IMITATION GOLD

4 months after asura

She crouched and ran towards him, one arm swirling into a blade that was aimed to tear into his side. He raised his palm and with a flick of his wrist, Soul broke her nose and sent her flying into the wall across the room. Blood dripped to her feet and formed into needles; they pierced his flesh but didn't get far, as his own blood hardened.

She transformed her other arm as well, and fire began to spew from her hair. She was irritated that she couldn't defeat Soul yet; he was faster than her, and his power as a kishin was now under control. The squint of an eye, the twitch of a muscle, any vague movement from him could carry with it a wave of madness that burned even her. Agni was proud; and the fact that she was losing after all this time didn't sit well with her.

Soul had scythes come from his back and above his elbows, a nasty smirk on his face. He knew he was stronger than her, he knew she knew. She charged at him almost recklessly, but the solid rock beneath his feet began to grow hot. To his absolute surprise, it became magma and burned his shoes and feet. Jumping away, black blood scabbed on his toes and heels. She was certainly much more powerful than her sister; to be able to turn rock into molten lava was something he couldn't begin to fathom.

"Working hard, I see. Soul, Agni, have you worked on resonance yet?" Justin Law was irritated by the bored looks he recieved from them, but took them as a no. After a few minutes of contemplating his options, he decided to challenge them. How else could he gauge their compatibility? Blades came from his forearms as he approached the pair. Agni approached Soul, who was getting back onto his feet after they were burned. Her hand reached his in time for them to block the attack that would undoubtedly have taken off Soul's head.

Agni took partial control of Soul and ducked down to kick out Justin's feet, but he jumped and kicked Soul in the chin instead. More drops of blood fell as he scrambled to dodge the next attack; Agni bought him a few moments by launching the bloody needles, scratching Justin's face.

The death scythe pulled his lips back into what seemed like a grin; it shook Agni and to some degree, even Soul. A tsunami of madness fell over Justin Law and everything went negative; Agni's blade was a pure white shining through the darkness, and Soul's piercing red eyes glowed. He went to attack the pair again but thought better of it; he had other reasons for visiting them.

Soul slowly let his guard down and allowed Agni to part from his hand. Justin Law smiled appreciateively at them.

"You're progressing nicely. However, it's time for us to move bases. The plan will be put into motion soon.

"What about the DWMA? Surely Rudy has told them our plans by now. They'll be amassing a force to take us down, as they've done in the past."

He thought about this for a few moments. Their prime candidates were Death the Kid, Black*Star, Maka, Kilik Rung, Ox Ford, and Kim Diehl, accompanied by their weapons. They were two teams that could also group resonate, and they were on the front lines when the DWMA went to claim Brew and to fight Aracnophobia.

Maka Albarn was incapacitated, and her weapon was now her enemy; she was also the only meister he knew of that could resist madness. A key player against them was taken down already. That also destroyed the strongest team, making group resonance and therefore power plays that much more difficult.

Black*Star has the Nakatsukasa weapon, which had the ability to shift between three or four forms; to his knowledge, she was able to turn into a shuriken, a smoke bomb, a ninja sword, and she had absorbed the enchanted sword as well. Black*Star was also part of the Star clan, known for their tenacity and brutality. He was in a class of his own in strength; but he had proven susceptible to madness before, and would likely fall to it again.

If Rudra had chosen him as a meister, he would quickly find himself staring over the edge.

Death the Kid was a reaper and also vulnerable to madness; he also had a tendancy to lose focus in the midst of battle. He had twin weapons, a pair of pistols he picked up in New York. Justin Law always found them distasteful, though his encounters with them were few.

Kilik, Ox, and Kim were all very used to fighting in tandem, and they were almost as powerful as the first team. Kilik was an accomplished boxer, and he was very in tune with his weapons - not to mention, Agni was very fond of the trio. The Pots were both able to read her due to her composition of fire; Fire was much more attuned to her than Thunder was, but they were most likely to break her from Soul.

Ox Ford was at the top of his class, and if Justin recalled correctly, he had almost beat Maka for that position on more than one occassion. While studious, he was also vehement with his training. He and his weapon Harvar were better together than they were separate; that didn't mean they should be underestimated if separate.

Kim Diehl was the one he had heard the least about - but her weapon Jaqueline O. Lantern Dupree showed how versatile she was on the field. She could be used as a weapon, transportation, a signal, or a light. Kim was also very aware of her weapon and was able to utilize a new attack within moments of concieving an idea.

The two that stood before him weren't very impressive; Soul Eater, a scythe and the kishin. He was finally coming into his own strength, but would he be able to hold his own against Death's finest? His gaze shifted towards the taller weapon, Agni. She was specially crafted for kishin wavelengths, but she was also capable of taking complete control of the kishin's mind during battle.

She was unable to be damaged by normal weapons - and now that she was apart from Rudra, that could change.

Rudra. Would they send her to this fight as well? It would be a foolish move - Soul could take her back easily, and Agni would be powerful enough to pull this plan off. However, this worked the other way as well - Rudra would be able to thwart them if she tried. And the thing that link the two powerful groups was just that - they kept on trying. And if they tried hard enough, they typically succeeded.

But they would be ready this time.

Agni maintained that she hated planes - but she hated traveling on boats even more. They took a tiny little boat from somewhere in California down to Hawaii, where they continued on through dense forests only to come upon a very oddly placed door. Mosquito was the one who opened the door, a few bugs skittering away from the sunlight. They proceeded inside, the lights flickering dimly against the walls.

The halls were barely big enough for them to walk single file - some hallways seemed even more narrow, but there was an overwhelming amount of heat the further they walked. Everyone was beginning to feel perspiration on their brow, but Agni was completely unmarred by a single bead of sweat.

There was a large room coming up, a faint glow coming from the bend at the end of the hall. Rounding the corner they were staring into a large room with a conference table, seating at least 20. The most eye-catching part of the room was the giant window that spanned two walls, showing the inside of a magma chamber under a dormant volcano.

This is where the final point in their plan would come to fruition.