(A/n Hey guys! So this starts off a little ways into the Lavi vs. Level 3 battle, I'm not that good at writing fighting scenes so I wanted to pick up after some stuff had already happened. Sorry if it seems rushed, but here it is!)

Thunder crackled above and lighting shot down. The gigantic bolt was soon followed by multiple smaller ones. The air lit up in flashes of light, afterwards it smelled of burnt garbage, no doubt his attack had struck the Akuma. Lavi huffed, drawing his hammer back so it rested on his shoulder. Now he knew why Lenalee had so much trouble fighting one of these guys, the Level 2's were nothing compared to them. The 4's indeed were stronger...but he'd never took on one of them by himself. The pair had been trading blows for a while now, Lavi sometimes managed to hit the Akuma head on and send him flying into a building. Other times the Akuma slipped past his defenses and hit him and gave it right back.

The Level 3 appeared unscathed by his Heaven Stamp attack. It's armor showed little damage, he wondered if he needed to stop using his Stamps and just start whacking the thing with his hammer.

"That hurt a bit…" The Akuma whined mockingly while rubbing a blackened piece of his arm.

Lavi mustered a smirk. "Good, that means I'm getting somewhere."

"Getting somewhere?" The Akuma crossed his arms over his chest and Lavi readied to dodge. "Kid have you seen yourself?" Two dark blades formed like an extension of the Level 3's arms. "You're in worse shape than me!"

His eye widened in surprise and hammer met blade as he blocked the Akuma's attack. He'd expected for the blades to come soaring towards him as they've done in the past, but they hadn't left his enemy's arms and now he was struggling to put some distance between them.

"Worse shape?" He spoke through clenched teeth. "Nah, I'm holding back!"

The Akuma's high pitched laugh rang throughout the air. "You'll be dead! Dead before you know it!" The blades suddenly slid upward, catching the head of his hammer and yanking it out of his hands. He was pulled upwards and off of his feet. The Akuma had a firm grip on his collar, he heard the quiet rip as the stitches in the fabric tore apart. As Lavi was glaring daggers at his opponent trying to escape the hold, he failed to notice the other Akuma's hand flashing forward.

Blood spurted out of the fresh wound in Lavi's abdomen. The Akuma's blade had cut through his skin, digging through his organs and piercing through to his backside. The pain was immense but he'd gone into shock. Lavi furrowed his brows bringing a hand to where the crimson liquid stained his clothes. He looked at it, his brain still processing that he'd been stabbed. The bloodied hand blurred as his vision became unfocused. Dizziness came over his and tried to spread his feet farther apart to stabilize himself. He'd forgotten he was still being held up and he clenched his jaw, his breath hissing through his teeth as the blade shifted inside him with the movement.

"Heehee~! Does it hurt?! Describe the feeling to me!" The Akuma's crazed voice shouted in his ear.

"You'll get to know the feeling...when I kill you…" Lavi muttered in a low tone.

"Testy." The hand gripping his collar released dropping him back to the ground. He resisted the urge to cry out in pain as the blade inside him cut upwards. The Akuma brought one of it's dark blades above it's head and was about to bring it down, no doubt to slice his head off. Lavi's hardened eyes didn't waver; but his thoughts drifted to Jiji and everyone else for he thought these were his last moments. "Say goodbye~!"

On instinct he shut his eye when the descent of the blade came. He waited, and waited, but nothing happened. Slowly he cracked back open his eye only to gasp in shock. The Akuma was standing frozen, painted across its face a look of horror. The armored skin he'd tried so hard to break was crumbling away.

"Mistress...Lulu Bell…" The Akuma croaked out. "I didn't hear...spare me…" No sooner after it had said that, it exploded into black dust. Lavi's eye stared at the place where the Akuma had once been. His legs suddenly buckled underneath him, and with the blade no longer in him to hold him up he collapsed onto the ground.

Dammit. The Akuma had said 'Mistress Lulu Bell...it's that Noah who turns into a cat! Damn!

Footsteps approached from behind him, he acted like he had passed out and listened silently. An emotionless female voice mumbled, "Two of them…" Lavi's eyes darted towards his hammer which laid a few feet away, just out of arm's length. He'd already suffered damage from fighting that Level 3, but he had to protect Miranda. He'd have to be quick, grab the hammer and strike. His muscles tensed, preparing to reach out and grab it, when a foot suddenly stepped on his hand.

"Bookman's apprentice." Lavi's eye darted up to where the Noah had appeared. She now towered over him and was staring at him through cold eyes. "Struggling is futile. My orders aren't to kill you, come along peacefully and you won't be harmed."

He narrowed his eyes, shoving Lulu Bell's foot off of him. "What are your orders then?"

"To capture you." He knew he was in deep shit when he heard those words. Between getting a wound like this and now wanted by the Noah, when he explained to Jiji it'd be endless karate-chops to the head. Despite the previous warning, Lavi made a grab for his hammer.

Lulu Bell tsked. She raised a foot and stomped down on the apprentice's wound. As the boy writhed in pain beneath her she looked at her shoe in distaste to see it was covered in blood. Seconds later he became motionless, having passed out from exhaustion among other things. She carried him like a sack over her shoulder, once she began walking a gateway to the Ark appeared. She'd have to remember to thank the Earl Millennium for always being so quick to summon his gates.

The Noah stepped through the black gateway, taking with her Bookman's Apprentice. And like that they were gone.

Kanda had really pushed it to make it to England. He could've stopped overnight at an inn where they advertised their specialty soba-he went in for a late supper-but he didn't. All because he didn't want BakaUsagi's rescue squad to get any further ahead than him then they already are.

He'd just arrived in England, twilight was approaching. The sun's last light cast an eerie glow over the docks. It was peaceful to say the least. A sour look grew on his face when he thought of how this atmosphere would be disturbed when he joined up with everyone else.

They better still be in England…

As if someone had heard his thoughts, a loud crack of thunder was heard in the distance. Kanda's head twisted in that direction. He spotted an abnormal gathering of dark clouds. Lighting suddenly shot down, each strike hitting the earth gathering speed. He recognized that skill, it was BakaUsagi's Innocence. A smirk appeared on his face and he adjusted Mugen's sheath before taking off in that direction.

After getting lost in some dead ends, Kanda had finally made it to where he'd seen BakaUsagi's Innocence being used. He unsheathed Mugen sensing something was wrong. The street had been completely destroyed, surrounding buildings had suffered damage as well. His sharp eyes were scanning the scene for any people, when he saw a familiar face.

"Oi! Woman, what happened?!" Kanda shouted as he rushed over. He hadn't seen her around much, but he knew her to be the Exorcist Miranda Lotto. Currently she was leaned up against the wall, her head drooped down showing she wasn't conscious. He noticed a large patch of dried blood covering the nape of her neck, it seemed to have been dripping down from the back of her head. Kanda tsked, she needed medical attention.

He sheathed Mugen once again and scooped up the woman, as he turned to head into town he paused to glance around the deserted area. That was definitely BakaUsagi's Innocence he'd seen. So where was he now?