"Crona," Maka exclaimed as she raced over to Crona, "are you okay?"

"I-I'm fine," Crona smiled weakly as he slipped the gem into his pocket, "I'm sorry for what happened."

"It'll be okay," Maka comfortingly smiled, "how did you escape from her control?"

"She let me go," Crona shook, "she s-said I was u-useless and l-let me go." Crona's eyes widened in surprise as Maka hugged him.

"You're far from useless," Maka whispered in his ear, "but I'm glad you're okay now."

"Thank y-you, Maka."

"Do you want to go see Soul?"

"N-not yet. I-I kinda w-want to be alone for a b-bit."

"I understand. I cleaned your room, if you want to go there."

"Thank y-you," Crona smiled nervously and walked off to his room in the school dungeon.

"It seems so strange," Sora sighed as he collapsed onto a chair, "she never mentioned Damian at all."

"Perhaps it was too traumatizing for her, so she blocked the memory out," Kid offered as an answer.

"Guys," Maka smiled as she ran back into the room with a bottle of water, "Crona is back." She walked over and handed the bottle to Soul.

"Really?" Soul took the bottle as he sat up and began to drink the liquid it contained.

"Yeah, he says Xelysha found him useless so she let him go."

"That's unlike her," Kairi noted as she looked at Riku who was watching Maka intently, "Riku?"

"He lied," Riku darkened, "Maka did you hear a strange voice whispering in your head?"

"I don't... think so..." Maka stopped and thought for a moment, "I think I did."

"She's pulling her tricks again," Riku snatched Sora and pulled him back onto his feet, "that voice was her, she made your heart believe his every word because she knew that's exactly what your heart wanted."

"If you want it bad enough," Kid sighed, "a little manipulation can make you think it's real."

"Where is he now?" Riku snarled.

"He said he was going to his room..." Maka's eyes widened, "no, he's going to Kid's house!"

"Aiko!" Kid gasped and raced out of the room with Sora, Riku, Kairi, Black*Star, and Tsubaki close behind.

"Go on," Soul looked at Maka, "you don't need me to get through to Crona."

"R-right. Call me if something happens here, okay?" Maka demanded.

"Alright, now go."

Maka nodded and raced after the group.

"Crona," Liz exclaimed, "Patty!"

"Right," Patty smiled as she glowed, transforming into a pistol in her sister's hand.

"I-if you stand d-down," Crona took a shaky stance as Ragnarok formed into a sword in his hands, "we'll let you l-live."

"Crona, it's us," Liz aimed the gun at Crona, "we don't want to hurt you, but if you take a step closer we will."

"Then I guess you'll have to shoot me," Crona began to laugh as he charged at Liz who immediately began to jump back while firing at him. The boy swung his black sword at Liz who tried to move out of the way, but wasn't fast enough.

"Gah," Liz moaned as she stared at the cut on her arm, blood oozing out of hit in a steady stream and falling onto the clean carpet below, "Kid's going to kill me."

"Let me at him!" Patty screamed from the gun, "I'll take him out!" Liz nodded and transformed into a gun as Patty turned to human and caught her sister, immediately firing repeatedly at Crona. Crona stumbled back as he took one hit after another.

"I-I'm sorry," Crona let out a painful sigh as he began to fight the pain, black blood falling out.

"Bloody needle," the voices from the black blood chimed as the blood immediately turned into needles and extended out at Patty who instinctively dived out of the way. She gasped as the needles sliced her shirt and cut her skin. Patty let out a constant stream of fire from the pistol to the needles, not noticing as Crona tossed the crimson gem into a flower pot.

"Good," the voice applauded in Crona's head, "now make it believable."

Crona's sword vanished from his hands as he held his head and screamed in pain, collapsing onto the floor.

"Crona!" Kid called as he ran into the house, freezing in place at the scene before him.

"Freeze," Sora shouted as he pointed his keyblade at Crona, ice projected from the tip towards the boy and froze him in place on the floor.

"Liz! Patty!" Kid raced over to his partners, his injured friends taking more of his attention than the messy room that looked like a tornado hit it. Patty turned back into a human and collapsed onto the floor, passing out from blood-loss. Riku ran over to the pair and summoned his keyblade.

"Heal," Riku waved his keyblade over Liz, Kid gasped as the wound seemed to heal just enough to keep her out of danger.

"Good work, uh," Sora looked at Patty.
"Patty!" Patty grinned, "and thank you! I was really cool! You should've seen it!" Patty began to act it out while making incoherent descriptions that made Sora question her sanity in his mind.

"Crona," Maka gasped as she raced to her frozen friend's side, "I'm so sorry..."

"It'll wear off in a few minutes," Riku commented, "we need to lock him up as soon as possible, just to be safe."

"R-right."

Kairi glanced around the room, looking at everything. After a bit of inspection, she figured out that everything in this room was once designed in such a strategic manner that the room would be perfectly symmetrical. Two flower pots in corners of the room seemed untouched at first glance, but one seemed to have flowers that shifted slightly. As everyone else began to work together to get the Thompson sisters to the infirmary and Crona to his dungeon, Kairi took a closer look at the flower pot. She reached inside and pulled out the gem, she had never seen anything like it before and silently wondered what it was and how it got in that pot.

"Before we begin," Xelysha turned her attention from Crona back towards Maleficent, "I have a favor to ask."

"What is this favor?" Maleficent looked at Xelysha, finding this as possibly her moment to finally get a step ahead of the conniving being before her.

"I need you to cover me, make it where no one can sense me in any possible way. In return I'll tell some Heartless to follow your orders until you let them die."

"Deal."