CHAPTER SEVEN: A DANGEROUS GAME: MADNESS' IDENTITY?
JOURNAL ENTRY 1
After so many longs years, I have finally perfected it; my ultimate experiment, Black Blood.
Having injected it into a...suitable test subject, the results are extraordinary to say the least.
The wounds I inflict on my dearly beloved heal instantly and he seems to be enjoying the pain, which brings me to my next theory.
This new creation can cause whoever it resides in to go insane, losing all fear and leaving only madness in it's wake.
But I must ask myself...does the Black Blood have a mind it's own?
JOURNAL ENTRY 2
My fool of a husband is dead..by my own Vector Arrow, of course.
He should have known to put his guard up, such a pathetic man.
Just when I thought my day couldn't get any better it did.
The Black Blood had oozed out of his wounds and slowly take the shape of the one it inhabited before his "untimely death".
And it talked; addressing me as it's mistress.
It seems my theory is true.
I will have it spread it's madness in a location of my choosing to test it's strength and loyalty.
Only than will I know.
JOURNAL ENTRY 3
Damn it all! My plans are all ruined!
The blood had the audacity to attack me...me, it's creator!
If not for my vector arrows, I would have been killed, but now the experiment lays in a capsule to never be used again.
No matter.
I will begin again, i shall create mindless Black Blood to awaken Asura!
JOURNAL ENTRY 4
Well, well...I almost forgot about my "friend".
I knew that if I were to make my child Crona a useful swordsman, I couldn't resist using my old experiment on him.
But this time I was more prepared.
I found the Demon Sword Ragnarok and had him melted into my spineless child to keep the Black Blood under control.
No need for the spell I had in mind to use anymore, it seems.
Stein placed the paper down to push his glasses to his face, frowning slightly. These papers just raised more and more questions: what spell? Who does the Madness look like?
Black*Star had been sent into the hospital ward five minutes ago...he didn't look good.
"You better realize you're not above us, Black*Star." he screwed his head. "We can't get full of ourselves now."
The downpour of rain had ceased just as the enemy known only as the Madness finished eating everything of Matt Damien but a his skeleton. As he (he saw fit to call him male as he looks like...him) stared at the city below, he set his plan into motion.
His eyes glowed. As did hers, his and theirs.
The Madness smirked to himself; he could see everything they could, he controlled their very movements. He made a note to thank Medusa for teaching him magic. Weak magic, but a power nonetheless.
"Solider One, stay where you are in case of intruders. The rest...wait for my signal." The authority in his voice stabbed the air like a knife and his smirked widened even further when his pawns responded, millions of voices with the exact same sentence:
"Yes, sir!" he than cut the connection between them. His hand went up and threw his top hat off the roof top, landing into a conveniently placed bin.
"I'm done playing Mr Mysterious." The Madness put hand through his hair, relishing in the wind blowing through it. "The world should who I look like now."
Chuckling to himself, the living Black Blood jumped off the rooftop, barley avoiding a streetlamp.
"Hey, what are you-"
He turned at the sound of the voice.
"AHHHHHHH!"
"Scythe boy really knows how to drive." Blair panted to herself as she walked slowly down the streets to the Academy. The magical cat had turned back into her human form to help regain her breath after losing Soul fifteen minutes ago; God, she never knew how fast a motorbike was. For the last few hours Blair felt uneasy. Sure, she knew about what happened between Black*Star and the others, and if he wasn't already near death, she'd go and pound the knucklehead herself.
But that wasn't the only thing troubling her mind.
She felt she was being watched, and while she loved being at the center of every man's attention, this one... if it was even that... was giving her the chills.
And it made no sense why! One second she would feel a presence walking behind her, and the next,nothing. It was driving her crazy!
But there were far more pressing matters to deal with than a nutcase wanting more than a peep show from the busty feline woman. So she kept busy and soon forgot about it.
But what happened next hanged that plan for good.
As Blair walked, she froze. Something in all black was standing just a few feet from where she was, under a street lamp. She narrowed her purple hues to see if she could recognize it, but when she couldn't, she sighed.
"Maybe it's just a- wait a minute!"
She did recognize the guy, there was only one guy she knew with hair color like that. She took a step forward.
"Hey, what are you-AH!"
He had turned around, his yellow eyes staring right at her, almost as though seeing through her skin. It wasn't him, alright.
"W-Who... what are you...?" she asked.
"What? You don't remember last night? Me snapping Matt's neck and me being "tall, dark and mysterious", huh?" from the way the Madness said it, one would have thought he was remembering a beautiful dream with a sigh. "I do...and I also remember you."
Blair tired not to flinch when the Madness placed a arm around her shoulder in a surprisingly strong grip. Blair shuddered even worse before she completely froze up. "That weirdo from the bar... w-was you? And you did what?" she tried to ask, but her voice failed her each time.
The Madness chuckled, his laugh enough to make Blair consider returning to the safety of her apartment.
"Oh, but my sweet little kitty, I would've found ya at home anyway, so no use hiding from me..." he purred as hot, rum- scented air swam around her, making her dizzy.
"What... do you want..."
Amused by her reactions, he continued to keep his arm around her and didn't budge an inch as he whispered, "You'll keep ya promise and not tell ya buds about who killed the old geezer, right? Unless...'
Something cold and glimmering gazed her collarbone and Blair gulped.
"I have to skin ya pretty little face and we both know ya don't want that to happen, right?" he said with sickening glee.
Blair nodded. "Good kitty. Now run along until I see ya again."
Pushing her in the direction of the academy, Blair transformed into a cat and ran as fast as all four legs could carry her. All she could hear was The Madness laughing manically in the empty streets of Death City. She had only got about 5 meters away when..
"Actually..."
A puddle of black blood swan in front of her and took the Madness form. " How do I know you won't just tell?"
Blair's eyes widened.
"I-i won't-"
"Yeah, yeah, and I'm lord Death." The Madness cut off. "Ever played run from a dog? Cos guess what..." He loomed over her. "I wanna play ."
Blair yelped and turned back to her human form.
"Pumpkin...pumpkin-"
"Start running...one...two...three..."
Blair was on a flying pumpkin in a flash. The Madness smirked and turned himself into black blood, which began to fly after her, slithering in the air like a snake. The cat yelped, made two mini pumpkins appear and threw them, the flying black blood dodged and flew right after her., ignoring the explosions behind him.
"Here, kitty, kitty!" he cackled.
Blair looked around, her mind all over the place. No way out..unless.
"Hey, honey." Blair smirked slightly with a seductive look. "Call me!"
With that the magical cat jumped off the pumpkin, the wind blowing her hair up, holding her hat tightly. Just before she landed near the Academy's steps, she snapped her fingers; a dark blue cat with a huge witch hat landing on all fours. Looking around, she sighed in relief
"All in a days work." Blair was about to walk off when she felt her tail being stepped on...the Madness's eyes were narrowed in a way that showed he wasn't happy...
"You need to be taught a lesson for cheating!" he snarled.
"But I won't tell, I promise!" Blair cried, all cockiness forgotten.
"I know...I just wanna do it!" Madness grabbed Blair in his arms, looking like a abusive cat owner. "Turn back into your sexy self, honey...come on!"
Of course, Blair shook her head; a smack to the face made her cry out before turning into her human self. No sooner did she transform, the Madness had pressed his lips roughly onto hers, causing her to whimper as she tried pushing back. A tongue completely made of Black Blood slid into her mouth all round her teeth and tongue. The Madness pulled back and stared at his prey's body...such a beautiful woman. Very beautiful indeed. Those curves and that body. He slid one hand down her exposed back, taking deep pleasure in the whimper he received in response. His hand reached what they groped for and squeezed.
Blair yowled and slashed the Madness in the face, her nails digging into his skin. Blair took his moment of pain to run up the stairs, close to tears. She didn't care if she would be killed for what she did. She needed to tell someone.
Whilst the doors closed, the Madness snarled at where Blair stood becoming smirking.
"So I didn't get to have fun..." the five claw starches on his face slowly healed, almost as though they were never there. "Still, I made my point to her clear...don't fuck with me."
He could hear voices...voices in the dark void that blocked his vision. A slight groan escaped him as his eyes slowly opened...and a certain blond girl who right in his face. Black*Star reacted in the way any one would have done if they were in his place.
"ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
The door opened and in walked his so called friends.
"Black*Star, you're alright!" Maka looked relived as Patty laughed in the background. Needless to say Black*Star wasn't pleased to see them, especially Tsubaki,
"The hell do you want?" Black*Star grunted. Kid frowned deeply.
"I'd think you be a little more grateful after we just saved your life."
"I don't need your help!" the ninja snapped back. "I had Free right where I wanted him! I was winning!"
"Oh, yeah. That's why you're in a hospital bed, huh?" Liz asked. "Because you won?"
"Dude, you looked dead." Soul leaned in on the doorway, looking somewhat lazy. Black*Star glared harder.
"No, I got him! Just underestimated my own strength, that's all! I told you, I'm doing this all by myself! I'm the guy who will surpass God!"
Maka had enough.
"Shut up!" she yelled. Black*Star looked unfazed.
"Don't you dare-"
"You think you're so powerful when all you do is brag about it!" Maka drowned out the egotistical student before he could finish. "No one can surpass God, not even you!"
Black*Star growled to himself whilst the others looked annoyed and concerned. It was than when a certain weapon spoke up.
"Black*Star." Tsubaki paid no heed to the glare sent her way as she walked over. "I know you're angry, but please reconsider. If Free was able to knock you out, than the Madness will murder you. You can't fight like this; giving into rage." her voice as beginning to break as her eyes watered. "Pl-lease help us. We don't care if you don't consider us your friends...but I consider you MY friend."
Before anyone could stop her, Tsubaki had thrown her arms around Black*Star, sniffing slightly whilst the latter thought. She's wrong. He is powerful, he can defeat The Madness, he can-
Get killed. Lose.
His eyes snapped wide open. He thought back on Mifune...whom he had lost to many times before, the one who had constantly said he was going down the path of a demon. Could he have been correct? Black*Star had one final vision: him hitting Tsubaki, the hurt, betrayed face that stared back at him, hurt only because she was trying to be a friend...
"I consider you MY friend."
Tsubaki felt strong arms wrap round her back and heard a whisper of two words that she rarely heard from the blue haired assassin, slowly followed by someone moist on her back:
"I'm sorry."
As they remained in their embrace, the others simply watched. Maka and Kid could see the two's soul wavelengths and came to the same conclusion...Black*Star was back.
Stein groaned slightly as he stared onto his desk in the empty classroom, the moon shining down on him through a window.
"Who...who do you look like!" he muttered slightly to himself as he read through a paper. It was said that the Madness would take physical form of whomever showed the most amount of insanity. Soul was a possibility; the red ogre had been in his head for a large period of time. Maka was simply out of the question, seeing as the Madness spoke in a male voice. That left only-
Himself.
"Of course..." the scientist nodded as he turned the screw in his head. "Even before Medusa made me join her, I still fantasize of dissecting others...and have a few problems, not that I'd admit that to anyone else. It's me...it has to be."
"Bit full of yourself there, huh?"
Stein jumped up, his chair pushed slightly back.
In the hospital wing, everyone was discussing plans on how to defeat the Madness. Black*Star and Soul talked in a corner like nothing had happened, to Tsubaki's joy. Her friend was back again...
"Just promise me something, Soul." Black*Star said seriously. "I get the final blow."
Soul grinned his trademark grin in response.
"No prob."
The door slammed opened and all heads turned to see Blair standing there, looking shaky.
"Blair?" Soul was the first to notice how she didn't pounce on him as usual. "What's wrong?"
"Well..." Blair said. "You know how you're looking for the Madness?"
"Yeah?" Black*Star shot up in his bed, rapidly paying attention.
"I...I know who he looks like."
"Who?" Kid questioned with a hint of urgency. Blair was about to respond, but when she saw him sitting on a chair, she froze.
"Blair?" Tsubaki said in a concerned tone. "What's wrong?"
Whimpers.
Black*Star lost his patience.
"WHO?!"
"Hello, creature." Stein's eyes narrowed as he stood in the middle of the empty room, his head down.
"That's the greeting I'm gonna get?" The Madness' disembodied voice spoke with a hint of sadness. "You hurt, Stein."
"You killed Sid..." Stein shot back.
"Oh, God, why won't people shut up about that? Yeah, I killed him!" Big Whoop! What ya gonna do about it?"
"You hurt us. We'll return the favor!"
"How? You know I can just heal."
"I'm going to lock you up and torture you." Stein grit his teeth. "Endlessly, regardless of your healing abilities."
"Do that...and Miss Hammer won't be so lucky." The Madness threatened.
"Don't you dare!" Stein snapped, his unlit cigarette flooring to the ground. "Leave Marie out of this!
"Or what?"
Stein yelled as his head shot up to the ceiling.
"WHERE ARE YOU!"
"It was him!" Blair pointed. "It looks like him!"
"Here!" the voice came right behind the scientist, who turned..and froze. The Madness was sitting in his chair with his feet on the desk and arms over head, smirking. But he looked nothing like Stein. His face bared his yellow eyes, a set of fangs...
Blair's finger was pointed-
a small beard on the young face...
directly at him.
...and long,uneven and scruffy pink hair that covered his forehead.
"M-me?" Crona asked in a shaky voice.
End of Chapter.
And there you have it! The Madness looks like Crona (A scruffier crona) Bet you didn't see that coming, huh?
The beard and fangs will be explained in the next chapter.
Speical thanks to LuigiWife1551 for helping.
Read and review :)