Wow, I'm sorry it took so long to get this posted! The semester is coming to a close, and I've been up to my eyeballs in tests, studies, and more lab reports than I care for.

Take a deserved break, relax, and read the intense chapter I've written for you all!

Enjoy, and happy holidays, wherever you may be!

Chapter 6

Krona meandered the streets, mulling the long-forgotten anxiety he felt growing within. Unlike his everyday anxiety, this particular sense burrowed its way to his core, wrapped around it, and strangled it. It made him tremble with terror.

He didn't know what time it was, nor did he care. His obsession with this looming dark emotion drove him mad, and he'd paced his room for at least two hours. He used every trick Marie, Stein, and his therapist had bestowed him with: counting sheep, breathing deeply, and to focus on various things in the room to serve as a tether to a reality safer than the confines of his shell-shocked mind.

It only created a sense of pressure and a prison-like enclosure, so he snuck out, stifling his soul wavelengths in hopes that Stein wouldn't pick up on them. Not like he wouldn't already have. Krona was certain Stein already knew he was panicking, since he would calmly point it out often.

The idea that Stein would probably be waiting for him in disappointment for sneaking out of the house made him more nervous, but it was strangely more comforting than this… unfamiliar sense. He sighed and shook his head. He'd rather deal with a disappointed Stein and Marie at this point.

He took a deep breath and looked up at the moon, a small smile of relief on his face. It disappeared as quickly as it'd arrived when he saw the moon was bleeding from its eyes and mouth. Something, somewhere, wasn't right. He looked around at his surroundings, wondering where he truly was, since he'd been so preoccupied with his thoughts he hadn't paid much attention.

There was a dark alley to his left, and a row of houses side-by-side. The sound of a whimpering dog emerged from the alley, and he snapped his head towards it, frightened. He summoned Ragnarok, on edge and ready to defend himself if need be.

"My, how you've grown, Krona." A hissing voice he hadn't heard in years stated, coming from the darkness of the alley.

His stomach dropped into his lower gut, and his heart fluttered in fear as it skipped a beat. He wanted to flee, but his feet felt incredibly heavy, as though his boots were made of lead. He raised Ragnarok, despite visibly shaking from head to toe.

"Show yourself!" He commanded, voice cracked and taught.

Sinister laughter emerged from the darkness, and he whimpered. He knew the degrading laugh well, etched forever in his brain, scarred onto his eardrums. It still rose from the pits of his inner hell, recurring in frequent nightmares.

"What's the matter? Don't you recognize your mother's voice, Ku-ro-na?" The voice taunted, emphasizing the syllables of his name.

"Sh-shut up! You-" He swallowed the lump in his throat, Stein's voice echoing through his chest, reminding him to be strong. "-you have no right to address me!" He finished, voice bellowing from the bottom of his gut. He was sure he heard the windows around him rattle from the boom. In the next second, a sense of pride within himself coursed through his body, feeding to his courage.

Overcoming the tremble, he stopped shivering, glaring fiercely into the darkness before him.

"You're not real. You are dead. Maka and Soul killed you." He reasoned aloud. He settled, and let down his guard, realizing he had no reason to keep it up. He held Ragnarok loosely at his side, and smirked.

Finding his feet were no longer made of steel, he turned to walk away, but stopped at what he saw. She was sitting on a crate, staring at her nails in mockery, legs crossed, barefoot. The damn black cowl she wore with the snake eyes on the hood stood out against her pale, scale-like flesh. He couldn't see her eyes, but he saw her evil smirk, and heard her hiss-like giggle.

"Is that really what you believe? Foolish boy, so naïve! You haven't changed one bit." She hissed at him, stepping down from the crate. She began to walk toward him, and he backed off. He raised Ragnarok again, confused.

"Stay back!" He barked.

She laughed at him, ignoring his order as she continued to walk forward.

He lunged forward and stabbed at her, then slashed at her middle. Effortlessly she stepped aside, then jumped over his blade, almost like a frog and landed behind him. He turned, weapon raised to slash down on her as she struck out a snake-like tongue, but something stopped him.

He looked up first to see what had stopped his attack, and saw the handle of death scythe Spirit, then looked down to see who was wielding him. Stein stood before him, calm and stoic as usual, cigarette hung loosely in his lips and glasses rested on the edge of his nose. Krona blinked and stared, unsure of what had just happened. He jumped back, and held Ragnarok up defensively.

"Who are you? What do you want?" He screamed, terror still plastered on his face. Stein blinked, cocking his head to the side. Spirit transformed halfway, lower body still a staff.

"Think he's tripping on something, Stein?" Spirit asked. Stein fought a chuckle, and cleared his throat instead.

"Krona, it's us. Stein and Spirit." He said. Krona didn't break eye contact, not sure what to believe, considering he'd just seen his deceased mother clear as day.

"What quantum mindfuck are you going through, kid?" Stein wondered aloud. Krona blinked, brought to light. It was something Stein would say to break the self-destructive mindsets and plays he'd run himself through.

Krona relaxed, and Ragnarok melted and oozed back into his body. He dropped his gaze, ashamed. He'd almost killed Stein, unable to see the line between the world buried inside his brain and the much nicer reality.

"I saw her. Again." Krona admitted. Stein took a long drag of his cigarette. If Krona had seen her, perhaps it hadn't been a figment of his active imagination this time, since he'd felt a powerful energy signature before arrival.

But, he'd seen it himself. Marie had seen it, too. Maka and Soul obliterated the last traces of Medusa ten years ago. If it had been the wavelengths of madness Asura had emitted, Stein had no doubt he'd be seeing things too, sensitive to the madness within. It was a pain he and Krona shared, though Krona had a far smaller grasp on his than Stein did.

"Do you still feel anything?" Stein asked. Krona looked around, tuning in to his inner instincts. Nothing, save for a glimmer of immense power.

"No, nothing. Whoever it was must be gone by now." Krona answered. Stein sighed, and flicked the coat of ashes off of the end of the cigarette, taking another long drag of it.

"Hmm." He hummed, deep in thought. Spirit transformed fully, and crossed his arms, wondering what Stein had to say.

Odd. I thought I'd felt this same signature four months ago. Could I just be imagining things? It's obvious Krona was simply seeing things, since we'd been tailing him for a few minutes, now. But was it really something in his head, or is someone toying with his fragile brain? Poor kid; he can't get a break.

Stein chuckled, and shrugged.

"Let's get you home. You should know better than to sneak out by now. Just tell me you're going somewhere, and go. If we know where you're going, Marie and I don't have to worry quite so much." Stein stated, taking Krona under his wing and walking in the direction of his lab. Krona nodded slowly, slightly confused. He didn't need to sneak around? He could just tell them where he was planning to go?

"Oh, ok. I guess so." He muttered.

Stein paused to look back at Spirit.

"We should talk to the others about this tomorrow. Something's up with this wavelength. We need to be on our guard." He called over his shoulder. Spirit nodded, and began to walk home.

Krona was tired, more so than usual, and his eyes drooped as he stumbled home.

Stein, Spirit, and Krona sat on one side of the train's cabin, while Liz, Patty, Kidd, Ox, and Harvar sat on the other. Spirit was snoring loudly, head rested back on the padding of the couch. There was a line of drool trailing down his cheek from the corner of his mouth.

Krona stared out of the window, thinking. It'd been a few days since the eerie confrontation with the image of his deceased mother, and he couldn't shake the thought out of his head. He feared working with the others, since he didn't know if he would accidentally attack them in a moment of confusion.

Stein was reviewing the file he'd brought with him containing the reason they were on their way to Paris. A series of reports had been filed and brought to DWMA's attention. Over 50 people had been arrested or hospitalized, claiming they were seeing faces or full-body apparitions of the dead. He hadn't brought the news to Krona's attention, since the fact would likely scare the piss out of the poor boy. He wondered if there was a link between Krona and these sightings of the dead.

He hoped for Krona's sake there wasn't; those who still had their doubt about Krona's loyalty would have a field day if the information leaked out.

Kidd, and Liz were playing a card game to pass the time. Patty was coloring in a book, still entertained by childish things. Ox and Harvard were both reading a book they'd brought along.

The cabin they sat in was fairly large, though with the eight of them, it was slightly cramped. The window had been cracked open to allow fresh air and allow Stein to smoke if he wanted to. Out of manners, he hadn't. The couches were decorated with a blue leather, and the walls were patched over with a soft red fabric.

A ding sound caught their attention, and they looked up. A voice over the intercom announced something in French, and they looked at Ox, who they'd learned spoke a little bit of French. "Just enough to get his ass handed to him", he'd said.

"We should be arriving in about fifteen minutes, I think. Or she's said the train will derail in a few minutes, I'm not sure." He joked, smirking.

Stein reached over Krona's head and shook Spirit, who snapped upright barking out of surprise. He smacked his lips, then wiped at his cheek with the back of his hand. Making a face at the slobber, he used the back of his sleeve to wipe away what his hand hadn't gotten.

"What, are we there?" He asked sleepily.

"Almost. Look lively, we'll be splitting up as soon as we get there." Stein ordered. He reached into his pocket and retrieved three maps, filtered through them, and handed one to Kidd, one to Ox, and the other he held onto for himself.

"I've circled the places with the most occurrences, and divided them among the three groups. The red circles are yours to investigate, and the black circles are the other locations. Should go without saying, but Kidd, you, Liz, and Patty stick to your map, Ox, you and Harvar stick to yours. Considering I divvied them up according to your interests, it shouldn't be too difficult for you to stick to the map." Stein began. Curious to know how Stein had marked his map, Kidd hastily opened it, and stared at the red circles. The Louvre. Sacre-Couer. Musee d'Orsay. Place de la Concorde.

A bright smile spread on his face and he beamed in joy. He fought to keep his hands from crumpling the beautiful map as he realized he'd finally be seeing some of the most famous pieces of art from history.

"What, he's got the Louvre? Not fai-Oh, wow! Arc de Triomphe?" Ox barked, squealing from joy like a child on a roller-coaster. He turned the map to Harvar and shoved it in his face, pointing at another red circle on the map.

"He's given us the Gardens of Luxembourg!" Ox exclaimed, unable to sit still, bouncing up and down on the seat. Stein smirked, and handed his map to Krona so he could join on the excitement.

Krona tore his open, looking for the red circles. He smiled as he saw the Notre Dame de Paris and the Sainte-Chapelle. He hoped they would have time to sit in one of the pews and admire the ancient tapestries and stained-glass windows, and perhaps listen to some secular vocals or some Gregorian chant. It made his ears tingle in pleasure at the thought.

The screeching of the train brakes tore through the peaceful musings of his mind, and Krona winced and covered his ears as the shrillness stabbed his eardrums.

"This isn't a pleasure cruise, Stein." Spirit warned him. Stein shrugged.

"I know, but come on. It's Paris. Don't tell me you don't remember sightseeing a little bit when we were kids?" He asked. He stood and stretched as the train came to a full stop, though couldn't stretch to his full potential as his hands touched the ceiling. He was too tall.

"Is our perpetrator a tourist? Aren't these tourist places?" Spirit asked, trying to shed some realistic light on Stein. Stein shrugged his shoulders.

"Does it matter? So long as we discover and capture whoever's behind it, that's all that matters." Stein dismissed. Spirit yawned, still sleepy from his nap, and shook his head.

"Fine, fine, you have a point." He reluctantly agreed.

They shuffled off of the train, gathering in a small circle just beyond the gate of the train station. Stein pulled back the sleeve of his coat and looked at his watch.

"Alright. It's 1:30 PM. Since it will be dark around 4:30, a majority of the places I've listed should be mostly empty after that. Hopefully we can execute this mission without drawing too much attention from the locals. It's also the middle of winter, so the crowds should be much smaller than usual." He stated, looking at each of them. They all nodded back at him, understanding what was expected of them.

"Where should we meet when we're done?" Ox asked.

"We'll meet back here tomorrow morning. Most of the places I've circled are relatively close together, so if something happens, we should be able to reach each other within a timely fashion. If we haven't found anything, we'll stay another day." Stein decided. Kidd nodded in agreement and turned away, waving them goodbye, saying that he had "some art to admire".

"That's not what we're here for!" Spirit called after him, but his comment was ignored as Kidd continued walking away. When he turned back to the others, Ox and Harvar had already left as well.

He sighed and dragged his feet along the ground as he followed Stein and Krona. His bad attitude was quickly replaced when a cute waitress said hello to him. Stein pulled him away by trapping him in a headlock technique, continuing on their way to the closest landmark, Sainte-Chapelle.

Liz and Patty stood behind Kidd, who had fallen to his knees in utter awe at the obelisk before him. Four sides, each the same length and width, carved into a beautiful stone. It looked rugged to the touch, but Kidd dared not touch it, worried the oils and sweat of his hands would erode away the obelisk's beauty.

"You shouldn't even be looking at it, Kidd! Remember what happened to Anubis' tomb?" Patty reminded him, laughing. The smile fell from Kidd's face and he wallowed in embarrassment. Of course he remembered. It'd cost them all of the souls they'd racked up, and they had to start from square one again.

Liz covered her mouth with the brochure she'd been reading about the history of the square they were in, took a deep breath, and turned her focus back on the article. Apparently, it'd been the site where King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette had been executed via guillotine. She swallowed and grabbed at her neck, and shuddered. The history was appalling to her. Even more appalling were the statues of half-naked men with ripped torsos. It made her blush.

"What exactly are we looking for? Do we know what the person we're trying to catch looks like?" She asked, trying to get Kidd back on track. He blinked, and turned his head to her. No, they really didn't. All they really knew was that the person was casting some kind of spell on humans.

"Well, Stein had to have circled this place for some other reason than to give you a metaphorical boner. Sense anything?" She asked, pocketing the brochure and crossing her arms. Kidd closed his eyes and focused, sensing the myriads of souls around him. He saw the pink of his weapons, and the blue of his own, and the bright white of the human's souls. Among everything there was a faint aura, like a wispy thin cloud of dark green and blue.

"There's something. Not sure what it is though. Could be nothing." He muttered, opening his eyes and standing. He wiped off the knees of his pant legs and sighed.

"Let's go. There's three other places on this list, and I've already used up two hours. Not that it wasn't worth it." He paused to take a last admiring gaze at the obelisk, then turned to leave. Patty joined his arm and Liz walked beside him, trying her best to ignore the shocked gazes of the locals.

Stein gawked at the French gothic cathedral, mesmerized by the stunning color of the stone it was set in. The giant floral design of the stained-glass window beckoned to him, and he desired to touch it, eager to feel the sand-smoothed stone. The steeple stood tall, piercing the darkening sky, and a glow of candlelight cast an impression of the stained-glass's colors along the pavement they stood on.

"Come on, come on. Quit screwing it with your eyeballs and let's get on with it." Spirit growled, cranky and tired as he stepped forward and opened the door. Stein scowled and walked in, mood slightly killed.

"You have no appreciation for art." He grumbled. Spirit shrugged, held the door open for Krona, and closed the door quietly behind him.

Krona inhaled deeply, enjoying the sight of the towering archways and blue backgrounds, dotted with yellow stars and red trimmings. He looked around the room, and it seemed empty, pegs connected with chains to keep boundaries being the only inhabitants of the area.

He snapped his head to the left as he heard footsteps, craning his neck to look for something, anything. There were no people, no stairs. He shook his head, telling himself he'd only been hearing things.

"I don't sense anything here." Spirit announced, crossing his foot and tapping it impatiently. Stein shot Spirit an annoyed look, and took one last glance at the blissful structure. He didn't sense anything here, which meant it was time to move on to the next spot.

"Krona, we're leaving." Stein called, his calm voice resounding to the back. Krona nodded and followed them, doubting himself. He hoped there was something, and that the sound of footsteps wasn't a figment of his imagination.

They stepped out into the chilly darkness, checking the map for their next location: The Notre Dame de Paris. It wasn't too far away, but in order to do a thorough search, they zigzagged through the streets, Krona silently on alert.

Desiring to see the gardens before it was too dark, Ox and Harvar strolled through the Luxembourg Gardens, taking in the delicate and sweet scents of the myriads of flowers still growing along the walkways. Death City didn't have such flowers and greenery available, so it was a pleasant change from what they were used to. Despite it being the middle of winter, most of the grass was still growing, covered with the dead leaves of fall.

Harvar didn't need to remind Ox what they were truly here for, trusting in his partner's ability to stick to the plan. He himself remained on the lookout for any peculiar signature, one that would offset itself from the average signatures of the humans around them.

He wouldn't say that Weapons and Meisters were above humans. They were human, too, but their signatures held a different, much stronger aura about them.

"Excuse moi?" Harvar heard a woman's voice ask to the side of them. Ox and Harvar stopped and turned to it.

A woman with beautiful, wavy black hair and a red pea coat approached them, a camera in one hand and a child's hand held in the other.

Surprised, Ox blurted out "Oui?", which Harvar had realized in their short time here to mean "yes".

He watched as Ox and the woman exchanged words, handed him the camera, and pulled her daughter close to her side, smiling widely. Ox grinned, aimed the camera, and snapped their photo. He looked at it to make sure it'd come out right, but his face fell as he saw something far off in the distance.

He snapped his head up and saw the "thing" from the photo had gotten closer to them, appearing to be running straight for them.

He pointed at the thing, barked something, and the woman and her child turned, screamed as they saw what was running for them, and took off. Ox looked to Harvar, who wasted no time in transforming into the majestic spear. Ox caught him and ran for the thing, cutting it off as it ran through the field, heading for the woman and her child.

However, they slowed as they got a better look at the thing. It stood taller than a full grown man, with broad shoulders and thick arms. At the end of the arms, there were long-nailed claws. Patches of fur lie among slimy grey skin, as though this thing had a horrible habit of shedding or a bad case of canine scabies.

"Oh? It's my lucky day! Another weapon and meister! How tasty your hearts must be!" It taunted. This declaration sent a chill down Ox's spine, and he shuddered from the mental image. This man was eating people's hearts rather than their souls? This wasn't a Kishin, or even someone on the verge of becoming one; this was a cannibal.

Another weapon and meister? Death, had this guy gotten to one of the other teams? He couldn't imagine the others falling, especially since Kidd was a Shinigami, and Stein was, well, Stein. Stein was the most badass of them all, even if he was insane. No, they couldn't have fallen. This freak was messing with him.

"Who are you?" Ox demanded to know, trying to keep his voice stern. He didn't want this guy to know he was unnerved. The thing laughed, as though Ox's statement was the funniest thing on Earth, and wiped at his eyes.

"Name's Free. Haven't you heard of me?" He asked, snarling. Large gobs of slimy drool hung from the corner of the werewolf's lips, and his wet nose glistened with the reflection of light. Ox glanced behind him, curious. He hadn't noticed a tail.

"If you're a werewolf, where's your tail?" Ox asked, regaining himself. Free sighed, and growled.

"That blonde scythe-bitch chopped it off. It never grew back." He answered. Ox arched an eyebrow. Blonde, scythe-wielder?

"Maka?" Ox blurted.

You fool, don't give away people's names! This man's a killer! Harvar barked.

Free snapped his fingers.

"Yeah, that's right. Pansy-ass Krona wouldn't shut up abou-Whoa, hey, jackass, what's your problem?" Free barked as he backed off as Ox slashed at his neck with his spear.

"Don't insult my friends!" Ox ordered, enraged at the derogatory statements.

Ox rushed Free, not giving him an opportunity to recoup from catching him off guard. Free did a back flip, flinging a jail ball attached to a chain on his leg. Ox jerked his head back just in time, feeling the wind blow onto his face as the ball barely missed his chin.

Ox quickly jabbed at the ball and chain, effectively catching it and sending Free flying backwards a few hundred yards with a bolt of electricity. Skidding along the ground, he lay in a slump, immobile.

Ox jumped in victory, bolting out a "Yes"!

Encroaching cautiously to ensure he'd really incapacitated the seemingly difficult man, he gave a breath of relief as he saw sparks still shocking the man at each attempt to move.

Harvar transformed into a human, and stared down at the werewolf curled on the ground.

"That all? That was too easy. Guess we should find the others and report. At least we can collect his soul. Been a while since Kishin was on the menu." He suggested. Ox held out his hand, and Harvar transformed back. He thrust the blade of the spear in Free's back, expecting his body to lyse and give way to the red, speckled soul.

However, his body never burst, and a soul never showed.

Ox could hear the man snickering, and his gut dropped.

Free reached around, grabbed Harvar and ripped him out of his back. He shot Harvar with a purple wavelength, forcing Harvar to transform out, then lobbed him across the yard. He punched Ox in the gut, then grabbed him by the shirt, shocking him.

"How's it feel to be shocked, klutz? Not nice, huh? You bastard. That hurt!" Free growled. He brought Ox close, sniffing him. He licked at Ox's temple, and Ox screamed.

"Don't eat me!" He begged. Free snorted and held him away from him.

"Your heart won't be tasty enough. Not worth it. Even Pansy-ass Krona would taste better than you." He growled, shocking him again and throwing him back. Ox hit the sidewalk and rolled, groaning as he stopped. Each attempt to move sent a shock coursing through his body, which he found strange, since he was "The Lightning King", and should have been nulled to electrical effects.

"Don't get in my way again, boy." Free warned, walking away. Ox tried to watch the direction he was heading, but as his vision blurred and faded, he felt his head rest on the ground and swirled away into unconsciousness.

Krona trembled. The feeling was back. The stifling, constricting, suffocating darkness he'd felt was consuming the area, drowning him in it. He couldn't tell if it was coming from inside the Notre Dame chapel, or if it hailed from some other place.

His heart pounded against his chest, his breaths became shallow, and he clutched the fabric of his clothes to wipe away the sweat on his palms.

"Stein. Stein, it's here. It's back." He muttered, low to avoid attracting the attention of others, but Stein could hear the panic in his voice. Stein focused, and sure enough, there was something there. In fact, it was headed their way… at top speed.

"Outside. It's not in here." He hissed, tapping Spirit, who was actually admiring the structures of the stone walls and the stained-glass windows. If the situation were different, Stein would commend him for taking an interest in the rest of the world they fought to protect every day. However, it would have to wait.

They slipped quietly outside, Stein and Spirit hiding behind one column near the door, and Krona hiding behind another. Spirit transformed into a scythe and Krona summoned Ragnarok, ordering him to be quiet.

They watched as a man approached the building, wearing a black and white striped body shirt and white pants, both of which were dirty as hell. A ball and chain clinked along behind him, rattling and thunking as he dragged it up the steps. Growing conscious of it, the man stopped to pick it up, then continued on his way inside.

Stein and Krona remained silent. They both knew who it was, and were surprised to see that the man hadn't aged a day. Krona caught Stein's eye, who held a finger to his lips, motioning for him to be silent.

Free stepped into the building, not turning to close the door behind him. A good thing, since Krona was sure he'd be spotted if Free had turned around.

They waited, listening for any ruckus inside. Hearing nothing but the secular chorales of the evening Mass, they slowly opened the door, sliding inside and sticking to the shadows of the columns.

They peered around the pillar, and both were stunned to see Free sitting in a pew, hunched over as though in prayer.

What should we do? Krona mouthed. Stein shook his head, and waived a 'w' sign with his fingers. Wait. They would wait. Krona nodded, watching. He tried to listen in on what Free might be praying about, but the man was too far away. His voice was lost amid the vocals of the choir.

They watched Free intensely. Krona guessed that twenty minutes had passed before Free stood, picked up the ball attached to his ankle, and walked out.

As soon as Free stepped outside of the door, Stein and Krona rushed for it, stepping back outside into the chill.

Free stood at the bottom of the steps, staring at the stars in the sky.

"Thank you for allowing me my prayer. If you can kill me, I applaud you." Free stated. Krona wondered if he was taunting them, or if he was actually being sincere.

"Are you the reason behind these residents going berserk lately?" Stein asked, getting straight to the point. Free turned his head and smirked.

"Got bored of going to you, so I figured I'd bring you to me. Human flesh is… no longer satisfying." He stated calmly. Krona shivered and felt a knot of disgust in his throat. He fought hard to swallow it. Devouring souls was one thing. Devouring other humans was another.

"So you are the one who killed Asa and Shira? Why?" Stein demanded to know, holding Spirit's blade at Free's throat.

"Stein, you can't kill him, he's-

-I know." Stein interrupted. Krona closed his mouth. Of course Stein knew. Stein knew everything.

"I'll only answer that question to that blue-haired brat and his wife. Man, was she hot!" Free snarled. His ears elongated, and grew splotchy patches of fur, the lobes remaining a leathery grey color. The hair on the back of his neck thickened, and the skin on his face sprouted fur as his nose elongated and teeth sharpened.

He pushed Spirit away and bounded off. Stein chased after him, barking at Krona to find the others and then find him. Krona obeyed, forcing what was left of the black blood out of his back and in the form of wings, taking to the sky. He dug the map out of his pocket and looked for the nearest spot.

The Louvre. Hoping Kidd had stuck to the plan, Krona bolted for it. He tried to put away the worry on his mind.

He'd only been flying for a few minutes before something blasted by him. He stilled his wings, then hovered as he looked back at what had whizzed past him: a sphere of dark purple energy. Kidd's wavelength. He looked at where it'd come from, and saw Kidd waving him down at the top of a roof.

Krona swooped down, landing delicately on the balls of his feet. He'd put the ability to fly to plenty of practice.

"What the hell's going on? I felt something strong burst out, then it started heading west of here!" Kidd asked, slightly frightened. The level of power on this thing was close to Asura's.

"Stein's fighting Free. Find him; I'm going to find Ox and Harvar." Krona answered, free falling off of the building, catching the air, and weaving in and out of the streets, flapping his wings occasionally to keep him just above the rooftops.

He checked the map again, hoping they were at their third site, the Arc de Triomphe. He searched for the monument he'd only seen pictures of; a grand gateway, built to honor Napoleon's army and their victories.

He landed a few feet away in an alley, retracted the black blood, and hid Ragnarok, running up to the massive structure. He looked around, hoping to see Ox and Harvar, but he worried when he didn't see them. He scrambled to pull the map from his pocket, unfolded it, and then looked around again. He was in the right place. They weren't.

He ran back to the alley, unfurled his wings, and took to the air again, backtracking.

A gentle voice called to him, and Ox blinked slowly as he opened his eyes. He groaned and sat up, holding his head in his hands, which was swimming and pounding. How long had he been out?

"Good, you're awake. Come on, let's go. There's trouble. Stein's holding off the guy that tried to do us in." Harvar insisted, pulling Ox to his feet, brushing off his shoulders. A thin sheet of snow was covering him, and he looked around. A thin sheet of snow covered everything.

He felt a warm hand be pressed against his cheek, and he turned, surprised. Pink hair and jade eyes caught his vision.

"Kim? What are you doing here?" He asked, blushing madly.

"Kim? I am not Kim. But I can be Kim if you like." The woman said, leaning forward and pressing her lips to his. Harvar's mouth dropped and he fought to keep from laughing. Krona leaned over and asked Harvar what was going on. Harvar shook his head and told Krona not to worry about it.

The woman pulled away, and smiled.

"Thank you for saving my daughter and me." The woman said, turning and walking away. Ox stared, dumbfounded for a few minutes, then turned to Harvar and Krona.

"Wha-what?" He blubbered, beet red.

Harvard rolled his eyes and stepped forward.

"Come on, we have to go. Cassanova." He stated, smirking as he transformed into a weapon. Brought out of his stunned state, Ox caught him and looked to Krona.

"Where are we going?" He asked. Krona motioned for him to follow, leading them into an empty alley, and unfurled his wings once more.

"Follow me, I'll direct you. We're gonna go find Stein." Krona answered, taking to the sky again, trying to ignore the flecks of snow as they clung to his eyelashes and clumped in his hair. His fingers were beginning to numb, and he hoped he'd be able to wield Ragnarok when the time came.

Stein hit the metal scaffolding hard, and he winced, as he was sure that it'd bent it a little bit. Kidd fired a shot that hit Free in the chest, sending him flying to the side as Free rushed to slash at Stein with his razor-sharp claw.

A rumble shook the ground, and a giant ice golem rose out of the small basin of water down the street from the Eiffel Tower. It pounded the ground, causing Kidd to lose his footing and stumble. He rolled over and dove out of harm's way as the golem reared up a massive hand and smacked where Kidd had just been.

It's strong, but slow. Perfect. Kidd summoned his skateboard and rose up above, firing at the golem while skating in circles around its head. It covered itself with its hands and knelt down, biding. Small chunks broke off, but overall, his shots were ineffective.

"That's cheating, you little bastard!" Free barked, jumping up on the golem's back and leaping for Kidd. Kidd focused his fire on Free, but Free endured the hit and broke through. Free grabbed Kidd's leg with one hand, and the skateboard with the other, and jerked Kidd away, throwing him to the ground.

Kidd watched helplessly as Free snapped the expensive, multi-use board with his knee.

Angered, Kidd focused his power, calling for a soul resonance attack. Just when they'd gotten to 70% power, the ground shook again, staggering their process. The ice golem had stood again and struck the ground to stop him.

Damn, between this guy and the Golem, I can't do anything but dodge! He thought. He jumped out of the way as Free dashed for him again, stumbling as he slipped on an area of ice from one of the ice golem's steps. He landed hard on his back, smacking his head into the concrete. He saw a flash of blinding white and then spots of black, forced into a state of submission.

"Heh, stupid kid. You may look flashy and have big fucking guns, but when it boils down to it, you're fake." Free insulted, stooping over Kidd. Kidd was beginning to gain his senses, but his world was still spinning when he opened his eyes. He felt a cold, wet nose, and the rush of intake and heat of exhalation of air against his face and neck as Free sniffed him, and felt the sticky bristles on his tongue as Free licked the sweat from the side of his face.

"Despite looking like a bigshot and being as fake as powder-face beach bimbos, your heart seems be pret-ty tast-ty." Free continued, putting emphasis on his syllables.

Kidd watched as Free's claw appeared in his vision, rose up above his head. His eyes widened, and he screamed. He was going to die, just like Asa and Shira! He wouldn't even be whole in death, this freak was going to devour his heart! He cried out in pain as the claw stabbed into his chest, and he could hear his ribcage shattering in his head as Free pulled out his heart. Free opened his jowls, ready to gobble up his precious, frantically beating heart, when suddenly Free screeched and howled in pain as he backed off.

Blood splattered along the concrete and Kidd felt something hit his chest. A severed arm, shrinking rapidly, lay on his chest, holding his still beating heart. He looked at his savior: Krona.

Krona didn't look back. Instead, he turned his attention towards the ice golem. An almost wicked smile was plastered on his face, and he readied Ragnarok, focusing.

"Screech Alpha!" He barked, slashing a few yards away from the golem. A missile of energy shot at the golem, exploding on contact and shattering it, splaying chunks of ice of many sizes all about the area.

Seeing his successful attack, Krona turned his attention on the next enemy. Free was throwing a fit over the shattering of the golem, waving the stub of an arm. Slowly, the arm regenerated, and eventually Free was shaking a fist at him in anger.

"Stein." Krona called out. Stein looked up, slightly astonished with the change in Krona.

"Heal Kidd. I'll distract him." Krona ordered. It was unlike him. Stein had to admit, he was impressed.

"Go for it, kid." Stein agreed, getting to his feet and hurrying to Kidd, who, amazingly enough, was still conscious and alive.

When he took a closer look, Stein understood why. By some sheer amount of luck, Free's claws had missed every vein and artery. The entire system was still intact. He hadn't lost much blood at all, though he was sure Kidd's lung would be filling with it by now. He grabbed his medical kit and pulled out a pair of gloves, snapping them on.

"Take a deep breath, Kidd. I've got to get this hand off of your heart." Stein guided. Liz and Patty transformed, hoping he hadn't said what they'd thought they heard.

Liz screamed and reached for Kidd's hand, and Patty stared, wide-eyed.

"Is he gonna die?" Patty asked, tears filling her eyes. Stein shook his head, managing to peel away the middle finger, having just the ring and pinky left to pull off.

"I can fucking feel that, it feel so-so goddamn weird." Kidd stated, tensing and laughing. Spirit knelt down, clamping his knees around Kidd's head to secure it into place, and forcing his shoulders down against the ground to keep him from squirming. Stein would be needing as much stability as possible.

"Replacing your heart, Kidd." Stein muttered, trying to place the delicate organ back exactly as it should be: Aorta up, directed towards the back. He didn't want to accidentally twist the pipes.

Kidd forced himself to still, fighting laughter. It didn't even hurt at this point, mind numbed from the drugs his body was making.

"Stitching you up. Don't move, try to breathe normally. Still with us?" Stein asked, reaching for his miniature medical kit, retrieving a needle and thread.

"Kidd?" He asked, starting to sew Kidd up anyway.

"Make it even. For the love of Death, make it even!" Kidd answered, eyes lidded and shivering.

Stein ignored the comment and focused on stitching him up. When he was finished, he put Kidd to sleep, packed up, and stood, looking to see where Krona and Free were.

His stomach dropped, and he grew worried when he saw they'd completely disappeared.

Well, hope you all enjoyed this! I'll try to get more written in this, but it will take some time. Please post a review!

Cheers!