-.-.-.-

Chapter 17: Unexpected Attack

-.-.-.-

Nova's POV

I groaned as I sat up, rubbing my back, wondering how I got on to the floor of the hospital when I froze, bringing my hands up to my face. No way. I was…alive? I stood up slowly, rubble rolling off of me when I glanced to the side, eyes widened in shock. My body was on the bed, and my face was grinning like a maniac. Just what was going on? Suddenly, my head turned and met my gaze, blood red eyes staring back at me.

"So you managed to escape then," Avon whispered as she hopped off of the bed, brushing the dirt off of her. I gaped at her, who was now in my body, and running my hand through my hair. Which was now a deep black.

"What do you mean?" I asked as she crossed her arms in front of her chest, a frown on her face.

"What I took over your body, you were supposed to go back into that burning white room. But somehow, you slipped out of it and ended up outside of your mind, invisible." I blinked at her last word and shook my head, not understanding.

"Invisible?" To prove what she was saying, Avon raised her hand up to her face, eye brows raised expectantly. Blinking in uncertainty, I did the same and widened my eyes when my solid looking hand just suddenly became transparent. I let out a little gasp, completely confused on what was happening to me.

"S-so I'm a ghost now?" I hoarsely inquired as I raised my other hand to my face, seeing that it was see through as well. Avon smirked at me, eyes narrowed as she flipped her hair with her fingertips.

"Not necessarily. You're still very much alive. It's just that your spirit isn't inside your body anymore. You can solidify yourself, but that would take a bit of practice. So for now, you're invisible to the human eye." I could hear the sound of glass crashing, probably my entire state of mind.

"If you can get your friends to hear you, I'll give you some credit. But right now I've got more important things to do." Avon quietly said as she put a hand beside her waist, her sword from before materializing in her hand. She unsheathed it and looked at it with a grin, glancing up at me.

"If I were you, I'd get out of here as fast as possible before this whole building falls on top of you." She said with a grin, raising her sword up high. I widened my eyes, about to take off when I realized-my Innocence. I glanced at Avon's neck and saw that it was still hooked around it. Making a running leap for it, I jumped out, about to tear it off of her neck when-

I passed straight through her.

Rolling on the other side, I looked back at her with wide eyes. This can't be happening. She's got my Innocence and I can't fight! Avon grinned back at me, wrapping her hand around the necklace. I immediately understood what she was going to do. As I tried to stop her, she ripped the chain off of her neck and threw it into the air, the hand with the sword already swinging. With a flash of green light, my Innocence was split in two, now on the ground in front of Avon's feet. Eyes brimming with tears, I lifted my head and met her blazing gaze with my own.

"You bastard!" I took off running at full speed, adrenaline pumping through me as anger fueled it, feeling like I was held to the ground once more. Avon's eyes widened as I swooped down and picked up my Innocence, heading towards her. With a yell, I slammed my fist into her face, sending her tumbling over the bed. Panting, I looked down at my Innocence and saw that I couldn't activate it anymore, now being broken. Putting it in my pocket carefully, I fumed with anger as Avon got up to her feet, a bruise where I punched her now forming.

"My turn," With a swipe of her blade, a gust of hot air whacked me straight in the face, my back making contact with the wall. Spitting out blood, I groaned as I held my still injured ribs. I gotta get back to being transparent! I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself down, trying to let my anger die away when I felt another gust of hot air hit my face.

I shut my eyes, expecting to feel pain, when surprisingly, none came at all. I opened my eyes to see that I had gone invisible once more, a little happy that I had actually done it. Avon scowled at me, balancing her sword on her shoulders as she pointed towards the door.

"I can't kill you, or otherwise your body won't move for me, so get going. You can't fight me anyway." She barked, a superior look in those red eyes of hers. I gritted my teeth, knowing that she was right.

"When I see you again, I swear I'll get my body back," I growled at her as I left kicking the door open, stalking out of the place, just as a line of fire burst out of the door I just came from. As I phased through the door of the hospital, the building began to shake terribly behind me. As I came through the smoke, I saw that my friends were all standing outside of it, a look of horror on all of their faces. I walked in front of Lavi and waved my hand in front of him. No reaction.

With a sigh, I put my hands on my head for a moment, trying to think of a way to solidify again when the building behind me actually crumbled to the ground. The only one standing was Avon who stepped out of all the rubble, a malicious grin on her face.

"Nova?" Allen called out as he approached slowly, but Lavi put a hand on his arm, shaking his head.

"Nova wouldn't do something like wreck a hospital." Lenalee muttered under her breath as she lowered her eyes. I pushed myself to think harder, a way to solidify once more.

"Anyways, we gotta make sure that this person doesn't do any more damage. I already called for reinforcements." Kanda said as he activated Mugen, putting it in front of him defensively. Realizing this, I ran over next to him-knowing he couldn't see me.

"Wow, to think he would do something like that," Suddenly, Kanda's face whirled around to meet mine and I cried out in shock at how close he was.

"What the-? Nova?" He asked, eyes searching for me as he sheathed his weapon. I blinked and looked at him weirdly, not understanding how he could hear me.

"Y-you can hear me?" I exclaimed, earning Allen, Lavi's, and Lenalee's surprised gazes turned this way.

"Nova!" Allen called out, not able to see me either. Lenalee broke out into a smile of relief while Lavi was trying to figure out what was going on.

"Where are you kid?" Kanda asked as he walked extremely close to my face. I leaned back away from him when he took yet another step forward in my personal bubble.

"Stop walking! I'm right in front of you!" I yelled, making the Japanese man stop in his tracks.

"Is there a way we can see you Nova? So we know that you're alright?" Lenalee asked as she came up next to Kanda, a worried look in her eyes.

"I really don't know. I did it back in the hospital when I was with Avon for a second but that was when I was really mad."

"Wait, you fought Avon? Who's that?" Lavi interjected as he came up besides Lenalee. I mentally smacked myself for not realizing.

"I'm sorry. I'll have to tell you about this all later. Right now we just need to take care of what's going on right now. Avon is the one who you see that is me. She took over my body. I'll just leave it at that. And now she's off to do something really bad. She's also looking to destroy the Order as well." I tried to explain the best I could, seeing that my entire team looked really confused.

"Alright, so Avon is the one who is using your body?" Allen confirmed, looking back at the person who grinned at everything in sight.

"Yup,"

"Okay then! We have to hold her off as long as we can then!" Lavi exclaimed as he activated his Innocence, raising his hammer up and making it grow in side as he brought it down on Avon. Lenalee and Allen joined the battle instantly, but Kanda stayed beside me for a moment, quiet.

"Kanda? What're you doing? Shouldn't you be-"

"I thought you were going to die," He suddenly said, making me stop talking. I met his eyes and saw them lowered on the ground, looking a little clouded. Was he-?

"Hey, we've still got a promise to keep remember?" I tried to cheerfully say, the sentence coming out not like I wanted. I felt a tug at my gut but ignored it, continuing to talk.

"I'm not going to die that easily alright? It's okay; I'll get my body back somehow." I saw Kanda glance over at me, his eyes widening slightly. I blinked and wondered why he did that as he approached me.

"Wha-" Suddenly, I felt two hands fall on my shoulders, pulling me forward. With widened eyes, I stiffened when his face got really close, his dark eyes staring into mine. What made me realize that I was solid again was when a pair of lips met my own softly. It was only a moment, but when he pulled away, I met his softened gaze with a small smile.

I felt that tug once more, feeling weightless again as I knew that I was slowly becoming invisible once more. Kanda's hand stroked the side of my cheek with a smile before he pulled away, knowing that I was gone. Then with a deep breath, he activated Mugen and took off running, me at his heels.

-.-.-.-

Kanda's POV

As I ran towards the girl named Avon, I knew that Nova was beside me, knowing now that she felt what I felt. And now as I clashed weapons with the black haired version of the girl that I loved, a burst of anger flared up inside me at how this being took over her body. If it would mean the world to her, he'd get her body back for her. As I put every ounce of strength I had against the sword that looked like hers, I could hear Nova cheering for me softly.

"Go Kanda! Kick her ass so I can get my body back!" She yelled-right next to me, providing me with some assistance when Avon was suddenly thrown back, Nova probably punching the hell out of her. When she was thrown into the air, I charged forward, now my turn to fight.

It went on like this, taking turns with each other, switching with teammates, all battling it out against Avon. Soon I felt like I was tripping on my own feet, my energy being sucked out of me. I glanced at my teammates and saw that they were confused about this as well. When Avon laughed loudly, in Nova's voice, we all turned to her, eyes narrowed.

"You humans are all so stupid! Can't you tell when your energy's being taken away from you?" She asked before she burst into a fit of laughter, clutching her stomach as she wiped the fake tears from her eyes.

"Fight fair Avon!" Nova exclaimed beside me, waves of anger rolling off of her. There was a shimmer, and I thought I saw her form for a second, but it disappeared in a flash. Avon's giggles stopped as she turned her head to where Nova was standing just now.

"Sadly I don't have time to play fair, when I've got a job to do. Oh and thanks for you exorcists for lining up for your death! It makes killing you so much easier!" She exclaimed as she brought her sword behind her, a smirk on her face as she met all of our gazes. With a swing of her arm, a hot gust of wind smacked me hard in the face, knocking me off of my feet when I suddenly felt something hot on my arm, and it was getting even hotter. I looked down to see half my arm on fire. With widened eyes, I looked at all my teammates to see a flame on them as well. About a few meters away was a giant ball of fire on an invisible…holy shit. I could hear her screams now.

"Nova!" We all called as we rushed over to the jolting body of fire, kneeling down next to her. I clenched my jaw as I realized I couldn't do anything if I couldn't see her. We all realized it as we glanced at each other. There was a shimmer and I saw her pained face and an arm patting against the embers on her body.

"What you did just now…was unforgiveable." I growled as I stood up, glaring hard at the girl who smirked back at me. Lenalee stayed next to Nova, trying to pat down the embers while Allen and Lavi followed my lead, an angry look in their eyes.

"Oh? So I hurt your girlfriend then huh?" Avon taunted as she balanced her sword on her shoulder, a hand on her hip. I lowered my head, a scowl on my face as I activated my Level 2 Form, two glowing swords now in my other hand. As I leaped towards her at blinding speed, I could see her growing grin as she raised her own weapon to block my attack.

As we exchanged blows, I could hear approaching footsteps and glanced back to see the reinforcements I had called for, now coming in. Surprisingly, Sam, and General Tiedoll were the only ones who came. I turned forward and continued trying to beat the living hell out of this being. It's payback, 100 times over.

-.-.-.-

Nova's POV

Oh god, who knew flames, hurt so much. I screamed in my mind to solidify as my teammates just looked down at me, unable to do anything about this pain. Help me! I kept screaming in my head as I willed myself to solidify. When I felt the tug in my stomach again, I sighed as I felt hands now trying to pat the embers out. Suddenly, I heard footsteps and glanced behind Lenalee to see Sam running over with General Tiedoll.

"What's going on here?" General Tiedoll asked as I stumbled on to my feet, clutching my arm. Allen steadied me gently, his gaze locked on the red and seared flesh wound with a frown.

"Nova? Wait, why is there another you over there?" Sam inquired as he pointed over to where Kanda was fighting Avon, a completely pissed off look on his face.

"It's kind of a long story, but that isn't me. That is my body though. A monster took over it and plans to destroy the Order, innocent people, and the Earl as well." I briefly explained, giving them a one sided frown as they both narrowed their eyes at the black haired look alike of me.

"That doesn't sound very good," General Tiedoll muttered under his breath as he glanced over at Sam expectantly. Sam, with a cold, guarded look in his eye, nodded and pulled out his double swords from behind his back, his skin changing color and his fiery blue changed eyes blazing. With a bend of his knees, he exploded off of the ground and headed straight for the battle between Kanda and Avon. I was too zoned into the battle to see General Tiedoll staring at me for a moment, glasses blocking his eyes.

"Um, I suppose we should get yours wounds fixed up no?" He asked, pointing to my scorched arm and bandages around my stomach. I gulped and grinned weakly, nodding in agreement. Allen cleared his throat beside me and I glanced up at him, an eyebrow raised.

"I think we should take care of Avon first, sir." He softly said, his eyes darting over to where Kanda and Sam were fighting. The curly haired General chuckled and turned, pulling something from behind his back.

"Yes, yes you're right." As he moved in front of Allen, Lenalee and me, he took a cross and a scepter-rod, attaching the two together, raising it up to eye level, a glare in his eye.

"Witness the beauty of this world, Maker of Eden!" Suddenly the cross and the rod burst into glowing light, the cross enveloped in a dark blue energy and the rod, a bright yellow. He plunged the rod into the ground and a large puff of smoke came hissing from underneath the ground, a figure forming form the smoke; a humanoid looking creature with white angelic wings wearing a flowing white dress.

"Sam! Yu!" He called out as the angel exploded into the air, heading straight for Avon with a large flap of her wings. The two swordsmen turned and saw the approaching creature, immediately splitting up and jumping away just as the angel went through the middle, slamming straight into the raised red sword of Avon.

The black haired Shigai smirked from behind the sword, looking up at the humanoid angel, her eyes widening for a moment. For a second, a look of fear flashed through her red eyes as the angel ripped the sword away from her hands, flinging it through the air as she grabbed Avon by the throat, raising her up in the air.

"You can't kill me yet! I've still got a mission to carry out! And with this, you die!" Avon screamed as the red sword that was flying through the air stopped, and hovered for a second, the point of it beginning to glow. It slowly turned towards where the General and I were, the glowing getting brighter. Suddenly, there was a loud flash and I caught a red ray of light explode from the sword and head straight for us. As we all jumped away from the explosion, I saw through the smoke, Avon making a run for it, a look of terror flashing through her red eyes as she glanced back.

"Get back here!" I snapped as I hopped to my feet, instantly going back down when my side flared with pain. Lenalee was beside me, helping me up as the General deactivated his Innocence, turning to me with a look of concern.

"We'll find her again later. Our only objective was to make sure that this town wasn't blown off the map. Now our current one is to get you some medical attention. I doubt that the doctors here will be willing to help you again after what just happened here." Sam suggested as we all nodded, making our way towards the train station. I switched over to Kanda's side, wincing as my scorched arm brushed against his coat.

"So, I'm guessing that kiss meant something?" I teased as I glanced up at him, a wide grin on my face. Kanda glanced down at me before he rolled his eyes with a scoff.

"I'm sure it wasn't that hard to figure out." He retorted as he gave my shoulder an affectionate squeeze, making me smile brighter, leaning against him with closed eyes.

"Nope!" I replied, grinning as I felt him chuckle, pulling me closer.

Up in front of the group, Allen and Lenalee grinned as they overheard their conversation, glancing over at Lavi expectantly. The red head was currently sulking, arms crossed in front of him as he pursed his lips.

"I didn't expect it to happen so soon dammit," He muttered under his breath as he met his comrades gazes with a scowl. Allen grinned, running a hand through his hair as he outstretched his other hand towards the Bookman.

"Whatever, just pay up man," The silver haired exorcist said with a smile, watching with pleasure as Lavi rolled his eyes, digging his hands in his pockets for the money. After all, Allen never lost in anything that involved money.

-.-.-.-

Sam's POV

While the exorcists behind me collected their money from the bet, I couldn't stop thinking about the girl named Avon. When I had met up with Kanda…I felt something stir inside of me as I gazed into her wide, astonished eyes. What was it? Why did I feel like this? I looked down at the palm of my hand, eye brows furrowed together in confusion. I recalled what had happened as we fought her.

"Oh? I never thought I'd see you so early," She vaguely greeted as she jumped away from my attack.

"I don't know what you're talking about," I had replied, not understanding as Kanda took a step forward.

"Oi! Give Nova her body back!" He demanded as he lunged forward with a double sword attack, 'tch'ing when Avon spun out of the way, spinning in circles with her arms outstretched.

"No can do! I need this to carry out my mission! Hopefully you'll be there when I'm finished." She winked at me, stirring up even more confusion inside of me. What was she talking about? I couldn't ask her anymore, because the General had decided to help us out, making us move out of the way.

"'Hopefully you'll be there'?" I quoted as I sat down in the seat of the train next to the window, looking out of it thoughtfully. I recalled when I fought her that I thought I heard a soft whisper in the back of my head. Maybe that has something to do with it?

As the train got moving, I shut my eyes, exhausted from all the traveling I had to do and fell asleep. And there, in that silent cavern of darkness, was where I found my worst nightmare.

-.-.-.-

Ahaha, I know it's a bit short and I know I owe you all a HUGE LONG chapter for being so late but I'M SORRY. School is really overwhelming these first two weeks and it's killing me, so please bear with it for a few more weeks! I hope you enjoyed the new chapter! Kanda and Nova finally got together yeah! :) See you all next chapter! And I'm glad that this story is getting a lot of views lately! Hopefully we'll reach the three digit numbers soon! So spread the word about this story! I'm sure your friends will love it!