Akirina: This is the longest chapter I've written... Thanks for all your support! Oh, and if there's anything you don't understand, don't hesitate to review...

Chapter 11

"Well?"

The word broke the oppressive silence in the compartment, effectively gaining the attention of the the three other occupants (Link having wandered off to have a bit in the dining compartment).

"Well what?" Lavi returned.

"What are your thoughts on the Noah who is in this town?" Allen asked, shuffling his poker cards again in boredom.

Lavi frowned at the mission file, his mind working out the details it presented.

"According to the Finder, the Noah is able to transform herself into any other form…" Lenalee paused. "This sounds really familiar, doesn't it, Allen?"

Allen nodded. "I'm guessing that she was the Noah that destroyed Mei Ling's Innocence."

"She was the one who attacked the Headquarters too." Lavi added. Then he turned to the silent Kanda. "Yuu-chan?"

"…I've only met her once during one of my missions." Kanda offered, not bothering to correct Lavi. For now.

"Hey, me too!" Allen said, "What a coincidence!"

Lavi and Lenalee exchanged exasperated looks and Lavi questioned, "What have you not been telling us again, Allen?"

Allen pouted, "Well, it's not my fault that I see her most often other than Tyki and Road. Besides, she seems to hate me a lot. Any ideas why?"

"It must be because you keep thwarting her plans, Allen." Lenalee murmured. "Besides, you never did tell us—when was your first meeting with a Level 4 Akuma?"

"Hm…" Allen pondered, "I can't really remember. I've been fighting them ever since I arrived at the American Branch."

Lavi choked on the coffee he was sipping on. "That long?" he spluttered in shock.

"Yes… If I'm not wrong, my first encounter with that annoying Akuma was the first time I sneaked off when Link was taking his leave." Allen reminisced.

"His leave?"

"Yes," Allen explained, "You see, every time we came back from a mission, I would always be hurt terribly and Link slightly better off. So Link decided to take the few days that I was recuperating to have a short holiday by going to another city or whatnot."

"And you took the time when he was not around to venture out and destroy Akumas. Despite the fact that you were hurt badly." Kanda stated flatly, staring at Allen with an exasperated look on his face.

"Hey!" Allen protested. "I'm not some inexperienced greenie who doesn't know how to defeat Akumas, you know."

"Your attitude suggests otherwise." Kanda muttered.

"Why, thank you for pointing that out, BaKanda!" Allen shot back, sarcasm evident in his tone. "You know, I never thought you would learn how to use your wits to argue! The last time I saw you, you were all brawns and no brain! I must say that you seem to have improved over these two years."

The compartment was filled with silence as the tension between Allen and Kanda grew, the two of them silently challenging each other with their eyes and tempers starting to run high. Lenalee and Lavi watched from the side as the two attempted to carry out a silent argument. Finally, Kanda broke the silence.

"…What did you say, Beansprout?"

"Ah, I see that you still retain the same slower-than-a-snail mindset from two years ago, BaKanda!"

"I'll shave your head!"

"Oh? I'd like to see you try!"

And the two dissolved into the same bickering that they always carried out when they met each other.

"This is becoming kind of a routine, right, Lenalee?" Lavi asked the female Exorcist as they watched the bickering escalate into throwing insults at each other (which mostly consisted a lot of name-calling, like BaKanda and Beansprout).

"Yes, I do believe it is their way of greeting each other." Lenalee smiled wryly at the scene before her. "And I have to admit I can't imagine what they'd do if they weren't arguing every single day."

"Oh?" Lavi waggled his eyebrows. "Is that a suggestion, Lenalee…?"

Lenalee blushed and slapped Lavi on his arm. "Idiot!"

AINAINAINAINAINAINAIN

"Are you sure we're supposed to stay here?" Lavi asked again as he studied the rundown condition of the inn.

"For the last time, yes, Lavi, we're supposed to stay here." Lenalee replied, tired with his questioning.

"I don't think the innkeeper likes us much." Lavi announced to the others as they closed the door to their room. Kanda snorted.

"Obviously." He muttered.

"But we didn't do anything…" Lavi continued, ignoring Kanda's remark.

"On the contrary, she hates Exorcists." Allen piped up, settling on his bed. This piqued Lavi's interest.

"Oh? How did you know that, Allen?"

Allen grinned sheepishly at the red-head. "Well, I came here for a mission once…"

"And you stayed here at this inn?" Lenalee guessed.

"Yes!" Allen beamed, "Sheer coincidence."

"Did you finish most of the food in the inn?" Kanda hazarded the guess.

"You guessed it!"

"No wonder she didn't like you…" Lavi muttered.

"Well… another reason also being because I 'killed' her son." Allen pondered, "I suppose she hasn't forgiven me for that."

"You killed her son?" Lenalee gasped, unable to believe that Allen had committed such an atrocious and morally wrong act.

"What?" Allen blinked, coming out of his thoughts and met the shocked gazes of his friends. "Oh! No, I didn't really kill her son—"

"Her son was an Akuma." Kanda completed Allen's sentence softly. The two other Exorcists turned their attention to the usually silent Samurai. Ever since Allen had came back, Kanda had started to talk a little more, Lenalee noticed. It was like the younger Exorcist's presence… influenced him to talk more. Or at least make the effort to talk more.

"Well, yes. So you can see how that went." Allen nodded. "By the way, how did you guess?"

"…I came here once. And her son was still here." Kanda said as if that explained everything. Allen waited for more, but nothing else came. He shrugged nonchalantly and turned back to Lavi and Lenalee.

"So that's the case." He smiled cheerily up at them. "Anyone hungry? I'm ready for tea!"

AIAIAIAIAIAIAIAIAIAIAI

"How was babysitting Walker like?" Link asked Lavi as they scouted the area for Akumas.

Lavi frowned lightly. "Well, he's very much different from what he was two years ago… His attitude has changed—there is a very definite change. He's not so formal and he seems to be quite light-hearted…"

Link nodded. "I observed that too… It's as if Allen Walker has… died and another person is in his place."

"I don't think so." Lavi said. "I was talking to him about the missions we went on together—you know, talking about the past—and it seems he has forgotten a few of the incidents, like Suman Dark, for instance, Allen has no recollection of that incident even though Lenalee told me that he was there when Suman Fell."

"His Noah side tampering with his memories?" Link asked.

"It seems to be that way."

"Well, then," Link recorded it down in his notebook. "I shall talk to my superior officer about this and I suppose you'll talk to Komui about this?"

Lavi nodded. "And General Cross and Bookman." He added.

Link started to say something when he was interrupted. "Link! Lavi!" The two turned to see Allen running towards them, his hand hiding his left eye from the view of other people as he made his way towards them. "It's behind you!" He shouted over the noise of the morning market.

BOOM!

Lavi and Link emerged from the cloud of smoke unhurt, just in time to see Allen activate his Innocence and take down the Level 1 Akuma with a swipe of his claws.

"Sheesh, can't we go anywhere without attracting their attention?" they heard Allen mutter as he took on a batch of Level 2s. Lavi turned to survey the damage done; the majority of the people in the market place transforming to Akumas and the minority was being targeted by the Akumas—some were even leveling-up.

"Lavi, they're starting to go somewhere!" Allen shouted, getting his friend's attention. "Use your seals to get rid of these pestering things, will you? I'll deal with the Level 3s and 4s."

"Lenalee and Kanda?" Lavi asked over the explosions and screams of the Akuma. Link fought with him back-to-back as they kept the Akumas off each other.

"I think they should be coming." Allen shouted back when he managed to get out of the spot of trouble he was in with a couple of Level 3s. "I think I see Kanda's Illusions from the other side of the market!"

"I'll go help them!" Lavi called back and he started to make his way over to the other side of the market square. He engaged with one of the Level 2s and it sneered at him, "We won't let you get the Innocence!"

"Lavi, get back to Allen and tell him to retrieve the Innocence before the Noah does! We'll keep the Akuma occupied here." Link told Lavi, pushing the teen in the direction of the General. "Hurry! We can't let the Innocence get destroyed by the Noah!"

"Roger." Lavi replied and he set off.

Allen was in the midst of fighting a Level 4 when Lavi reached. The latter watched with barely concealed shock when Allen got rid of the Level 4 with two impossibly swift blows that reduced the Level 4 to pieces immediately.

"Allen!" Lavi called, putting his shock aside for the moment. "Link says that we have to get the Innocence fragment now!"

Allen cast a glance at him as he dealt blows with another Level 4. "I'm coming! Head towards the warehouse near our inn that we passed by earlier! I'll meet you there!"

Lavi nodded and ran to his destination while keeping the Akumas off him. It was a surprise that all the Level 4s were surrounding Allen, he noted. The Level 4s were so engrossed with Allen that they had not come after the weaker targets, the other Exorcists.

He heard something land just behind him with a grunt and swung around to fight—but came face-to-face with Allen instead. "You scared me, Allen!" Lavi exclaimed, "I was about to use my fire seal on you!"

Allen grinned unrepentantly, "And you still have time for chatting? Come on, hurry up!"

The two dashed down the streets to the warehouse. "How did you manage to get past those Level 4s anyway?" Lavi panted.

Allen cast him a look, "Why, I defeated all of them, of course."

"What? All of them?" Lavi sounded incredulous.

"Yup," Allen replied and slowed down as they reached the warehouse. "Now, shush."

They entered the warehouse without seeing any of the Akumas. Lavi tugged on Allen's sleeve and waited for the younger teen to stop and give him his attention before he leaned in and whispered, "Why haven't we seen any of the Akumas yet?"

Allen glanced around them once before he whispered back, "They're underground, Lavi. They're searching the basement for the Innocence, I suppose."

"And? What do we do now? We can't kill the Akumas or the others will find out."

"I suppose so… well, it won't hurt to search upstairs, will it?"

"And what if the Noah is upstairs?"

"Then we will have to fight." Allen turned back to the black passage. "Come on."

The two sneaked to the second level and ducked into one of the rooms. It was a dusty room, filled with a few boxes. Allen pointed to Lavi and then to the other side of the room. Lavi nodded and they sifted through the contents of the boxes. It was interesting to know what was in the boxes. Lavi found dolls, puzzles and other various items that could have belonged to a young girl. He was going through his second box when he heard Allen make a slight exclamation. Looking up, he saw Allen staring at the door with wide eyes.

Lavi quickly approached Allen and tapped his friend on the shoulder. He made a curious motion towards the door when Allen focused on him. Allen bit his lip almost fearfully and leaned in to whisper, "I think the Noah's up here."

Lavi widened his eyes and whispered back, "What do we do?"

Allen cast another glance at the door, then to the crate he was going through. His eyes widened for a second time before he reached in to grab a small leaflet out of the crate. His eyes moved over the paper and he raised his eyes to Lavi, an expression of relief and excitement on his face. He cast another glance at the door and then mouthed to Lavi, "I found the way out."

He thrust the leaflet into Lavi's hands and leaned into the crate to pull a crystal ball out. Lavi studied the paper for a moment before he nodded. He cast a curious look at the crystal ball Allen was carrying and hurried over to the painting on the opposite side of the room. He lifted up the painting and peered into the darkness of the passage behind the painting, half-expecting something to pop up. Then he turned to Allen, who was standing beside him. Allen nodded and gestured for him to enter the passage first.

Lavi crawled in, hearing Allen follow him. For a moment, they crawled along the passage, the silence was tense and filled with worry. They couldn't be caught by the Akumas and the Noah…

CRASH!

The two froze as the noise came from behind them. Then Allen poked at Lavi, conveying the silent message for him to move. They could not get caught now. Lavi obediently moved further down the passage that started to widen out, and the ceiling started to get higher. It wasn't long before Allen and Lavi could stand up and walk normally down the passage.

"I know that you're in this warehouse."

The voice echoed around the warehouse, filtrating into the secret passage Allen and Lavi were in.

"I have your little blonde friend. If you don't come and surrender yourselves, I will kill him."

Allen cursed softly and started to move quickly, but was stopped by Lavi. "Link will be fine." The older teen murmured.

"Are you sure?" Allen shoved Lavi back. "Link is just a Crow member—even he wouldn't be able to stand up against the Akumas for too long. Only Exorcists have the chance of standing against the Akumas for a long period of time. And seeing that Lenalee and Kanda would be engaged, I wouldn't be surprised if they're still busy trying to get rid of the Akumas in the market square."

Lavi seemed to think about the situation for a moment before he sighed. "Fine, we'll rescue Link."

"No. You will stay here. I think I know where Link is, anyway." Allen replied. "Just give me that map."

Lavi handed it over. "How do you know?" he couldn't resist asking.

Allen grinned. "Because the Akuma are gathering around him now." He replied, glancing at the floor they were standing on, his left eye activated, the monocle roatating and the eye searching, twisting. It had to be painful, Lavi knew, but Allen didn't let out a whimper of pain. Or show that he was in any pain at all.

"Stay here." Allen whispered again before he disappeared down the passage.

AIAIAIAIAIAIAIAIAI

Allen found Link in another small room. Oh, he was guarded, but the 'guards' were outside rather than inside. And Allen was entering the room through the secret passage. He was surprised to find his sort-of friend lying on the floor, unconscious. Blood seeped from the numerous wounds that he had. For once, it was Link who was more badly injured that Allen, Allen was surprised to note. He had had acquired some minor injuries; a cut here and there, but it was nothing compared to Link's. The older man had been stabbed twice and he had bruises blooming all over his skin. Allen grimaced as he pulled some medical supplies out to bandage Link's wounds. He would get Lavi to examine Link later.

With some effort, he managed to get Link into the secret passage and to another section of the secret passage that exited nearer to the front door they came through. He went to retrieve Lavi from his spot and guided him to Link's location before he sat down and allowed Lavi to tend to Link. Lavi treated the two wounds the best he could and bandaged them firmly to prevent any bleeding. Then, there was a loud exclamation as the Akumas noticed that Link was gone. They crowded into the hallway outside their secret passage and Allen could hear them relaying their story to the Noah, who had entered by the front door. As Allen expcted, she was furious to know that her bait had escaped.

"Where could he have gone?" he heard the Noah, Lulubell seethe. "Well? Have you searched the whole warehouse for them?"

"Y-yes, mistress. But he wasn't there." The Akumas cowered under her heated gaze.

"You worthless scums." Lulubell spat. "Self-destruct immediately."

There were three loud explosions and Allen turned his face away from the hallway, closing his eyes. He heard the footsteps of the Noah as she walked away from the hallway, into the warehouse before he whispered, "Allen, there's something glowing on you."

Allen turned to his friend with a confused look at the statement and looked down at his clothes. There was a pulsing blue light that shone in the pocket of his pants and Allen's eyes widened as he reached into the pocket and pulled out the crystal ball he had taken from the crate. The sapphire light pulsed from the centre of the crystal ball.

He met his friend's wide eyes with his own. "Innocence." he whispered to Lavi. "We found it!" he couldn't keep the excited tone out of his voice.

Lavi smiled excitedly. "This is great news! At least Link didn't get injured for nothing." He whispered back. "Now, we have to meet up with Lenalee and Kanda and get out of this place…"

But Allen had stiffened, glancing at their exit. He raised a finger to his lips, a warning look in his eyes. There were voices outside the passage. Akuma.

"… The Level 4s say that they saw that white clown outside, but he disappeared suddenly."

"Huh, can't figure out why they're so scared of that Exorcist boy. He's just a boy, easy to take down like the others."

"You don't know even half of it! He can take down thirty of us in ten minutes."

"Thirty of us Level 2s?"

"No. Level 4s."

Silence.

"Now I understand why the Level 4s fear him so much."

"But, just imagine, if we are able to take him down all by ourselves…"

The voices faded away. Allen turned to Lavi with an amused expression. "Well, I didn't know that I was so popular." He told Lavi, who was gaping at him like a fish out of water.

"But—Feared by Level 4s? Allen, you never did tell us that you could take down Level 4s within ten minutes!" Lavi exclaimed softly.

Allen laughed, "That would be boasting, Lavi." He replied. "But no one ever did ask, so I never told."

"Wait till Lenalee and Kanda hears about this." Lavi muttered under his breath, studying Allen. "I suppose Link knows about this?"

Allen gave him a sheepish look. Lavi gaped at him once more.

"You mean Link didn't know about this? At all?"

Allen shook his head. "I only met the Level 4s when I went on those secret missions. Link never knew about my… achievements, shall we say." Allen smirked. "And I didn't want him to know, anyway."

"Why? You do know that I will have to notify Komui of this, right?" Lavi pressed.

Allen shrugged, "Later rather than sooner. Besides, Link would kick up a huge fuss about it, so I thought it would be better to keep quiet about it." His eyes gleamed. "Although, I never knew that the Level 4s feared me because of it."

"I bet…" Lavi said, staring at Allen in awe.

Then, Allen glanced at their exit again and signaled for Lavi to remain silent. There were noises of Akuma moving in the hallway yonder, and Allen and Lavi held their breaths, not wanting to be discovered. However, they forgot about Link.

Link stirred as the Akumas started to move past the passage. Allen froze and Lavi kept his eyes on the painting covering the secret passage, his shoulders tense.

"Did you hear that?" one of the Akumas asked.

"Yeah! But I couldn't tell where it was coming from…"

"Walker?"

Allen looked frantically at the painting and then his face lapsed into one of determination.

"I think it came from over here!" the voices came nearer.

Allen grabbed Lavi and motioned him to keep quiet before he became focused on something—a certain lullaby.

"Walker… the Innocence…" Link murmured as he slipped into sleep again. Lavi very nearly cursed when the air before them split and a structure came through. Allen shoved at him impatiently. When met with a confused look from Lavi, Allen rolled his eyes and pushed Lavi into the portal, then Link behind him.

It's here! I found it!" another of the Akumas yelled and the painting covering the secret passage was blasted into pieces. Allen found himself looking at three Akumas who were peering in.

"It's the white clown!" One of them yelled. Allen activated his Innocence quickly and destroyed the three of them as he jumped out of the secret passage. He landed in the midst of ten level 2s and five level 3s. It took him some time to take down the greater danger—the level 3s. But by that time, the level 2s had thought up of a plan.

"Level 2s! Self-destruct! Let's kill this bastard!"

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Allen tried to save the souls that were being destroyed in the process—but he failed to reach them in time. Managing to escape the self-destruction with a few burns, Allen continued to fight. But the level 2s were all self-destructing at all he could do was to try to keep out of the way.

Then his dilemma came. The liquid running down his face and the blurring of vision in his left eye warned him first—then the pain came. Allen screamed and hunched in on himself, the pain ripping at his eye, clawing it from inside out. Then one of the level 3s that had managed to escape his claws took the opportunity to take down the weakened Allen.

Allen was thrown to the floor, the level 3 was standing above him and saying something that Allen could not hear—he was too focused on the fiery pain that was tearing through his eye. Then, the level 3 leaned down and plunged his finger into Allen's left eyes.

Allen arched his back off the floor and his scream increased in volume. The unbelievable pain…

"That should relieve you of your pain." The level 3 smirked and pointed a finger at Allen. "And now, time to finish you off—"

The Akuma never completed its sentence, for in the next moment, the Innocence fragment that Allen had found, activated. It was decimated within moments and the entire hallway was enveloped with a bright blue light. It swept through the hallways wildly, seeking the Akumas and destroying them within a split moment.

With no more Akumas in the warehouse, the Innocence headed for the next worse—Noah. And the only Noah present in the warehouse was residing within Allen. The bright blue light headed towards Allen, all of its intention on killing him when Allen's Crown Clown activated and enveloped Allen in its protective folds, stilling the power of the rampant Innocence. There was a bright collision of blue and green light before it faded back to nothing.

AINAINAINAINAINAIN

"They should be here, Kanda! I don't believe that Allen, Lavi and Link would be captured by the Noah." Lenalee cried to her companion as she approached the wareshouse.

Kanda shrugged, running along behind her. "She did announce that she had Link. Beansprout and Usagi must have gone to find him."

"But…" Lenalee stopped when she saw the warehouse. "What happened?"

The warehouse was completely destroyed. There was nothing left of the warehouse that was identifiable and the two Exorcists felt dread overcome them. Looking at the state of the destroyed warehouse, it was hard not to believe that the two Exorcists and one Crow member could have survived such a disaster. The only strange thing about the situation was that there was a solid stone structure in the middle of the remains of the warehouse.

"I don't believe this…" Lenalee walked towards the stone structure slowly. "They're gone…"

Kanda frowned as he studied the stone structure. "But this is strange." He ran a hand over the smooth stone that was twisted in spirals—almost as if it was a solidified column of power…

Lenalee turned her attention to the stone structure. She frowned at the speckled black column—this image tickled a memory…

She gasped, remembering when she had seen this stone structure before. "I remember this! In the Ark… Allen's Innocence turned Lavi's to stone…"

"Could it have something to do with the blue light we saw?" Kanda asked softly.

"Possibly." Lenalee ran her hands over the stone structure. "I'm sure that Allen's in here! Kanda, maybe if you'd try? I think I'd put too much strength into my kick…"

Kanda agreed silently and moved to strike at the stone column when he frowned and the cracks running up the column. His eyes widened and he jumped back, pulling Lenalee along with him. Just in time as the stone structure exploded, chips of stone flying everywhere. Kanda and Lenalee watched as a figure emerged from the hollow of the stone column.

"Finally free!" the figure exclaimed as he collapsed to the ground. Lenalee and Kanda blinked.

"Allen?" Lenalee ventured.

"Hm?" came the lazy reply from Allen.

"Are you alright—" her question was cut off as Kanda strode past her to pull the younger teen up—and hug him. Lenalee stared at the scene before her in surprise. She heard Kanda murmur a few words into Allen's ear and to see Allen's face flush—with embarrassment?—as he returned Kanda's embrace.

After what seemed like a long time (and a really awkward one for Lenalee), Allen and Kanda separated and Allen got to his feet slowly.

"Well… Allen, where's Link and Lavi? What happened to your eye?" Lenalee finally asked, dreading the answer.

"Them?" Allen looked at her and his face burst into a full-out grin. "Recuperating in the Ark."

"The Ark?" Lenalee noticed that he didn't answer her second question.

Allen laughed lightly as he bent down to pick a crystal ball nestled amongst the debris with his right hand. Upon contact, though, the crystal ball crackled with power and Allen withdrew his right hand quickly. He laughed nervously and ran it through his hair. Lenalee watched with an astonished expression as he leaned down and picked up the crystal ball with his left hand. Then he covered his left eye with his hand.

"What—" Lenalee started to ask.

"—was that? I don't know." Allen frowned at his right hand. Then he started to remember something and grinned as he closed his eye, an expression of utter concentration upon his face. Lenalee and Kanda jumped as a strange structure split the air and stopped before them.

"What's that?" Lenalee asked, eyes wide with shock as she stared at structure.

Allen grinned. "This is—"

"—Noah's Ark." Kanda completed softly from beside her, the expression of surprise slipping off his face.