only informed him about the materia. Suddenly it occurred to me.

"Don't worry Cloud. I only told him about the materia."

Damn. I said that right in front of Father. I guess he had to know eventually.

"…Fine. Well…"

After I had told Father exactly what Cloud had told me, there was a long moment of silence.

"Father, being a full Shinigami and all…are you not able to send people between dimensions?"

"I've never really had to."

"Answer me, Father."

"Yes, I can"

"Which means you can send Cloud back." I stopped here to stare at him, waiting.

"Listen, Kid. Some things are going on right now and we need him. Without Cloud, we have a much better chance of dying, and I think it's best he stays here for a while."

I was surprised Father would say something like that. This means that the situation is much worse than what I had believed…

"How are Black*Star and Tsubaki doing?" I asked out of curiosity. Father's tone was jolly once again.

"Excellent! They're on their way home, and should be here by tomorrow with the witch Eruka. After that, we should be able to enter the book of Eibon with ease using her magic."

I smiled in spite of myself. Things were going well. We had everything in order, and Cloud's power was on our side. Arachnophobia was crushed. Noah will die soon enough, it's only a matter of time, and the book of Eibon will be in our grasp. All that's left is…

"Yes. The Kishin Asura."

Liiike? I tried to make it long to make up for my absence. Justs so you know I COULD write a chapter in about two days, but I get so carried away in other work and stuff. Urrgh. If you want me to update faster, review! They make me write more :) Thanks!