PART ONE

4m/2w after Asura

Rudra wasn't a stranger to carnage. The last time she roamed this world, it followed her like a plague. She had seen legions cut down - witches and humans alike.

But it all left her now; all of the experience, all of the memories. She heard her sister's blade scrape against their spine before it was fully removed. Their body crumpled to the ground, blood staining their skin. She took a step forward, and that's when she noticed it.

The moment she took that step, power filled her. Shortly after, she could feel the cold grip of insanity. She was angry, she was upset, and she wanted revenge. Her sister had consciously made the choice to melt his weapon down inside of him; effectively killing the only other person that could stand against them.

Soul hadn't moved away from Crona's body, but as Rudra took another step, she could start to feel his soul reaching out for hers. She knew it was draining him to reach out to her while being controlled by Agni; his feet were shifting, and he began to retreat. Rudra used this to her advantage, running to Crona's body. Her hands were stained with the black blood -and she supposed it was also Ragnarok- as she lifted the meister into her arms.

She felt something tighten in the back of her throat, and her nose burned. If she remembered anything, she could recall what despair felt like - and this was it. Their skin was sickly white, and they were beginning to get cold.

Why did she think Crona would be a good candidate to fight the kishin? Why did she send someone else to their death? She could feel tears stinging at her eyes, but she pushed the feeling away.

Her hands were going numb, only for the black blood to stretch over her skin in a cracked pattern. It took all of her willpower to not throw Crona away from her in fear. The blood continued to climb across her skin, before it all faded away. She looked back to Crona, only to see that all of the blood surrounding them was now gone. She lifted the meister and carried them to the edge of the clearing.

Soul was only a few meters away, whispering something unintelligable. She watched her sister relinquish control, his eyes turning red again and the marks disappearing. There was a spark inside of her, and it quickly turned into a shooting pain going up her arm. She grunted in irritation and tried to find the source of her ire; her veins were showing, inky and black against her skin. After a few more moments in pain, a drop of blood came from her palm. Soon, a small fountain followed, and Ragnarok formed in her hand. She stared down at them incredulously, tears quickly coming back to her eyes.

"Idiot, don't cry, look out!" Her eyes snapped to Soul, whose piano wires were quickly coming towards her. Using Ragnarok she managed to deflect them all; she was at a disadvantage, however. They seemed to be unable to channel her element; but she'd be damned if that would stop her now.

She had the power of both the kishin and her sister now; she could do anything she wanted. If Black*Star was here and they were resonated, she would even be able to deprive them of air. She began to walk towards them, meeting a few feet apart in the middle. She rolled her shoulders and a faint wind began to blow through the area. Soul attacked her quickly, recognizing this as her gathering power. He disrupted her, but she was still much quicker than they were. She dropped to the ground and swept his feet out from under him, bringing Ragnarok down to his chest. He didn't even bother to bring Agni up to block it, simply allowing his piano wire to hault the weapon.

"Scream resonance!" The quiet island was filled with an awful screeching noise, making their ears ring; the pressure from the noise was deafening, and Rudra almost couldn't handle it. It dug Soul into the ground a few inches, but he managed to get his way out from under her. The air that had managed to gather around her chopped off one of the sharp ends of her hair and sent it towards Soul, who smacked it away like it was nothing.

"Hey, wanna see something cool? Follow my lead!" Ragnarok's wavelength pushed against hers, wanting to be let in. After a moment of debating, she decided they would be able to handle a full resonance. She let them in, feeling a strange sense of familiarity during resonance. Ragnarok's blade became coated in a strange, purple-ish glow. This must've been the lead they mentioned, and she took her chance. Soul swung Agni at her, and she took the hit. Her skin was cut from the blade and scorched, but Soul had been run through with Ragnarok.

The kishin kicked her in the stomach, dislodging the sword from him and getting some space between them. He laid a hand absently over the already healed wound as he watched her rise, almost no trace of her wound left. He chuckled and held his arms open.

"Rudra, why are you fighting me? Don't you see we're more powerful together? So why not come back to us?" She curled her lip at him in disgust and pointed Ragnarok at him, her eyes swirling with rage.

"I wouldn't join a coward!"

"What about your sister?" He almost didn't see her move; he blocked her attack that had been aimed for his neck, only for her wind to cut him instead. She had used her own blade this time; he must had hit a nerve. Soul smirked dangerously and propped Agni on his shoulder.

"You're going to leave your literal soul sister so you can be her enemy? That's gotta be hard!" Rudra's eyes narrowed in anger. She rarely gave in to petty taunts, but something him really rubbed her wrong. Maybe it was because all she could hear was Asura, but she saw her friend; Soul Eater, the idiot obsessed with being cool. He waved Agni in front of him, and his grin slowly widened as her watched her fall into a fury.

He actually didn't see her this time; he only felt every kick, every slice, and every punch. She used his own black blood against her, spiking him with bloody needles or bloody rain. Agni took control effortlessly and began the offensive against her little sister; she grabbed Ragnarok and pulled them from her hands before grabbing her throat, holding Rudra in the air.

"Is this what you want?"

"I seem to be... the only one... trying to stop you... from killing me..." Rudra rasped out, looking into her sister's purple eyes on Soul's face. There were black cracks coming up from his neck. Agni threw her sister across the clearing, and Rudra managed to right herself and land on her feet.

Agni disconnected from Soul and started to head towards her sister. Rudra allowed Ragnarok to receed back into her body and she mirrored her sister's steps. Soon they were brawling; Agni punched Rudra's eye and it began to swell, Rudra headbutted her sister so hard she bled. Soul couldn't believe what he was witnessing; two of the most powerful weapons beating each other like barbarians.

He took a step forward but their bloodlust stopped him; what were they trying to prove, anyway? They broke apart, panting and wiping the blood from their faces.

"Rudy, you can still join us. I'll forgive you."

"It took you 800 years the last time. I think I'll pass; but don't worry, I'll start thinking of how to accept your apology." They both transformed one arm, the other drawing energy from the surrounding elements; soon Agni's hair was ablaze, and Rudra's was down to her waist and consisted solely of solid, sharp ends. They weren't turning back now.

Agni initiated with an axe kick, but Rudra was long gone by the time it connected with the ground she once occupied. She was behind her sister, the air around her feeding the fire of her hair. She swept her arm and it almost connected with her sister's torso, only for Agni to backhand her sister. Rudra stumbled back and had to think of a quick distraction; inverting her wind was no problem, and soon Agni's flames went out.

It was still hilarious to see her bald.

Rudra howled and stomped on the ground, laughing at her sister's lack of hair. She soon became too distracted, as Agni had managed to heat the surface beneath her feet. Rudra hopped out of the way just as lava spewed forth; thinking fast, she focused her wind to the opened vent. The lava rapidly cooled down and sealed up the vent; Agni seemed a bit worn from pulling up so much magma from so far down.

"Mock me all you want, you know I'm stronger."

"Is that why you killed Crona?" Her sister's expression didn't change, but she knew from the way she shifted on her feet that she was uncomfortable talking about this. Agni hadn't wanted to be so brutal - but when you're under the influence of madness, sometimes you make some mistakes.

"I'm sorry-"

"'I'm sorry' sure as hell ain't gonna bring them back. Don't you even feel slightly remorseful? I mean, forget the fact that you betrayed all of your friends for some knock-off kishin and his posse of assholes. Pretend we didn't ruin Maka's life. You just killed someone we lived with, hung out with; we were friends! You don't even consider what you did as... I don't know, heinous?" Agni's face was completely blank, and her body was rigid. Rudra had made her point, and if her sister was still the person she believed in, then she would do the right thing.

Rudra attacked her sister, using the wind to throw off her attacks slightly; it eventually backfired, and Agni was able to overpower the wind and cut her sister's left arm deeply. The black blood flowed freely and she almost jumped away; instead she transformed it and resumed the fight.

Agni was always impressed by her sister's ability to adapt and use both hands for swordplay. They met again and she heated her blade, making her sister's warp slightly. Rudra withdrew in pain, her face contorted in agony. She almost enjoyed the look, until something clicked inside of her, and her eyes grew wide.

Soul snuck up behind Rudra, that same grin on his face. His hand grabbed hers, and she couldn't do anything to stop her transformation. He held her in his hand, and she was much heavier than he recalled. He beckoned Agni to join them, and soon he was holding his blades.

As he began to resonate with them, he found a problem with Rudra; she was fighting him every inch of the way, and just when he thought he overcame her, something would push him back. He tried to grab hold of it, to rip it from her, but it was rooted deeply.

"What the hell is this?" He yelled, frustrated. Rudra flew from his hands and landed a few feet away, panting harshly. There was a huge hole in her chest, dripping black and slowly scabbing up. Her eyes were fierce, her glare intimidating.

"It's my resolve. I've already got myself a meister, and he would never fall to you. I believe in him. And since I can believe in him, I can believe in myself to resist you!"

"Well said, my faithful follower! Your god has arrived, bow down to the great and mighty Black*Star!" He dropped in from the canopy, a small crater forming beneath his feet. He landed between Soul and Rudra, grinning and giving her a thumbs up. He took in her injuries; she would be alright, it seemed like nothing major was wrong.

But behind her, Crona caught his eye. Realization quickly struck him, and she could see his jaw flex and he clenched and unclenched his fists a few times. His eyes met hers, surprised to see such determination coming from her, and she held out her hand expectantly. He was always a bit startled by the noise of her soul when they resonated, but he overcame it every time.

Soul shouted in pain and the meister whipped around to see what the cause was; Agni had forcefully rejected their resonance and flew from his hands, into the depths of the forest. Rudra assured him that she wasn't the type to ambush, and that the fight might be a bit easier with just Soul.

Wind swirled around him, and he stared Soul down from the other side of the clearing before pointing Rudra at him menacingly.

"Soul, I'm gonna kick your ass."