Hello hello to all you happy people! Surprise chapter, courtesy of Zyxeel. I was in school the other day and they PMed how awesome my SE stories are and asked for the next chapter, so I obliged! Although after this my chapter output may be severely lessened; I have been threatened with not going on the computer all December if I don't redeem myself via Finals. Cross your fingers for me! Also, if you were reading my BB fanfic, I must apologize but I have a writer's block for that. Sorry. Also, I just finished FullMetal Alchemist Brotherhood, and I must say…wow. It was really a nice anime, I enjoyed it, even though they had an annoying habit of killing the characters I liked. (except for Ling and Scar! I was kinda bummed about Greed and Hughes, but whatever.)But I am seriously writing this at the speed of panic because I have about thirty minutes to get this done and out on the net. Studying for aforementioned finals don't cha know. Anyway, I better get on this.

November 24, 2013

Who am I? One name you might have for me is the world, or you might call me the universe, or perhaps God, or perhaps the Truth. I am All, and I am One. So, of course, this also means that I am you.

-Truth

Hazel's POV:

After Kage had thoroughly explained what had happened in the three or four years after I had been imprisoned in the lab, she and Akuma flew up and forward a little, leaving me and DK in the back. I felt a trace of nervousness, looking up at his calm face as I dangled thousands of feet in the air, adrenaline pumping through my veins frantically as I worried about him dropping me to impale myself on the trees, rocks, and hills below. "Yo, Hazel, relax. I gotcha." I flinched at his voice, glancing up again to see him smirking down at me, swallowing hard several times before answering. "I-I know. B-but my b-body doesn't." He chuckled a little at that, glancing at his two partners and then down at me. "Actually, it's your mind telling your body to freak out because you don't trust me or my strength to hold you up. Isn't it?" he said flippantly, and I blinked up at him in surprise, fear jolting through me with his next words. "In which case, I'll simply have to remove the troublesome source of dissent at its root. This may sting a little." He said abruptly, right before fire swept over my body and my mind went black.

Sound was suddenly snatched away, and my body no longer felt the wind and the chill of being flown through air. My eyes slowly opened, and I gasped, my eyes snapping wide. I was in an endless white space, a black figure seated opposite me. I realized we were both sitting in a meditative position, standing up as the figure on the ground grinned widely, its teeth sharp and pointed. "DK?" I asked nervously, and he chuckled. I am the mental projection of that personality, yes. He answered, and I blinked. "Where am I?" He laughed a little before answering smugly. You are inside me. Your mind is inside my soul and outside your body. I clenched my fists, anger firing in my heart. "Let me out! Who do you think you are, snatching me out of my body without so much as a by your leave! LET ME OUT YOU STUPID DEMON!" He was silent.

I stared at him, breathing heavily, my fists still knotted together in my anger as he tilted his head, a blinding smile suddenly cutting through his empty blackness. That is correct. I am a demon. Which leads to a question I've been wanting to ask you. I blinked again. "What question is that?" He chuckled for a moment, shaking his head slowly. Your answer, ironically enough. When I asked you to be my partner, you agreed without a moment's hesitation, knowing full well I was, as you accurately but not flatteringly put it, a demon. Why? Demons are supposed to be the anathema of your kind. Humans, I mean. Why say yes? You had no reason to. He said simply, tracing a finger against the whiteness, his mouth gone and the cutout form still and silent, except for his arm and finger. "You saved me. I owed you a favor." I said in startlement, puzzled by his query. His grin was back, and he tossed his head backwards to laugh wildly for a few moments.

Interesting! You entered a pact with a demon though, HAZEL. You accepted the fact I was going to use your soul to augment my own power, as well as impart my own into yours. Don't deny it; even if it wasn't a conscious thought, your subconscious knew full well the deal you were making. That's the relationship between meister and weapon after all; they exist as partners to make each other stronger. I froze. The thought of what I had done, the enormity of it, was crashing down upon me full force. That being said, I also have a…I suppose you could call it a test, for you. Do you know what I am? As my partner, you should be able to tell. He added suddenly, looking up at me, and I blinked. What did he mean by that? "You're…you're a demon aren't you." I said hesitantly, and he stared at me, his outline shifting lazily. I got the feeling he was looking at me with disapproval. "You're…not human." I tried again, and now the disapproval was tinged with faint boredom.

"DAMNIT! GIVE ME SOMETHING TO WORK WITH, YOU STUPID DEMON! GOD, YOU'RE SUCH A JERK…YOU BATARD!" I snarled at him, enraged by his enigmatic silence, and was rewarded with a faint stirring. His head dipped forward a little, and he seemed to be pondering my words. You have not named me for what I truly am. He said sadly, and I blinked, feeling like I had somehow failed a VERY important test. He rested his chin on his hand, raising a finger to point at me as he spoke. Do you feel that? The boiling in your veins, the pressure inside your head, making you feel ready to kill something, hit something, destroy something and crumble it to ash? That is what I am. I am Rage. I am Gekido, which is the God of Rage. I am to anger as what Kage is to fear. I inspire rage in the hearts and minds of humans, draining their sanity, and taking their broken souls for my own use. I suppose you could use the crude analogy of rust.

I opened my mouth, about to talk back and ask him what the hell he was talking about, but he suddenly held up a metal arm, like a skeleton's. I contaminate a being with rage. I drive their reason, their joy, their happiness, and their fear out of them, slowly drain away everything into nothing until all that's left for them is anger, rage, and pain. His fist tightened, and the arm turned brown, the metal bones corroding at the speed of time before my eyes as they widened, terrified. His face was blank and emotionless as he spoke. And when they are mere steps from death, when the last breath of life is slipping from their open mouths… The arm crumbled to crusty metal flakes, the fragments dropping like orange rain from his fist. I devour them. I take them into myself by swallowing their souls and using them to fuel rage for new victims. That is the way I am. That is how I exist. And I ask you again, why do you still stand here? Why do you dare to assume the position of my partner? What is to stop me from destroying you in the same way and simply using your soul as my weapon? Hmm? He asked bluntly, and I swallowed hard.

"Look, DK, it seems pretty obvious what you're trying to do." He raised an eyebrow. "You're trying to scare me. You want me to be afraid of you and run away. I don't really care WHY, but I AM your partner, like it or not. I made a deal, as you put it, and I don't go back on my deals." He blinked twice, his gaze registering shock. "So then, enough with the melodramatics, and shut the hell up." I finished, waiting nervously for his reaction as deafening silence spread over the mental plane we were in. He suddenly tossed his head back again, laughing so hard he almost fell over. Good one kid! You're a little idiotic still, but I like your spunk. He snorted with tears in his eyes, looking up at me and finally standing, almost the same height as me, a little taller. He outstretched his hand to mine, his skin coming into view as the blackness peeled back, revealing his baggy clothes and faint scars, the one that traced across his cheek the faintest of all, barely there, his black-red eyes no longer terrifying, but strangely inviting. Let's try this again. Partners? He asked with a grin, and I grinned back, firmly clasping his hand with my own and giving it a decisive shake. "Yeah. Partners."

I blinked, the world coming back, and I saw a face inches from mine, black pits right up against my own eyes. I yelped, scrambling back with my heart pounding, and DK snorted, straightening as I stared up at him, all of us having landed and me apparently flat out on my back, Akuma and Kage looking down at me with indulgently amused expressions. "C'mon guys, we don't have all year." Kage said impatiently, and DK rolled his eyes, extending his hand like he had mere seconds ago. "You heard the boss…partner. C'mon." he said encouragingly, and I hesitantly smiled at him as I grabbed his wrist, letting his black nails dig into my arm and haul me to my feet. Kage and Akuma blinked at me for a second, then grinned, and I had a sudden feeling like I had been accepted into their little group, a happy feeling of comradeship and belonging washing over me as DK clapped me on the shoulder, pointing lazily to the door straight ahead of us.

"See that? That's where Lord Death holds court. Ready to say hi?"

Well, there goes my confidence. I swear, sometimes I want to kill my partner.

OMG! I actually did it! I finished this in less than an hour! My fingers are very sore and I stayed up a little, but it's DONE BY ALL THAT'S FREAKISH AND UNHOLY! I'm so impressed with myself. *beams* Please review and make me feel appreciated, I'll try to write again soon if all goes well with the tests n' all. Review, Request, Rcomment, Auf Wedersien!

9.23 PM, USA Central Time