PART TWO

4m/2w after Asura

She had been wrong to think she could help them. Black*Star was straining against Rudra's taxing transformation; maybe the weapon was distracted by her sister's sudden disappearence, and couldn't resonate properly? She had to get it together. Her eyes drifted downwards to her friend who was laying peacefully in her lap. Crona was cold and white as a sheet. There was no pulse; they had been dead for a while. Tears poured from her eyes; this was real, Crona was gone.

Her meister was fighting his best friend, who had become the kishin; he was using the kishin's very own blade against him, and one of their friends was dead. Things had spiraled out of control.

"Do you think that just because I don't have weapons that you can take me on? Come on, Black*Star, you can't be this stupid."

"Guess again, buddy! I'm going to defeat you! You can't even keep up with me, can you? Uh-uh, no way, you can't keep track of me!" He was using his speed star technique, Rudra's wind powers adding to his speed. Soul could hardly see him - but that didn't matter. Rudra's attacks were more irritating than Agni's, but they wouldn't kill him. Her wind powers cut him a little deeper than he had anticipated, but the wound sealed and he flicked the air in front of Black*Star.

The meister went flying, and Soul sent his piano wire to slow down their next assault. He leisurely approached, watching as they struck every wire that came close. They were fast, and they knew how to work together; but something seemed off about them. Almost like a slight delay in her actions, as though they couldn't communicate properly. He smirked and took advantage of this, slowing down the attacks and drawing their attention to him.

"So, what, is this it? You're all the academy sent? Wow, that's pretty weak."

"You should know better than anyone else that a couple of academy students can take down a kishin. Now, since I'm such a big guy, I'm gonna let you in on a little secret. See, I got an edge on this battle because I've already surpassed god; and you're about to feel the force of a man more powerful than god. You should be honored." Soul barked out a laugh, slapping his knee and bending over. He was in stitches for minutes; Black*Star grew impatient and he used Rudra's wind power to throw an air blade in front of him. Soul smacked it away, and when Black*Star brought her down on him, he caught her blade between his palms.

"You're still the guy I remember, Black*Star; a total joke to everyone but himself." Soul pushed his wavelength into Rudra's blade and she cried out; this pain transferred to Black*Star, who was shot back a few feet. His grip on her had been tight enough to rip her from Soul's grasp. He wiped his chin of the blood he had spit up.

"Shut up and get ready to fight me!" To Soul's complete surprise, he threw Rudra at him and ran behind her. She used her wind power to keep the sword spinning, making it go at dangerous speeds; she whipped past him, too fast for him to reach out and grab. Black*Star was trying to fight him with his fists, but his piano wire made quick work of the assassin's attempts. Rudra swung back around and Black*Star caught her, a nasty smirk on his face. Her blade was across Soul's back, and he was pressed against Black*Star. He couldn't escape.

She used her own blood to coat her blade; it made it cut a little deeper into his flesh, close to his spine; but Soul had grabbed Black*Star's head and threw her meister into madness. Left with no other choice, she took control of his now vacant mind. It was startlingly loud now; filled with screams and harsh static. She shouted for Black*Star, but it only faded into the other noise.

She couldn't fight Soul and save him at the same time. That's when she remembered her back up; Tsubaki was only a few feet away.

"Tsubaki, I need you!" The weapon was in her hand, and she barely blocked the wire that came for her neck. It wasn't easy for her to resonate with two people at the same time, but she managed to find Tsubaki's sound among the din of Black*Star's madness. As she fought off Soul, she informed Tsubaki of why she had taken control of the meister.

"I need you to talk him through the madness while I fight Soul. I can't do both - I'd get us both killed. Find him, and I'll watch out for you." She jumped away from Soul, and took the time to have Tsubaki transform into a kusarigama; she wrapped the weapon around Black*Star's torso and barely had time to cut down more wires. She was quickly getting sick of his extra appendage; he seemed overly reliant on it.

She managed to evade each wire, and by the time she got close to Soul, Tsubaki had managed to get into her meister's soul. She hoped more than anything that this would work.

Tsubaki found herself standing at the entrance of a large village, huts with spikes on them lining the dirt roads. The sky was black, and the air was stagnant and cold. She saw a form on the ground a few feet away from their home, and ran to their aid; only to find it was a mass of darkness that melted in her arms.

But the blood was real. She was covered in it, and she screamed - where had it come from? Was she hurt? She quickly stood and backed away from the shape on the ground, which quickly turned into bustling eyes. They were watching her, squinting at her and trying to dissect her. She quickly grew unnerved and ventured further into the village, and the longer she walked, the more she began to notice a disgusting noise.

It was a few pitches above a fork scratching a plate - it made her ear drums vibrate, giving her a horrible headache. She saw more shapes, lying listlessly just outside of their homes. They were sprawled out similarly - as though they had been running outside for safety. Tsubaki hoped that she hadn't been taken by the madness as well; she didn't know how much more of this she could take.

The noise stopped, and static replaced it.

"Tsubaki, you're so close." She turned around to see Rudra standing a few feet away. Her hair was pulled back, similar to how Agni wore hers; she had armor on her right arm, and her scarf was wrapped around her waist. Tsubaki sighed in relief - she must have subdued Soul long enough to come and help her find Black*Star. She took a step towards her before stopping and really looking at her.

Her hair was as long as her sister's - and that was enough to make her question the reality she was seeing. Rudra hated long hair - it was itchy and a burden.

"Who are you?"

"I'm a figment of Black*Star's imagination - it's a coping mechanism for when I swallow someone's soul. Alternatively, I'm also an extention of the me that you know on the outside." Tsubaki quirked an eyebrow, but Rudra just walked passed her and beckoned Tsubaki to follow - they needed to go deeper.

"He's drowning in madness, somewhere in our shared mindscape. I can find him, but I can't pull him out - I can't save a soul from myself." Tsubaki opened her mouth and shouted, trying to get Rudra's attention. But the entire landscape changed - it was a bright meadow now, dotted with colorful wild flowers.

There was a log towards the middle, and that's where Black*Star was perched. He was waiting for her. He waved at her happily, excited to see his weapon. She took a step forward, only for Rudra to pull her back. Tsubaki looked at her questioningly, only for her to direct her attention to the grass. Upon closer inspection, she saw that each blade, every flower petal, everything had a face that was contorted in agony.

"This is a field of souls. This is the core of my soul - a compilation of other's best abilities. If you take a step, they'll pull you in, and you'll become a pretty flower inside of me."

"What about Black*Star?"

"I can't find his best ability. I've been stalling. He's stuck out there now - until I either absorb him, or he escapes." Tsubaki had a choice - allow herself to be absorbed so she could save him, or walk away. This is why Rudra had needed her - to make the hard calls, to do the things she couldn't. But this was asking too much.

Rudra knelt down in front of Tsubaki, her back to the weapon.

"If you get on my back, I could carry you to him." Without a second thought, she was on Rudra and she was walking through a giant minefield. Everywhere they stepped, a dense group of humans would rise from the ground and attempt to swallow them whole.

Tsubaki had never seen such speed - Black*Star was fast, and Kid was fast, but this girl was fast incarnite. There were no footprints behind her, only the receeding bodies of humans she had devoured. Something occurred to her then - what if Rudra was trying to kill her and Black*Star? Taking her somewhere she couldn't return without the weapon's help would be a great way to trap them.

But she kept true to her word, and deposited Tsubaki on the log beside her meister.

"You've got ten minutes. I can't stay any longer." Hands grabbed her face, arms, and legs, different limbs fighting to pull her down. Her body began to sink beneath the ground and she smiled up at the duo, despite the constant lacerations and hits she took from the soul's negative energy. Soon, the spot she had been standing in was covered in an innocent-looking grass.

She turned to look at Black*Star, who had seen the whole thing and was equally horrified by this place. But something in Tsubaki felt a bit more at ease - even in her own territory, where it would've been child's play to kill them both, Rudra had sacrificed her soul so Tsubaki could bring him back.

"How'd you get here?"

"I don't have a lot of time, Black*Star. But you know this place isn't real; it isn't safe here. You need to come back - Rudra needs your help. We all do."

"So, tell me, why did you decide to join them?"

"Soul, you ask way too many questions." His hands wrapped around Black*Star's throat and she struggled to pry them off. He laughed in his face, but it was all meant for her. She rocked back as best she could and headbutted Soul, and as he fell back, she pierced his stomach with her blade. He hadn't expected it, so the blade almost came out of his back; a small stream of black blood fell from his lips. His face was blank for an eerily long time, a silence falling upon the forest and Black*Star's mind.

Slowly, his lips curled into a grin so wicked that she actually cringed. His black blood wrapped around the blade slowly, and she realized her mistake. He could re-absorb her - how had she forgotten something so important? She struggled to pull the sword back, but it had already began falling apart. She felt part of her soul chip away and she choked back a scream. She was going to die here, and Black*Star would be next-

"When will I ever get peace and quiet around here? You're just as whiny as Crona, jeeze." Another, louder voice came forth from her mind. It took her a split second to remember that she had absorbed Ragnarok; it all made sense. She couldn't resonate with Black*Star because she had changed her soul. She was unable to use all of her power because she hadn't fully accepted this new addition to her.

"Ragnarok, mind lending me a hand?" He grumbled to himself for a moment, looking at his gloves in disinterest.

"Yeah, but perhaps I could be persuaded?" She felt another piece of her soul chip off, and this time she did scream.

The sword pulsated, and Soul was suddenly being ripped through by an additional foot of steel in his torso. Ragnarok had strengthened the blade, the combination of their black blood making it longer and more powerful. It took on his coloration, but instead of a white stripe down the center, it was sky blue. She tore the weapon from the kishin and smirked, flicking the blood from the blade.

"We can discuss payment later, as long as you don't make that disgusting noise again." Something in the air stirred, and it distracted her long enough for Soul to begin healing his wound. She turned her attention back at him in time to block his scythe blade; it was cold and it loomed ominously. He was as skilled solo as Justin Law was at this point.

But this told her that she had unnerved him. Ragnarok had been a game changer; and without the weapon, she would have died because of her foolishness. She needed to be more careful.

"Rudy, make some room in here!" Upon hearing her meister's voice, she relinquished control of his body. Tsubaki transformed back and returned to Crona, trying to keep out of the way. Black*Star admired his new weapon momentarily before jumping over one of Soul's low swipes. He spun in the air and kicked the kishin in the teeth, sending him flying into a tree.

"Let's resonate!" He noticed the sound of her soul had changed, almost a frequency he couldn't reach; but he wouldn't dare make her hold herself back for him. He strained to match it, but when he did, he realized what was causing the change. He heard Rudra's thoughts, but there was also a different voice - one he recognized to be Ragnarok. She must have absorbed him after Crona died - he made a note to ask her about it later.

"You can't win."

"You lost Agni. She was the entirety of your plans. And you still think this can work?"

"I thought you said I asked too many questions." He attacked Black*Star, who eloquently blocked and punched Soul in his face - only for his hand to be pierced by three wires. Soul then headbutted him, almost knocking him flat out. His vision was impared - he couldn't figure out where Soul had gone. He felt a knee to the gut, and if Rudra hadn't acted fast, he would have been cut in half.

"Hey, Black*Star. I think I have a plan. If you can get close enough, Soul will make a grab for me again; he's desperate. If he can dose me with his wavelength, I'll have enough power to take him out. Can you do it?" Black*Star climbed a boulder near the eastern side of the meadow and struck a pose. Soul stood back and watched for a few minutes, wondering what would come next.

"Who the hell do you think I am! The badass reputation of the great and mighty Black*Star echoes far and wide throughout every village and town! When you hear about the man of indomitable spirit, the man who stood against gods new and old and walked away, THEY ARE TALKING ABOUT ME!"

She had been born from the physical manifestation of fear; she was taken care of by a witch and an 800+ year old vampire. She had been around power her entire life, but never had Rudra felt as much power as she had now; not even when she resonated with Maka. Black*Star's wavelength rose above her own, and he almost moved too fast for her to keep track of. He struck Soul, who managed to block at the last second with his scythe; the blade cracked under the pressure.

She was stunned by the amount of power a single human could obtain. Soul drew his arm away and Black*Star brought her down across his chest; forcibly extracting black blood and madness. She used her time quickly and efficiently; soon, Soul was on the ground, gasping for breath.

She couldn't kill him with it, but he would be distracted long enough for them to come up with something. This had been their problem last time - they were unable to actually kill Asura, and now she couldn't kill Soul. But she didn't have Black*Star last time. No matter what happened, she believed in Black*Star to succeed where she had failed.

"Well, do you two geniuses have any bright ideas?" Ragnarok's voice was much more irritated in his head, but the weapon proved a point. Rudra's attention completely shifted and she actually made Black*Star turn around. They didn't need a bright idea anymore.

Rudra wouldn't have recognized her if it wasn't her sister, but Agni had taken the form of a scythe. Her blade remained jagged, her colors red and orange. Maka had her tightly clasped in her gloved palms, and she was sticking her tongue out at the eye near the blade, which was creased in amusement.

"Well, I guess our argument can wait. We seem to have arrived at our destination."