Well folks, it's chapter twelve. And what a chapter I have for you today. Now, let's review.
Ed and Medusa revealed to Lord Death that they both had magical abilities. Medusa being a witch who just wanted a normal life, Ed just wanting to know more. Seems pretty good, but hey, things can hit the shitter faster than you can say shit pie.
On with the story.
Ed stared at Stein, his disbelief being the most obvious.
"You mean to say that the one thing that could send the world into a royal pain in the ass is in fact just locked up beneath a school? And you work for that nut job!" screamed Ed. Soul, in weapon form noticed that there was some dust falling from cracks.
"Lord Death said the threat was contained," replied Stein calmly.
"Why wouldn't Lord Death just kill the Kishin?" asked Maka.
"I do not know why, all I know is that's probably what the witches are after." Ed growled, why would Skully keep the 'bane of all evil' inside a school? Really, it was a bit stupid.
"Alright, let's get going, the sooner this is done the sooner I can start being pissed at Skully." There was a mutual agreement between everyone, but the topic was not over with.
In silence, the group ran ahead, following Stein and Spirit because they obviously knew where to go. When they got to the first obstacle, everyone was expecting a large tough opponent. Instead it was the panda witch.
"I am Matilda! The –" Whatever she had left to say was cut off as Edward waved his hand, red alchemical lightning flowing into the walls. Two stone pillars erupted from both walls, crushing the panda witch. They withdrew, revealing a floating purple ball.
The group never slowed down.
They kept running for what seemed like hours, but was in fact minutes. They reached what appeared to be an intersection in the corridor, branching off into 5 different directions.
"Alright, 5 halls, Stein, any clue which way to go?" asked Ed. He had unanimously taken charge of the situation.
"None, I've never been this far down," he replied, gripping Spirit in his hands.
"Ok then, everyone, pick a hall, get to the end, if you find nothing, head back."
"THE GREAT BLACKSTAR WILL DEFEAT YOU!" cried the blue haired ninja, bolting down the middle hallway, shouting after a non – existent enemy.
"Medusa and me will go this way, Stein, go down that far hall, Kid, go through the one next to him and Maka, you go through that one, everyone agreed?" Ed pointed out the respective hallways while giving orders.
The group nodded before running down their halls, separating.
As Ed and Medusa ran down the hall, a thought came to his mind.
If he killed the Kishin, wouldn't Truth send him back to his world? Away from Medusa? From the life he had carved out here?
He couldn't leave her, not after just finding some semblance of peace with himself.
Yet, it's not like he could leave Mr. 'spark of the Armageddon' just walking about, now could he? No, that wouldn't do.
Perhaps he could wheel and deal with Truth, maybe get some relief sent over to his brother? A little consolation that he was alive.
And yes, he remembered the incident when he had found out that 'Alphonse' inside him was in fact a copy, put there only to keep Ed's mental state in the 'sane' area. But, if Truth was willing to connect the worlds, perhaps he could just let Alphonse know that he was happy.
Ignoring that train of thought, it being unimportant right now, he ran ahead until he came across what looked like a bombed out room.
In the center of it stood Free, the Wizard/Wolf/Eye transplant dude.
"Free, can't say I actually met you. How's life?" asked Ed, heart beating from running so much.
"Meh, Truthfully I'd rather be somewhere else, but I'm fulfilling my payment. My release from prison for this job."
"And so now it's just distracting us so that someone can revive the Kishin?" asked Ed.
Free was about to nod when he looked at Medusa. "Hey, your that witch who was asking me how I got out? What are you doing here?"
There was a small moment of silence.
"... Oh, you're working for Lord Death?" he stated in a bored tone.
"So? Maybe he has benefits?" Free looked skyward thoughtfully, almost pondering the idea.
"Well, I don't care, I'm here just to stall you," Finished Free. He still stood there, not doing much of anything.
Ed smirked. He crouched into a fighting stance, drawing up an alchemical spear from the earth, twirling it a few times. Without warning, Ed leapt forward, slashing the spear in a side swipe at Free. The other wizard jumped backwards and did a reverse handspring, landing on his feet. Medusa unleashed some vector arrows and a vector plate on Free, all either being dodged or having no effect. Ed continued to swing the spear, now encrusted with magical fire, yet Free kept dodging it. Oddly enough, Free was not attacking, but instead just dodging everything.
"Screw it," muttered Ed. He stopped his attack, instead transmuting the floor, ceiling and walls to send spikes at the wizard.
When they retreated, Free was still alive, with a spear through his chest.
"A hologram?" yelled Ed.
"Took you long enough, we're almost at the Kishin," replied Free, his form flickering out of existence.
"Let's go!" yelled Medusa, dragging a shocked Ed back to the world and down the hall.
They ran for a minute before catching up with Kid and Blackstar. "Alright, anybody hurt?" asked Medusa, her training kicking in.
"No, just a few scrapes. Were good," replied Kid.
"Then let's go!" shouted Ed, running down the halls.
The group ran, nearing the point where Lord Death had locked away the evil for 800 years.
When they got there, Free and another witch, somebody with a frog theme, was about to stab the skin sack that was the Kishin with a needle obviously filled with black blood.
It swirled and sloshed inside the needle, urging itself to get out.
"Hold it right there!" shouted Ed, the group standing at the entrance.
Free turned to the opponents. Ed could see there was something in his eyes, something darker than he remembered. Something foreign.
"And why would we? With this we will finally rule the world!" shouted the frog witch. Ed remembered her as Eurka, the frog witch that kept communication with Medusa and Mabaa open.
"Well, thing is, that Kishin is the harbinger of doom, as such I can't let him come back to life. In fact, I'm going to have to destroy what's left of him right here anyways."
Ed strode forward, red lightning flying as spikes and stone walls shot out of the earth, killing both witch and wizard. He let the lightning grab the purple orbs and suck them into his body, them becoming purple rocks shortly before sinking into his flesh.
A foot long sword jumped into his hands, made of rock and sharpened to the width of an atom. He stood in front of the skin sack, observing it, before swinging the sword into it, cutting the thing in half. From there he transmuted the two halves into base components, before turning those into a bomb and blowing it up, sealing the ashes and other products into a stone cylinder.
He tried to activate the human transmutation circle to bring it to Truth, but nothing happened.
"Wha?" he muttered. Before he knew it, his vision rolled like an old T.V. on the fritz, before he realized he was facing a wall.
Turning around, he saw Medusa fighting with an invisible opponent, Kid blasting the ground with his pistols with a look of terror on his face, and Blackstar jumping into the air and slashing nothing.
While Eurka stuck the needle into the Kishin.
Ed wavered on his feet, the realization that the Madness had taken control over him and everyone else temporarily, just enough that they were distracted by visions.
And now the black blood was coursing through the Kishin's veins, revitalizing it with unknown power.
Power that resisted Alchemy.
"Shit," he muttered.
The fleshy bag fell, hitting the ground with a resounding thud. The Witch Eurka and wizard Free were gone, probably by some teleportation magic.
The flesh bag writhed and moved, the material gradually shrinking until it began to close around a vaguely human shape.
Everyone was repulsed; the sight of flesh forming around a body was not a pleasing sight. It began to take on the shape of a face, the rest of the skin forming around the body.
The figure, obviously the Kishin, stood up hesitantly, unsure of itself on its own feet. It's eyeless face glanced around while everyone stood still. It seemed like it was looking for something.
Blackstar, being an idiot, decided to strike.
"YAHOO!" cried the blue haired ninja, Tsubaki in her dagger form. He dashed across the room, poised to stab the knife. Kid raised Pattie and Liz in their weapon forms, ready to fire. Medusa let loose a dozen black arrows at the Kishin. Finally, Edward let loose a few fireballs, all striking the Kishin.
The fire hit, but did nothing to the Kishin. Instead, while the other three people were attacking, it attacked.
Grabbing it's arm, it pulled at its flesh until it was a good two feet long. Letting go, the flesh flew back, but instead of going back into the arm, it sailed over, striking Blackstar in the face. There was flash of surprise on his face before his nose spurted blood and flew backwards, propelled by an unknown force.
The flesh flew back, this time striking Kid, the same thing happening. He flew backwards, impacting on a wall.
Medusa tried to dodge it, but it clipped her shoulder, sending her spinning into a far corner of the room.
Edward, having seen the previous three, managed to transmute an angled wall, deflecting the flesh away.
The Kishin looked surprised. "Not many could have withstood that," it spoke, the voice slightly gravelly.
"Well, it's not that hard," replied Ed, standing in a combat pose, fire in his right hand. The eyeless face regarded him for a moment. The blank face gazed as small bits of cloth arrived out of thin air, coating the Kishin in a sort of mummy wrap. When it encompassed its face, black hair spilled from beneath the bandages. The ones on his face had three vertical eyes, not unlike the ones from the Gate.
"Tell me, who are you?" asked the demonic being. Ed grinned.
"I'm the guy who is going to take your soul," he replied, flinging another fireball.
The Kishin let it hit, knowing it would do nothing. It was surprised when Ed was in front, plunging an alchemical knife into his chest. Ed spun around, slamming another into its back, the tips touching, activating the array.
The blades fused into one rod with a few spikes in random directions, ensuring it's place in the Kishin.
It just smiled, green substance dripping from rotten teeth.
Edward gaped when the bandaged hand reached up and pulled the knife out, the handle and guard slicing through its back.
When it was out, it tossed it to a far corner. There was a giant hole in its chest, but that was corrected as something healed it, the flesh just re- growing.
"How did you do that?" asked Ed, scared.
"You clearly know nothing about the power of a Kishin," replied the thing. Edward was stunned. Both at the fact that the combined knifes had been pulled out and thrown, and that the wound had just healed.
With blinding speed, the Kishin leapt forward, kicking Edward in the midsection, throwing him to a corner of the room. Red light crackled where broken ribs were. Coughing, Ed stood up, forming the fire into a gauntlet around each hand.
Not waiting for an answer, he dived forward, ducking to the left while slamming his arm into the chest of the Kishin.
It recoiled, aiming a Kick at Edward's head. He ducked again, jumping up and slamming his fist into the side of the Kishin's face. Using that momentum, he twisted himself in the air, transmuting a block to erupt from a wall and slam the demon into the floor.
Edward stood up, just in time to be kicked in the head by the Kishin. He recoiled, only to have the Kishin kick again, this time punching him in the ribs. A second blow to the solar plexus winded Ed, while a second blow to the head rendered his vision into a blurry mess. Red sparks danced, fixing him.
"Tell me, how do you heal yourself?" asked the Kishin.
Ed spat some blood onto the ground. "Family secret," he coughed, resuming a haphazard fighting stance.
The Kishin grinned.
[A.N.] And I'm sooooo sorry about the long ass update. I've just had a huge amount of shit on my plate right now, a good portion having to do with the recent influx of games released. I've also had driving lessons, learning the Mole concept in chem. 11, fun shit like that.
And to boot, and you fellow authors will understand, I've had an insane amount of plot bunnies. Enough that I'm also posting a new story, along with the first two chapters.
Other than that, sorry about the wait, enjoy.