A/N: The nice reviews really made me type this up a lot quicker than usual, even if there are only a few, I still like em'. Anyways, on with the story!
Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Eater or any of it's characters.
Falling into the Madness
It was dark... Again... The voices of his friends could be heard chattering in a panic-like tone as he felt the wind flow through his asymmetrical hair.
Footsteps could be heard... It annoyed Kid's inner-demon Mad. The wind blowing felt nice to Kid, Mad despised it to his fullest content. The shinigami currently couldn't feel any pain, Mad hated that as well.
Amber eyes blinked open, it was dark still, but the talking and footsteps stopped suddenly. It was his dream world, the fantasy he knew he could never achieve, nothingness.
"Where am I?" Kid questioned weakly, he was currently floating in the darkness aimlessly... just floating. "Am I... Dead?"
"You are far from that, stupid shinigami," a snake-like voice snarled, the voice sly and cunning, his "s'" making hissing sounds. The shinigami blinked several times as his body slowly lowered to what seemed to be the ground.
The ground wasn't even visible, yet there Kid stood, staring at a black-robed man, a hood shielding his face and two eerie red eyes peeking out from the darkness of the robe. The mark of the Kishin could also be seen with the three eyes on the shoulders, hood and also on the mid-sleeves. The person looked like he was hovering on a cloud of darkness, no feet noticeable.
"Are you by chance the madness?" the young shinigami inquired, his voice echoing in the darkness as the figure shifted slightly.
"I'm more of a branch of Asura's own soul," Mad replied quickly and harshly as Kid silently took a seat on the floor.
"Question mister Mad, if you are in fact the madness, why do you have a separate personality unlike Stein," Kid questioned as he sat cross-legged casually.
"The madness affects everyone in different ways, but your weakness for symmetry is endless and the madness could consume you even faster than Stein. You are actually the mortal with the most madness-consumed soul that hasn't gone completely insane yet," the madness explained as Kid listened cautiously for any clues. "You know you want it though, right? The ultimate symmetry, nothingness."
"I do and I don't at the same time, let's leave it at that for now," the shinigami replied hastily, picking every exact word to say. "But I do wonder... Where the hell am I?"
"I'm kind of surprised you didn't ask sooner," Mad commented as a side note. "But you are in your inner world, your own mind."
"Alright, but how did I get here and how do I leave? As the only mobile shinigami, I mustn't waste time chatting with the madness," Kid stated quick and to the point. Mad began to cackle loudly, as Kid just watched causelessly on the ground, watching the madness throw back his head and chuckle like a mad man. "What's so funny, huh?"
"Oh… nothing really," Mad replied, gradually beginning to quit his fit of laughter. "But, there are numerous ways to get to your own soul, but yours currently has a 'sickness' or 'infection' and I am able to pull you in here as I please since I am the 'infection'. The only way to leave is if you defeat me in combat only once."
"Only once, huh?" Kid mummbled as he began to get to his feet. "I'll do it with ease, and then I'll go back to the real world. You made me harm my friends and nearly got me killed as well so I'll hold nothing back." The young shinigami then took the stance of "Punishment" or "Sin", preparing to attack.
"Alright, but I must warn you before we start," Mad added as he lowered himself to the ground. "One hour in your mind is a full day in the real world, that's just how it works. You could stay unconscious in the real world for a full year if you're as weak as I think."
"Well then I'll have to defeat you quicker than usual," the shinigami smirked as he began to slash kicks at the man's head, the madness dodging it just as easily as before.
The same day: Shibusen Infirmary
"W-Will he be okay?" Maka stuttered as Soul, Maka, Liz and Patti crowded around Kid's bed and Ox and Harvar watched from their separate beds on the opposite side of the room. Nygus nodded, the new school nurse after Medusa had been exposed, killed and then revived again.
"But I have no idea how this young shinigami will be out for, his wavelength keeps alternating between the madness and his own. His soul is beginning to come out of the shroud of madness hiding it, but you never know," the weapon replied, trying to hide her doubtfulness.
Liz and Patti sat silently at the young shinigami's side, looking slightly guilty for doing that to the young meister, occasionally straightening his bangs to make them "symmetrical" as he stirred on the bed.
"YO!" Black*Star called, barging through the door in his casual attire, a red muscle shirt and plan tan cargo pants. "How's Kid doing, huh? I knew such a small man could not best my awesomeness!"
"Hello Maka, Soul, Liz, Patti," Tsubaki greeted more softly as she shuffled into the room behind her boastful companion who was nearly bouncing over to Soul with a large grin plastered onto his face. "I hope you two are doing well, Ox, Harvar."
"Oh, hi Tsubaki!" Maka called back to the demon weapon, ignoring the hyper assassin as she grinned weakly and waved. "Have you seen Kim, I haven't seen her since we arrived back at Shibusen." Ox nearly fell out of his bed, trying to scurry to his feet as Maka even just mentioned the name Kim.
"Calm down, Ox, your wounds will open up again if you keep moving around like that," Nygus slightly ordered. "I'll be going now since it getting pretty late, I'll give you guys five minutes." Everyone in the room nodded in reply, except for Black*Star and Soul who were chatting it up in the back round as Nygus silently departed.
"Cool, let me just drop by the house to grab my stuff and I'll be at your place at about eight," Soul replied, smirking as he held up his right hand to high-five. Black*Star slapped the death scythe's hand and smiled just as big as Soul was.
"Come on, Tsubaki, we should get going," the assassin added as he headed for the door. Tsubaki jumped slightly at an order directed to her, but nodded and began to scurry out of the room.
"Sorry, Maka! I guess we'll be going! See you in class tomorrow!" Tsubaki called back as Black*Star tried to make the demon tool speed it up by nearly shoving her into the hall. Maka nodded and waved at the retreating forms of Black*Star and Tsubaki.
"Hey Maka," Soul interrupted her waving abruptly as she turned towards him, slightly puzzled as the weapon scratched the back of his neck, avoiding eye contact.
"Oh! Don't forget that it's your turn to fix dinner tonight!" Maka burst out upon realization, breaking the painful silence. Soul slightly winced, his ruby eyes now nearly having a staring contest with the floor. "And please don't burn the food like you did last time; you gave me and Blair food poisoning."
"About that," Soul muttered, barely audible as his ruby eyes slowly ghosted upwards until they locked with Maka's glossy emerald ones. "I'm going to Black*star's house tonight, and then I'm helping him on a mission tomorrow, we're still not sure how long we'll be gone."
"Um, I guess it's okay if you're just going over there to get a head start on the mission tomorrow," Maka mummbled as Soul still looked unsure. "Just stay safe, okay? Don't act stupid and get into useless fights." The blonde girl quickly leaned forwards and pecked the death scythe on the cheek before leaning back.
"Awww…." Patti and Liz added in unison with snoring in the back round emitting from Ox and Harvar. Maka and Soul instantly jumped, forgetting the other presence in the room completely and both flushed red.
"Maka likes Soul~! Soul likes her back~! Soul likes Maka~!" Patti giggled in a sing-song voice as Maka looked ready to Maka-chop someone, her face looked so infuriated. "Did you two start going out or something?"
"N-No," Maka and Soul both stuttered at the same exact time. The blonde meister just sighed and tried to ignore the comment. "Why would you say that?" The two twin pistols smirked widely.
"Just ignore us. Sorry, Maka and Soul," Liz tried to apologize as Patti continued to laugh her head off in the back round. "But I think we'll spend the night here, and you two should really get going, it's been a bit over five minutes; going on seven at the moment." The two sisters took on their 'guilty' expressions again as the death scythe and Maka frowned.
"You really shouldn't blame yourselves," Maka tried to explain as she turned towards the two. "It's not your fault Kid somehow got possessed by the madness in the book of Eibon. He'll be fine, don't worry, so why don't you two head back to Gallows Mansion, we'll walk you home on our way to our place."
"Wait, why do we have to walk- Oof," Soul added, the oof emitting from his mouth as Maka nudged him roughly in the rib cage. "Fine, we'll walk the now emo twin pistols-"
"Maka-chop!" the young meister screamed as she smashed a large medical book into the top of Soul's skull. The death scythe instantly fell forwards unconscious, a five-inch indent into the top of his skull as a result from the vicious Maka-chop. "Sorry about that, you know how Soul is at times, an insensitive jerk."
Patti just giggled loudly as Liz smiled. "It's fine, let's just go before you push Soul off of a cliff or something," Liz giggled as Maka smiled widely. "Well, see you tomorrow, Kid."
"Whoa, what's up with Kid's body?" Soul butted-in abruptly upon standing up from his brutal Maka-chop as the shinigami's body shook uncontrollably, as well as the room and the same dark-violet and black colors swarmed his body and the room The Thompson sisters instantly stood from the bed to take several steps back as Ox and Harvar somehow slept through all of this.
Several gashes broke out randomly on the young meister's body, destroying the bed sheets into shreds, revealing the once white t-shirt they put him in after they arrived at Shibusen bloodied with several large cuts and rips on every one of his limbs. "G-Get professor Stein!" Maka ordered as everyone backed up to the walls as the madness spread all around the room in a flickering fashion.
"Patti and I will! But where is he? We can't just run over to his house!" Liz yelled over the now uprising winds. The blonde meister quickly grabbed onto the now frightened Soul as an anchor before answering, clenching his arm tightly,
"He's always at the school until about midnight on school nights conducting research, dissections and experiments!" Maka yelled back as the older sister nodded and began to shuffled towards the door as Patti hung onto her left arm.
"W-What do we do, Maka?" Soul stuttered, yelling as he began to pull Maka towards him more unconsciously for protection.
"I-I don't know! But don't let that madness touch you, that's all I can tell you!" the meister answered the best she could as her vision averted towards the sleeping Ox and Harvar who were out of the blast's range. 'Good, at least they're safe.' Maka thought to herself with an added sigh of relief.
"Maka! Do something!" Soul yelled, breaking her concentration as a strand of the madness tripped him onto his back and he found himself being quickly dragged into the swarm of madness, his feet no longer visible. Soul's finger tips left scratch marks on the white floor as he was being dragged in.
"Soul!" the meister yelled as she crouched down onto her knees and grabbed the death scythe's tanned hand. "Don't let go!" Maka's body too began to slowly slide into the madness, her own weight slowing the two down.
"I wouldn't if my life depended on it," Soul smirked as Maka continued to try and pry Soul out of the madness. "But what's up with Kid and why the hell is he trying to kill us?"
"NO IDEA!" Maka yelled as Soul's body slowly began to slide out of the darkness. The white-haired death scythe grunted as his meister nearly dislocated his arms she was pulling so hard.
"Oi! Maka! You're going to pull off my arms!" the death scythe yelled, wincing as Maka only pulled even harder. Moments past and the two were in the same position, yet they were nearly completely relieved when Liz and Stein burst through the door, knocking it off it's hinges. The door instantly flew into the swarming madness as Stein examined the situation in his computer chair.
"Hmm… It seems that Kid's madness is the worst I've ever seen," Stein commented as he wheeled himself into the room with Liz and Patti following closely behind. "It seems that whatever is completely engulfed by the madness is instantly destroyed; that's even worse than my own."
"Do you mind helping, professor?" Soul and Maka screamed in unison as the professor turned his attention towards the young meister extracting her weapon from the madness. Stein seemingly ignored it and wheeled up to the growing dome of madness, reaching out his right hand in the process. "PROFESSOR!"
"Now's not the time!" Liz yelled over the winds as the grey-haired man reached his hand into the madness completely. "P-Professor, now's not the time! Seriously!"
"Calm down," Stein replied casually as his wavelength shot out into the madness, obliterating it and revealing the room in tatters and Kid lying soundlessly on his bed, the wounds still present. "I had it under control from the start."
Soul stumbled to get to his feet as Maka shakily got to hers. Only seconds standing, Soul collapsed into his meister's arms, the madness draining him of his energy. The meister frowned and tired to get her weapon to stand on his own again.
"You all really shouldn't be here at night," Soul added as he wheeled up to Kid's bed. "I'll treat them all, Ox and Harvar were also affected. Just go home and I'll see you four in the morning." Liz and Patti nodded, walking over to Maka and putting one of Soul's arms over each of the sister's shoulders.
"Yes sir," the three conscious ones replied in unison and exited the room as fast as possible. The three weapons and meister were out of the building in a matter of minutes, the sky stained with a collage of colors from the lowering sun, which was drooling and looked just about ready to pass out.
"Hey Liz, do you have the time? Soul's supposed to be at Black*Star and Tsubaki's house at eight," Maka asked randomly as they strolled down the sidewalk casually.
"Erm, the last time I saw a clock was when we went to get professor Stein… I think it's around seven-thirty at the moment," Liz replied, unsure as Patti giggled uncontrollably in the back round about something that had to do with a monkey, a marsh mellow and Liz.
Maka nodded and the four continued in silence, Soul occasionally groaning and Patti laughing in response. Several minutes past and the four finally stopped at the large home called Gallows Mansion. It was quite extravagant and Maka couldn't help but gawk at it in awe.
"Well, good luck with Soul," Liz slightly giggled as Soul gradually began to wake up, blinking his ruby eyes open slowly. "See you tomorrow!"
"BYE!" Patti yelled as they opened the front gate and continued towards the large mansion. The dirty-blonde haired meister smiled and waved at her departing friends.
"Man, where am I?" Soul mummbled groggily as he stood up by himself and rubbed his eyes of the drowsiness. The death scythe continued to mutter something about 'not being cool'.
"We're almost home, come on," Maka explained as she continued to walk down the sidewalk silently. "you're going to be late for your sleep-over-mission-thing with Black*Star and Tsubaki." The death scythe smirked and began to follow his meister.
Death the Kid's inner World: Several minutes earlier
The madness dodged Kid's attacks swiftly, not bothering to go on the offensive as the shinigami wasn't losing any stamina at all.
After several punches and kicks to the torso and head, with several added flips to try out different angles, the madness finally found an opening as the shinigami swung a hook-punch for his head.
Mad stepped into the punch, only centimeters away from Kid's own body and caught his hand with a cloud of darkness. The teen scowled but used the grip on his hand as a slight springboard and pulled himself into the air, his legs twisting upwards and getting a whopping kick on Mad's jaw, flinging his head backwards.
The darkness was released and Kid continued with his flip until his back was facing the madness. "Perhaps a shinigami isn't as weak as I anticipated," the madness commented as Kid's scowl remained present. "What? Not going to answer me?" The shinigami kept silent, not hearing the darkness unravel from Mad's sleeves and head for the center of Kid's chest where his soul resided.
"Then I'll make you talk," the darkness went directly through Kid's chest, nearly taking his soul with it as several gashes appeared on his chest from what seemed to be nothing. The meister coughed up several gulps of blood and nearly barfed blood as the darkness was extracted from his chest and he fell to his knees.
"You bastard," Kid growled as he stared into the darkness of his mind. "That was a cheap shot; I wasn't even looking."
"Also, I forgot to mention, everything that happens to you in here, effects you the same way out there," Mad added randomly. "Plus, I just weakened your soul ten-fold and took half of it out and added it to our own power which weakened your defenses against me taking over your body completely.
His stunning gold-shinigami eyes widened by three times as he shakily got to his feet. "Oh, and you nearly just destroyed all of Death City due to that last attack," Mad smirked as Kid turned towards him, his face looking enraged.
"You are DEAD! If you hurt any one of my friends, you. Are. Dead," Kid snapped, his fists and teeth clenching.
"Friends? What friends? You are a shinigami, no one likes you, everyone fears you," Mad commented slowly. "They're only your friends because they don't want you to kill them or do something horrible."
"You couldn't be more wrong!" Kid retorted boldly as he re-took the stance of punishment. "Now I know you really are the madness and also that you must be destroyed into oblivion."
"Good luck with that," the madness smirked as Kid barged back into battle swiftly. "You'll never best me…"
A/N: More of a filler chapter imo. But I thank you all for the reviews and story alerts :D! I really enjoy them and they motivate me to write.
Random Fact: Death the Kid is my favorite Soul Eater character, Black*Star as a close second, and Stein and Soul tied for third.