[November 8th, The early 2000's, 7:45AM, Infirmary Wing, DWMA]

Before I went ahead and actually saw how Soul was holding up I went to the bathroom to meet up with my clone, after absorbing him back into myself I went on ahead over to the infirmary and saw Spirit lingering in the hallway. That's when I remembered a certain sunset event would happen between him and Maka later. I figured it'd be good for Spirit if I gave him some encouragement.

I clasped my hand onto his shoulder, "Sorry for being a tad touchy Mr Albarn, but we need to talk, man to man."

After managing to drag him along we set out for the eastern upper tower balcony itself.

"Alright, alright, you got my attention so what's the matter Arthur?"

"You and Maka." I said bluntly.

"Eh?"

"I am going to be brutally honest with you Spirit, were it not for Soul performing his duty as a loyal weapon and being willing to die for his meister Maka would've died and you would've been daughterless, at least that's what would've happened if Soul, you, Stein and I weren't there. That being the case however your daughter still went through a traumatic experience nonetheless."

"Oi oi I know that! And don't say she'd die so casually you punk, you may be a teacher here now but I can still kick your ass. Don't look down on my daughter."

I couldn't help but smile briefly, "I wasn't. More so looking out for her, which brings me to my next point, she's shaken emotionally, very much so, extremely natural given what happened. That's where you come in as the father, estranged or not.. I'm rooting for you honestly, but you don't make it easy, flirting with the staff at Chupacabra's over and over, Blair, hell, even Medusa. It's disgusting. Drowning your tears in a drink or two just to become an emotional drunk and run away. Run run run as fast as you can, it won't matter, your obstacles will still be there, like the back of your hand."

That silly cool casual demeanor of his was long gone, he was serious and dare I say a tad angry, good. I had him right where I wanted him.

"Take the sunset with Maka later, and if you're so keen on actually being the father you wish to be, that you know you should be, you'll answer any and all questions she may ask, no matter how scary or adult they may be. No matter how much they make you squirm. Because Maka, even if she doesn't want to admit it, knows that she needs her father, and you need her."

I gritted my teeth to reign in my bubbling emotions, "I don't know what the hell happened between you and your wife for you to go off chasing every other woman you see, but the fact that you're still here for your daughter despite your very obvious flaws and such, it's honestly endearing, and I can say and see that you're trying. And it's why I'm being so serious and stern with you. Because I want you to have that bond with her restored."

Damn it all, my eyes were watering up.

"I'm rooting for you Spirit, which is why I'm telling you to put in the work, more so than ever, and if you don't I'll kick your ass, Death Scythe or not. I believe you and Maka deserve better than that. And this day is a perfect opportunity to self reflect and take that first step towards that goal. To try and mend the relationship you broke from what everyone else says."

I wasn't the only one getting misty eyed now. Spirit scoffed as he clenched his fist and then let go. "Ha, where do you get off lecturing your elders like that, being all nosy and getting into people's personal lives.. you damn punk."

"Simple really, I'm a teacher now. It's what we do." I gave a soft smile and walked away to let him stew the conversation over in his head.

"Oi Arthur… Thank you.. For being there for Maka as well"

"We're men Spirit, true men are to always look out for their children and others in general. Anyone who thinks of harming any student of the DWMA shall face our full wrath as such."

[Congratulations, you have reached 100% Reputation with Spirit Albarn! You have reached the Rank of Friend!]

I chuckled as I walked back to the infirmary and knocked on the door. Or rather I would've had if Black-star's disposition for property damage hadn't kicked in, pun fully intended. That kid I swear.

Maka was sitting next to Soul as he lay asleep in bed while Naigus, Sid's partner, was off to the side as the new nurse if need be. She recently corrected me in a gentle manner that her name was spelled with a "ai" and not a "y", good to know! Lovely lady if not a serious lady at times, Sid was a lucky guy.

I sat down beside Maka and gave her a brief smile. Said moment of gentleness was interrupted by Soul screaming himself awake. It was loud and jarring, as screams usually were. Poor kid, nightmares were always a $$$$$ to go through. The screams certainly got Maka's and Naigus's attention. After Soul reassured Maka it was just a bad dream I left. Wasn't time for me to check in with him in depth just yet. I'd need a week or so.

In the meantime what I could use my immediate attention for was Crona. Thankfully my clone prior to all this had managed to make a case for Crona's detainment rather than straight up execution, it was now up to me to rehabilitate him into the DMWA, earlier than any instance of this world's plot, oh well, let's see if I could make it work, might need to pull in Maka in for the future though.

By the time I reached the more underground area of the school it was about eight or nine in the morning, Stein could handle class on his own, maybe, sorry Stein haha. I opened up Crona's door. I felt bad for the kid, a dark dungeon like interior, only one window, pretty much a prison cell. Granted given all the data so far and the circumstances that everyone else knew of, it was understandable why he was put in a place like this. I'm just glad he didn't die.

There he sat in bed, hugging a pillow, his lavender eyes subdued. Pink choppy hair still the same, he was a tall kid, six foot on the dot, fifteen years old and the only known hybrid meister in this world.

He glanced up at me, "You.. you're the one who told me to go to sleep. You.. After that other meister nearly killed me too. I..I don't know how to handle that, too extreme.." He briefly tightened his grip on the pillow.

I sat down on the floor in front of Crona, looking up at him. "Yeah, that was me- "Or my clone rather." "And those things did happen. I'm glad you're still alive though."

"I'm not.." He muttered. It hurt me inside to hear him say that, but I couldn't blame the poor guy.

Post apprehension we managed to confiscate the souls that Ragnarok had consumed, all one hundred and eleven of them. Italy had one less gang to it now. As a result I could actually interact with Crona as a person more. Or at least that was the ideal I'd be striving for. No need to worry about the Madness of Black Blood. For now at least.

After trying to ask a few more questions that led to "I don't know or pass", or something about being scared I decided to call it a day in regards to trying to play therapist. We sat in silence for a few minutes till I pulled out some fresh hot bacon and eggs.

"You'll need to eat eventually." I laid the plate and utensils next to his feet.

"Ah- are you a witch too?"

"No, I'm not. I am blessed though, that's how I can make delicious food appear." I smiled and winked.

He turned his gaze away and shuffled about in bed. This would be a slow process. Ah just one more question, c'mon Crona baby.

"Are you upset that we took those souls away?"

"Lady Medusa said I'd become stronger if I ate more souls, now I don't have them and I don't know how to do anything again.. Why was it wrong for me to take those souls, I don't get it. She said if I had more power I could understand everything."

Well Medusa wasn't wrong in a sense, but snakes were always known for twisting the truth of things. Time to lead him in the right direction.

"You can still learn everything and become more powerful, granted through another way. The DWMA way. In the meantime though, you'll need to eat eventually so make sure you do before it goes cold. I'll be seeing you again Crona."

I got up and left. "I should maybe see about decorating that room while he is staying there for now." I rubbed my cheek.

[November 9th, The early 2000's, 10:00AM, Class Crescent Moon, DWMA]

I couldn't help but laugh as I looked at the display made by Excalibur in the middle of the room dedicated to Black-star and Kid, much to their shared chagrin. God I loved that sword. I'd need to talk with him eventually. While Soul was going through the works that unlikely duo decided to go on a little adventure that ended in extreme annoyance on their end. Ah good times.

Reviewing the Special Weapons Class was rather lax today, Patty finally managed to transform one of her hands into a gun so that was good to note, her happy mood was honestly contagious at times.

"Alright everyone in the coming weeks we'll get into more advanced moves.. Might even just hold a Duel Arts Class myself honestly, need to see how the meisters are doing and how everyone is doing when united. That's all for now, be safe."

I took the rest of the day off back home and decided to crack open another mystery box.

[Iron Man Armor Model 69 (Legendary) (Marvel)]

[Ether (Uncommon) (Final Fantasy)]

[Red Orb (Artifact) (Pokemon)]

[Anvil (Uncommon) (Minecraft)]

I placed the anvil and ether away for now and pondered over the red orb and the iron man armor, also before you say it, nice.

[Red Orb (Artifact) (Pokemon); A glowing red orb said to contain ancient power. Related to the Legendary Pokemon of the Land, Groudon.]

[Iron Man Armor Model 69 (Legendary) (Marvel); Crafted by Tony Stark himself to commemorate his return to superherodom after undergoing yet another crazy storyline. Known capabilities include repulsors, uni-beam, pulse bolts, tasers, flight, and repulsion shielding.

Standard gold and hot rod red color scheme. Made from some combination of titanium and platinum.

Weighs 400 lbs…]

I rubbed my chin as I stared at the suit, while holding the orb in my hand. This was interesting, I was already debating as to whether I could use it personally, scrap it, sell it or reproduce it for added security to the DWMA and its staff, heck I could possibly even make it the standard uniform for engaging in the execution missions of Death's list so that the students wouldn't risk dying so much possibly.

Although honestly that felt a little too easy, and a tad anachronistic. If I were to suddenly whip this thing out they'd think I was the son of Eibon or something, no thanks. Plus I wasn't an engineer yet, I suppose I'd be picking up that class next because I did want to see if I could combine the plate armor I wore in the Forgotten Realms with this iron man suit. A future project for now.

I proceeded to eat the orb, and to my surprise it tasted good. Earth Affinity shot up by fifty seven levels and Pyrokinesis by nine, not bad, I'll take it!

[November 16th, The early 2000's, 7:00AM, Principal's Office, DWMA]

A week or so had passed, Soul was better, physically at least and would be discharged from the infirmary eventually. Meanwhile Tsubaki had just left, confirming her resolve in hunting down "The Demon Blade, Masamune", that poor girl.

Stein was also present, skeptical of the success of such a mission. "Their opponent is practically a step or two away from blossoming into a kishin, this is nothing like the remedial lesson they had against me and Arthur a few months ago, we should be the ones sent on this mission."

"That may be so Stein but Masamune being her brother takes precedence, plus Tsubaki isn't the type of girl who is impulsive, she is willing to die for this mission!" Death expressed with gusto.

"In addition, most of the E.A.T class, weapon wise at least, are stronger now than they were before, I made sure of it myself. So I doubt she'll lose at all."

Stein cranked his screw a bit and "hmm'd" a bit before sitting down. "I suppose we'll just have to wait and see then."

Indeed we would, spoken like a true scientist. Observe, study, dissect. It'd be interesting to see how the fight between the two siblings would change compared to the original plot. Soon enough the dark duo found themselves in the "Needle Village" of East Asia, the more exact details were unknown, oh well. In true Black-star fashion though he managed to piss off the entire village, especially when they realized he was the last remnant of the infamous Star clan. Practically chased him and Tsubaki out.

Y'know, I get it, I understand why everyone makes comparisons between Naruto and Black-star, but let's be real here, they're two different characters, and if anything Naruto is far less annoying than in the same vein Black-star is. But that's a whole can of worms for another day. Where was I?

Ah yes, Black-star had re-engaged with the village after finally being alerted to the presence of Masamune, who was possessing a village boy. This is where the true fun began. I summoned some chips from the Market tab post payment and offered some to Stein and Death.

What happened next was amazing, to me at least. After trading slashes with Masamune Black-star and Tsubaki deployed "Speed-star" to evade his umbrakinetic abilities, flash stepping thricefold around him in a diamond formation. Standard timeline stuff.

However due to the rain Black-star slipped and was headed crotch first for the local town statue. That was when I furrowed my brow and leaned in towards the mirror. Tsuabki then shifted from her tanto form into her kusarigama form, catching onto one of the nearby houses, Black-star proceeded to kill his momentum before his family jewels were stonewalled. That wasn't in the timeline before.

This wasn't a fight to kill at least not initially, it was a fight to intercept. I was impressed when Black-star proceeded to frontflip twice, landing atop the village's statue via a pull of Tsubaki and a off the wall kick. Watching Masamune move about via possessing the boy's body was interesting, in regards to the umbrakinesis, I couldn't help but want to see if I could replicate the same moves using fire or something else.

"This is my time!" I could hear Black-star scream from the mirror.

The duo had achieved soul resonance. I couldn't help but smile as Tsubaki writhed through the air in the shape of a star, glowing a yellow-gold as she clashed with her brother. The "Shield-star" technique. I think it was only used perhaps twice in the entire run of the manga/anime, though my memory wasn't exactly crystal clear mind you.

That was the clincher, Black-star leapt and pumped his soul wavelength into the village boy with a elbow to the guts, freeing him albeit painfully from being possessed. And with that, Tsubaki took up her brother's blade and went into a trance state. Pity that the mirror couldn't show that, but knowing the plot I was the only one who knew more or less what was going on.

That was when Kid's voice entered our ears. "Father, what is happening? Why has Tsubaki stopped moving?"

"Ah well, you see.." He paused and turned to Stein, who was eating lunch, the two then looked at each other and then towards me. I couldn't help but chuckle, "Go on and enjoy your lunch Stein I'll cover this."

I cleared my throat, "To keep things simple Kid, think of it as a battle of wills. Masamune is attempting to usurp Tsubaki's soul while she is doing the same with his soul."

"Hmm, the hunter becomes the hunted.. What are the chances of her winning?"

I plastered a big grin on my face and held a thumbs up. "Eighty percent, if not One hundred percent!"

This caused Kid to raise his eyebrows and then nod while muttering over the beauty of the symmetry of the number eighty and the validity of the number one hundred being as beautiful. Meanwhile Stein paused his lunch break and looked at me inquisitively.

Liz proceeded to lament over how tragic it was to have siblings fighting one another let alone killing one another. Which to be fair, was understandable and honestly truthful. Was, is and always will be. Stein couldn't help but ponder over why Masamune chose the path of the kishin, stating that it was only those with weak mindsets who fell to such things.

"In his specific case, resentment, jealousy and inferiority." I paused. "How did you all get inside here? Don't you have class?"

Patty laughed at that and shook her head, "Nope! Silly Mr Arthur it's a Saturday!"

"Oh yeah, you're right, huh.. Dang school takes a lot of a person." Patty laughed some more at my expense but I didn't mind.

Meanwhile Black-star was being beaten over the head by the villagers like a pinata. It was a good thing in this instance that he was poor in terms of academic excellence because that much head trauma would have ruined some of it for sure. He ignored it all, it was impressive in a way. When one of the village kids went to strike Tsubaki, the dumba$$, it was then that Black-star grabbed the sticks and shattered it with his grip, scaring the kid off.

"Tss.. how the young still suffer for the crimes of the old."

Sure his family killed some of the village's family, but that doesn't excuse them trying to kill the two knuckleheads. After all Black-star was just a baby when it all went down and it's not like he'd try to kill the DWMA or something. Oh well.

It was then that Tsubaki began to glow and was then sucked into the blade itself.

"Even if you didn't want me to go, I still should've gone. Even if she is a multi-purpose weapon, she has no chance." Stein blurted out eventually, having finished his food.

Death sighed at that, "It's true she's a great multi-purpose weapon but that isn't where her main strength lies."

"It's her soul, and will. Sure Tsubaki may seem like a pushover due to being partnered with Black-star but that takes a form of patience and willpower on its own too. She's stronger than she may seem to be."

To further emphasize my point Tsubaki emerged from the blade in a puff of smoke, much to Black-star's surprise. Heck even to my surprise too, it had been less than two minutes post warp! Her fight had been won. They'd be coming home, I found myself relieved.

By now Maka and Soul had shown up as well, Soul was essentially ready to be released from the infirmary, just needed a day or two more.

"Caught wind of your friend's mission huh?"

"Black-star is known for being a repeating remedial mission freak, so for him to take up an actual mission, it's something worth seeing." Soul said calmly.

"I can only hope that Tsubaki gets to have a soul this time if Black-star doesn't mess it up." Maka mourned for Tsubaki's partnership.

I thought back to when he essentially presented himself to Al Capone and his gang, having to run from gunfire afterwards. "Well you're in luck, because they won."

[November 16th, The early 2000's, 5:00PM, Principal's Office, DWMA]

We could hear Black-star's laughter before we saw him. To think I was actually happy to hear it. These damn kids make me too sentimental.

"Welcome home!" The assassin duo got a warm greeting back from everyone.

It warmed my cold soul to watch the children laugh and enjoy one another's presence, joking around and such. Said merriment was cut short as Black-star shouted from atop Death's mirror.

"Yo, I need to show you all something! Tsubaki has a new form!"

This grabbed everyone's attention as Tsubaki shifted her form as she leapt upward towards Black-star.

"UOOH! Uncanny sword mode!"

Tsubaki's yellow-gold glow shifted solid into a black nodachi draped in midnight blue energy writhing off of it. The air whirled and whipped about as Black-star relished in the new power. It was quite a sight to see, for all of six seconds. He then proceeded to black out, pun not intended.

Stein chuckled as he spoke to Death, "Guess I underestimated these kids after all, Tsubaki even managed to obtain her brother's ability."

Death nodded and that was that. All in all, a good Saturday. I returned home afterwards to sleep. There was still work to be done in the coming days.

[November 18th, The early 2000's, 8:00AM, Infirmary, DWMA]

I had decided to check in on Soul once more, to see how the black blood was affecting him. He said that he was fine himself, though Naigus told me that he was having nightmares. That little demon inside Soul's soul. Part of me felt guilty, I technically could've prevented Soul from having to go through all this.. But suffering builds character.

My brain then decided to remind me of Crona. It had taken me three whole days before I had managed to get him to express himself in longer sentences! I feel like I was growing more white hairs I swear. Ragnarok would appear every now and then but I'd either bribe him with chocolate or just outright intimidate him into not messing with Crona.

I tried to get him to think of many things from superficial to deep, however most answers were still either "I don't know", "Pass", and "I never had to think of that before", Medusa did a hell of a number on this kid, her kid.. $$$$ I wish I could kill her a second time. $$$$ I probably could via instant dungeons but that's for another time. I was debating whether to perform a soul resonance with Crona.

I however decided against it ultimately considering I was nearly twice his age and probably not the right person to essentially imprint on, due to my eventual leaving of this world.. So, I'd need to focus on Maka and Soul to coax Crona into rehabilitation, just like the plot before, but with a twist.

I left breakfast for Crona again. He at least said thank you now and was now calling me "Sir Arthur", granted very rarely but it was still very cute. I made my way to Class Crescent to find Stein, Maka and Black-star together, with Black-star babbling about the suspiciousness of the jug Stein gave him which contained soul absorbing water for endurance training. I mentally replicated said water and jug within my inventory space for further experimentation. Why was such a resource never utilized in an offensive manner? Seems to be a waste honestly. Maybe it was potentially the equivalent of a nuke? I mean it is soul absorbing water after all.

Maka lamented her weakness in comparison to Black-star, still guilty over the wound that Soul received. After Stein gave some questionable words of encouragement to Maka and dismissed Black-star it was just the two of us.

"So Stein, how goes it?"

"Honestly, I still want to study that bird I brought in weeks before, alas it really was endangered." He cranked his screw.

"I'm sure once they get their numbers up we can get you one to study, maybe even turn it into a zombie like Sid."

He chuckled at that before pausing and cranking his screw again. "I have to ask as a scientist, what was it like to kill Medusa?"

"Finally found out, have you?" I grinned.

"I had a sneaking suspicion considering how suddenly unavailable she was when Soul was injured and all those death stares you'd sneak at her, or how you'd do everything in your power to put space between the two of you. You're a bit of an open book sometimes, even if your soul is one of the hardest ones to perceive."

"I like my privacy, the soul is the most intimate part of a person after all."

He nodded softly.

"But to answer your question, it felt so damn good." I didn't hide the pleasure on my face from ridding the world of that devilish snake woman.

He raised an eyebrow, "You do know that this easily could've been spinned as you murdering another staff member right?"

"Yes, but I took the necessary precautions of telling Death himself firstly and then going ahead with the dispatching. "Even if he never technically gave the order haha.." Tell ya what Stein, shake my hand, I'll give you a first person point of view on what happened that night."

"No, I believe you, as tempting as that may be. She always did give me a bad feeling on the inside, a scientist's intuition."

I nodded softly and chuckled. "Alright then. Well in that case I'll see you later, I have to do some shopping."

And with that I left to wander about the city. With Medusa dead I practically threw a wrench in the timeline. There'd be no standard party assault, there'd be no freeing of the wolfman, sorry Free, Eruka and her dumb rat friends wouldn't be showing up to town.."If I hear 'chi chi chi' one more time I'm going to smack a $$$$$ across the face."

My thoughts were drawn out by a spider suddenly appearing before me, with a crack of my fingers I made it catch fire and die. I couldn't take any chances with Arachne still alive. That was the first spider I managed to spot within my entire stay in this world as well, dammit. Maybe I should just go ahead and try to kill Arachne too, would she stay inert or mobilize now that both of her sisters were dead..

[November 18th, The early 2000's, 9:00PM, Maka and Soul's place, Death City]

"Oh, Arthur sensei, good evening." Maka said warmly as she answered the door.

"Good evening, good evening everyone. Sorry to pry, but I heard you guys were having a party, and what's a party without a gift or two eh." I stepped inside after being let in. "Think of it more as a gift from me as a person and not so much your teacher. I don't want there to be any mixed messages, just proud of you guys and wanted to help commemorate that."

I handed Tsubaki a bouquet of flowers. A purple hyacinth for sorrow. A poppy for consolation. An iris for hope and trust. A gladiolus, for strength, integrity and victory. And the final flower, rosemary for remembrance.

"For the fragrant flower that blooms in the east. Congratulations Tsubaki."

I couldn't help but internally cackle as I took note of Maka and the Thompson sisters blushing. Tsubaki blinked back tears as she took up and cradled the bouquet in her arms.

"Thank you Arthur sensei, it's beautiful."

I couldn't help but feel bad having made her cry a bit, "Sorry." I smiled apologetically.

She shook her head and smiled, "It's okay."

Patty giggled, calling me a flower man and giant teddy bear. All scary on the outside but a big softie on the inside. I couldn't help but chuckle and agree with that sentiment. I could've sworn I thought I heard Liz mutter something about romance and how she wished she got flowers like that too. Ha teenagers. I then turned my gaze towards Soul.

"And for everyone's favorite scythe, a two for one."

I placed the bottle of golden apple cider down on the table as well as an anthology on the history of jazz, any and all vinyl records included. Nearly half a foot thick, that book alone cost one hundred thousand dollars, but it was worth every cent seeing the smile on Soul's face.

As a side effect of me visiting their party and dropping off my gifts my Love Empowerment Perk had leveled up, I couldn't help but laugh internally, not that I did all this just to level up a perk anyway mind you.

"Alright, I'll leave you all to it then, I don't want to intrude for too long, thank you for having me."

"Ahaha! Arthur sensei you act like an old man! You gotta learn to loosen up like big me, Black-star!" Black-star laughed and teased.

"Yeah, maybe I'm an old soul then eh. Well anyway, good night everyone."

[Congratulations, you have gained 100% Reputation with Soul, Tsubaki, Liz, Patty, Maka, Black-star, and Death the Kid! You have reached the Rank of Friend!]

They said their goodbyes and goodnights in return. I left for home, and that was that.

[November 19th, The early 2000's, 9:00AM, My place, Death City]

"Should I just go ahead and recreate certain plot events? Or would that be boring, it'd probably be boring, I should see how things play out instead and help however I can even if I no longer possess "meta knowledge" to an extent." The most recent witch's mass was yesterday early morning give or take..I wonder if Arachne had her spiders in that realm as well.

I rubbed my face in contemplation as I looked over my Status tab and capabilities. While being a teacher was fun I couldn't lie that I was neglecting myself in a way. The only thing I had really been half working on was my Psionics Perk. My powers weren't as high as they could've been. Seeing as how I accrued any and all information and experience my clones went through so long as they existed I decided to take a page out of Naruto's book and delegate Perk grinding per clone, streamlining and speedrunning the process for the future! Clones delegation ftw! I converted one of the closets in my house into a permanent instant dungeon for future use as well.

"Alright, you work on Pyrokinesis, and you on Electrokinesis, other than that have fun, and try not to die. You, farm the farming class till you're the best farmer around."

"You got it boss."

It was weird speaking to myself, in person. I'm just glad my clones didn't try to kill me like so many other portrayals in the media. I went ahead and crushed another mystery box in my hand.

[Blacklight Virus (Legendary) (Prototype)]

[Cortana AI (Legendary) (Halo)]

[Mjolnir Armor Mark VI (Legendary) (Halo)]

[Mjolnir Armor Mark VI (Legendary) (Halo); Classic armor of the Spartans themselves. Known capabilities include various shielding, temperature control, increased lifting capacity, radio link, a housed in supercomputer, tons of ammo and storage, etc. Modular color scheme. Made from a plethora of titanium alloys, tungsten inserts and other liquid crystals etc.
Weighs 1,000 lbs…]

Holy- I never knew the spartan armor was near half a ton in terms of weight alone, that's ridiculous! I'd need to increase my stats again before tackling that. Yeah, I definitely knew what I'd be working on in the future as an engineer for sure. I sold the blacklight virus, I liked my body the way it was thank you. I went ahead and planted Cortana into my phone for now.

Soon enough my phone lit up and proceeded to project a foot long hologram of her into the air. The character model itself being her "Halo 4" counterpart.

"Processing internal phone data.. Hello there Arthur, it is a pleasure to meet you.. you have certainly lived an adventurous life up until this point haven't you."

I chuckled when I realized I essentially gave her full access to everything on my phone, including my journal entries and photos. Oh well! Good thing Cortana was on the side of good after all.

"Definitely have, and it's nice to meet you too Cortana. I look forward to our future."

I spent the next two hours chatting her up and attempting technopathy via my Psionics Perk for the first time, it was euphoric to say the least.

[November 19th, The early 2000's, 11:00AM, Liberty Square, Death City]

I found Maka outside, a tad glum as she shopped about.

"Doing some Sunday shopping to ease the mind huh."

"Ah Arthur sensei good morning. Ah yes, considering how much Soul and Black-star ate, I definitely need to refill the fridge.. Ah! That's right! Thank you for that apple cider and your patronage in regards to us students too! We can afford better ingredients now at home.. I know that the school already gives us an allowance and such but I suppose I just find it endearing and a tad odd to have a teacher invest in us like that."

"Heh, well you kids are the future after all, wouldn't be responsible of me to leave you lacking eh. Plus I have way too much money, might as well put it to good use, I can't believe I'd ever think that but it's true! Which brings me to my next point, how have you been holding up really?"

It was wild seeing her mood just plummet into an abyss like that.

"That bad huh?"

"Stein sensei already told me that I need to find the way that works for me to get stronger, but I haven't found it out yet and I can't help but feel horrible every time I look at Soul's scar, or Soul in general.. Arthur sensei, is that how you got those scars on your face too?"

"Mainly the one below my nose, that troll had a nasty clawed hand you know. Ha.. Maka, you already know the answer you just forgot, which happens, we're all human after all, but I'll tell you what, swing by my place, I'll help you two get stronger."

Her face brightened up and she gave a determined smile, "Yes!"

[November 19th, The early 2000's, 1:00PM, My place, Death City]

"Damn, this is a nice place, I dig it. Bit bright though.. smells a lil funny too." Soul said to himself.

"I'm glad I found another appreciator of gothic architecture and its models, and oh don't worry I'm just testing out some candles." Soul and I shared a smile between ourselves as I served him and Maka some water.

"So what's this about extra lessons, it's a Sunday after all." Soul commented, much to Maka's displeasure.

"Black-star has his training and Kid has..something, I don't know." I chuckled briefly. "So that leaves you two to rise up and not fall behind either."

Maka gave a determined nod.

"I should warn you though, if this isn't executed between the two of you properly, you can kiss your partnership and even knowing one another goodbye."

That aloof mask Soul wore emotionally crumbled apart briefly. "Wait what, hold on here."

"We'll do it." Maka affirmed.

"Oi, oi, what are you playing at here?" Soul asked.

Maka merely bulldozed onward. "I'm the meister right, so just follow my lead here."

"Hmm.. Sorry Soul, but this was inevitable, look at the bright side though, if successful, you'll both be stronger than you ever knew. Now then, list each other's faults."

"Eh?" Maka was taken aback.

Soul however went ahead and bit the bullet, "Stubborn, gloomy natured, stick in the mud, foolhardy, thick ank-"

I used telekinesis to halt the book Maka was about to smash into Soul's head.

"No hitting your partner Maka."

Soul scoffed, "Short tempered and violent."

I sighed as I looked at the two.

"As if you're any better! You are lazy, aloof, above it all pervert!" Maka shouted out.

"Yet you still want to be stronger for his sake, good intentions yet botched executions, nothing that can't be fixed though. That aerosolized truth serum candle infusion should be kicking in any minute now."

"What's with you lately? You even dragged me here to some supposed special training without my input, what do you want?"

"I-I just want to get stronger! I want to be able to protect you so you never get hurt like that again!"

Soul furrowed his brow, "Maka I keep telling you, I'm willing to die for my meister, it's my role as a weapon! You collect souls to make me stronger right, so don't you think it's a bit odd that you supposedly have to be stronger than me?"

"So what if I want to be! I-I just don't like being protected by others. Why are you suddenly so negative about being stronger?" Maka jabbed back.

"Calm down."

"No! You've been weird lately too! You're even more passive than usual, it's like you don't even want to be stronger, as if you're scared. What happened to you?" Maka in fact did not calm down and stood up from the couch the two were sitting on.

Soul paused before clenching his teeth, a shiver running through him as he opened his mouth, "I've been having this dream. This recurring nightmare over and over. A black room, full of jazz. Black and red, dark and macabre but in a cool way. And then this dancing little demon comes on out, dancing out of tune. Goading me over and over and over and every time I resist I eventually get dragged out of the room into outer darkness.. And I see a light but every time I go through it..I emerge from your abdomen and you.." Soul was beginning to sweat.

Maka's anger died down rather instantly. "Soul.."

"I didn't want to worry you. I could practically see your mood take a dive when I told you not to worry before anyway last time." Soul sighed as he wiped his brow.

"Yeah because it's my fault that you ended up like that to begin with! This is entirely why I want to get stronger, I don't want to lose you!" She confessed.

"It's the role of the weapon to take the hits and keep going!"

"How can you be so cowardly and mean!" Maka began to tear up. "..Am I so weak that you can't even talk to me about your nightmares?"

"What? No! I just said I didn't want to worry you further!"

They paused before she spoke up again. "That little demon, what does he say to you?"

"To take his power, break the rules that I can break, and never feel fear again. Tch, what a load of $$$$.. I'm not scared of him or of getting stronger. Hell, I'm not even that strong to begin with you damn knucklehead. Even with the martial arts Arthur threw my way." Soul laughed briefly. "We're supposed to be a team, remember?"

"Soul.." Maka whimpered out as she brushed her gloves against her eyes. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I was only thinking of how to surpass you. Not about how I could be alongside you. I'm sorry. I just don't want to lose you. I want to be strong."

Soul sighed. "I'm sorry too, and we will be, together."

That signature smile soon bloomed over Maka's face as she looked up at Soul and gingerly placed her hand over his scar. "Together."

I couldn't help but smile as I saw their souls electrify and connect. Maka's soul blooming forth her little grigori wings before settling back down.

Much to my amusement and their embarrassment I clapped and got their attention. "Good work, both of you. I know that wasn't easy, but what you just did is something even most adults can't even do properly. Remember not only are you a team but fear cannot exist where trust is. As long as you trust in one another and stay honest, nothing will stop you."

Maka nodded, fire shining in her eyes, practically determined to take on the world. I couldn't help but chuckle and smile.

Was it unethical of me to use truth serums on my students, yes, arguably. Did I care, no, not at all. In this one instance I was pragmatic and coldhearted, letting the ends justify the means. If I were to have let this $$$$ run its course the way it would have with Stein at the helm and Medusa still alive Soul would've had been beaten over the head three times and been yelled at by Maka, basically have no dinner that night and then spend the next week or so being out of alignment with Maka only to then realign while fighting Free the werewolf atop a frosty London bridge. All so that Maka could relearn a lesson she already knew arguably before. Man $$$$ THAT $$$$! No thank you. This was much better in my fully biased opinion. Hell if it wasn't for Tsubaki scolding them they would've died on that bridge too.

Yeah sure you could argue that I was somehow denying them some sort of character development by Maka not throwing a temper tantrum and them bickering with one another, or that it was out of character, but that could easily be mended in the future, problems never cease to rear their ugly head in life after all. With this, they'd be stronger, faster. Which means I could up the training too.

"So you have the rest of your Sunday to yourself, what say you we test how strong that resonance really is now that you two got that baggage out of the way eh?" I grinned as I cracked my fingers.

The three of us walked towards the secondary campus grounds, it was the perfect spot due to its more forested nature.

"Don't think of me as your teacher at this moment, but as your enemy. Now stand up and show me the strength of your trust! Show me the strength of your souls! If you can't even put a dent in me you'll never overcome your fears, you'll never move past what happened that night!" I flared out my soul wavelength, my body heating up in martial bliss as I balled my hands into fists.

I could see Maka's soul fully flare up as well as she and Soul attempted their resonance. It was beautiful, watching the colors shift from orange to a semi transparent cool blue, her soul spreaded her wings forth, the air whipping about as Soul changed shape once more. That beautiful "Witch Hunter".

"Sorry if this hurts Arthur sensei!"

"Give me everything you got!"

"Figure Six Hunter!"

[Warning you have received a Critical Hit!]

[You have received a Minor Scar!]

Oh $$$$ they actually hit me. I couldn't help but laugh as I proceeded to dodge the rest of their attacks. "Okay okay, time out you two. You won! Ahaha."

Damn, any deeper and they would've done serious damage to me.. Meh I suppose I deserve that for what I did earlier. That made twenty nine scars total. On the bright side their bond was stronger than ever now. My resistance to force damage also went up and I even gained some radiance resistance as well, sweet. Honestly, glad I got hit.

"Ah are you alright Arthur sensei?" Maka, having calmed down from the highs of battle and emotional breakthroughs, ran over to me.

I suppose that the unfortunate irony of giving me a wound and scar similar to the one Soul had to suffer through wasn't exactly what she had in mind or intended. Poor girl.

"Arthur sensei, I am so sorry-"

"Maka! I forgive you." I caught her attention and proceeded to poke her forehead and laugh. "We were sparring after all, these things happen, besides, now you know that together you can do a number on somebody as spooky as me." I teased.

[Warning, foreign substance found, foreign substance; Black Blood has been negated.]

Soul looked over and placed a hand over his own chest.

I laughed some more, "Hey Soul, we're scar buddies now, Ahahaha! Granted mine isn't as gnarly."

After a brief look of confusion he couldn't help but chuckle and shake his head.

"Alright, who wants ice cream! Nothing like a good sundae to enjoy a Sunday eh."

Maka couldn't help but giggle at that.

[November 19th, The early 2000's, 6:00PM, Deathbucks, Death City]

"To think I'd actually set foot in this place I swear."

Soul and Maka were enjoying their sundaes. "Not a fan of Deathbucks teach?" Soul raised a brow as he popped a cherry into his mouth.

I smiled softly and shook my head. "Not so much the building but the type of people it attracted over the east coast. Bunch of jellyfish type people y'know."

Soul pondered a moment before nodding.

"Thankfully Death City, despite the name, is pretty chill."

"Not as chill as this ice cream sundae." Maka teased.

Soul groaned at that pun and got shoulder checked for it.

Nearing the end of our little desert time we left Deathbucks and were headed for our separate places. I caught Soul's attention and managed to get a word in private.

"I know you didn't want to tell her about what was happening inside you, but it would've happened eventually one way or another you know. And I know it's not necessarily 'cool' but if you ever do want to talk about it man to man, I'm here for you. You're not the only one with a 'little demon' in their head yelling at them to go crazy all the time. So you don't have to go at it alone. Plus you got Maka with you, as violent as she can be for a young girl. You don't have to run alone for as long as you think you do Soul."

Soul sighed and chuckled. "Yeah..thanks teach- Arthur. You're pretty cool after all."

We fist bumped and that was that. I was back in my flat. I rubbed my eyes and sighed. Now that they were cohesive again I could use them for Crona's sake, but that'd be for another day. Man, it was almost December, I wonder what that would be like.

I sat upon my couch and rubbed my chin. To think I almost had the black blood slipped into my own bloodstream. I yawned as I thought about the scenarios of Maka meeting Crona again non violently. There was still the case of Ragnarok as well, that dude wasn't even human anymore, I wonder if I could separate the two. Oh my gosh I could totally do a blood transfusion. Hmm, something to ask Crona in the future.

I crushed another mystery box within my hand, these things were pretty fun so far.

[Pokemon Red for the Nintendo Gameboy (Artifact) (Pokemon)]

[Dinosaur steak (Legendary) (Dragon Ball Z)]

[Excalibur (Artifact) (Soul Eater)]

[Honey (Uncommon) (Minecraft)]

Well that solves dinner. Wait a minute, what, no way. My coffee table was demolished as a sword sank through it standing pommel up. There he was in sword form, gold and majestic, the blade of the legendary king, Excal-

"HOHO! It is me, Excalibur!"

In a flash of light he transformed into his more humanoid form, white as paper and akin to a rabbit in a top hat, nose pointed and upturned, spinning his cane.

"Ho.. I see this is not my cave. But what is a cave but another room, and a room but another cave? This too shall be my cave for I am Excalibur! My legend begins in the twelfth century."

I was internally screaming, I was not prepared for this. I quickly shopped for some pajamas from the Market tab and placed them next to him.

"Provision number three, you alway finish your evenings off by-"

"FOOL! Where am I?"

I was doing my best to keep cool, keep calm, I would not fail to this thing like Kid and Black-star did.

"My place, you were transported-"

"FOOL! That much is obvious to someone as astute as I, the great Excalibur. My legend begins in the twelfth century. Would you like to hear it?"

"Yes."

"FOOL! Provisions numbers one, two and three of my one thousand provisions as my partner, I always begin my mornings with coffee..with CREAM! I begin my afternoons with afternoon tea and I finish my evenings off by getting into my pajamas!"

I scratched my chin, picked up the pajamas and threw them at him. I chuckled internally as I saw him flinch.

"Hoh.. these are soft."

"They're silk. Anyway, welcome to my new place, sorry to take you out of your cave."

"Nonsense fool! I am a man of many caves and travels. I have traveled the seven seas by myself and wrote a symphony detailing the entire ordeal. It is part of my legend, would you like to hear it?"

"I already said yes."

He proceeded to laugh and spin his cane. God help me. I proceeded to clone myself to serve as a cook and serve the dinosaur steak glazed with honey to both myself and Excalibur. During which he went on his five hour recital party. My head was hurting, I think he actually managed to give me a headache.

"Remember provision two for my afternoon tea, always put TWO spoons of sugar! No more, no less"

My clone and I looked at one another, "Good luck bro." He then slipped back into me. I pinched the bridge of my nose and sighed.

"Provision seventy five! Always celebrate my birthday. Let there be cake!"

Okay that provision wasn't that bad. Pre-midnight cake sounded pretty good right about now. Heck, I finally found something to spend my money on too with this guy.

[Congratulations you have recruited Excalibur to your party!]

[Congratulations you have reached 50% Reputation with Excalibur, you have reached the Rank of Acquaintance.]

This was most definitely a giant $$$$ test. Put me through five hours of your bull$$$$, I even feed you and you dare- no no, this is all part of the test. I'm already halfway towards victory. I will pass this test.

[November 20th, The early 2000's, 8:00AM, DWMA, Death City]

I had spawned a few more clones to deal with Excalibur, he could say that I was bending the provisions all he wanted I didn't care, I was not about to bring him to school with me, I had important plans to deploy, plus that platinum toilet costed me two million dollars, damn provision two hundred and two.

I yawned as I closed my eyes.

"Good morning Arthur sensei" Tsubaki called out as she smiled, her and the rest of the gang in tow.

"Good morning Tsubaki, hope all is well."

I did my best to teach soul studies seeing as how Stein wasn't in today, something about resupplying his inventory for a mission or something, fair enough I suppose given how dangerous missions could be. I yawned and shook my head, rubbing my eyes as I sat in the teacher's chair. I saw Harvar with his hand raised.

"Yes, Harvar, what's up?"

"Are you alright Professor Arthur? You seem pretty out of it today."

I chuckled at that, "Yes yes, I just-" Secondary yawn. "I just had to endure Excalibur's five hour recital party last night, it really did a number on me."

That sent a mental shockwave through the class, Kid especially. "You what!? That's pure madness, he's disgustingly obnoxious!"

I giggled some more at that.

"Be thankful that he's at my home and not here once again gracing the school."

"Ha, you can say that again." Kid nodded.

"Oh come on he can't be that bad can he?" Ox asked.

It was then that the sound of thunder struck outside despite it being a sunny day.

"Oh no." Kid muttered.

Boring a hole through the ceiling of the academy Excalibur plunged himself into the floor before transforming into his humanoid form. "FOOLS! IT IS I THE MIGHTY EXCALIBUR!

The sound of the door opened as everyone's favorite blue haired knucklehead walked in, "Yahoo! The mighty Black-star has returned- Oh hell no!"

"FOOL! We meet again!"

"Ox you bastard!" Black-star shouted out.

Fast forwarding through that fiasco and fast traveling Excalibur back home I sat in my teacher's chair once again rubbing my head.

"Sorry about all that, everyone."

"Damn, next to big me you really do deserve the title of hero or king for putting up with that guy. Ugh, so obnoxious. Actually, why do you in the first place?"

"How ironic of you to say Black-star." "Yes well, thank you Black-star. Ah..story for another day. Anyway just..free period, relax, do whatever you want, just don't blow up the classroom, someone get Ox from down and out of the ceiling pipes thank you. In the meantime, Maka, a word with you outside please."

She tilted her head and scampered along. "Something the matter, Arthur sensei?"

Making sure it was just us two I finally opened my mouth, "It's about what happened in Italy."

That got her attention quickly.

"As you know, potentially, the swordsman and ex-kishin Crona was able to be captured and was not executed. There's a reason for all this. But before I tell you that I need to ask you a few questions and maybe tell a story. Are you ready for that?"

"Yes!"

"Are you happy that you have parents that love you?"

"Eh? Yes of course, Mama is the best.. Papa..is papa."

I let out a brief chuckle at that as I nodded along. "So it'd be tragic wouldn't it, if a child was to never have loving parents right?"

Her face grew more concerned as she furrowed her brow.

"Yes, common sense right. ..This is the tale of a certain boy. The black blooded child that is so much more than just their blood. As you know Medusa, the previous nurse hasn't been here for a while. Hm, yes, why is that? Well that's because she was a witch."

Her shock was evident. I paused thinking over if I was even allowed to tell her all this but given how lax the school was in regards to rules, screw it honestly.

"From the day he was born and even before then, Medusa saw him not as a person but as a thing, a subject to be used and discarded when no longer useful. He was never given the life you or any other student here at the DWMA had. From birth he was tortured. From practically his birth, Maka."

"I understand that he scared you and nearly killed you and Soul, that much is true, but it's also true that had he had another mother in life, he never would've done such a thing. He's done bad things, but he never did learn the concepts of right or wrong. In essence, he is suffering, a victim, and he needs a friend. That's where you come in."

Just thinking of the unholy things that Medusa did to Crona sent me into an internal rage. "Let me in, let it go, let me in, let the blood flow. Stop it. Get out of my head. I won't leave because I am you! No you're not! $$$$ OFF!" I could hear the cackling in my head.

Those God damned witches took everything from me. From everyone. They must BURN for their sins against humanity.

"Okay, I'll do it. Ah I mean, me and Soul will do it."

I was brought back to reality by Maka. I looked at her and smiled with a sigh. "Thank you Maka."

Soon enough we found ourselves in the dungeon- ah, lower subterranean levels of the school. Yeah.. It'd been about two weeks of Crona being in this damn place with little to no progress made at all, as patient as I'd like to think myself to be, I was nearing my wits end, and me being the one to bring him out of his shell again just felt wrong to me.

Using the power of my Psionics Perk I teleported everyone to the secondary campus grounds.

"Now then we can get this show on the road. Crona, this will be your first endeavor in two weeks. You are to spar with the rabbit, not kill her, alright?"

"B-but Sir Arthur."

He glanced towards Maka and Soul, who had transformed into his scythe form. He then looked away. "I- I don't want to."

"I know."

Crona looked towards me confused.

"But this will be the first step towards you becoming stronger the DWMA way. Now face your opponent."

He glanced at Maka again and blushed.

"To think I was scared of someone like you, how silly of me."

Crona furrowed his brows, "What? You're still weaker than me, you know that?"

"That may be so, but my will is stronger, and with Soul even more so, which means we won't lose to you a second time."

"I've had it with all this bull$$$$!" Ragnarok erupted from Crona's back.

"AAAAAAAAAAAH! Two $$$$ing weeks in that damn cell, not all the chocolate in the world will stop me now, I'm going to kick your two a$$es you little $$$$$ and then I'm going to kick Crona's a$$ and eat you and then the WORLD!" Raganrok continued to rant and rant, spazzing out as he flailed his balled fists about.

Maka couldn't help but grin. "Good, I'm glad."

"HUHHH?"

"Before you didn't even see me in that light, but now you do, so I'm glad."

Ragnarok roared in frustration.

"And you again, I mean what I said before, I won't lose a second time."

"Tch leave me alone, I don't even want to be here."

"Oh, what's the matter, you scared of the bunny rabbit?"

Crona actually looked debatably pissed, or annoyed rather, good.

"I'm the scythe meister Maka, what's your name?"

"Crona, the demon swordsman."

"Hmph, let's start then Crona!"

The two wielders flared out their souls as the sun shined high in the sky. Ragnarok went liquid and then went sword mode.

The sound of steel rang out into the air again. How long had it been since I seriously fought someone, maybe I should ask Stein to spar with me sometime. Crona initiated his screech resonance while Maka and Soul went for the standard soul resonance.

"The name of the person in front of me.." Crona slammed his blade into Soul's shaft. "Screech Alpha!"

The soil and earth were torn asunder as the two clashed. In familiar D&D terms and comparisons, Crona essentially had regular to high resistances to slashing and piercing damage, from mundane and magic power of the lower variety.

That still didn't stop Maka from slamming Crona into the floor with a "Witch Hunter".

"Get away from me. I don't like people being close to me." Crona muttered as he blocked Soul's edge with his bare hand and kicked Maka back into the tree line.

Fights were always harder when nonlethal, especially considering all the weapons weren't blunted. This was a fight to save Crona, not kill him. That being said, the poor kid's left arm was looking rather rough.

With Soul's increased strength along with the black blood and the heightened bond he shared with Maka the fighting was more of a stalemate. Crona didn't have all those souls he would've had post Nidhogg ship due to being captured. The flow of events I disrupted, was a favor in the end in regards to Soul and Maka.

"My blood..is black." Crona muttered out.

"Soul, resonate harder with me."

"But-"

"I know, just trust me, right? Trust each other."

I could feel my body heat up briefly as I saw an eventual shift in Maka's demeanor. She had willingly partaken in the Madness of the black blood. My left shoulder hitched, a bad omen. She slammed another charged up attack into Crona from the upper right. It'd proved to be too much pressure as Crona screamed and unleashed the "Screech Sigma" technique, bombarding Soul with attacks. Blood dripped from the scythe socket. $$$$. Perhaps I was a bit naive or over confident thinking this'd be smooth sailing.

They were practically going for death blows, black blood leaking from their wounds. Maka grinded Crona's face against Soul's edge, while she tanked, getting her forehead stabbed. Gosh, I forgot how violent children could be!

"Maka, remember your purpose! Reach out to his soul!"

Maka was currently trying to bite Crona's head while Ragnarok kept shouting curses. If $$$$ got any crazier I'd need to step in personally. I already said before that reading was one thing, physically experiencing it was another. As I watched Maka and Crona fight one another in an altered state of mind I couldn't help but grit my teeth as some of it bled into me mentally.

I could hear the cries of the younger Crona begging for mercy to Medusa only to receive none. Begging his mother. Medusa… "LEt go." My eyes stung. MEDUSA! "LET GO!" I grit my teeth as the back of my head throbbed. No. Stay in control. She can't hurt him anymore. $$$$!

My left shoulder hitched again. My attention was brought back to reality as I heard Crona scream out in pain. His body spazzing out and needles of black blood jettisoned in and out of his body like a porcupine on crack.

Maka took a blood spear to her upper arm. Ouch. That definitely wasn't in the manga. Soon enough she fell atop Crona, hugging him. Oh thank God she managed to do it. She did it! The victory was celebrated with Crona crying and wiping his tears away. Ahahahaha, I was tempted to cry myself. I won't lie. My lavender boy was on the road to recovery! He made his first friend!

After things calmed down a bit I treated everyone to more ice cream and some baked goods as well as healing their wounds.

"I'm tired."

[November 20th, The early 2000's, 8:00PM, My place, Death City]

Maka and Soul returned home while Crona returned to the school for now. I went home and needed to calm down because I felt like I was going to fry my brain or blow up something with a shotgun. That was when I felt a chill run through my spine and I closed my eyes.

"Sleeeep."

I shook my head and stared towards the east as a piercing sensation made itself known upon my right cheek and a ringing manifested itself in my left ear. My left shoulder hitched again. I swore I saw a purple flicker of light within the night sky.

"To think you'd go ahead and come back to us after eight hundred years give or take Arachne.. You're either confident in yourself or a giant dumba$$. Most likely the latter. No matter, I crushed your sister, so you'll be crushed too."

["Spidercide" Grand Quest received!

Obj 1; Kill Arachne Gorgon.

Obj 2; ?

Obj 3; ?

Reward; Mystery Box!

Penalty for Failure; Death! Collapse of the world!]

"Ha, say less baby."

AN: Finally finally finally ohmygosh. This chapter was hard as heck to write but I'm glad it's finished! this AU timeline is cracked. It's going to continue to be so, God help us all. Side tangent if you're wondering as to why I went on about my glasses still being a thing, it's because Soul made a joke about Arthur and Stein but I ended up scrapping it because I thought it was too much word salad for Soul. ANYWAY, a little spot light for Tsubaki, lil for Maka and Soul and a good bunch for Crona. And now Arachne shows up and we haven't even had the foundation festival yet oh boy. Yes sir, what am I doing with my life...Anyway again! Hope you enjoy the chapter! Sorry if you don't, thank you for your time either way aahaahaha. Oh by the way to the one guest who left a review and asked if Arthur is actually to go ahead and kill children, I mean you probably already know the answer but I'll just say to stick around anyway. Also! Thank you guys so much for the continued support I can't believe we're almost at 50 favorites and over 50 follows. My little fanfic story is growing up lol, it means a lot to me. So see you all next time and God bless!