Damn, these Soul Eater chapters really did a number on me, lmao. Yes, I'm back. Took forever to get this chapter done. Probably doesn't help that this really should've been two separate chapters. I'm dumb and stubborn though, that's the recurring thing.

Also, I did actually go back and reread the earlier chapters and, goddamn, you can tell I've been improving because there are so many grammar issues. I guess that was the point of turning this into my new hobby though. I'll probably go back and update them at some point with fixed grammar.

"Are you two really alright?"

Maka hid her squirm from Alakazam's inquiry. The Keybearer's crew had welcomed them into their mission, but the more Soul's labored pants dragged, the more they turned around to look over the duo in concern. Soul, who had at one point been near the front of the pack, now sunk several steps behind the rest. Maka continued a false assured march, just barely hiding away the look of guilt in her eyes as if she blamed her partner's condition all on herself.

"No, really, we're fine," she replied reluctantly.

"It's not too late to turn back and—"

Cody lightly jabbed Al's shoulder disapprovingly. While he too was worried about the state of their two companions, he knew that the duo's spirits would be worse off if they were absent. There was a reason they were there. And as if on cue, signs of that reason screeched and echoed around throughout the enormous academy building's walls. Feet skids flayed around in violent vibrations, and Crona's distinct cries of distress bounced around with each sign of movement.

The more they hunted down the battle's source, the more boisterous the noises became. Eva's gravely verbal thrashes mixed in with Crona's wails into a demented duet. A blade could be heard constantly gleaning against rubble, and the floor shook with each sign of physical impact. They probably should have expected something like this with how much trouble the two had given them, but the closer they got, the more it sank in that this coming fight might be worse than anticipated. Would they have to have to deal with both at once?

Eva had seemingly reverted to the bizarre state she was in much earlier. Her skin was covered in stale patches of gray, and the tips of her arms and legs were painted in the deepest of black. She kicked and pounded into the stony pillars and collapsed them into a ruinous image. Crona, as frightened as they were, attempted to sneak swings in at every opening they could find, but the growing pigsty of a battlefield forced them to prioritize a defensive state. As people who had relentlessly fended themselves against both of these fierce brawlers, the onlookers gaped in awe. They came here ready to go against Crona, yet here they were watching the opposing junior bodybuilder at the cusp of victory.

Eva made another garbled snarl. As she clenched her fists, the blackened stretches of her arms seeped further through her veins. Her eyes glowed a sickly gold. She was ready to enter the final phase of this fight in her fullest form.

Or at least she would have if a certain rabbit fiend didn't knock her out of her concentration.

Mokona excitedly chanted praises towards the "Scary Lady", a gesture that was quickly clamped down by Cody and Al's hands. If only they'd shut him up earlier. Said "Scary Lady" had already turned her head in confusion to where the audience stood, and in that split second…

…Crona punted Ragnarok's hilt square across her jaw and shot her like a torpedo into one of the last standing pillars in the area. Her body cracked into the thick concrete structure, just barely forcing it down with her. With one final look of pure contempt glaring towards both her opponent and the nitwits who caused her to forfeit the fight, she slumped back into a cloudy daze.

It took everything in the witnesses to not punt Mokona off in frustration.

Crona slowly approached them all. Expecting round two to begin, they promptly jumped into battle stances…only to be greeted by Crona's pitiful shaking face. They had the same energy of an unstable pup who'd been chased around relentlessly by its irresponsible owners. After having dealt with what was obviously a difficult fight against Eva, it was no wonder they needed a break. The only question now though was whether or not it was a good idea to let their guards down around this frail chihuahua.

"I..I, I, I." They were tongue tied just one letter in. "I can't take this anymore. I just want to go home."

A loud voice barked out of the sword Crona gripped onto sloppily. "Oh no you don't! If you don't fight them, we are toast! Doomed! Diced! Dead as a dead raccoon!"

"Why does Mother always make me do stuff like this?!" They scratched the sides of their head in despair. "What am I supposed to do? What does she expect me to do? Why isn't anything ever good enough for her? Why can't this be over? Why, why, why…"

Crona spewed out crazed grievances a mile a minute. Their would-be opponents were unsure of what to make of this sight. The group remembered when they first ran into the kid. They had all heard a genuine scream of terror and rushed to them with the sole goal of helping someone in need. Crona almost seemed like a scared child back then. Even more so when Medusa showed up to terrorize them. Even if that witch did it solely to unlock whatever feral essence was hidden underneath all that anxiety, she tortured them all the same. This wasn't a run of the mill bad guy they were dealing with. And Maka had already come to that conclusion. It was the reason why she was here.

"You don't have to listen to her," she spoke boldly.

Crona blinked, slivers of tears having already begun to sting in their eyes. "Eh?"

"You don't have to let her keep treating you like that," Soul added matter of factly.

Crona's frown creased. They were almost confused at the suggestion. "Wh-what?"

Cody looked on. There was something about this situation that felt familiar to him. He too lived a life where he got relentlessly stepped on. In the past, he followed along to so many dumb requests all for the sake of fitting in and surviving. He found himself in humiliating situation after humiliating situation, but still kept going like a blind mule because he kept foolishly chasing after that ideal life he wanted. Obviously, none of this probably compared to whatever Crona must've been through, but maybe, just maybe, this tiny connection would be enough to change the tide.

"Hey."

Everyone, Crona included, jumped at the sight. Cody was not usually a proactive person when it came to sappier subjects like this, but here he happily extended a hand to his reluctant foe.

"You can join us."

"Hu…huh?"

"We don't have to fight," he elaborated. "Listening to your mom isn't getting you anywhere, yeah? Why not switch sides?"

"Kid," Ragnarok replied amidst Crona's continued confusion. "Trust me, you can talk as much sense as you want, you ain't getting shit through this dummy's head."

"Wh-wh-wh-wh," Crona continued stuttering. "What would I even do?" Like many of Crona's other outbursts, that wasn't really a question meant to be answered.

Of course, Cody's dumb mouth went and answered it anyway.

"Take down your mom, of course!"

The others chucked their jaws open. This was Mokona levels of tact. What the hell was he thinking?

He wasn't really. And they were about to pay the price.

Crona's pupils swiveled into an intense lock. Take down Mother? What in the world was he talking about? They can't just do that. That would mean going against her! They're supposed to obey her. Why did they obey her? Because they had to. Why do they have to? Because they had to. Did they want to? Of course not. Wait, did they? They didn't, right? But they must. But why? Why would they not? But why not? What was this? This wasn't right. Take them down. That was right, that was it, take them down! Take them down, take them down, take them down, take them down…

After going through all the minute signs of an internal freakout in the matter of seconds, Crona slumped over like possessed twig and prompted a yelp from the Keybearer who was still waiting for a grab of the hand. Cody snatched his arm back and nervously positioned his fingers into his usual wielding position. This was the only real moment he had to reflect on how badly he botched that up. The next thing he knew, Crona stared him down with a crazed face that froze between a cry for help and a cry of sadistic laughter. It was the return of the chaotic sword slinger they fought back in the city streets. With a quick clash between the Keyblade and Ragnarok, everyone scattered about and readied themselves for their redo against the one-person army.

The warm up fight with Eva earlier had left the field a sorry catastrophe. With cratered pillars caved into the floor tiles, everyone bounced about as they tried to maneuver their way into a good spot for a sneak attack. But Ragnarok's might plowed right through each and every time. Gluts of concrete and gravel spewed out throughout the air while the pillars continued to be split and divided into even more scattered slices.

Cody settled on making a repeat of his Smash Stadium strategy. He carefully timed each rubble dodge between each swing and dashed away right as the blade would've split him in half. In no time, he was once again right up against Crona face-to-face; something that was a better idea in his head than in actual practice. With Crona's frenetic ferocity, a one v one was the worst possible position to be in. He could barely keep up blocking each constant parade of attacks. With each clash, he took another step back. And another. And another. And—

"Wh-whaa!"

He took one misstep on to a stray pile of pebbles and came tumbling down like he just slipped on a sea of marbles. If it weren't for his slipup acting as a good distraction for Al, Loudred, and Mokona to start fending Crona off, he could've very well have been a goner. Still, at that brief moment, that tiny sliver of time between his fall and his sore back, he couldn't help but notice something strange. Something not unlike what he felt fighting against Eva earlier.

Cody wasn't the only one who sensed that "something". Sneakily surveying the fight from afar the core Keyblade Crew's scuffle, Maka, with a scythed up Soul in hand, carefully observed Crona from atop one of the collapsed pillar pieces. Now that she was in a position to examine the swordfighter's prowess without the immediate threat of death, she could see the strange shadowy mists that sprung around during each charging attack.

"Do you see that, Soul?" She murmured.

"Yeah," her partner responded.

"It's like what was going on with that girl earlier. Cody said it was like she was a Heartless, but she wasn't one at the same time."

Soul peered further in. Loudred, Al, and Mokona started to get worn down, and Crona's slashes were grew in numbers. Each new slash meant more of those strange black wisps. It was at that moment that Soul realized what exactly they were. After all, he saw them getting crudely sucked right into him not long ago.

"It's their blood!" He blurted out. "They've got Heartless crap infused in their blood!"

"You're kidding," Maka blinked.

"You know what this means, right?"

She could practically feel the excited grin Soul would've flashed if he was in his human form. It would've been the kind of grin one would have if they knew their victory was assured. The way things were now, the fight was in a total stand still. Eva was the only one who could make a decent dent on them, and now he knew why and why they were going to be the ones to end this.

"Are you sure about this?" Maka frowned in uncertainty. "You're still hurt. We're moving a lot slower than we normally would."

"I'm only as good as the meister using me," he replied. "Trust me. I've got a plan."

She could feel him grin again.

"Remember, we're connected."

She could figure it out with just that.

Back up ahead where the action was, things did not get any better for our heroes. Cody reentered the arena praying that four against one would've evened the odds just a little. But if it didn't do anything during their previous match, it most certainly wouldn't do anything now. He was sent back flying against one of the many stray pillars, nearly knocking all the light out of him with his second major back injury within minutes. And to add insult to injury, a certain ball of white fur was hauled right into his guts like a well aimed bullet. At this point, he was lucky he hadn't been torn in half for real.

"Hey, Al," he winced angrily right before flopping back to the floor. "Can't you use your mind to freeze them or something?"

"What do you think I've been trying to do?!" Al wheezed aghast. "They're too dang fast!" Shortly after, he too fell victim to massive pillar induced back pain and a face plant to the floor.

With three out of the four down for the count, the only thing Loudred could do now was give out a paralyzing Howl. The plan was for him to nab his buddies to safety and get the heck out of there while their opponent was still stunned. But that small safety window was enough for a spark. He had unknowingly signaled out a war horn. In those few seconds where Crona stumbled, Maka sprinted across the pillar top and leapt into an aerial strike. She very nearly landed a clean gash into Crona's arm, and Soul's blade was just barely shielded away by Ragnarok's tip.

Maka confidently landed back on her feet. Normally, this would've launched off into another round of close combat, but something strange was in the air. Everyone could feel it. Even Crona could feel it. Their body stayed in place as they anticipated Maka and Soul's next move.

Like a crude imitation of Crona's entrance into battle, Maka slumped over in an uncanny gesture. Then, it happened. Soul's blade lost its typical sheen and blotted out into a flat murky hue. While his form continued to change, the shadowy essence slowly crawled its way into the clashing image of Maka's pure white gloves. They seeped further throughout her body and stopped just before covering her face itself.

She slung her body back upright with a slanted taunting smirk. The way the black veins weaved themselves around her head, it was as if she'd slipped on a hideous mask. The typically calm and collected honor student giggled like a mad woman. And in the transformation's final touches, her emerald green eyes morphed into bright sickly lime.

"...heeeeheheheheheheheeeheehee…"

The four onlookers gawked in bated silence. Neither of the two berserkers made a move. Crona was reassessing the entire situation even in their feral state. Eva was a formidable foe who was defeated out of dumb luck. Would they be able to carry that luck over to these two?

While Crona was technically the first to make a move, even a small flinch was quickly matched with a bullet-like dash. Maka sprung herself towards them with such veracity, it had to be karma taking its first toll. Ragnarok just barely blocked Soul's blade, and he fended off each successive strike at the very skin of his teeth. The meister-weapon duo was finally trapped in the same suffocating cycle they had incited on to all of their past opponents. They carefully shifted their pacing to evenly match against Maka and Soul's rhythm only for the occasional interference of the Keyblade Crew to throw them off each and every time. All the while, Maka's crazed giggles continued to find ways to sliver into Crona's increasingly tense head.

The battle continued to escalate with the pair of duos bouncing off and decimating the surrounding fallen pillars into tattered stones barely resembling fixtures. The Keyblade Crew fell back as bystanders, deciding there was no real guarantee they could protect themselves from friendly fire at this rate. Watching the four duke it out was like witnessing spinning razor tops mash into each other with murderous force.

They weren't sure if it was fear or fatigue, but bit by bit, Crona could find their non-crazed personality slip back into place. And with it, came increasingly fumbled steps. They could sense Ragnarok's growing desperation at the futility of their blocks. While Crona's inner madness was fading, Maka's was still ripe and bare. Just seeing her ghastly giggling face between the intervals of the clashing blades was enough to put the poor kid into a shaking posture. By the time Ragnarok was unceremoniously flung off their fingertips and out of bounds, they already faltered into a pathetic squirm, covering their face in preparation for whatever awful fate lay ahead.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," they stuttered out over and over again. In the back of their head, they knew this was coming. Blindly following their mother was destined to lead them to this unfortunate path, but they continued on trudging through that path regardless. This was the end, their sorry, sorry end…

…They could feel themselves in a tight hug.

Ever so slightly, Crona lifted their weary eyes off their palms and saw that their foe did not resort to hacking them to bits. She held them, repeated comforting words of "it's okay" over and over again, and her Heartless corrupted skin now back to its original hue while Soul reverted into his human form, watching on timidly to the side.

Ragnarok could be heard nearby awkwardly shouting for his master to retrieve him. Cody was ultimately the one to grab ahold of the sword and hand him back. Just moments before, this would've been an unthinkable act, but the outcome was clear as day. Crona was no longer an enemy.

All that could be heard in those halls were pure sobs of relief.

oOo

"Are you sure you want to come with us?" Maka cocked her head. "You can stay behind, you know."

"No, it's okay," Crona answered quietly. "This is partially my fault, I guess…"

Cody responded with a whistle of approval. "Taking on your mom right away. Pretty gutsy, dude."

Al and Soul elbowed him on both sides of his spleen.

"Ow! Hey, what gives?! Trying to hurt me right before the next big battle?"

"If you don't zip it, you're getting a bigger handicap," Maka glared. Cody could feel shivers run down his spine.

After gaining a new ally through Crona, the gang had started to trudge on through a seemingly endless staircase to what they believed led to the very depths of the school itself. Still worn and banged up, Crona had exploded into feverish bouts of apologies. None of the others were having it. It took Ragnarok's clammy hands to finally calm them down. The group had all put on brave faces to brush it off, even making fun smalltalk as they continued to descend. But it was all a weak veil over the knowing certainty that they were headed into whatever was up ahead with a huge disadvantage.

"How deep does this school go?" Loudred yawned incredulously from exhaustion. Mokona had long perched atop his head for a blackout nap.

"Beats me," Soul grumbled. It was almost amazing how much he, Maka, and all their classmates were kept out of the loop. "At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if there was a whole ass dungeon down there."

"You're not too far off from the truth."

The eight of them all jolted like they were woken up from a wavering slumber. Her voice echoed through their ears. That could only meet one thing: this fight none of them were in the best shape to partake in was just up ahead. They rushed down the steps, more as a means to peel off a bandage than anything else, and heaved to a halt the moment they reached the bottom.

The bottommost floor did indeed have an eerie vibe behind it, more closely resembling a torture chamber than anything remotely related to a school building. Walls of intricate cage contraptions lined the faded walls and an ominous gate stood menacingly at the furthest end. And then there was Medusa who blended disturbingly well into her backdrop. It was like walking back home late and being greeted by a mother who waited specifically to unleash a spirit crushing lecture destined to become a core memory.

"Well, well, well," she spoke softly within the clicks of her tongue. "This is how you decide to treat your dear old mother. Nothing but a worthless doll after all."

Crona didn't even have to understand the string of words she had flung at them. Just hearing the sound of her voice was enough to trap them in a shaking fit. Every fiber of their being was telling them to do something. Quite literally, Ragnarok spat that very order right at them. But the more she threw her verbal abuses, the more they felt petrified. She was trying to take control of them again, trying to send them back into that crazed form. Maybe they seemed sad and pitiful just standing there like this, but in a way, this very lack of action was their own personal protest against her.

And she hated it.

Soul quickly snapped back into his scythe form and into Maka's hand. They were already geared up to make their move with how pissed they were being forced to hear Mother-of-the-Year doing her thing again, but the moment she so much as flinched, they knew the time to idle around was over. An almost fabric-like ribbon of darkness unraveled from her back and swung towards the duo. After the two quickly blocked it out, an entire collection of similar ribbons sprung out from under her skin. Medusa was surrounded, both by her own little ribbon army and by the rest of the gang who acted quick in fending themselves off from those piercing snakes.

In the middle of a counterattack, Cody's eyes nudged toward the far end of the room where that gated shrine lay. It was distant enough that the details easily became an indecipherable blur, but even still, there was no mistaking what that it represented. Within the ominous structure, chains upon chains draped across the beams and entranceway with locks dotted abound like beads. No doubt one of them had to be…

That's it! He thought to himself.

There was no reason to pay any mind to this witch's distractions. Just one wave of his key and they could all be done with this. All he had to do was speed on over to the other side and seal it all on his own. But of course, it was a plan all too plain and simple to let slip. Thinking Medusa was distracted enough from fending herself off from the others, Cody was nearly halfway through the hall before he was blocked off by the sudden shift of cages. A mass barrier formed right before him, and the bars that sat idly to the side slid over like they had minds of their own. Cody grappled on to one of the newly positioned cells in frustration…and just from that, his eyes widened in confusion. Something was off. The bars bobbed around ever so slightly like they were slowly sifting themselves from below.

He made a high pitched yelp before leaping away. The cage violently shook itself into the air while a haunting moan quaked from above. The cell was whisked off by a spirit, and it wasn't just any old ghost. Fissures sparked in the sky before revealing the oafish face and mangy claws of the massive Prison Keeper Heartless.

His first instinct was to strike first. But strike at what? The body was over a dozen feet above, and all he could hit was this detached cage. That's what his head tried to warn him, but his hands obviously weren't going to listen. One clean hit sent the cage's door wide open. One of the dumbest moves he'd made yet to be quite honest. Like an emaciated beast that awaited its feast, Prison Keeper swung its nest over, ready to clamp down the Keybearer as its prize.

Cody bit his lip. He'd really done it now. He hurriedly held the key up front as a shield, the only real way he'd be fending this thing off now at this rate. But right as Cody was about to be crowned prisoner, a certain someone cloaked in a pitch black hue ran to block it off. Crona smacked Ragnarok on to the bars with all their might, swaying the cell away…and back like a pendulum where it took Crona as Cody's replacement. The already rowdy scene erupted into further chaos, both sides unsure of where to focus their attention. Crona's peers eyed each other pointedly in an attempt to distribute their battle-or-rescue duties silently amongst one another while Medusa's irritated curses against her own child were garbled under their screams.

Just from reading the situation alone, they could all agree on two things: Cody was the closest to the cage, and Mokona made the perfect projectile weapon. In those haphazard seconds of panic after their friend's imprisonment, both the Keyblade and Mokona were launched at the bars and unceremoniously swatted off by the Prison Keeper's flailing hands. The more it continued to wave its windsock limbs, the more it revealed its true form; a deadly spinning top.

The Keyblade Crew knew what to do. The nuisance cage with its clawed arm shield wasn't too unlike Kurt Zisa back at True Cross. All they had to do was work together to avoid its hits and take it down from its core. A task unfortunately easier said than done. Amidst their cage confrontation, Medusa was far from willing to let herself fall into the sidelines. The combined swatting of Prison Keeper's massive limbs and Medusa's massive flurry of ribbons left the group trapped in a bind.

The short ranged fighters, Cody and the Soul-Maka duo, were left fending off against Medusa. Between the thrawl of deadly streamers, she slithered her lanky form away from each swing that made her way like the slick serpentine witch that she was. Our heroes could only grow all the more frustrated at the vertigo from the dizzying tangle her movements made.

"This is getting us nowhere," Cody griped, just barely dodging a shadow stab by his cheek. "Can't you two do that crazy Heartlessy thing you were doing earlier?"

"Are you crazy?!" Soul shouted back.

"That form was really hard to control," Maka tried to elaborate between huffs and heaves. "This fight is a mess right now. If we go and use that form carelessly, we're not going to be able to tell the difference between you and her."

"I'm in the way then?" Cody concluded. His eyes carefully shifted over to where the rest of the gang fruitlessly attempted to save Crona. "Then it wouldn't be a problem if I weren't here?"

"No, it's not that sim—"

He didn't even let her finish before he made his retreat.

"For crying out loud!" The two screamed out at once. With one less fighter, the struggle against Medusa intensified. For as much as Cody wanted the two to resort to their unstable trump card, their minds were too trapped in focus to give in.

"...Hey, did you see that?" While backflipping over Medusa, for a split second, Maka caught sight of a faint, thin glimmer alongside the ribbons and knots; a tiny disjointed seam split off from her threads. And after careful examination, the lone seam trailed straight to the tip of the Prison Keeper.

Just as soon as the duo uncovered her scheme, she too realized what they'd just saw. If she was even a tad bit bothered, she certainly didn't show it. "Go on," she clicked her tongue. "What are you waiting for?"

It almost felt like she was baiting them. Like she was hoping they'd launch themselves into that other form of theirs and cause the unpredictable ruckus they were afraid of. Cody was counting on it, Medusa was counting on it; this was a gamble for both sides. The two already figured out the weak point. It was just a matter of whether or not they'd be able to slip past Medusa's sprawling fortress of threads or get themselves further trapped within it. With looks of uncertainty, the darkness spread throughout bodies and Medusa continued to look on with a goading grin.

While the three bounced wall to wall with ribbons shooting all over the place, Cody and the others surrounded the Prison Keeper. Their combined attacks created a temporary halt in its movements and left the floating fortress wide open. Alakazam used his telekinesis to safely launch Cody and Loudred to the roof of the cage. While Loudred exchanged quick words of assurance to Crona, who was whacking Ragnarok desperately on to the bars, Cody very carefully tiptoed closer to the brim of the cage; just enough to lift down his Keyblade and hopefully unlock it himself.

The two below had been keeping careful watch and suddenly started to scream their lungs out to their friends above. The Prison Keeper started to regain itself, and by the time the three above took notice, it sprung forcefully into another spinning fit. Loudred quickly gripped his right hand to the upper bars and his other to Cody's arm, just barely saving him from slipping off. Though one had to question if he would've been better off taking the fall or not. There was nothing but screaming going on as the cage just spun and spun. Cody's easily nauseated body fought for its life, Loudred struggled to reason with himself whether this was better or worse than the True Cross carousel incident, and Crona, practically numb to the spinning at this point, crashed around despondently. All the while, Al and Mokona tried to warn Maka and Soul about the impending monster-go-round, but a combination of the meister-weapon duo's concentration being trapped in their half-Heartless form and the two would-be messengers getting swatted by the Keeper's palms straight across the room into a brick wall forced the message to land on deaf ears.

Medusa hid a fit of giggles beneath her calm veneer. Even while occupied with her own little tussle, she kept tabs on the rest of the battlefield and had more than enough confidence to begin gloating about her impending victory. Even Maka and Soul had started to wear down. Maybe the pressure had gotten to them or maybe they had expended too much energy back during their fight against Crona, but no matter how hard they tried to cut down her string, she would maneuver herself just enough to throw them off. This form of theirs was supposed to be unpredictable, yet there she was always a step or two ahead.

"You really thought you had something here, didn't you?" She sneered. Of course they couldn't outwit her with this gambit. She was Crona's mother. She probably helped perfect this form herself. Why did they take this gamble? What were they thinking?

Medusa was about ready to get serious. It was fun humoring these two, but she couldn't keep flicking around a bunch of brats forever. While Maka landed back on her feet after another leap, Medusa took that one split second of reprieve to gather all the ribbons together. Maka began to charge towards her. They had thought the ribbon tangle had them at a disadvantage, but with them all neatly together, all it would take was one concentrated and unavoidable stab to take her down. It was in that split second that Maka got ready to swing at her again. And it was in that split second that those ribbons flew towards her like a poison tipped arrow.

And it was in that split second that Medusa felt her body crash and slide several feet across the floor as Eva ruined everything for her.

The ribbons jutted to a halt. The witch's mind was now occupied trying to drag this mangy teenager off her. Eva's memories were still laser focused on the bastards who dragged her into this mess earlier today, and guess what? Medusa was mental bounty number two.

With Eva charged up in her own half-Heartless form, Medusa struggled to drag her off. Sure, she could handle Crona and those two perfectly fine, but this girl had the build of a young barbarian. By the time she finally broke free, she was thrusted back into another fight with Maka and Soul with little to no warning. The one-two(-three) punch of half-Heartless teenagers was beyond her original foresight. She figured Eva would've rotted off in a ditch after she had her fun with her. Just one tiny deviation to her plan was ruining everything. As if she were rubbing it in, Eva sent her flying with an uppercut to the jaw. Maka leapt into the air and jabbed the edge of Soul's hilt right into her stomach. As she slammed painfully onto the floor, forming a crevasse in the shape of her body, her mind forced out a panicked crack of her shadowy threads; a last ditch effort to salvage this ordeal. Or, unbeknownst to her, the trigger for her undoing.

With Medusa's clutch, across the room, the already disorienting Prison Keeper thrill ride turned into an even speedier barf hazard. Cody and Loudred never once stopped screaming throughout their ordeal. Crona was lucky they could even pick up their calls from within the cage.

"I," Crona choked in between squeamish wobbles. "I think the, the bars…. a-a-are aaaaalmoooooost b-b-b-b-brok-k-k-k-k-ken."

"Wh-wh-wh-wh-whaaaaaaat?!"

"I, I said…I, I, I…" Even with enough strength to keep whacking Ragnarok to the weakening metal, actually talking was impossible.

Despite not understanding a single thing they sputtered out, Loudred carefully knelt his arm downward, just enough for Cody to grab hold of the bars near the cage's entrance. With the constant rattles and sways, it was a fight in and of itself to try to stay within the cage's grasp. Very carefully, Cody once again reached his Keyblade towards the keyhole. Carefully… carefully… ever so slightly…

His efforts were all for naught because with one last strike, the cage's foundations snapped and finally came undone. The force of the bars smacked right into Cody's scrawny body and sent him soaring across the air. And not too far behind him was the even scrawnier Crona who became the poor victim of extreme inertia. Together, with their blades flailing from their shaky hands, they zoomed right past Medusa's forest of threads and slashed through every last one of them, including Prison Keeper's personal seam. Just as the duo landed screeching on to the floor, their Heartless foe toppled helplessly to the ground.

There were three screams: One was from Medusa who struggled to vent out the mountain full of frustrations that formed within her all at once. Another was from Crona who, after snapping out of their dizzy fit, realized their good buddy Eva had followed them down here. And the last, more a snarl than a scream, was from Eva who let out a series of expletives as she stomped towards her original target, nearly trampling over a barfing Cody along the way.

Medusa's hands wriggled in anger. Her shadow seams already began to regenerate, but a single moment of pause was more than enough to have her undone. Maka and Soul, still in their feral forms, continued to strike at her without pause. And now she also had to deal with Eva and her own child whose separate scuffle collided effortlessly into her own. In the distance, the two Pokemon and Mokona were finishing off the Prison Keeper, now collapsed to the floor and resorting to slapping its arms around like a beached seal. It was utterly infuriating how quickly things had turned against her.

She knew if she faltered even once, these would be her final moments. With her seams still in a ragged shape, their healing having been halted in her final burst, she throttled them around like a fistful of daggers. Throughout the battle, she acted coy and playful, even treating her movements like a dance. Now, there was nothing but ferocity. If she could take down just one of these damn brats, even that would be enough to satiate her. It now came to a final face-down between her and Maka. The tattered shadows shredded right through the corners of the young meister's longcoat. With enough force, Medusa could even make a dent into Soul's blade if she wanted to. Yes, this would be her victory. Just this, just give her this. Just one stab through the girl's chest…

In her delusions, she never saw it coming. Crona had sensed their friends' predicament and, with all their might, shinged the blunt end of Ragnarok right into Eva's ribs, forcing her straight towards Medusa's direction. How could she fall victim to the same trick twice? The witch's shellshocked body rolled and tumbled roughly against the cold tiled floor. After traveling nearly halfway across the spacious room, she finally laid still and limp like a fresh corpse ready to be battered by vicious predators. Perhaps she was finally knocked out. Or perhaps she finally discarded her dignity and embraced her defeat. Either way, no one would ever know what her final thoughts were.

SLAM!

Al, Loudred, and Mokona had sharply wounded the Prison Keeper's arms, and the loose limbs flopped pathetically to the ground, right where the witch's body lay. The silence was deafening. There was no way she could have survived that. She was gone.

The Prison Keeper lay dazed and dormant, utterly helpless without its master. Despite its sorry state, it continued to drone out garbled moans as it imagined a scenario where it was still in control of the long lost fight. Cody approached it with a slight look of pity. It was like putting down a diseased dog. With just a quick swish of the Keyblade, the Prison Keeper's face was slashed and diced. It exploded into a flurry of dark smoke and soot. Everyone collapsed to the ground in exhaustion and gazed at the fading smog, treating it like victory confetti.

Silence simmered on and on long after it faded. There was nothing left. No Prison Keeper, and no Medusa.

oOo

The trek to the rear end of the room was almost a whole fight in itself. Everyone would've preferred to doze off into a well earned rest, but they had allies waiting patiently outside, and they still had one more task at hand. No one spoke a word as they all slowly made their way, each of their steps moving mere inches in between. There was a momentary struggle deciding what to do with Eva, who was woefully knocked unconscious once more. No doubt the moment she woke up, they'd all be tossed again in some deep shit, but perhaps that was best left to their thoughts in the future. There was no use worrying about her now. Not when the Keyhole was up ahead.

The group stopped in front of the gargantuan gate, tied up in knots upon knots of sturdy chains. Wherever the Keyhole was, it was hidden within the several failsafe locks that trailed across the corners of the entranceway. Cody very quietly went through each and every one before they were finally left with one last lock.

"So this is it," he said in empty awe.

"Yeah," Maka nodded as she hid her overwhelmed feelings behind a stern stare.

"Madness incarnate is in there," Al contemplated. "That's what Death said, yeah? And it almost went loose."

"This on top of the Heartless," Loudred whistled solemnly. "Now that would've been a problem."

"Don't even make me think about it," Soul groaned.

Cody gave a quick glance back at the others. For some reason, there was something more daunting about sealing this Keyhole off than all the ones that came before. Crona answered his stare with a solemn nod of approval. It was a strange gesture. Crona's mother had caused this mess all for that one lock, and like hell they should have any say as to whether to seal it shut or not. But in a way, it was like a signal to put everything that had transpired behind them. To move on and move forward.

With a careful twist of his key, the room was engulfed in bright light…

oOo

"AAAAAAALLLLLRIGHT!" Black Star bellowed out an ear ringing shout to the sky, all clear from the unnatural darkness that engulfed it before. "Hit that quota like it was nothing! Those Hearties never had a chance."

"But did you keep track of how many you were defeating?" Death the Kid butted in.

No he did not. "Who asked you?!"

"We saved the city though," Tsubaki added sweetly. "That's what matters, right?"

"Who cares about that?" Liz responded, all her level-headed pretenses tossed away and her sister, Patty cheering obnoxiously to the side. "Extra credit, babyyyyyyyyyyyy!"

With peace now restored, everyone, both Cody's group who had ventured inside and the students who held the fort behind, gathered at the school gates. Somehow, the five students tasked to decimate an entire city's worth of Heartless were still fired up compared to the frontliners who struggled to keep themselves from dozing off on the steps. Lord Death had just granted the promised extra credits regardless of quota count, and the celebratory cheers from the underachievers rang numbly in the others' ears.

"Shut up…" Soul moaned as some drool seeped off the corner of his mouth. Maka would've told him to let them have their fun, but her groggy droll was interrupted by an even mouthier voice.

"WILL YOU IDIOTS CAN IT?!" Ragnarok burst out from Crona's back, surprising even them. "Some of us are trying to sleep here! I don't care if we're on your side now, I will slice all of you—" Crona desperately crammed the loud weapon man back into them, prompting a small fit of laughter from the others despite his threats.

It was a sight to behold. With his eyes just barely keeping on, Cody looked over the scene once more and saw Crona, once their enemy, intermingling amongst the DWMA students like they'd always been one of them. Seeing their meek smile gave him a sense of hope. That even those shrouded in darkness could have some light in them. That those people deserved to be heard and understood.

It reminded him of a certain asshat "friend" of his.

A second chance, huh?

"My, do you four seem to be settling in nicely down there."

Cody, Al, Loudred, and Mokona, still too tired to even jump in surprise, dragged their eyes ever so slightly to see Death's bulking white mask perched above them. Crona, Maka, and Soul had long left to mingle with their peers, leaving the worldly outsiders alone with the being who had demanded their leave not too long before.

"Uh, y-yeah," Cody mustered the paltry strength left in him to suck in a dry gulp. He doubted he'd ever get used to talking to the shinigami.

"Do you, uh," Loudred shifted his eyes uneasily. "Want us to leave?"

"Well, you four are on a journey, yes? Obviously you should leave eventually. But we're far from speaking to one another on unfriendly terms, aren't we?" He lifted his hand above them. "You have my apologies and thanks, and if you need to stay and rest, you may do so for as long as you please."

The four looked at one another. The shinigami's absolute wall of a hand was just high enough to squash them dead if he wanted to, yet this higher being just politely asked for a handshake. A lot of strange things had happened since their adventure began, but nothing would top befriending the actual god of death anytime soon. Fully sinking into the levity, the four grasped on to the corners of the hand with wide and worn smiles…

…And they proceeded to collapse on the steps out cold, finally giving in to their fatigue. There were many more worlds out there that needed them, but for now, they would rest.

oOo

The cabbit had long lost track of the hours and even the days. Not a single moon nor star ever glistened beyond the castle windows that showcased an eternally clouded sky. Not a single step of his led him any further through the hulking castle. It was like being trapped in a closed labyrinth, constantly reentering the same few rooms over and over again. Each new hallway he thought he'd crossed, each new breakthrough he thought he'd made all led him in the end to the same room; a library filled with bright and vibrant plants that spilled out from the small greenhouse that laid in the center.

The cabbit carefully plucked out a carrot from the soil and gently nibbled its tip as he looked around the premises. How strange that this castle was able to house this tiny atrium. Not once had he ever seen anything beyond the thick clouds in the sky, yet these plants were all able to thrive. A heavenly light shined through the glass, yet he had no way to tell where this miraculous light source came from. It had to be artificial. But still…

He plucked out four tomatoes for the road and made his way back into the library and out into the hallways to resume his neverending trek. He wasn't looking forward to possibly walking in a circle once more, but if anything, he was glad this room of all rooms was his constant starting point. With how much time has passed (?), he wouldn't know what he would've done without food. And no matter how much he picked out of the garden, newer and fresher fruits and veggies would grow back in their place.

The cabbit's long and drooped ears twitched. Someone was nearby. Probably some of those shady folks who'd kidnapped his friend. He was the kind of guy who'd jump right into battle without hesitation, but the disorienting nature of this castle forced him to hide in caution each time he happened to run into one of the castle's inhabitants. Laying low and listening in was his only hope to figuring out how to get anywhere in this madhouse.

He hugged his back to the wall and ever so slightly inched his head to the corner. Before he could even make out who he was dealing with here, a sudden smash echoed throughout the hollowed hall. He had to slap his hand right over his mouth just to keep himself from yelping in fright. That devilish looking woman, Maleficent, had purposely knocked over a vase while her diminutive apprentice, Ashley, stared guiltily to the floor.

No words were spoken and not a single soul moved an inch. In this castle where time seemed to never move, this moment might as well have lasted a century. When Maleficent finally made her leave, the oppressive air she wrung left nothing but fear in its path. Ashley continued to stare down to the floor, completely despondent.

He was the kind of guy who would walk up to someone who was distraught and try to comfort them. Of course doing so with the supposed enemy would be a foolish move, but here at this moment, he couldn't help but wonder what exactly was going through the girl's mind. How did she feel about this situation? How deep into this plot was she? How did she feel about being here?

Did she want to be here?

Why didn't she?

According to my fic outline, this marks the halfway point of the story. To be perfectly honest, I was expecting to have this done all in one year when I started. Boy did I miss that mark. I've said it before, but I intend on going on for a long a I can, so let's see how far we can go by the end of the year!

Also, as a warning, the next world is going to be...another really weird one. Brace yourselves!