Death looked into his mystical mirror, observing the chaos taking place in his academy. Needless to say, he was just a little bit miffed. "Death Scythe!" he called.
Immediately, the red-haired father of Maka Albarn appeared at Death's side. "I'm ready, sir," he said as he morphed into a black-bladed scythe. Death took hold of the weapon and slung the blade over his shoulder.
"Let's get down to business," Death said as he headed out of the Death Room.
-o-
Black Star swung Tsubaki's blade ferociously, aiming to gut the smoker that he was fighting. The stranger was annoyingly agile, jumping, ducking, sidestepping, and just plain dodging all of Black Star's attacks. This was quickly becoming irritating.
"Grr! Hold still, jackass!" the blue-haired boy shouted in anger and frustration.
"What's the magic word?" the man replied tauntingly as stepped aside from yet another downward slash. He moved away from several other attacks before speaking again. "You realize that you leave yourself wide open, right?"
"What?" Black Star asked in surprise. The smoker promptly kneed him in the stomach, then performed a roundhouse right into the young assassin's face. Black Star flew across the room and crashed into a wall. Again.
"You're too focused on rushing the opponent," the man said, still smirking cockily. "That might intimidate lesser foes, but against a guy like me, it'll only get you killed. You need to up the ante a little. Think your movements through before acting. If there's no time to think completely, then just make the time."
"Why would you… give me advice?" Black Star asked suspiciously between heavy breaths
"Simple. I prefer a strong adversary to a weak opponent. And you have the potential to be a great rival. But first, you have to learn to think, not just act." He then dashed over to the assassin with shocking speed and slammed a fist into his face, launching him through the wall. Tsubaki flew out of the blue-haired boy's grip and skidded across the floor before turning human again. She sprinted over to stand over Black Star defensively, ready for anything. The smoker cocked his head from side to side, cracking his neck. He watched the dark-haired ninja girl with a curious gaze.
"Stay away from him," she said protectively. The smoker raised an eyebrow at the girl.
"You really care for the little dunce, don't you?" he asked. He suddenly had a nostalgic, maybe even wistful, look on his face. "Like brother and sister…" he mumbled.
"What?" Tsubaki said with a confused blink.
The man tossed away his current cigarette and stomped it out before turning and walking away. "Nothing," he said as he left them. He threw up his hand to wave them goodbye. "I've gotta go now. See ya later."
"Wait!" Black Star as he sat up in some pain. "Who are you?"
Without turning, the man said, "Call me Bishop." With that, he disappeared, leaving the young meister and his weapon to wonder about him.
-o-
Once again, Lillian screamed into her microphone, unleashing a mindless sound wave that shattered everything in its path. Crona seemed to be the only one immune to the effect, Maka realized, most likely because he also used sound-based attacks. The pink-haired swordsman slashed through debris and other things as he sprinted closer and closer to the pop star wannabe.
"You're totally ruining everything!" Lillian shouted into her microphone. "You're messing up my performance and my music!"
"You call this music!?" Ragnarok exclaimed with a laugh. "I've heard better songs from children's TV shows!"
"Don't taunt her, Ragnarok!" Crona pleaded with his weapon as he hacked through a large chunk of stone. "I don't think I'll be able to deal with her if she's gets even angrier!" Soon, he was finally within range for close combat. He slashed downward, only to have Ragnarok's blade blocked by Lillian's microphone stand. "Ragnarok, cut through it!"
"I'm trying!" Ragnarok grunted out. "This damn thing's a lot harder than it looks! Amping up the vibration isn't doing anything!"
"Of course not!" Lillian said with a disturbingly happy grin. "My microphone is enchanted by my mistress!"
"Mistress?" Maka asked to herself. She was kneeling on the ground next to an unconscious Soul, who had blacked out from the pain caused by Lillian's "music." Lillian suddenly looked like she caught herself.
"Whoops! I almost gave it away!" She jumped away, making Crona stumble a few feet. She landed around fifteen feet away. "My mistress doesn't want me revealing anything just yet! She wouldn't be too happy if I did."
"You're working for someone?" Crona inquired.
Lillian giggled and said, "Of course! She's the most powerful person alive! She makes that Kishin Asura look like a toddler throwing a temper tantrum!" That comment made Maka's eyes widen in shock. If Lillian was working for someone that powerful, then the DWMA is in serious trouble.
"Who is she?" Maka demanded more than asked.
"You really want to know?" Lillian asked back. "Well, okay then! My mistress's name is-"
"Lillian," said a calm, relaxed voice. Out of nowhere, a tall man with a cigarette in his mouth appeared next to her. "You know our mistress doesn't want us revealing anything. That was the agreement in the contract."
"Oh, Bishop!" Lillian said in surprise. "I'm so glad you're here!" She pointed at Crona with a pouty face. "That guy was ruining all my songs! Can't you do something about that?"
"I can," Bishop stated, "but I won't. Besides, can't you feel it? Death is on his way right now. Our mistress told us to abort if he came along."
"But what about her?" the little diva asked, pointing to Maka almost accusingly. "She's the one we came for! And didn't you say that we would fight Death if he got in the way?" Maka stared at the pair in confusion. They were after her?
"I did, but I'm not really in the mood for that." The man called Bishop took his cigarette out of his mouth and breathed out a small cloud of smoke. "Besides, we have to go. I just received a command saying that we have to return to base. The others are waiting for us."
Lillian pouted. "Fine, let's go." Slowly, their bodies began to fade from the feet up.
"Wait!" Maka called. "What does your leader want with me? Why am I so important?"
Bishop chuckled. "Order and chaos. One or the other. No good, no evil. That's how this world works in reality. Believe it or not, your Lord Death is a being of chaos. What does that make us?" Before anyone could answer, the two intruders were gone completely, leaving Maka with countless unanswered questions.
"Oh, dear," said the voice of Death. "It appears we're late." Spirit transformed back into his human form and immediately ran over to Maka.
"Maka!" he called in that ridiculously overprotective way of his. "Are you all right, my precious daughter!?" He tried to hug her, but the meister-weapon hybrid raised her fist so that his face collided with it.
"I'm fine, Dad," she said, slightly angered by his embarrassing actions. She turned to Death, seemed distant for some reason. "Lord Death?"
"Hmm? Yes, Maka?"
"I think we need to talk."
Death mulled it over for a few seconds. "Yes. I suppose we do. Death Scythe, gather up Black Star, Kid, and the others. Crona, you and Ragnarok are coming as well."
"Why do we need the others?" Maka asked.
"Simple, young meister," the Grim Reaper explained. "All of you are tied into the same ultimate destiny."
-o-
Bishop and Lillian appeared from a cloud of smoke in front the doors to a large Gothic mansion. Bishop pushed the left door open and let Lillian enter first. They sauntered down a hallway, Lillian being surprisingly quiet and Bishop acting strangely serious. They soon entered a large rotunda, where three other people awaited them, not including their leader.
"Well, well," said a white-haired man with crazed grin, "it looks like the favorites failed. Why show your faces here if you screwed up?"
"Shut up, Raith," said a man with wild dark hair. "So what if they came back empty-handed? That just means that we can try our own hand at it."
"Very true, Aramos!" the crazed man said with a wicked laugh.
The third person, an entity that was entirely dark, said nothing. He simply eyed the two who had just returned and gave a nod of acknowledgement.
"Welcome back, Bishop, Lillian," said a woman's voice. All eyes fell upon a lone woman who entered the room through the door on the other side. "It is good to know that you are willing to follow orders." Bishop just nodded, as did Lillian. "I have called you back because a certain matter has come to my attention. Maka Albarn is unknowingly carrying our greatest adversary within her own soul."
"Really?" the man called Raith asked curiously. "Oh, goody! Think we can get a couple of rounds in against her?"
"That would be suicide on your part, Raith," the woman warned. "We must tread more carefully than before. The girl has become even more dangerous to our plans. If she is to be assimilated to our cause or erased to prevent impediment, we must do so warily. There is no telling what she may be capable of."
All five heads nodded in understanding, some more begrudgingly than the others. Maka Albarn was indeed grave threat. But she may also end up being their greatest asset.