A/N: And the battle begins...

Part 4

"Griffin," Stein repeated as he heard the faintest of footsteps to his left. He shifted his stance over Spirit to face the sound and raised his hands in guard, keeping his eyes closed.

"It's the Invisible Man now! Isn't that what Death calls me each time I go on one of my little 'raids'?"

Stein tried to pinpoint the location of the voice, but the best he could gather was that the man stood at least seven feet away now. Safely out of reach, but in range to quickly do damage if he wasn't careful.

"I..."

Stein's eyes flew open.

'Spirit!'

"...thought you said...you didn't sense him..."

Spirit's eyes were glazed over, but even through his disorientation Stein could see the angered glare his former partner was directing up at him as blood slowly dripped across his face.

Stein looked up at the empty air around them.

"I don't."

"Soul Protect is a very useful trick," the voice said, closer this time which caused Stein to tense.

He closed his eyes again, and seemingly in the nick of time as he felt the slightest movement in the air in front of him. He dropped to all fours just as he heard the weapon moving, and he blindly brought one leg around in a sweeping kick toward the approaching sound and air displacement.

His foot only glanced the invisible opponent, the man clearly having dodged from the sound of him landing a few feet farther than Stein had guessed he was before.

He opened his eyes and stood again, making brief eye contact with Spirit before they both began scanning the space in front of them again.

"You won't protect him that way."

Stein grit his teeth in response to the threat and looked down.

"Can you fight?"

"Of course!" There was no cocky smirk accompanying Spirit's affirmation this time.

They reached for one another in unison, and after their hands met Spirit transformed with a wince of pain. In moments Stein felt the cool, familiar weight of the scythe's staff. Except...he was probably imagining it, but Spirit felt heavier than he remembered.

"So why now?" the disembodied voice said, suddenly farther away. It echoed back from the butte, and Stein closed his eyes tightly again as he tried to pinpoint where their opponent had retreated to. "Why has Death suddenly decided I matter after all these years? He get tired of receiving insurance claims from the Southeastern Quarter?"

"This is a new one."

"Quiet, Spirit."

"Oh so you're in charge now?" Griffin commented. "It's what you always deserved, but like me, you were told to shut up and stay in line. It's what always happens to people like us."

Stein grimaced and tried to ignore their former classmate's verbal jabs, listening only for the location the voice was coming from. But he had moved even nearer to the butte, and the echoes were increasing around them.

Spirit seemed to understand too, as Stein felt a slight rise of tension within the weapon's soul.

"He picked a perfect hiding place. With those echoes it's impossible to figure out where he is when he's invisible."

"I was surprised no one came after me," Griffin said again before Stein could reply. "After I killed Sachiko I was on the run, never staying in one place twice. I was sure Death would be sending his top level meisters after me. But no one ever came."

Stein gauged what he thought the distance was, and spinning the scythe once, he slid his grip down to the end of the staff and then lunged forward, sweeping the weapon around at full extension. But the blade only cut through air.

There was a brief moment of silence, and then an arrogant cackle from some twenty feet behind them. Stein grit his teeth as he spun around, scanning the area briefly before closing his eyes again.

"We're going to need a better strategy than that," Spirit said.

"Have you gained weight?"

"Wha—!?"

Stein could feel the affront in Spirit's soul, but Griffin was speaking again, and this time the voice was definitely in motion.

"That's when I realized, no one at the academy had ever truly cared about me. The DWMA doesn't care about its students. They're only pawns to Death's whims. And they especially don't care about people like you and me."

At the last, the voice moved slightly closer. Stein tensed as he suspected an imminent attack and took a small step back, raising the scythe as he readied to block.

"Can you—"

"Quiet! Ngh!"

The blow thankfully hadn't been from Griffin's weapon form, but just from his elbow as Stein was hit hard in the solar plexus, grunting as he stumbled. But rather than flip out of the way of another potential blow, he planted the head of the staff and blade in the sand and used it to swing his body around, kicking hard with both feet into the space from where the attack had come.

This time he got in a hit, and he heard a gasp as their opponent's wind was knocked out of him and then a snarl of anger. Stein landed in a crouch and spun Spirit up quickly to deal a killing blow. But the blade sunk silently into the sand.

A few moments passed as Stein caught his breath, and then the laughter began anew. Behind them.

Stein hefted the scythe and spun around to again face the invisible voice that echoed up the butte and across the plains.

"I won't be able to hit him unless I can hear him," he said. "Or else let him get a hit in first like he just did."

"Oh and just assume he won't transform before hitting you like he did to me? That's some strategy."

"But I see," the Invisible Man said, his voice still distant and echoing high above them, "that they got to you with their ideals. I'm disappointed in you, Franken. You were different from the rest of them. I'd hoped... I thought if anyone came, it would be you."

Stein frowned and closed his eyes again. A different echo, the memory of Griffin's request that he join him, rang loud in his ears. He reached up and turned the screw in his head in attempt to banish the sound. He needed a strategy if he was to succeed at this seeming test Lord Death had given him.

'Why?'

"Just look at you now. You really should have considered my offer."

"Stein? What's he talking about?"

"Tell me, do you enjoy those long hours you spend alone in your little lab of horrors? I've come around you know, over the years. Watched you, mindlessly dissecting, going through the same routines over and over... Your only companions are the dead, or the sound your fingers make on that keyboard as you type."

Stein opened his eyes to stop the mental images from coming. In front of him was only sand. Sand, trees, and the butte. And an invisible voice that in the past had spoken with curiosity, excitement and resolve.

"We're not going to beat him like this," Spirit said. "We need to retreat until we can figure out a way to get his Soul Protect off so you can see him."

"If I can hit him with my soul wavelength, I can break the spell."

"But you've still got to see him first. We should go back. He wins this round."

"No."

Spirit sighed. "Stein..."

"So why didn't you come with me? You wanted to. I saw the look on your face after I asked. That's why you didn't stop me from escaping, isn't it? Because you wanted to come and you were considering following me later."

"Stopped him from escaping...? What's he talking about? He can't mean...? Stein?"

Stein felt a wavering in Spirit's soul, but before he could even think about how to answer, suddenly their opponent revealed himself.