These characters are under copyright by Atsushi Ōkubo, Squar Enix, Yen Press, Shōnen,
Akatsuki Yamatoya. Madman Entertainment, Manga Entertainment, Funimation, and/or others. This is a work of fanfiction, for no monetary gain.

Chapter 19 – Show No Mercy: The Death of Giriko?

Crona wished they could help Michiko with the Tracking and Transport spells, but the only thing they could do was explain to Maka why it was taking so long, so she could explain to Soul and keep him as calm as possible, because he was so anxious to save Justin for Kid he was terrifying. The plan was for Crona to bring a loaded syringe of anesthetic that Dr. Bryant had prepared for Justin. It was their job to grab Justin and drug him, because they were afraid Justin would try to kill himself as soon as he was free from Giriko, and his arms and legs were guillotines: it wasn't as if they could disarm him. Even if he wasn't suicidal, they'd been afraid Justin wouldn't allow anyone to touch him, that he'd be too traumatized, and they needed to be able to rescue him.

Maka and Soul were going to be the ones to attack Giriko. Crona was actually worried about how eager Maka was to fight Giriko, as if Soul's bloodlust was contagious. Crona suspected they were unconsciously resonating on the same Wavelength. They would have been more worried about that, but Maka had assured them that Soul had control of his inner Devil now.

By the time it was finally time to step through the mirror, Crona's nerves were a jangled mess. Ragnarok had to pinch them repeatedly just to get them moving.

They expected everything to go wrong, for Giriko to somehow sense them coming and ambush them, for Justin to already be dead, or in a position where he could easily be killed before they could get him away from Giriko, for any number of things to go wrong. But miraculously, the plan worked perfectly.

Crona had managed to surprise and distract Justin just long enough to inject him, even as the sounds of battle began echoing from the adjacent room. Justin demanded to know what was going on, but his speech was already slurring, and when he tried to head towards the sounds of battle, he stumbled and staggered and slumped to the floor.

Fortunately, Crona caught him, because the last thing poor Justin needed was another injury. He was covered in tiny cuts, and bandaged everywhere. The most troubling of the bandages was the one across his chest, over his heart, with fresh blood on it, not because there was a lot of blood, but because the blood that had soaked through almost looked like letters, and then Crona realized in horror that they were letters, that they spelled out an all too familiar name: Giriko. The monster who had taken Justin captive and tortured and raped him had carved his name into his chest!

Even their mother wouldn't have done something that horrible. How could he do that to Justin? Justin was patient and brave and strong, he cared about Crona, he understood them, more than anyone ever had: even Maka didn't understand them quite as well as Justin.

Crona felt fury, they wanted to run into the other room and chop Giriko to pieces, but Justin needed them. He wasn't acting suicidal or afraid. Instead, he was trying to drag himself to the room where the battle was raging, to the whirring fury of chainsaws and the clang of a scythe, the sound of fighting.

"JUSTIN!" The fierce roar carried through the wall, over the sounds of the battle, but there wasn't just fury in that cry, there was fear and anxiety.

Crona was baffled to see the fierce intensity in Justin's eyes wasn't terror or Madness, it was desperation and determination, the look in Marie's eyes when she was protecting Stein from Medusa, the look in Maka's eyes when she was protecting them, or Soul's eyes when he was protecting Maka, or Kid, or Black*Star, even as Justin stopped moving, his hand still reaching out desperately, like he was trying to grab something elusive. Then suddenly there were blades, like claws, protruding from Justin's fingertips, going for his wrist.

Justin had never before manifested blades from his fingers. At first, Crona thought they'd been a fool, that Justin really was trying to kill himself, but they didn't slash, they jabbed, poked Justin's forearm, then his bicep, and he suddenly appeared more alert, and they realized he was using the pain to try to overcome the sedative, even as he prodded himself a third and then fourth time.

"This doesn't make any sense, Ragnarok. How am I supposed to deal with this? Giriko tortured Kid and he hurt Justin even worse. Why is Justin trying to go back to someone who hurt him?" Crona questioned aloud.

Justin answered, wordlessly, by carving a heart into his forearm and pointing to his chest with the last of his fading strength, to that horribly, sick, possessive name carved into the skin over his heart, a silent plea in his eyes, and then there were tears wetting them, he was crying, and suddenly Crona knew.

"Oh no. Maka! Maka, wait stop!" Crona cried, abandoning Justin on the floor and running for the fading sounds of battle, praying they weren't too late.

Crona saw Soul slicing down, Giriko spinning around to block, staggering and then stumbling, sliding in a puddle of his own blood, and then Ragnarok was in their hand and they deflected the killing blow, just in the nick of time, although Crona almost hadn't made the block, because the look on Maka's face was terrifying, vicious and cruel, almost gleeful, like she was reveling in killing Giriko, not at all the way Maka should look when fighting someone.

"Crona?" Maka yelled, shocked.

"What the hell?" Soul demanded, still in his Weapon form.

"Wait! Stop! Don't kill him!" Crona begged, even as they interposed themselves protectively in front of Giriko, bravely turning their back to him, shoulder blades tensing and coming together, more than half expecting to feel a chainsaw ripping down their back, ready to armor themselves with Black Blood. But the attack never came, just the sound of pained panting.

"Justin?" Giriko rasped, not a demand, but a question, the fact that it was a single, weak word making Crona's heart race. There was blood everywhere, not just the puddle Giriko had slipped in, and Maka didn't look hurt, which meant all the blood was Giriko's, which meant he might die, soon.

"He's alright, he's safe, he just can't move, because I drugged him, to protect him, but he sent me to save you," Crona reassured him, realizing how insane that must sound, from the look of horror and then fury on Maka's face.

"What have you done to Crona! How are you controlling them!" Maka demanded, even as she tried to dive around them and attack Giriko again and Crona blocked with Ragnarok.

"Ow! Hey, watch it! None of this was my idea! The little idiot decided to join forces with the bad guy all on their own!" Ragnarok complained.

Crona was only glad it was Maka, and not Soul yelling at them, because Maka might at least listen to them, and they definitely weren't stronger than Maka and Soul together, so they needed at least one of them on their side.

And then there was coughing from behind them, and something hot and wet splashed the back of their neck even, followed by an ominous thud. Crona's hand instinctively went to their neck and drew back red, as they spun. Giriko was on his knees, gasping, blood frothing from his lips, which were turning blue, and his hands were clawing at his chest and neck, scratching bloody furrows with nails, not chainsaws, tearing away his shirt, and then ripping away the bright flash of white bandages over his chest as he fought to breathe, and Crona's eyes widened in shock: because there was Justin's name, not just his name, but his signature, the way he signed every document, the beautiful, looping, precise curves of it.

And then Giriko was on his back, gasping and convulsing, and Crona panicked, they fell to their knees at his side, and pressed their hands against his chest. "Don't die! Don't die, don't die, don't die!" Crona commanded frantically.

"Crona, stop! Why are you helping this vicious frea… What? I don't understand. Why is…?" Maka was staring at the name, Justin's name, only Maka wouldn't know it was his signature, she could guess, maybe, but that didn't matter, what mattered was Giriko was dying and he couldn't because then Justin would be alone again, like before, quietly sad and afraid, or worse, completely mad, and Justin was their friend, and they didn't want him to lose someone he loved, even if they didn't understand why, or how anyone could love someone so mean and evil and…

But they could feel Giriko's soul, and it wasn't evil, it didn't feel evil, it felt warm, but flickering and dissolving, sputtering, disintegrating, and suddenly there were thirty little lights instead of one big one, the blue darkening and fading in one of them until it was almost black.

"Jason!" Giriko cried in panic, and suddenly the dying light was brighter again, but the twenty-nine others had darkened perceptibly.

"Souls. Those are all separate souls. I don't understand! I don't know how to deal with this. How can one body have thirty separate souls?" Crona squeaked.

"Thirty sep… That's impossible," Maka said, but Crona could tell she was reaching out with her Soul Detect, feeling them, seeing them too, even as another of the lights nearly went out.

"Ruben!" Giriko whispered, barely audible through a bubble of blood, and the soul sputtered back to life, flickering, even as the other twenty-nine nearly extinguished.

"But this doesn't make sense. Giriko killed thirty men, he killed them and took their bodies, only he didn't, they're not dead, except one of them is missing, why is it missing? I HATE not understanding and I HATE seeing people die. I HATE being Medusa's child, I HATE my mother, I HATE that she was evil, and I HATE that she was a Witch, that I was born a Witch, that I can't change that, ever, that I have a Witch's soul. I never wanted to be able to do magic, but all magic isn't evil, all Witch's aren't evil. Little Angela isn't evil and Michiko isn't evil and Kim's not evil and I'm not evil either, and Angela knows healing magic and Michiko might too and we know Kim does, even though she has to hide it, and Medusa preferred hurting to healing but she could heal when she wanted to, when it served her purpose, and it serves my purpose to know WHAT IS GOING ON, so I'm going to heal you!" Crona yelled.

They pinned Giriko's weakly convulsing, shuddering, gasping body to the ground and forced their Soul Wavelength out through their hands, hoping they were doing something right, that the outflow of raw magic was working, that it was healing him, because they were already starting to feel really weak and dizzy, which must mean it must be working, right?

Only they weren't sure, because the room was spinning and they were going to throw up, and maybe they'd used too much Soul Wavelength, which would really suck, because that would mean they were dying, and they didn't know how to deal with dying.

Maka would be sad if they died, and she'd cry, and they never knew how to deal with her crying, only they wouldn't have to, because they'd be dead and wouldn't be able to help and….

"CRONA!"

The hands on their shoulders felt like vises, which was good, because a moment ago they couldn't feel anything, and they'd been afraid they'd already died.

And then Ragnarok was pinching them which really hurt, and they gasped, getting ready to yell at Ragnarok for hurting them, until Maka yelled again.

"Soul! Oh my God, Crona's breathing again, they're not dead, they're not!" and there were warm tears splashing on their face, and Maka's lap was somehow under their head.

"Good, because I don't kill kids, that would give me nightmares," Giriko muttered sarcastically from somewhere nearby, and he was talking, which meant it must have worked, he wasn't dead, even if they almost were, so they hadn't screwed up too badly, only Maka was shaking them.

"You idiot! What were you thinking?" Maka demanded.

"I'm sorry, but I had to save him for Justin, who better be able to explain to me why, because I don't understand why Giriko is thirty people and why Justin loves him and you have to help me keep Lord Death from killing him, Giriko not Justin, though I don't think Lord Death is going to be too happy with Justin, either, after what happened to Kid, that Justin didn't kill Giriko himself, if he wasn't really captured, if he just ran off with him or something.

"But I'm really glad none of us is dead, all thirty of him, and one of me, plus Ragnarok, of course, though he's probably going to pinch me a lot for this, or maybe punch me, because I probably really scared him, and where is he, anyway, why is he so quiet? He's OK isn't he?

"Ragnarok, you didn't do something stupid and die instead of me, did you? Because you're annoying and a bully, but you're my Weapon and my best friend and I wouldn't know how to deal with it if you weren't around to torture me anymore," Crona stated, their voice becoming more and more shrill and panicked as Ragnarok stayed quiet, because what if they had accidentally killed him? Then they wouldn't have a Weapon, and it would be their fault he was dead, and…

The sock to their jaw made them laugh, not because it was so weak that it didn't hurt, but because it wasn't, it hurt a lot, which meant Ragnarok was OK, that they hadn't killed them by accident.

"Oh terrific. They're not dead, but now they've totally cracked. Call the loony bin and tell Dr. Stein to move over, he's getting a roommate," Ragnarok snarked.

"Ragnarok, that's a terrible thing to say! And I wouldn't want to room with Dr. Stein. He's got those stitches on his face and that big screw and those glasses so you can't see his eyes, which are kind of creepy anyway, so maybe that's not a bad thing, and I know he's a good person, or he wouldn't be at the DWMA, but I don't know how to deal with him."

"I didn't know you knew healing magic," Maka said, sounding shocked and dazed.

Soul had been standing over Giriko, shaking, fury in his face, but then he rounded on them, and he looked terrifying, with his red eyes and razor sharp teeth, and who had teeth like that, like a shark? Why wasn't Kid scared of kissing that mouth? Except he usually looked sleepy, not angry like this, like he wanted to bite them, like a mad dog or a wolf or a shark.

"Why the hell didn't you use that on Kid? Or Maka before? This whole time you could have healed both of them, and you waste it on this piece of trash? After what he did to Kid? You should have let me kill him!" Soul yelled, towering over them, and Crona felt their fingers digging into Maka's wrists but didn't realize how hard they were holding her until Maka winced, and they'd hurt her, and they didn't know how to deal with Soul being this angry and hurting Maka!

Maka bolted to her feet, dumping them on the floor but standing protectively in front of them. "Don't you dare terrorize Crona!" she demanded protectively, making a warm feeling blossom in their chest, even though Soul was scaring them. "They wouldn't have done what they did if there wasn't a good reason, something to do with Justin."

Crona nodded. "Justin begged me to help Giriko, even though he couldn't speak and could barely move, but he drew something, so I know I was right and…"

"What the hell do you mean, he can't speak or move? What the hell did you do to him?" Giriko demanded furiously, and suddenly there was the familiar sound of chainsaws roaring, and it was a good thing their Black Blood could make them hard like this, because they'd never seen Giriko with all his chains going at once like that, it was really pretty terrifying, and there was no way to hold him without getting hurt otherwise, and then there was a flash of pink light, and Maka was holding Soul, and it was going to start all over again, and they didn't know how to stop it or deal with it.

"Giriko… stop," a voice commanded weakly from across the room, the doorway, the floor, and suddenly Giriko was gone, he was on the floor next to Justin, who'd somehow managed to drag himself that far, and all the chainsaws were gone, as Giriko reached for him, he grabbed him and held him protectively, possessively, glaring at all of them.

"He's alright. We drugged him, because we thought he might kill himself before we could help him, while Soul and Maka were fighting you, because we didn't know, the divination didn't show it like this, and I don't understand, but I can try to use my magic again, on him this time, to take the drug away, so you can see he's OK," Crona offered.

"If you touch him I'll kill you," Giriko snarled.

"Crona's… my friend. Let… them help," Justin forced out.

And the feral look just melted away, it was like watching Soul stopping Kid from freaking out, better than even Liz and Patty together ever could. "Alright, Sinner," Giriko said, caressing Justin's face, and there was tenderness there, like Giriko actually really was human, and not a Demon Weapon Meister more Demon than Weapon or Meister, even as Soul growled and Maka had to physically restrain him from attacking them.

Crona approached cautiously, in case Giriko changed his mind, but he let him kneel down and put their hands on Justin's chest, though Giriko growled and snarled, "He's mine!"

"I can see that," Crona squeaked, staring at the bloody letters of Giriko's name.

"It's already… a scar," Justin whispered in wonder, as he traced under his name on Giriko's chest, barely able to move his arm but still fighting against the drug.

"Yeah. I was afraid Witch Boy here would have erased it, but he just healed everything into scars. Don't make my name disappear off Justin, alright? But if you could heal up that cut I did accidentally to his chest, and those other two, to his side and leg, I'd appreciate it, because it hurts him when we fuck, and I haven't been able to be as rough as he wants me to be, because that's not the right kind of pain, it distracts him," Giriko claimed.

"I'll do what I can, but I'm not a boy," Crona said, their face flushing hotly at what Giriko had said, but resolutely placing one hand on Justin's chest and the other on his side, on the bandages marking the injuries. His skin around the bandages was just as soft and smooth as Maka's, which made them blush even more furiously.

"Seriously? You're a girl? You're more flat-chested than that bitch with the psychoblade over there," Giriko claimed.

Crona yanked their hands away and glared at Giriko. "Apologize! Right now! Don't you dare call Maka that bad word!" Crona demanded, shaking.

Giriko held up his hands. "Jeez, girlie, don't get your panties in a twist. You're still going to help Justin, right? Just because I'm an ass doesn't mean he should suffer."

"Giriko, shut up. You're… making it worse. Crona isn't … a boy or girl. They're non-binary…. And Maka is… very special to them…. She's their best friend," Justin claimed.

"No. You're my best friend. Maka is my girlfriend," Crona corrected, blushing fiercely with pride, and putting her hands determinedly back on Justin's chest and side, fortunately the bandages over his wounds making it feel less weirdly intimate than it could have.

"And of course I wouldn't punish you for Giriko being mean. Just because I'm a Witch's child doesn't mean I'm a bad person. And I'm lucky there's Angela and Michiko, because now that I've used magic, I'm a Witch too, I guess, and I'd have to leave Death City, but Lord Death has allowed them to be there, so I guess I'll be able to stay as well," Crona claimed, as they tried to focus their Soul Wavelength again.

Last time it was like opening a faucet all the way, the magic had just poured out of them. This time they only turned the handle a little bit, and the magic trickled out, but they could feel it filling Justin just the same. They could feel the drug, like a thousand tiny chains restraining him, and they dissolved them away, and they felt the jagged edges of the cuts on his chest and side, and started to heal them, but stopped before they were done. "I want to take the scars away too, not on his name, but on your chest and side and leg, but only if it's OK."

"You can do that?" Giriko asked eagerly. "Take them away. I only want to mark him a little bit at a time, he's so perfect, a tabula rasa, a blank canvas just begging for me to paint him, one I've already signed my name too," Giriko urged.

"I wasn't asking you. Justin, do you want me to take the scars away, too?" they asked him.

"Yes, but leave his name. I want him to be able to paint me, and he deserves a clean canvas, not a damaged one," Justin said, and Crona frowned, because that had sounded bad, like the way they sounded that made Justin look so sad, when they talked about their mother and how they used to feel.

Giriko grabbed Justin by the hair, forcing him to face him. "Don't you dare say it like that! Especially not when I was the one who hurt you. It was my fault for not drawing back fast enough when I saw you were distracted like that. I kept from slicing through your rib cage both times, or doing too much damage to your leg, at least I didn't kill you, but I still cut way too deep. But even if you were scarred, you'd still be perfect. I mean look at you, for Christ's sake! You're a fucking angel. Don't make me put that damned music back on."

Crona gasped and froze. They hadn't even realized, they should have, but they didn't, they were so used to Justin reading their lips, but Giriko was right, there wasn't any music at all leaking from Justin's headphones and… and those weren't Justin's earbuds. His had little skulls on them, Lord Death's mask, and these were just blue, like Justin's eyes.

A smile broke the perfect solemnity of Justin's face, and his eyes sparkled with that devilish light that made Crona's breath catch, the way it had the only two other times they'd ever seen it. "What, you don't want to hear some of my 'Choir Boy crap'?" Justin asked innocently.

"Damn it, gir… Crona, finish fixing him up so I can kiss that smug smirk off Sinner's face."

That was new, too. Giriko always used to call Justin 'Priest' in the past.

They finished healing the chest wound but didn't alter the scar of Giriko's signature, not even smoothing out any of the jagged edges of it. It was still clear it had been made by a rough weapon, though a tiny one, for the letters to be as neat as they were, for it to be legible.

And then Justin was sitting up, and Giriko was kissing him, right in front of them, they just fastened onto each other and began making out.

"If you won't let me kill him, we're going to at least arrest him. Lord Death can be the one who kills him, or Kid. I say we chain him down and let Kid at him. See how he likes being made helpless like that," Soul snarled, Maka still physically restraining him from lunging at Giriko.

"That wasn't his fault. That was Jared. He was a Kishin Egg. He's been driving the rest of them insane, literally, ever since they possessed him. But I exorcised his soul and destroyed it. He's not part of them anymore," Justin claimed, his arms wrapped protectively around Giriko.

"Wait. What do you mean exorcised his soul? What are you talking about? You mean the soul that belongs in that body? You could do that? But instead of exorcising Giriko and freeing that poor man, you killed him?" Maka asked, appalled.

"I told you, he was a Kishin Egg. He was evil incarnate, Maka. He was a pedophile. I saw the memories of some of the things he did, that made what he did to Kid… no, that was still awful, but still, what he did to those children was far worse, in every way. He hurt them and debased them and killed them, as slowly and painfully as he could. Giriko's not the villain you think he is. You have Soul Detect. This place isn't warded like the cathedral was. Use your power. Look at his soul. You'll see," Justin claimed confidently.

Frowning, Maka did. The frown deepened. "He's right. His soul is different, from the last time I viewed it. He was becoming a Kishin Egg. But now it's just… blue."

"That's not possible," Soul argued angrily.

"I know what I see, what I feel, Soul. He's not evil. Crona, if it wasn't for you, we would have killed a sound soul," Maka said, her voice thick with horror and relief.

"Hey, it's not like even I could blame you for that one, not after what I did. Besides, I might not be evil, but that doesn't mean I'm not still a dick. So feel free to attack me, any time, any place, just not when Justin's around to get caught in the crossfire, OK? I don't want you hurting him by mistake," Giriko claimed.

"How are we going to explain this to Lord Death?" Maka asked.

"I think you and Giriko should hide for now, Justin. Either in that cathedral or Esmeralda's base, or somewhere else her Soul Protect ward is still working," Crona suggested.

"Are you nuts? We can't risk running into her. I'm strong, but not strong enough to take out a Witch, especially not that one," Giriko argued.

"Esmeralda is dead. But apparently her wards are still working," Maka explained.

"So you can hide from Lord Death, until we explain to him," Crona recommended.

"She's dead? That's a relief. Although I wish I'd known that earlier. Hey, Sinner, want to go fuck some shit up with me? And you know, just fuck. Because I'm in the mood to celebrate," Giriko crowed.

Soul roared and lunged, ripping free of Maka's arms. She tackled him centimeters away from Giriko's neck.

"Go! Take him and get out of here! And teach him not to be such a jerk, or next time, I'll let Soul rip his throat out!" Maka ordered.

Justin grabbed Giriko's arm and yanked him towards the door, able to move freely again, now that Crona had deactivated the drug in his bloodstream.

"Damn it, Maka! Kid was crying! Kid! He was completely falling apart! Do you have any idea how long I had to hold him until he could finally stop shaking? And then he completely lost it, during the scry, when he saw the two of them, and we're just letting that bastard walk away? If it was Crona he'd attacked, you'd have torn him to pieces! You'd never have let him leave!" Soul yelled.

"You're right. I would have wanted to. And I hope you would have done what I'm doing now, you'd have stopped me, because it isn't right, what happened to Kid, but killing Giriko now for it wouldn't be right either. He's a sound soul. We can't kill him. But also, we were doing this not just to avenge Kid, but to rescue Justin, remember? You've seen how protective they are of one another. Soul, they wrote their names on each other. How blatant do they have to be?

"If you had killed Giriko, it would have destroyed Justin, or worse, he'd have tried to stop you, and you know how unstable Autonomous Weapons are, and how powerful. Can you imagine how horrible an enemy someone like Justin could be, if we pushed him that far? If someone like him became a Kishin Egg, it would be a nightmare. We need to report back to Lord Death, what we found, what we know."

"Yeah, well don't expect to see either of them again," Soul grumbled.

"No. Justin's not like that. He might love Giriko now, although I still don't understand why, but he's fiercely loyal to Lord Death: he'd die for him. He'd never betray him. He'll come back, to explain, I know he will," Crona claimed.

"We'd better get back to the DWMA. This isn't something I want to try to do over a mirror," Soul said bitterly.