Episode 7: Sick or Sleeping: The Witch's Wake

Death City, Nevada, U.S.A. The Panting Sun gently sets down on the horizon, and thus, making way for the Grinning Moon. It was already nightfall when the rescue party arrived. From their aerial perspective, the city was peaceful and quiet. Upon landing at the helipad behind the school, they were greeted by Spirit and several of Shibusen's tactical squad. They immediately took the still unconscious witch into custody. Meanwhile, Maka, Soul, Black Star, and the rest accompany their fallen comrade as he's wheeled into the infirmary.

The next morning, at the school infirmary, most if not all participants in the rescue were lying on their beds. Although they were all fine, it was required for them to at least spend a night there for observation after fighting another powerful witch. So, each devised a way to kill time. Maka was teaching Crona to write positive poems. Soul was chilling out with his MP3. Tsubaki was reading a book. Sid was sneezing with a cold after Nygus ordered him to shove a packet of ice down his pants. This was to relieve some of the swelling.

"How long is this going to take!?" shouted Black Star, he was already getting bored out of his mind. He already finished a couple of hundred sit-ups, pushups, and abdominal crunches.

"Well, then you better ask him," Nygus, pointed to the door.

"Huh?"

All of a sudden, the door slammed open and something fast entered the room. It was only a few feet high, and had four squeaking wheels. Black Star froze in place after a dark shadow loomed over him. It was terrifying, threatening, and had an unbelievably large screw plunged in its head. With its hands grabbing for Black Star, it made an evil laugh.

"Stein!" a woman was at the door. She had shoulder-length blonde hair and an eye patch on her left eye. It was Marie Mjolnir, the Death Scythe in charge of Oceania.

"Ah, can't I examine him a little?" Stein said rather casually whilst he held down the struggling Black Star with one hand, and a scalpel on the other. Marie didn't have to say anything seeing as the look of frustration on her face made the professor sink back into his seat.

After overcoming the initial shock, the students quickly gathered around her. You see, the last time they saw her was after the fall of the Kishin. That was when she, Azusa, and Justin had to return to their area of responsibility in order to quell the effects of madness on the people.

"Marie-sama, you're back! When did you arrive?" asked Tsubaki. To answer this, she had to scratch the back of her head and say, "Well, actually I've been here since yesterday." She was blushing, a little bit embarrassed for some reason.

"I just found her wandering the halls, looking like she hadn't slept at all," Stein commented.

"H-Hey, I couldn't sleep because I was too worried about them," she defended herself, blushing even more. The students could only laugh and smile at her response.

"Um, so is everyone alright?" she asked.

"Everyone, except for Kid," reported Nygus as she led them to a private room.

"What the heck happened here?" was Maka's reaction upon entering the room. From top to bottom, the room was decorated with pictures of the Shinigami showing them big OK finger gestures with printed words such as, "Get well soon!" and "Rise and Shine!" Liz and Patti were seated on either side of Kid's bed. Patti was cheerfully drawing something on a piece of paper, while Liz had fallen asleep.

"They really fixed this place up for him, huh?" Soul said. The rest nodded their heads in agreement. By all accounts, the room was truly suited for Kid. He was lying on the very center of the bed, and his arms and legs were positioned to make him symmetrical. With him as the center, the left and right sides of the room were exactly the same. Everything was in perfect bilateral symmetry.

"How's he doing?" asked Marie.

Nygus showed her the results of his examinations, "He hasn't sustained any kind of injury to body, the toxicology report tested negative for toxins or poisons. The MRI showed a lot of brain activity which was associated with REM sleep."

"So basically, he's asleep?"

"Worse. He's in a coma," she included.

A deep sense of sadness swept the room. All eyes were on Kid, yet no one said anything. Even Black Star didn't dare to speak. The person responsible was already within their grasp, yet they could do nothing. It was this feeling of helplessness which fueled the fires of anger and frustration in their hearts.

Speaking of the devil, Blair was still unconscious in a specially-made cell, deep within Shibusen. The hallway leading to her prison cell was eerily quiet. There were guards posted as to prevent anybody from venturing too close to vicinity.

Drip… Drip…

The sound of liquid dripping from inside the prison echoed throughout. This was briefly followed by the rustling of chains. She was awake. One of the guards immediately contacted their superiors.

There was some groaning at first. Then, "Where am I?" she asked herself. She opened her eyes but found herself blindfolded. She tried to take it off, but chains stopped her from doing so. They were so wrapped around her body that movement was completely restricted. The worst thing she feared now was the Dreaded Itchy Nose! The darkest and most cruel form of torture up until now!

However, she set aside such fears when a certain odor attracted her attention. She took a deep breath and analyzed her surroundings. Her sense of smell was remarkable for she was able to detect hints of colon, damp rock, and blood. The colon belonged to several men which she estimated to be a 50 feet away. The damp rock meant that she was either in a cave or underground. Last was the blood. She felt a sharp pain on the back of her head that explained it.

The conditions were to her liking. The cold temperature slowly restored her strength and the scent of blood increased her senses threefold. Then, she began shouting for the guards to bring her a burger, a cola, some fries, and a large sundae. No one responded. She repeated herself, again and again. Her goal wasn't to annoy the guards or to actually get some food, but it was for a far more sinister reason.

With every word she spoke, the sound waves would strike every surface in the room and bounce back to her. As a result, she had a clear and accurate picture of her surroundings which also included the hallway outside. In addition, the waves echoed all throughout the hallway and brought back to her a mental image of the floor plan. This was her brand of sonar. Her animal theme is the bat if you haven't noticed. Not only is she familiar with the area, she also knows exactly how many people are there and where they are. For example, someone was now heading towards her cell. The sound waves bouncing back revealed him to be none other than Spirit. She recognized his figure from the Kishin's Defeat Party.

"All in the plan," she smiled.