Hey there! I'm on break from school right now, and I don't really feel like doing anything, and since I'm waiting for the clips I use to make amv's to download, I thought I'd bust out another chapter :D Hope you like it.

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Chapter 3: Found

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Liz was back in her nightmare, except this time it was real and her friends were there too. They rushed down the halls as silently as possible, Black Star in the lead using his sharpened senses to detect any enemies in the vicinity.

"Hold it." he commanded, throwing out an arm to stop them rounding another corner. "Tsubaki, let's go Shadow Star: Severed Shadow on these punks."

"Right!" there was a flash or yellow. Seconds later Black Star caught a black kunai knife in his hand. Then, he disappeared.

"Where'd he go!?" asked Patti uncertainly. Liz peeked around the corner and saw four guards and… 7 Black Stars!?

"How on earth?" she asked as the guards fell and the Black Stars started to disappear until only one remained. "How'd you do that!?"

"In Severed Shadow mode, Black Star can move so fast that he leaves his shadow behind, effectively creating clones of himself." Tsubaki said as there was a flash of yellow light and appeared in front of her friends, smiling at Black Star. Black Star turned his head and stared at the floor.

"You know," Liz piped up, not eager to travel with a disgruntled ninja. "Kid's never been able to move that fast. Looks like you beat him there!"

Black Star smiled at her feeble attempt at cheering him up before saying, "Of course, I surpass the gods!" His cheery front quickly faded as he turned back toward the kishin egg- littered hallway. "Let's keep going."

The group nodded and resumed running past the various rooms and indents in the walls, searching desperately for their friend. Liz, Patti, Black Star, and Tsubaki were to search out Kid as fast as possible while Sid did some speedey reconnaissance and Maka and Soul were to be called for backup if needed.

The earthy colored bricks blurred as they rushed past door after door, all conveniently opened to them, freeing them of the task of opening each one to search. It was unsettling, but Liz didn't complain; it made searching for him easier.

They rounded another corner and Liz squeaked in surprise.

A low, grunting sound came from a room off to the side and the group flattened themselves against the walls on either side of the rusted steel door, listening intently to the muffled voices from within.

"They invaded because if you! Stupid bastard!"

The crack of a whip broke the air, followed by a deep groan.

A new voice spoke; a familiar voice so hoarse and threatening it made Liz whimper.

"I swear to God if you lay a hand on any one of them, I will fucking kill you!"

Black Star stiffened and Tsubaki transformed into the kunai knife once again.

"Oho, you're getting all protective over your little kiddie friends, are you?" said the other voice. "Maybe I'll go kill them now. No, I think I'll have some fun with it. I'll bring your two girlfriends back here and skin their pretty little necks right in front of you. How'd you like that?"

Liz let out a gasp and Patti shrank back to hide behind her sister. A Low, guttural growl that sounded nothing like calm and stoic Kid emitted from the room.

"Don't you dare touch them. Don't you dare harm any of them."

The other person seemed quite pleased with Kid's torment and replied happily. "Oh, you bet I will." They heard footsteps and as soon as the door opened, Black Star jabbed the kunai into the man. A small 'oh' escaped his lips before he fell to the ground in a pool of blood.

The group rushed into the room, ignoring the floating kishin egg, and Liz gasped.

It had been almost exactly the same as her dream. The dark, damp walls leaked water that made its way down to the floor and mixed with blood leaking from…

Kid.

There he was, covered in cuts and bruises, both old and new. His hair was damp and the white lines he despised so much were stained a brilliant blood red. Kid sat in his boxers, shredded clothes heaped into a pile in the corner, and he had cuts so severe on his torso that his ribs could be seen.

Liz collapsed to her knees and shivered uncontrollably while Patti burst into tears and hugged his shackled from.

He raised his sunken, blood caked golden eyes and glared at them.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

Black Star glared right back and replied, "Saving your ass. Get up, were leaving."

He made to undo Kid's bonds, but Kid shook him off.

Kid spoke in a strangled, pain-filled voice, as if every word he spoke caused him personal sorrow.

"How can you say that? Do you even know how many people I've seen killed by the men in this church!?" Kid said, his voice rising with every word. "You don't even stand a chance against Noah! He'll kill you all! Leave me and get the hell out of here!"

"How can you say that!?" Liz screamed as she threw her arms around his neck and bawled into it. "It's been hell waiting around and not knowing where you were or if you were okay!"

Kid breathed into her hair to sooth her and then turned to Black Star.

"You need to get them out of here." He said, his voice pleading. "Please, Black Star, I need to know that they'll be safe. I'm trusting you with them."

Black Star stared at the ground, thinking hard, with a grim expression on his face. When he looked up, he stared Kid directly in the eye.

"Okay."

Kid nodded and Liz and Patti screamed and kicked as Black Star pried them off of his battered friend and held them at bay. Then, Black Star quickly slashed at the air, cutting Kid's bonds. He heaved one of Kid's arms over his shoulder and ignored the boy's protests.

"Black Star, you promised to keep them safe!" Kid yelled, but was still, being too weak to put up resistance. Black Star dragged Kid out of the room, Tsubaki in hand and Liz and Patti following hurriedly behind.

The blue haired boy grinned and faced his friend. "Yeah, I did, and I am. You didn't see them when you were gone." He hesitated a second before turning back to the hallway, a serious look in his eye, and saying, "Broken bodies are better than broken hearts. They'll die without you anyway."

Kid hung his head and glared at the ground. He was disgusted with himself. He had left them to fend for themselves and he couldn't even defend them when he was sucked up into Noah's book. All he did was throw them away.

A loud bang brought Kid back to reality and he jerked his head up to see Maka and Soul running toward them through a crumbling hole in the wall.

"They know we're here." Maka announced before seeing Kid and shuddering at his injuries. "We have to get out now."

Black Star nodded and Soul wrapped Kid's other arm around his neck, and the two boys helped the third along.

"What about Sid?" Black Star asked Maka as the group advanced toward the series of gaping holes in various walls which were their exit.

The blond lowered her eyes to the ground, not looking too pleased with her sensible plan of action. "He's a three star meister, he can take care of himself. Right now, we need to worry about getting Kid out and to the infirmary."

Kid tried to stand and found it easier than he thought it would be. He pulled his wrists out of his friends' grasps and turned away from the group.

"Get yourselves out. I'm just a burden, and besides, Noah only wants me. It won't matter if you've already killed Gopher, he's caused me too much physical harm, and Noah isn't very happy about that." He turned and stared his friends in the eyes, taking in their looks of disbelief. "I'm his prize. I'll be safe under his watch, but I can't say the same for you if I leave here tonight. So please, just leave."

Kid's stunned friends watched him in silence, and Kid made to go back to his "room" when Liz stormed up to him and smacked him.

Kid stared at her, stunned, before she said, "How can you be so god damn selfish!? Don't you see!? We're here to rescue you because we NEED you! And you're telling me that we'd be safer without you!?"

He rubbed his cheek and trailed his eyes to the ground. "Liz…"

"No! No more 'noble' shit! You're coming home with us right now and I don't want to hear another fucking word out of you! Now walk!"

Liz pushed him forward and he obliged halfheartedly. He knew he was putting them in danger from just being there, but he knew he would be in more danger if he refused.

As he passed, he heard Soul snicker, "Whipped" before Maka stomped on his foot and ordered him through the hole in the nearest wall. Kid grinned a true, genuinely happy grin for the first time in six months at the irony. If he was whipped, Soul was extra-whipped with a cherry on top.

"What are we going to do Noah-sama?" asked the religious blond loudly as the pair watched the group of young kids rush from the church and into the trees from the bell tower.

Noah seemed to contemplate this after a second's though and said, "We let them go."

"Just like that? They have the Shinigami. Isn't he one of your collection?" Justin inquired.

"Yes, but he'll be back." Noah watched the head of black hair disfigured by three blood-stained stripes disappear into the forest of green.

"How can you be sure? And why are we not chasing them? They killed Gopher after all."

"Gopher is of no importance. He disobeyed my explicit order that the boy was not to be harmed. And he will be back because he seeks answers, answers that I have."

Sorry for the wait guys :( I've just had a lot going on with lacrosse practice and stuff. And I've had other ideas that I just can't pass up, so I try to get them down before they go away, consequently delaying this chapter. I'll get the next one up as soon as possible. Hope you liked it!