Madness Unleashed - REWORK IN PROGRESS

by InuKagomeLuver4Eva

With the power of madness threatening the world once more, it's up to Maka and friends to vanquish it. But will the overwhelming power crush the meister mind, body, and soul? "Those who meddle outside the laws of God shall face the wrath of the Reaper; There is no redemption for those who break the sacred law." Soul X Maka *M for gore and language* REWORK IN PROGRESS!

8. Hell on Earth

Kid had just signaled for the fireworks finale to launch when it happened. A massive explosion shook the grounds, sending people into an immediate panicked frenzy as they then began pushing over one another to escape. Black Star had disappeared from nearby, most likely in search of the culprit responsible for the attack. A handful of teachers were ushering people to safety further into the city limits while meisters and weapons rushed in to help. It was a successful summer festival meant to distract from the heinous attack on the DWMA. Instead, it was now becoming a horrific reminder that there were still enemies after the academy.

"Something isn't right here, Lord Death," Stein appeared beside the Reaper, Spirit ready in scythe form. Marie was assisting with evacuations. "I'm not sensing any soul wavelengths near the explosions. Someone must have set the bombs and activated them from a distance."

"Stein, I want you to check out the bomb location—" Kid stopped short as another explosion went off, shattering a nearby game booth to shreds. Minor explosions, nothing too detrimental in regard to level of destruction. "Find another team and send them to investigate the second site, you and Spirit will look into the first one."

Kid felt a twitch in his soul and froze up, suddenly jerking his head towards the forested area opposite of the festival. It was brief, but he was positive Maka was trying to relay something through resonance. It almost seemed like…a warning. His eyes narrowed in concentration, a brief soul wavelength flashing and then vanishing. He expanded his Soul Perception to locate Black Star, connecting instantly once he locked onto the energized soul wavelength.

'Black Star— meet me at the forest immediately. Maka resonated with me but the connection was suddenly cut short. I think she's in danger.' Kid could feel the sudden wave of anger rushing through the connection, the Reaper almost jerking back at the force.

'Unknown target seen escaping to the West, I'll kick Ox and Kilik to it. On my way.'

Kid grit his teeth as he motioned for Liz and Patty, the weapons immediately transforming. With a nod to Stein he took off, propelling himself as fast as he could. A sudden attack on Death City meant the letter The Witch of The Eternal Time sent was coming true and that this was only the beginning. Maka had always been a target for her exceptional Soul Perception and anti-demon wavelength, even more so now that Ametrine had attempted once before to strike her down. What she'd been so worked up about, so worried about these past weeks, if Kid had just listened. The wall encasing the small woods came into view, immaculate black shoes landing perfectly balanced on the weathered stones. A shadow landed silently beside him.

"I don't hear anything, Kid," The ninja spoke barely above a whisper, eyes scanning the darkness thoroughly. "Two wooden sandals that fell down the embankment. Empty box sitting over there on the wall along with the purse Tsubaki gave Maka. They were here for sure. I think there's something on the ground, just ahead a ways. Not moving."

"Move carefully, it could be a trap." Black Star nodded before vanishing into the woods. A minute ticked by before any noise was heard, raising the hair on the back of Kid's neck at his friends sudden call.

"Kid, we got a body in here."

Sprinting through the trees, the Reaper noticed the ninja crouching next to an object, a look of disgust on his face. It wasn't until he moved closer that he realized the body was missing an import feature. A sleeve pressed lightly against the taut mouth.

"The head is gone? Where could it have gone?" Kid muttered as he crouched opposite of Star. The head had been severed clean off, the work of someone with blade experience. "It's probably around here somewhere. Maybe it rolled away. We can try to track it by any blood trails,"

"There's no doubt they were both over here and probably ambushed. Think Soul did this? It's clean enough to have been done by a blade." Black Star clenched his jaw until it popped. If Soul went to the lengths of decapitating someone… "Kid. You think this was a witch? Ametrine's soul was never captured."

"It's possible, but until we find them both we won't know for sure. Soul doesn't seem like the kind to aim for a lethal hit, but if the situation was bad enough then he would; especially if Maka was in danger. If it was Ametrine then he was well within his rights to take off her head. Nothing else in the area?"

"Some scorch marks by the base of that tree right there. Magic is my guess." Kid glanced over to where Black Star nodded. "Another blast just opposite of that, head level roughly. Best guess is they were ambushed on the way out after the explosions started. Hey. Doesn't this body look familiar?"

Kid narrowed his eyes as he studied the corpse, scanning over the clothing carefully. A hint of red caught his attention and he motioned for the ninja. With a nod, they both grabbed one side of the body before lifting it and setting down a few feet away. Two braids of bold red hair were flattened to the ground, soaked in blood.

"Ametrine…" Tsubaki gasped as Black Star grabbed a stick to poke at the strands. "But…her body was destroyed back in Russia, so how can she be here?"

"She wasn't destroyed in Russia," Kid said darkly. "Her soul wasn't in her body when she was destroyed. Someone disrupted the flow of time and removed her soul and a portion of Asura's madness. We're dealing with an immensely powerful being who has the capabilities to alter time. This is becoming a serious issue. Priority is ensuring the safety of Soul and Maka. Maka's soul wavelength came from this area, that I'm sure of. I can't even sense it now—"

'It is because they are no longer in this timeline, Lord Death.'

A ghost-like figure emerged from the depths of the woods, gliding effortlessly above the grass. A woman, Kid thought as he watched her stop a few feet from them, robes billowing from the movement. It was hard to tell how she truly looked as the transparency of her body gave barely anything above basic outlines away. An iridescent butterfly fluttered over to her raised finger, landing gently before disappearing with a puff. Black Star readied his sword while Kid stiffened before relaxing his stance, loosening his grip on the pistols as he studied the person in front of them.

"Where the hell did they go?" Snarled Black Star, ready to unleash his full fury upon the unknown person. "What did you do to them? They better be unharmed!"

"Black Star, enough." Kid barked without looking at the ninja, ignoring the death glare sent his way. "She is not our enemy. I have a hunch as to who you are, but to avoid being incorrect, it may be best to introduce yourself."

'My name is Mardella Sipheron, though I may also go by the Witch of the Eternal Time." Mardella's figure bowed slightly, her hands moving to rest at her front. 'Soul and Maka are no longer in this timeline of reality, though not by my doing.'

"No longer in this timeline…?" Kid muttered to himself in disbelief. "Does…this have to do with that entity Maka was talking about?"

Mardella nodded tightly, lips pursed together. 'Yes. A powerful ancient witch by the name of Esadora. She is the only other witch in the universe to have some control over time and space, much like myself. Many centuries ago, we had engaged in a disastrous battle, one that would prove to be the beginnings of her time disruptions. Her trickery caused a lapse in my defenses and she collected some of my blood.'

"What's so special about your blood?" Tsubaki asked curiously as she transformed back. Black Star shifted slightly in front of her with an arm raised. She placed a hand against his arm, gently pushing it down.

'Being merged with Father Time, my blood contains the power to control and manipulate time and space itself. If someone were to get ahold of it…'

"They could gain some of the power within it." Kid finished to which she nodded solemnly. "Which could be extremely dangerous in the wrong hands. And that appears to be the current situation."

'Esadora comes from an immensely powerful lineage of witches, as does Mabaa-dono. Their family specializes in Spatial Magic, a rare, but powerful form of time manipulation. Mabaa has chosen to stay on the path of righteous usage of the powers while Esadora has chosen to stray, leading into dangerous territory.'

"They're related?" Black Star asked incredulously. "What the fuck is this, a family reunion for everyone?"

"Don't be disrespectful!" His weapon hissed, jabbing him in the ribs. "I'm so sorry, please continue."

'Such an eccentric soul, even when you were young.' Mardella smiled fondly at the meister. Black Star gave a confused look though she ignored it. 'Esadora managed to collect my blood and with her lineage, was able to create a potion she could drink to gain some of my powers. Since it was a miniscule amount there are limitations to what she can control. For example, I can control all of time and space; tearing multiple pockets in different planes of reality and entering them. Esadora can control only one at a time, though it takes a tremendous amount of magic for her to do so, even with my blood and her reserves. She would need another witches' power in order to open more timelines. Hence where Ametrine comes in to assist with such a power.'

"So, it's possible to Maka and Soul were transported to another reality?" Kid asked slowly, not liking where this was going. That meant there really wasn't any way to bring them back to this timeline. "Ametrine…Esadora took her soul, didn't she? How do we get them back? They're both in danger."

Mardella frowned deeply and looked at the ground, causing everyone to tense up.

'I am afraid…you are unable to.' The witch said slowly, feeling their gazes burning into her. 'From this timeline, this reality, you cannot access the realm they have fallen into.'

"How can we save them then? There has to be a way!" Kid flung his arms out, exasperated, desperate. He wouldn't lose his friends, not again! Even Black Star seemed surprised at the outburst. "For all we know, they could be killed there! Witch Mardella, I implore—"

'Lord Death, I cannot control something that has been severely corrupted by madness.' Mardella locked eyes with the Reaper, overwhelming distress filling her eyes. 'If I were to try and access that timeline, the possibility of unending madness escaping and corrupting this realm would be exorbitant. I may have the full powers of Chronos within my body and the magic of a powerful witch, but I cannot willingly open a tear in space where Asura resides.'

The group stiffened at the name, a chill sliding down their spines. Tsubaki covered her mouth in horror, Black Star cursed. Liz cowered behind Patty. Kid stood silent, eyes wide as he stared at the iridescent figure before him, brain failing to comprehend the situation. Asura…had escaped? No, he was still sealed on the moon, that he was certain of. An alternate reality full of madness…it shouldn't even be possible. But Mardella wasn't one to lie as far as he could tell, so…what was really going on?

'Lord Death, my magic is nearing its limit in this form,' Kid snapped out of his daze, watching as Mardella's form began to waver. 'The box given to Maka, open it and you will be directed to the location of Esadora. Be warned; the world you know now has already begun to shift. Prepare yourselves.'

With that, she was gone.

---

Maka Albarn was never one to run from a battle, yet here she was sprinting for her life in a torn yukata and socks with wild hair, dirt smeared across her face, as creatures of madness hunted her down with saliva flying from their gnarled jaws. There were at least a handful of the monstrous creatures thundering after her, hellish screams echoing in the air. The last thing she could remember was a warm sensation and a butterfly before she plunged into the darkness, awakening on the ground with strange howls surrounding her. Soul had been separated at some point so the meister ran for her life weaponless. Ducking under a branch, her chest heaved as she tried to lose the creatures in a thicket of dead trees, taking advantage of the narrow spacing between trunks. A snarl not far behind sent her heart into her throat as she pushed herself faster, aiming for a gap between two trees. A hidden mud patch caught her foot and twisted her ankle, sending her tumbling to the ground just feet from escape. Scrambling, Maka attempted to crawl away, the sharp pain in her ankle preventing her from moving any faster.

A large black paw suddenly slammed down on her leg, the meister screaming out in pain as it pressed its full weight against the extremity.

"Get off of me!" Maka yelled as she tried kicking at the massive creature, grabbing anything around her she could to throw at it. "Let me go!"

The creature lowered its head to look at her, jaws opening wide as it prepared to feast. Maka stared at it with petrified eyes, tears spilling down her cheeks as she prepared to meet her end. A high-pitched whistling alerted the creature and it stopped, whipping its head to the side just as an arrow pierced it. Instant death. The pinned leg was freed and the meister wasted no time in scrambling for the exit, clawing at the rough dirt to pull herself to safety. More whistles filled the air, the sound of arrows zipping through the air in a volley of fire. Maka pushed herself up with her good leg and quickly slipped between the trees, stumbling as her ankle and leg protested. The noises behind her were dying down, meaning whoever had fired those arrows could be coming after her next.

It looked like she was at the top of a hill, a steep pathway leading the way to a clearing of sorts. With one last glance backwards, Maka began slowly hobbling her way down the slope, using nearby bushes and tree branches to keep her steady. It wasn't until about halfway down when she'd instinctively grabbed the nearest branch, that she realized her mistake as a loud snap filled the air.

"Oh, fuck—!"

Maka's cursing filled the air as she slid the remainder of the way down, the yukata catching on rocks and shredding the fabric to pieces. A large puddle of what she assumed, and hoped, was water cushioned her fall. She hacked up the liquid while pushing herself to a sitting position, a hand resting against her stomach. The wound witch Esadora gave her had been strained open, black blood coating her fingers as they pulled away. The black blood was no longer clotting her wounds, something that put her at a huge risk given the situation. Neither hair nor hide of the ogre appeared since her death back in Innopolis, the connection seemingly broken for good even with the amount of madness sitting heavily in the air.

A chill ran up her spine, teeth clattering. Now that she was completely soaked the next thing would be to find shelter and attempt to dry off. But looking around, it didn't seem like there was anything for miles. The sky above churned an ominous blood red as she slowly continued moving in search of shelter. It seemed madness was running rampant all over, affecting everything from the animals to the trees and even the weather. Having an anti-demon wavelength was a lifesaver to the meister though it did little to quell the lurking urge to be swallowed by the madness. But what about Soul? Without her there to help suppress the overwhelming madness, it could plunge him into a murderous rampage. She needed to find him quickly before his soul was completely consumed. The amount of madness in the air was preventing her Soul Perception from working, so the meister set out in search of her partner the old-fashioned way; by walking until she found any sign of civilization.

As Maka walked across the deserted plain, two sets of eyes watched from high above, sharing a curious glance. With a nod they began to move along the ground, keeping just far enough behind the girl to remain unnoticed.

"Do you think," The shorter of the two whispered, wide eyes never leaving their target. "She really is…?"

"I don't know for sure, but the resemblance is too coincidental. She has to be real. After…you know, what happened, it couldn't possibly anything else." The other one muttered lowly, voice shaking. Fear? Shock? The emotion was unknown. "Unless these things have figured out how to morph into people…"

It was a few hours before Maka finally called it quits, her leg screaming in agony from the constant movement. It was possible the creature caused a fracture just by its sheer weight pressing down on her slim leg. The perfect crippled target for any nearby predators, she thought bitterly. The only upside was that there seemed to be a building of sorts not too far in the distance, a beacon of hope for the stranded meister. It was too far for her to continue on for the night, or was it day? The darkened red skies made it impossible to tell the time of day, something that annoyed her greatly. The watch she had gotten from Soul had broken off somewhere, either when she landed or during her escape. Not like it would do any good wherever the hell she currently was.

A small cluster of rocks to her left seemed to act as a land marker leading towards the structure in the distance. Hobbling over to the pile, Maka let herself slump against the sharp edges, ignoring the small points pressing into her skin. She was exhausted. Physically, mentally. Carefully pulling down her torn and dirty sock, she hissed as she took in the swollen purple and red joint. There was no chance of walking any further even if she wanted to. At least the rocks provided a bit of shelter, though it also left her extremely vulnerable to attacks. She had to figure something out if her journey were to continue on. No partner, no weapon, a useless ankle and a gaping stomach wound that leaked every time she shifted.

Where was Soul? They'd gotten separated at some point, at least, she was fairly sure he was here in this hellhole. The thought of him succumbing to the madness plagued her constantly. If there wasn't so much interference she could try to search for him. The madness overwhelming the lands nearly blocked her from sensing her own soul wavelength. Maka sighed, letting her head rest against the rock. Moving forward was the best option for now until she could reach the building just on the horizon. Exhaustion took over and she fell into a darkened slumber.

---

The impact of him hitting water had jerked the weapon from unconsciousness, his lungs filling with fluid as he struggled to surface. A shadow beneath him had caught his eye and sheer terror paralyzed his body as he looked into the massive glowing eye of Asura. Panicked, he kicked as hard as he could to reach the surface, the madness threatening to pull him under. As soon as he surfaced, Soul swam for the shore, the sensation of madness looming over him. Once on land the weapon scrambled away from the shore, eyes wide and darting around nervously. The water was oddly still, not a single ripple moving across the surface. Not waiting around, the weapon took off as fast as he could, slipping against the loose dirt with wet shoes. The wasteland around him was overflowing with madness lashing out at him as he ran. Creatures seemed to pull themselves up from the dirt, dangerously long claws snatching at his clothing. A shing reverberated through the air as Soul sliced the tendrils away. More and more appeared and the Death Scythe briefly weighed his options before yelling 'Fuck this!' and running faster. Dozens of creatures were chasing Soul with ravenous snarls and snapping jaws across the plain, footprints thundering close behind.

The only thing nearby appeared to be a high cliff overlooking the land. It wouldn't be an easy climb, but it was better than being torn apart by madness-tainted monsters. A low rumbling vibrated through Soul's feet, stumbling him slightly as he ran. With each step it grew more intense until a large shockwave suddenly flung the weapon high into the air. As he flew upwards, Soul watched in utter horror as a massive writhing ball of tentacles rose from the earth, uprooting the horde that had been chasing him before slowly crashing back down, sinking back into the dirt, and taking its prizes with it. Another shockwave blasted into him mid-air, sending him soaring at breakneck speed towards the cliffs.

Soul twisted his body to face the incoming rocks, partially transforming to catch himself. The surface quickly approached and he slammed the tip of the blade into the rock, bracing his feet as he slid backwards. Metal screeched loudly against the rock, sparks flying from the intense friction. Soul grit his teeth as he barely slowed down, the momentum of the throw too much for him to stop. Transforming one leg, he dug as hard as he could into the hard stone, praying it would be enough to slow him down. Glancing over his shoulder, he noticed the edge of the cliffs rapidly approaching and with an exerted grunt, released his blades. He never would've been able to stop in time before flying right off of the ridge so with a string of curses, the weapon flew back into the air preparing to become a pancake on the ground below.

"Is that….no, it can't be…" A feminine voice whispered in shock, watching as a figure flew through the air, headed straight for the cliffs. "I-it can't be! He's…why would he come back?!"

"That's him all right. I'd recognize that mop of hair anywhere." A deep, rough voice replied, a deadly anger lurking in his tone. "He has some balls to show back up here, after what he's done—"

"Why would he sudden show himself? He's been hidden for years, so why now? It can't be coincidental—" The female cut off as she heard a loud screeching noise, like metal to stone. "He won't survive that…should we?"

"Let's go say hi to an old friend."

He wasn't going to make it. Dead and decaying trees lined the surrounding area, but he was going too fast and couldn't adjust his mid-air position enough to reach them. If he was going to die like this, he didn't want to see the ground rushing up at him before it crushed his body. With a deep breath in, Soul released his breath and closed his eyes, waiting for the impending impact that would take his life. The wind sliced at him through his soggy clothing, skin stinging. Would that be the last thing he felt? Pain? Or would adrenaline take over and numb his body before he hit? It was almost a disappointment that his life wasn't flashing before his eyes, though any memory before meeting Maka wasn't worth remembering. Was she alright? Since landing in this world, he hadn't been able to sense her at all. The wound she had could be fatal and if she didn't get help in time—

A whipping sound hit his ears seconds before something wrapped around his waist tightly, the object pressing painfully into his skin.

"What the—"

Soul opened his eyes in surprise as his body suddenly yanked him sideways, rattling his spine painfully as he was pulled away from the ground and towards the tree line. Releasing the blade to his left arm, the weapon prepared to slice the unknown object to bits when it suddenly released, sending him crashing painfully into the dirt without a chance to catch himself.

"Nice of you to show your face again, traitor." Someone spat as Soul rolled to a stop on his back with a grunt. That was close, too close. When he got out of this hellhole the first thing he was going to train for was airborne landings. "After everything you've done, after all we've been through, you sided with the one person who ruined everything."

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Soul coughed as he sat up, hastily wiping the dirt from his face. Tiny rocks felt abrasive against the damp skin. His eyes were stinging from the swampy mixture he'd landed in. "I don't even know where the fuck I am, how the hell could I have—"

A fist clenched into his shirt collar, suddenly dragging him upwards and into the face of an incredibly angry person. Blinking, Soul looked into the eyes of the person who had him locked into place. Dozens of new and old scars littered their face, the most noticeable one going over his right eye and crimson widened in recognition. No way.

"Black…Star?"

"You don't get the damn right to say my name!" Black Star snarled as he slammed Soul back into the ground. Soul latched onto the wrist pinning him down, pushing as hard as he could against him. His strength wasn't even on par with the fuming ninja as his back pressed deeper into the ground. "You don't get to act all buddy-buddy after everything! I'll never forgive you! You fucking bastard of a Death Scythe! How could you?!"

"Black Star, stop!" A slender arm shot out and gripped the ninjas arm tightly. "Look at him!"

"I don't want to look at this bastards face another minute long—!"

"Look at him! He doesn't have that look in his eyes! The madness isn't controlling him, Black Star; it's not him."

"Tsubaki?" Soul was hastily released. He watched as Black Star refused to acknowledge what his partner was trying to prove. "What the hell is going on here? Why is everything covered in madness? And what the fuck is out there trying to kill me?"

Black Star retreated to the safety of the treetops, shooting venomous looks down at the bewildered weapon every few seconds. Tsubaki crouched next to him, her arms wrapped around her thin waist as she studied him with heavily furrowed brows. Seeing her up close, Soul noticed her once perfectly smooth skin had become dirtied and marred with dozens of small and medium scars littering her face and neck. A particularly nasty one trailed from her hairline down to her cheekbone, slicing through the end of her right eyebrow. It appeared she had lost weight as well, cheekbones slightly sunken in. The most startling change about the shadow weapon was the dead glaze over her eyes, hidden trauma lurking beneath the deep blue surface.

"You…aren't from this world, right? Things are very…different here, Soul."

"That's a little obvious," Soul scoffed as he dusted off his now torn leather jacket. Maka had gotten him a new one last Christmas since he'd grown out of his old one. Glancing at his wrist, a silent sigh of relief was released as he noticed his watch was still attached and seemed to be functioning. A frown adorned his face. Where was she? Shouldn't she be around here somewhere?

"Lose the attitude, asshole, or I'll punch your fucking mouth." Black Star threatened from above, ignoring Tsubaki's warning glare.

"What crawled up your ass? I just fell into this world, nearly got eaten by a horde of…I don't even fucking know what those things were! Got sent flying into the air by the biggest fucking creature I've ever seen, nearly became a pancake in the ground, nearly gotten beaten to a pulp by my supposed best friend, and Maka is nowhere to be found. So, no, I will not lose myattitude."

It went deathly silent as Tsubaki tensed beside him. Soul watched as Tsubaki bit her lower lip, looking away. Black Star cursed under his breath from above, the sound of his fist hitting the tree nearly shaking the ground. Something was wrong. It didn't seem to be the mention of the creatures that had both of them tensing. No. Was it…

"What…what happened?" Soul asked slowly, dread gripping his heart as grief washed over Tsubaki's features. Realization slowly began to set it but he wanted to deny it. Believe it wasn't true. He swallowed hard while glancing between the two. "Is it…"

"You really wanna know, scythe boy?" Black Star landed in front of him, gaze locked onto Soul with an iron clasp. "After you decided to side with Kishin Asura—"

"Black Star, stop—"

"And lose yourself to the madness—"

"Please, wait—!"

"Who do you think tried to stop you? After you had slaughtered most of Death City with the full power of Asura's madness under your control? We tried to stop you, before any more damage was done, but you were no longer yourself. Even I took some serious damage. But Maka…"

"Soul, this isn't easy for us to say," Tsubaki whispered, blue eyes filling with tears as she looked at him with pity. "Maka, she…what happened was—"

"You killed her."

Soul's heart stopped beating, the air in his lungs rushing out. Glancing between the two he was hoping they would suddenly say 'Just kidding! She's completely fine!' Their expressions weren't changing, no matter how many times he tried to blink it away. Maka…died? Because of him? Because he lost control? No…that wasn't right. He'd always been in control of the ogre. Even on the verge of slipping into the madness, even when the absolute limits of had been pushed. Whenever he was with—

"W-what are you talking about? I would never lay a hand on her. I love her!" Soul's voice hitched as the panic rose. A hand dug at his chest painfully in an attempt to ground himself back to reality. "She's brought me back countless times before the madness overcame me, how can she just suddenly—"

"Not even her anti-demon wavelength could calm you, Soul, her words couldn't reach your soul," Tsubaki said quietly, slowly moving to cover his hand with hers. Black Star twitched in response, his fingers curling tightly at his side. "Asura had been more powerful than we thought and Crona couldn't seal him on the moon. He passed away trying to seal the Kishin and was absorbed, making Asura stronger than we could manage."

"But we…won that battle, Crona sealed Asura using Brew in the depths of the moon." Soul stuttered, red eyes darting between them as he tried to prove them wrong. No, no, no, no. Everything was wrong! This wasn't how things turned out! "It's been five years since that battle! Crona still has Asura sealed! The moon only emits darkness because of it!"

"That may have happened in your reality, Soul. But that's not what happened here." Black Star said quietly, refusing to meet his gaze and instead choosing to burn a hole in the ground. "We lost the battle, the war, and even the city to the madness. Our fate was sealed when you lost yourself to the Kishin."

Soul sat there in stunned silence, staring blankly at Tsubaki's hands encasing his own. They…lost? What happened for them to lose the war? Was Crona not strong enough to contain the Kishin even after he swallowed him? Did Brew not function properly? Sure, it was a tough battle, one that still haunted him occasionally, but they had won. And Maka…

Black Star stood and turned away, one hand moving quickly to swipe at his face, out of sight from the other two. Tsubaki could feel the pain radiating through their resonance but didn't attempt to send reassuring waves. It didn't do any good. Not anymore. They were all too emotionally traumatized for comforting to work. Looking up at the darkened skies, Black Star sent a silent plea to whatever god was left up there. Maybe things could be fixed, something, anything to end the reign of terror Asura brought upon the world. After a moment he scoffed. If there had truly been a god, they wouldn't be in this mess. With a heavy sigh, the ninja forced himself to move back towards the silent scythe. He'd forgotten what the old Soul was like, the one without unlimited madness, and a part of him subconsciously relaxed around the weapon. It would only be until they returned to their own time, Black Star thought bitterly, then they'd go back to narrowly surviving the endless creature attacks. If they didn't all starve to death first.

"We can explain everything better once we get back to the hideout," The ninja said quietly, looking anywhere but at him. "I'm…sorry to have been the one to tell you, Soul, but we don't have time to sit around here, they'll be alerted by all of the noise."

"Soul, we need to move. Can you stand?" Tsubaki asked gently, receiving no response. "Black Star—"

"I'm fine, give me a moment." Soul grunted roughly as he pushed back from Tsubaki, staggering to his feet. "Something similar happened to Maka, back in…our timeline. It's still pretty fresh, sorry."

"We can talk it all over once we get there. It's not too far from here. Keep your eyes peeled for any shadows." Black Star started walking away, leaving the other two to catch up.

She knew Black Star felt the pain as well, hiding it behind a well molded emotional mask. The pain transferring from him to her told the weapon everything she needed to know. With a flash of light, she transformed the end of her hair into a chain scythe. The journey there would be treacherous and filled with danger awaiting every corner.

With a confirmation nod from Soul, the three took off for shelter.

---

Maka cracked her eyes open, a sea of darkness greeting her instead a barren wasteland. Panic coursed through her veins as her eyes shot wide open. It was darkness as far as the eye could see. Twisting around, looking up and down, sideways, even upside-down didn't change to scenery a tiny bit. Had she been consumed by the madness while sleeping? When her guard was down?

Surprised? You shouldn't be after all, this is still inside of your soul. What you pulled last time was completely stupid and irresponsible, even more so than that spikey-headed buffoon. A voice grumbled from behind her.

"Y-you're still alive," Maka breathed as she whirled around to come face-to-face with the little red ogre. Relief flooded through her and the tense posture she held softened considerably. While he wasn't her favorite person, it meant Soul was still alive somewhere. "I thought you—"

Died? After that stupid stunt I did, for a while anyways. The ogre barked at the meister, snapping his fingers angrily. You allowed yourself to be marked with an ancient curse that would kill you and use your body as a vessel to release Asura into the world. That's the stupidest thing I've ever seen someone do, though it makes for some fine entertainment. But you seem to forget one thing; 'Your anti-demon wavelength can only go so far if there's an extreme external source of madness around.' After you forced Asura from your body, your soul was overrun with anti-demon wavelength, preventing the madness from returning. It's a two-way street, dearie.

"What are you trying to get at…"

You're denser than that blue haired idiot. I 'died' because you 'died'. But because your body is so intertwined with the black blood, I can never truly be killed unless you are permanently killed. Meaning—

"The black blood's effect can still work," Maka breathed as she stared at him, emerald eyes wide. There was a way now. As long as she had the madness, she shouldn't succumb to the corrupted environment. "So, because the black blood can be affected both ways by enormous amounts of madness or anti-demon wavelength, the reason you're here is due to the environment of this timeline?"

Now you're getting it, dearie, He grinned manically, cracking his knuckles together eagerly. His neck popped as well, tilting left and right to ease the stiffness. Since the madness in this timeline outpowers your purifying wavelength, I'm able to worm my way back in. Neat trick, isn't it?

"Could've healed me a bit faster then," Maka bit out, her eye twitching at the nonchalant shrug from the demon. Bastard was enjoying her suffering. "Does this mean I can find out where Soul is? Can he still tap into your power?"

You've got bigger problems to worry about right now. He tossed a carefree hand at the meister.

Maka was suddenly thrusted out of the darkness and back to reality as she was tossed onto the ground, someone pinning her down by her back. She struggled against her attacker violently, trying to shift her knee up to kick them off. A hand slammed her head to the dirt, curses slipping from Maka's lips as her arms were pulled tightly behind her.

"Tie them tightly, I don't want this thing to get loose." A voice commanded to the meisters right. Familiar yet unable to decipher who it was through the blood rushing in her ears. "She certainly looks like the real deal, but we'll let him decide on that."

"Let me go, damnit! Who the hell are you people anyways?" Maka grunted into the dirt, her limited vision only showing the expansive dirt plain. "I'm warning you, back off!"

A boot slammed down on her neck, constricting her airways. Choking, Maka struggled even harder, years of honed survival instincts kicking in. Twitching her fingers around until she felt skin-to-skin contact, Maka let out a strangled yell as she forced her wavelength into the person on top of her. With a yell they jumped off, their partner crying out in surprise. Rolling to her back, the meister swung out her good leg, catching the taller hooded perpetrator in the shin. A howl of pain echoed in the air as she forced herself to her knees, wincing in pain as her ankle popped angrily. With a burst of adrenaline Maka took off, digging her heels into the dirt as hard as she could.

I say we give them a taste of their own medicine, He cooed in her head, anxiously chewing on his nails as the show prepared to unveil. They're going to kill you otherwise. So why not make the game a little more fun?

"The goal isn't to kill them," Maka panted as she forced herself to go faster. An arrow shot past her face, narrowly missing the back of her head. "I need answers from them first about this place. You could help so we don't die again. Surely you remember what that felt like last time?"

The ogre hummed as he thought, the sound of his nails tapping against the arms of his chair ringing loudly in the meisters head. I suppose a freebie wouldn't hurt. Consider this a welcome back gift.

With a snap of his fingers, the madness twitched in her veins before roaring to life as the pain dissolved into nothingness and Maka ran at full speed, fluidly dodging arrows left and right. The urge to retaliate threatened to consume her soul, drag it down into the depths of madness where she felt nothing but bloodlust. She resisted. The plan was to escape these two and find a way to the building quickly coming into view. An arrow suddenly pierced through her back, the bloodied tip protruding through the center of her chest. With a giggle she snapped the tip off, pulling the rest out and tossing it aside like trash while running. The black blood's effects were in full swing as she reached the edge of what she assumed was the remnants of a town, jumping over and weaving through debris with ease. A shout in the distance hit her ears and she looked ahead to see a figure standing on a tall mound of rubble.

"This is your final warning, vile scum! If you don't turn back you'll face the wrath of the Lightning King!"

"Ox? He's alive?" Maka breathed as she dodged another arrow, sliding across the loose rubble.

Lightning sparked at the tip of the spear as Ox leapt towards her, swirling his weapon around him. Maka grit her teeth as she ran straight at the meister. Most likely he was going to use the Lightning King Quake attack, extremely deadly if she was on the ground when it made contact. Narrowed green eyes watched as the spear began swinging downwards, Ox screaming the attacks name. It would be a small window, a few seconds at most, for her to dodge the lightning. Just feet away and Maka took the brief opening, launching from the ground and pulling her fist back as the spear contacted with the ground. Fueled by the madness, the meister threw all of her power into her arm and slammed it into Ox's face, a smile twitching at the corner of her lips as his glasses shattered loudly.

Feels good, doesn't it? Now that your anti-demon wavelength isn't here to hold the madness back, you're free to go all out without fear. The ogre tittered gleefully, nearly bouncing out of his high-backed chair with excitement. Come on, Maka, let the madness take over every fiber of your being! Let them know what you're capable of.

A rush of warmth cascaded from her mind, slowly coursing from head to her chest and down to all ten toes. Maka's smile widened impossibly and her movements altered drastically as she twisted around and caught Ox by the neck with her shin. Hearing him grunt in pain made her heart race with giddiness and with a flick of her leg sent him careening into a heap of debris. Laughter slipped past her lips as she landed on a dilapidated chimney, hunched over and shielding her eyes.

"You fleeeeeeeew! You flew so far!" Maka cackled as she straightened back up.

"Kill her! She's lost to the madness!" Someone screamed behind the meister.

Turning around towards the noise, Maka watched as a meister-weapon duo transformed, a gun pointing at her chest. With her mind fuzzy, a gust of wind tore the shredded brown hood off of the wielder, locks of blonde flying. Widened emerald hooded just the slightest bit. She knew them…

'Liz…and Patty?' Maka thought hazily as she rapidly dodged the blasts of wavelength. 'If they're here, does that mean—?'

"Lightning King Drill!"

Dropping low to avoid the high-aimed attack, Maka swept her foot out and whacked Ox in the back of the knee, crippling his stance. With the aid of the black blood, the meister grabbed him by the arm before hurling him towards Liz and Patty. With a scream and some cursing, they crumpled into a heap of limbs. Giggling, Maka turned and sprinted towards the building with renewed vigor. If they were here, then that meant Kid was most likely inside of the crumbling building. The door came into sight and the meister slowed down, an uneasy feeling coming over her as she reached for the handle. The black blood quivered as an ominous dark aura seeped from between the cracks. Her mind screamed run as it grew more intense and before she could even shift her foot, the doors slammed open, black tendrils shooting from the depths and wrapping around her tightly before yanking her into the building. The doors creaked loudly as they slammed shut.

---

"So, this witch named Ametrine targeted Maka because of her anti-demon wavelength and planned to use the black blood to unleash Asura's power from eight-hundred years ago? And she used a curse to stop her heart in order to use her body so the Kishin could channel through her?" Tsubaki summarized the story Soul had just finished, the scythe pursing his lips tightly. "Once Asura was released, Maka had to fight through the madness on her own from the inside to reclaim her body and stop Asura from releasing into the world. But in doing so, she strained her soul too much by resonating with hundreds of stolen souls to escape therefore causing an enormous amount of strain on her own. And now there is another witch coming after her, Esadora, right?" Soul nodded. "At the festival, you two were ambushed after explosions went off and somehow you were teleported to this reality overrun with madness."

"Fuck, that sounds worse when you repeat it." Black Star whistled lowly, earning a sharp look from his weapon. "What? I know Maka's badass and all, but shit."

"She didn't take too kindly to Asura taking over her body." Soul replied dryly.

They had arrived at the small, cavernous hideout in less than an hour, offering Soul what little food and water they had available. He declined. They were in a lot rougher shape than he was. Even Black Star had lost some muscle mass by the looks of it. There were a few beds scattered throughout the tunnels, some tattered clothing and a few small baskets filled with food. Water dripped from above and landed in a makeshift rain catcher with a shirt as a filter. Soul couldn't imagine living like this for even a few days, let alone years like they had. They sat for a few hours, talking about the differences between the timelines.

"Maka is still missing, I need to find her." Soul muttered quietly more to himself, missing the glance shared between Black Star and Tsubaki. An odd sensation stirred against his scar, like the tiniest tingling of nerves. A hand grazed over it before moving to clasp with the other one.

"Soul, there's something else we haven't told you," Tsubaki started slowly, feeling his gaze harden at the words. "Most of the people you know are gone, either due to the madness or…"

"I killed them."

"Well, this world's version of you," She quickly corrected. "But the witches are no longer in this realm due to the dangerous environment. They sealed off any entrances to the Coven and have cut ties with Death City. Kim was even pulled back. As Asura grew stronger, most of the world's population fell to the madness, even most of the city fell. There are a few meisters and weapons left, though—"

"Ox and Harvar, Liz and Patty, Akane and Clay, Marie…" Black Star counted on his fingers.

"Stein?" Soul dreaded asking the question, earning a slow headshake in return.

"Marie lost control of him and he tried to attack her…" Tsubaki bit her lip, averting her gaze. "It was purely self-defense, Soul, Stein couldn't be stopped. Marie…did what she had to do."

Soul clenched his jaw, teeth grinding together. Everyone he cared about had died because he fell into the madness. It was pathetic how weak he was, allowing himself to have his sanity taken away so easily. A hand clapped down on his shoulder and he looked up to see Black Star crouched in front of him, a serious expression adorning his face. His friend from another world had at least stopped threatening to beat him to a pulp. For the moment anyways.

"It's not your fault, Soul, you had no idea what was happening in this timeline. Don't blame yourself for something you had no control over." Soul let out a heavy breath but nodded in agreement. Still, it didn't make things any easier to know what his alternate self did.

"How long did it take before I lost control?"

"A week, maybe a little less," Tsubaki spoke softly, blue eyes looking into his. "The madness was overwhelming, many perished the first day from the sheer intensity."

"What about Kid? Is he still alright?" Soul noticed the way they tensed at the name. Not again…"Don't tell me—"

"In order to combat the amount of madness Asura was releasing, Kid's own madness skyrocketed," Black Star pushed himself up and moved back to Tsubaki's side. "It began to overwhelm him after a while of fighting, so he locked himself in what's left of the DWMA building not far from here. By that point everything had already gone to hell and there were very few survivors left."

"There's no hope left then," Soul confirmed his fears as they nodded.

"Hey, we made it this long at least! Problem is, we're all going to just starve before madness takes us over."

"Star, knock it off! Soul is already traumatized by everything we've said." Tsubaki practically punched her partner in the arm, earning an insincere hurt look. "Look, Soul, we can take you to where Kid is, but we aren't sure how he'll react to seeing you. We haven't seen him the past few years, not since he locked himself up. Those of us still alive will be distraught to see your face, even though it isn't you they're seeing."

"If there's a chance Maka is there, I'll do whatever I have to. Hell, I'd even punch Kid in the face to straighten him out." Black Star snorted but held out his fist, nonetheless. Soul tapped it with a small grin. There was his best friend.

"You heard the man, 'Baki, we've got us a Reaper to punch!"

---

The black blood quickly receded as Maka stared up in dread from her position on the cold hard floor, body shaking uncontrollably. Sitting just a few feet in front of her sat someone familiar, a person she'd known for years and considered one of her closest friends. But it wasn't him. Golden eyes were darker, colder, more intimidating than she'd ever seen. His posture was rigid, like he were a statue, as he stared down at her with such contempt it made her skin crawl. His pale sunken face was dirt covered, something she knew he would never let happen, with three white lines covering his mouth. His Reaper robes were twitching around him restlessly as if they had a mind of their own and the meister couldn't help but feel uneasy at their movements. Maka could feel the laden of madness hanging in the air as she carefully tried to shift herself to a standing position. Kid's eyes never left her face, almost as if he were searching for something deeper beneath the surface.

"K-Kid…" Maka stuttered out, surprised by the amount of fear lacing each word. Was his level of madness higher to combat Asura's? Or was it just his image alone that had every follicle quivering.

"You don't appear to be a monster of Asura's creation," Maka flinched at the hardness in his voice, void of any emotion. Unlike the friendlier tone she knew. "Yet you can't possibly be here right now. So what are you? Creature? Or merely an illusion after so many years of isolation."

"It's a long story…" She could almost feel the ogre trembling within her soul, afraid of the overwhelming madness suppressing even him. "What…what happened, Kid? Why is everything like this? Where is everyone else?"

Kid remained silent, narrowing his eyes as his gazed moved to her chest, studying something unseen. Maka suppressed a shudder as he searched her soul, the madness yearning to claw its way in there. Quickly glancing around, she noticed they were in what remained of the Death Room, even though most of it had been completely destroyed. By Asura or Kid, she couldn't tell. It looked like a warzone with madness seeping through the piles of debris and cracks in the walls.

"Interesting." Kid murmured, snapping Maka's attention back to him. "The souls are the same, yet this shouldn't be possible."

"I can explain—"

"No need, I have no use for an imitation of a dead friend." Kid almost lazily raised his palm towards her as madness swirled dangerously around him.

"W-wait! Kid, I'm not an imitation! I can prove it!" Maka blurted out desperately, hoping he would give her a chance. If Kid was known for one thing it was giving people a second chance.

The air was tense as everything came to a standstill, Maka tensing up to dodge a blast of madness as Kid eyed her emotionlessly. After a minute, his arm slowly lowered back to the arm of his chair, dirty fingers curling around the end. Taking that as her sign to continue, the meister let out a shaky breath.

"I-I come from another reality, one that isn't overflowing with madness," Maka hesitantly spoke, watching for any expression changes on the Reaper. "We won the battle on the moon and you became the next Lord Death after Shinigami passed away so you could inherit his powers. With the help of Kim, you helped create a treaty with the witches to end the hatred between us. You dubbed Soul the last Death Scythe—" There. It was subtle, but Kid's eyes widened the tiniest fraction. "And set about creating a peaceful world. It's been five years since the battle on the moon. I don't know how I got here, or what's going on, but I need to find Soul—"

"ENOUGH!" The Reaper bellowed, sending Maka sprawling to the floor in surprise, emerald eyes petrified. "You are not to speak of that name here. If it so much as forms on your lips, I will tear them from your face."

Kid pushed himself from his throne, towering over the petrified meister with a swirling aura. It didn't matter how many illusions Asura sent him, he would never believe any of them, especially the one staring up at him in sheer terror. For many years he had been plagued by the scene playing over and over in his mind, the screams haunting his every waking moment. They couldn't stop him as he slaughtered one by one, mind completely lost to the madness. It had started with a few of the nearby younger students, those who hadn't learned to control weapons yet. Teachers were next, falling one by one, followed by anyone who dared to get near him. It wasn't until Maka had attempted to stop him that he briefly faltered, staring at her with blank eyes before a maniacal grin nearly split his face in two as he lifted the blade above his head, her pleas turning to screams of agony as it swung down. Everything had become a blur after that, bits and pieces coming back to him every now and then to prolong the haunting memory.

He had to admit, the illusion sitting before him was nearly identical to the fallen meister, down to the soul wavelength. It didn't matter though. This one would die like all of the others.

"K-Kid, please, listen to me! Let me help you! I don't know what's going on, but please let me help!" Maka pleaded with tears in her eyes. The swirling in his eyes proved her efforts fruitless. He wasn't going to listen to anyone. Especially a ghost. "You saw inside of my soul, you know I'm real! Resonate with me! I'll show you the world I come from!"

"Real or not, you are just a distant haunting memory that needs to be exterminated." Kid seethed as he raised his hand once more, a ball of swirling madness forming against his palm. "Begone."

They had just reached the inner edge of the city when an attack came out of nowhere, sending debris raining over them. Black Star immediately darted in the direction of the attacker, moving so fast his form became nonexistent while Soul ducked to the left, sliding across the dirt to hide behind broken concrete. He could hear fighting nearby as he ran low through the shambled buildings, peeking around corners. As he rounded a large chunk of concrete, a flash of lightning nearly blinded him, and he stumbled backwards with spots in his eyes.

"Damnit, I wasn't expecting to see Black Star! He hasn't been seen in years, so why is he here now?" A voice shouted over a series of explosions. Soul tensed up.

"It's Ox…Harvar must be with him, too." The weapon muttered as he blinked away the last of the spots.

The meisters back was mostly turned, giving Soul the perfect opportunity to strike. He didn't want to hurt his friend but in this world no one could be trusted. Carefully sneaking around the corner, Soul watched as Ox twirled the spear around him, eyes darting wildly around. His glasses were smashed in, imprints of the lens imbedded in the flesh around his eyes. Blood trickled from his nose, the swelling and bruising indicating it was most likely broken. Holding a dirty finger to his ear, Ox pressed down on the earpiece sticking out.

"Lord Death, we've got identified intruders breaching the inner edge of the city! They're moving fast! Oh fuck, is that—" Ox turned around in time to see Soul launching up at him, blades materializing on his arms.

With a blur of a movement, Soul sliced through the comm system in Ox's ear, disabling his connection to Kid. Ox stumbled backwards, landed on his butt and stared up in horror at the weapon looming over him. Harvar was screaming at him to move already but his meister was frozen in place out of fear. Stepping closer, Soul looked down at him with pity. He was petrified, looking like he was facing death itself as he sat on the ground pleading to be saved.

"I'm not who you think I am, Ox. I won't hurt you. I just need to know," Soul crouched down in front of him, dissolving the blades. "Where Kid is."

"Y-y-y-you're h-h-ere-e," Ox stuttered out, teeth clattering violently. "P-p-please d-don't kill m-me!"

Soul growled and rolled his eyes before turning to the spear in Ox's quivering hands. Still a coward in this world, too. He didn't have time for this. "Harvar—"

"In what's left of the Death Room." The weapon said quietly, transforming back with a wary gaze. "Though now he'll most likely be coming out here to take out the nuisances disturbing him. He's going to be royally pissed."

"Was there someone else with him, a girl?" Soul asked hesitantly, looking into the scratched and dirty sunglasses covering his eyes. "Maka, was she with him?"

"You mean that creature that looked like her? It went nuts, controlled by the madness as it attacked us and Liz and Patty. Beat the shit out of Ox." Harvar sighed heavily. He looked worn down beyond the point of being alive. As if even breathing was painful and no longer worth it. "Look, if you're going to kill us, do it. I'm tired of living in this miserable hell pit. You'd be doing us all a favor."

"I'm not going to kill anyone, I just need to get to Maka." Soul stressed as he stood back up. Maka controlled by the madness? That wasn't good. The anti-demon wavelength should've prevented her from falling into despair. Though the madness was beginning to make him feel a little loose the closer he got closer to the DWMA.

Black Star suddenly appeared beside him, pointing his katana into Harvar's face menacingly. "Piece of shit! You just alerted Kid, didn't you?!"

"Black Star," Harvar spat. "You finally decided to show your face again after, what, nearly three years? Pathetic of you to return after tucking your tail and running away! A shame, Tsubaki, that you were dragged down with this idiot meister of yours." The tip of the blade pressed into his neck, a thin line of blood spilling.

"Enough!" Soul snarled as he yanked back on Black Star's arm, earning a murderous look. "I don't give two fucks what happened between the two of you right now, all that matters is finding Maka before Kid does. You two were friends, look at yourselves now; calling each other traitors and threatening to kill one another? How could you turn sides so easily? If anything, you're both pathetic. It's not cool."

Harvar looked away in shame while Black Star scoffed before ripping his arm from Soul's grip, blue eyes flashing yellow. "Easy for you to say when this isn't your world. All the people there are probably still alive and happy, right?"

Before Soul could respond, a large blast of madness spewed from the front of the school, crawling and slithering over the debris towards the group. Black Star tensed and put himself in front of them all, Tsubaki rapidly changing form.

"Tsubaki. Let's try to make up for being gone so long." Black Star caught the spinning shuriken, nodding towards a hole in the roof of the former DWMA. "I'll handle this asshole, make sure she's safe! I won't lose Maka again. Go, Soul!"

"Right!"

---

Maka watched as the madness began forming in Kid's palm, the sharp wind easily slicing through her. Her own madness had been overpowered and not even her anti-demon wavelength could save her now. There was nothing around for her to use as a weapon, at least nothing that could do enough damage for her to escape. Talking had only made things worse, though she couldn't understand why saying Soul's name triggered such a severe reaction. An ache throbbed in her leg and she winced. The black blood's affect wore off as well as the adrenaline, exhaustion crashing over her like a tidal wave. At least it would be quick, maybe a few seconds of pain and then nothingness. Squeezing her eyes shut tightly, she waited for the impact to hit.

"Lord Death, we've got unknown intruders breaching the inner edge of the city! They're moving fast!" A staticky voice echoed around the room, panicked. "Oh fuck, is that—" The line went dead.

Kid looked at the crumpled form sitting in front of him, exhausted and deflated while it waited for death. The creature couldn't run away, not with that hinderance of a leg injury. Clenching his fist shut, he glanced into the distance once more before letting out a heavy sigh. Like every little inconvenience was tiresome.

"I will be back for you after I take care of some business. Do not attempt to leave, I have your wavelength memorized." With a flourish of his robes he was gone.

Maka nearly sobbed with relief as she opened her eyes. Waiting around would be pointless if Kid was going to kill her anyways, so the meister looked around for a means of escape. He'd gone down a narrow hallway to the right of the tattered throne and there was another hallway leading to the left. If she remembered correctly that hallway could lead to the study hidden beyond the main area of the Death Room. Having only been in there once or twice, it was a vague guess as to where the path would actually lead her.

Shoving herself up, the meister limped her way against the massive chunks of concrete surrounding the room towards the hallway. Glancing over her shoulder quickly, Maka slipped into the hallway moving as fast as she could before Kid returned. She didn't know what was happening or why everyone in this place was trying to kill her, though she wanted to know. Her priority was finding Soul first and foremost. This world was far too dangerous to navigate with the madness infected creatures and her 'friends' trying to kill her every second. The expression etched on the demon weapons face was pure anguish as she aimed Patty and pulled the trigger with shaking arms. Liz almost acted like she had seen a ghost.

After what seemed like an eternity, a doorway appeared at the end of the expansive hallway, a relief for the panting meister. Warmth trickled down her front as her wound spilled black blood over the surprisingly clean tile floors. She had lost too much blood, the edges of her peripheral swimming as she stumbled into the door. Shaking hands fumbled for the handle. With a soft click the door swung open, Maka falling to the floor with a grunt. It was warm, tempting the meister to just close her eyes and sleep. She pushed herself up to sit on her knees, slowly looking around the room. It was definitely Kid's office, that much she knew. There were pictures placed symmetrically along the walls of the meister and weapons, Black Star with Kid in a headlock, even one of the group at the school dance right before Medusa attacked, though part of it seemed to be missing.

"It's like nothing changed, everything is exactly like the one back home," Maka whispered as she used the corner of the walnut desk to pull her broken body up. Pain erupted in her stomach and she lightly placed her hand on the wound, blood seeping through her fingers. Kid's overwhelming madness had forced the ogre into submission, meaning the wounds stopped healing. At least her leg was better than before. "Damnit."

With a deep breath in she stood upright and ripped the remnants of the yukata off, using her teeth to tear them into smaller strips. When she had used up all of the material, Maka grabbed the individual pieces and began tying them tightly around her waist, hissing as dirt got into the wound. With three strips left she carefully shifted to the large chair behind the desk and plopped into it. Her ankle was still somewhat purple as she lifted the once white shift, inflammation splotching its way up her leg and stopping just shy of a massive bruise where her leg had been stepped on. Carefully, and clenching her jaw to not cry out in pain, she tightly wrapped the wound as best she could knowing it wouldn't help at this point. It only seemed to be a bad sprain.

A picture frame face down on the desk caught her eye and she swiveled in the chair to look closer. The wooden edges had splintered, glass gleaming beneath the warm light of the lamp burning above her. A corner of a picture stuck out and Maka carefully tugged on it, glass sliding off the desk as the frame moved. There was something written on the back of it though it was smudged and no longer legible, as if someone had held it repetitively. Slowly flipping it over, tears stung at her eyes as she looked down at the faces. It was of them standing side by side outside of the DWMA, all in their Spartoi apparel. Black Star had his arm thrown around an annoyed Kid's neck while the meister herself had a lock on his left arm, smiling widely at the camera. Liz and Patty flanked to the left of Maka while Tsubaki was on her partners right, yanking at his arm and looking worried. What threw her off was the fact that someone had been ripped off of the end, the picture torn haphazardly as though in anger.

"Soul…he was standing next to Tsubaki that day," Maka murmured to herself, running a finger over the rough edge. "Why would Kid do that? Freaking out over just his name was odd enough, but this is beyond weird. What happened between everyone and Soul?"

"People tend to hate you when you kill almost the entirety of Death City in a week."

A voice from the doorway spooked Maka and she jerked back, eyes wide as the door shut quietly, plunging the room into darkness save for the lantern swinging above her. It…sounded like Soul, but there was something different, something sinister lurking in his voice. Had he fallen to the madness? No, he said he'd killed almost all of the city, something her Soul had never done or ever would. His soul though…corrupted to the core with madness. Not even a speck of blue remained amongst the swirling red and black decay.

"Who are you?" Footsteps slowly moved across the tiled floor, pushing the meister further back against the chair.

"Can't tell your own partner's voice, Maka? Pity, you certainly knew my name as you screamed while I sliced through you."

Oh Death.

"Y-you're the Soul of this world, aren't you?" Maka swallowed down the fearful scream climbing up the back of her throat. A screaming mind told her to run away from the threat looming closer and closer. Yet her body froze to the chair with n where to go. "What happened to you? Why is everything so—?"

"Fucked up? That's the power of Asura's madness," Soul chuckled darkly, scraping something loudly against the edge of the desk. A glint of metal caught the meisters eye and she froze. Now she understood why his name was forbidden.

"You fell to the madness and became unstable," The screeching slowed to a stop, as if he were listening. Kid was the same way. Was there a connection between the madness that caused them to react in similar ways? "Your mind became lost and you couldn't control yourself. When I mentioned your name earlier, Kid blew up on me, telling me to never say it again. Why couldn't you fight it, Soul? You're the strongest, smartest, kindest person I know, and I could've helped you fight it. Should've helped you fight through the pain."

It was a tense few minutes, Maka breathing as quietly as possible while Soul remained silent. She couldn't tell what he was feeling, thinking with all the madness swirling in the air. A bright light flashed, and the reflection of the blade vanished. Shaking fingers clamped down tighter on the chair arms, nearly puncturing through the worn leather.

"I…I tried to fight it," His voice was soft, damaged. Unexpected. Like an inner child emerging due to trauma. "I never wanted to hurt anyone, least of all you. The madness overwhelmed me and…I watched it all, trapped within my own body as I laid waste to everyone."

"That must have been horrible, Soul…"

"I don't want your pity, Maka, it's no good to me now. I want you to do something, do me a favor."

Maka tensed as something moved in front of her, a shock of white hair appearing in the light. His normal red eyes had turned black from the madness churning inside of him, a sight that saddened the meister. Scars covered nearly every inch of his face and neck, a particularly bad one running through his left eye, over his nose and down to the corner of his jaw that plunged deep into his skin, an angry pink in color. Without thinking she raised her hand, outstretching her fingers to touch it. Reacting quickly, he grabbed her hand tightly and pushed it away as he tensed up. He was struggling with himself internally she noticed as he looked down at her bruised and bloody appendage. Maka waited patiently, eyes never leaving his as he glanced between the two. Slowly, he released his tight grip and moved her fingers towards his face. The scar felt smooth as she lightly traced over it, starting at the top and tracing downward. Soul stayed completely still, eyes watching her face intently.

"I can't imagine what you went through…" Maka whispered as tears trailed down her face and onto her lap. "I'm so sorry, Soul, for not being able to help you when you needed me the most. I wish…there was something I could do for you. To take away the pain."

"There is." Soul grabbed her wrist, loosening his grip slightly at her tensing. "Only you can do it, Maka."

"Anything,"

"I want to hear your screams once more."

A hand wrapped around her throat and she thrashed wildly against his hold, scratching at his arm and flailing her legs at him. The madness was beginning to overflow from his body, snaking down his arm towards Maka's face. His eyes were pitch black, madness swirling violently inside of them as she glared at him. Clamping her hands tightly around his wrist, the meister expelled the full force of her wavelength into his body, a bright blue electricity exploding into Soul and sending him flying through the far wall of the office and into the wasteland. Not wasting another second, she stumbled around the desk, coughing, as she reached for the door handle. Madness was flaring up, the itching in Maka's veins growing progressively worse, her mind becoming fuzzy as she tried to fight it. The handle turned and she flung the door open, falling against the tile.

"Move, body!" Maka grunted as she tried to stand, collapsing back against the cool floor. Just like with Kid. Her body didn't want to move as she commanded, too paralyzed with fear. "Move!"

An explosion behind her finally sent the adrenaline pumping and she frantically began crawling away, forcing her body up. He was getting closer, toying with her like a predator with its prey as he slowly walked through the doorway.

"Maka, you said you would do anything for me," Soul purred as his arm transformed, his footsteps slow and deliberate.

"Dying isn't included in that!" Maka huffed as she neared the collapsing portion of the hallway. Between Soul and Kid, she'd rather it be the latter at this point.

An object whizzed through the air and barely scraped her arm before slamming into the pile of concrete, a cloud of dust kicking up as it obliterated. Maka pushed herself faster, squeezing through a narrow gap between the wall and debris. It was the path she'd taken before, but the rocks had shifted to nearly seal the hallway. She spotted another gap and forced herself through it, flinching as something exploded near her head. A quick survey of the area appeared to be a side hallway, most likely one running behind and around the Death Room in case of emergency.

"Come on, Maka, just give yourself into the madness," Soul called to her, annoyance lacing his voice when the game continued on longer than planned. "You can't escape this. You've got no weapon, you've lost too much blood, and you're headed towards a dead end."

Maka bit her tongue. Responding now would zero him in on her location and result in a swift death. Hopefully, he didn't know about the secret hallway she was currently staggering down, breathing ragged. Running her hands over the wall, she searched for any cracks or abnormalities in the wood. The previous Lord Death loved the idea of secret doors everywhere since Kid always wanted to play hide and seek when he was young. She thanked her lucky stars she read every book there was about the DWMA before becoming a student. Something snagged at her fingers and she stopped, pressing her palm over the wall. It was faint, but a shallow ridge was cutting into the wood. With her other hand she searched for the other side, looking for a notch that when pushed opened the door.

"Found it!" Maka whispered in triumph as she pressed into the noticeable notch, hearing a soft click as it quietly popped open.

Glancing over her shoulder, Maka quickly pried the door open, squeezing into the darkness.

---

Soul climbed his way over the rubble, hearing the explosive battle between Kid and Black Star raging on behind him. Overwhelming madness was surging over him, the urge to succumb to its warm embrace tempting to the weapon. He forced himself to keep going, jaw clenched tight as he tried to maintain his sanity. The roof had collapsed inward, brick and shattered shingles funneling like a slide into the building. Glancing back at the intense fighting, he pulled himself up and over the edge of the jagged wall. Soul landed on the massive pile of debris and slowly began sliding down it, keeping low to prevent himself from falling and tumbling to the floor. Just as he was nearing the bottom, a noise caught his attention and he froze, blade at the ready. A voice, he realized. It wasn't in the near vicinity as it was fairly muffled, but it wasn't one he recognized. Moving slowly, he crept along a hallway keeping close to the wall and peering around every corner. The area looked somewhat familiar with nails jutting crookedly from the walls. Only the corridor outside of the Death Room had hanging paintings, to preserve the symmetry Kid had argued.

An explosion shook the foundation of the school, nearly knocking Soul off his feet in the process. Debris began shifting and Soul rolled out of the way as some fell from the ceiling, crashing loudly into the floor and kicking a heavy cloud of dust up. A creaking noise alerted him, and he crouched low, searching around with narrowed eyes. Another creak pulled his eyes to a section of the wall across from him, a thin line appearing in the paint. Soul snuck across the hallway, staying behind the wall segment to stay hidden. Slowly it opened, scraping debris across the ground as it moved. There was still dust in the air, but the weapon could see a hand gripping the edge of the door. As soon as the person had cleared the door, he moved.

"Don't move." Soul said lowly as he slammed his blade into the wall, blocking the person from escaping. "I don't want to hurt you—"

Blue electricity suddenly swung at him, catching him by surprise as he ducked to avoid the blast of soul wavelength. Grabbing the wrist that swung at him, Soul pinned it to the wall, dissolving his blade to grab for the other one that was reaching for his. The person was definitely smaller than him though they fought against his grip like a hellcat, even trying to kick at him.

"Stop! I just want some information—!"

"Get off of me!"

Wait…

"Maka?" The person stopped struggling, tensing up.

The dust finally settled enough to reveal his meister looking up at him with wide and terrified eyes, panicked breaths filling the air. Soul released his grip on her and took a step back. She was torn up and covered in dirt, her yukata gone except for strips wrapped around her waist and ankle. Dirty blonde locks were tangled and loosened from her curled bun. A bruise was forming around her neck, a sight that sent fury through Soul's body.

"S-Soul?" Maka blinked owlishly at him, slumping against the wall for support. No red eyes…no creepy voice… "Y-you're not…the madness hasn't…?"

"Maka, who did this to you?" Soul reached his hand towards her neck but stopped when she suddenly flinched back. "I'm not going to hurt you, I just want to check your wounds. Please."

"H-how do I know you're my Soul? You could be pretending to be the one under Asura's madness." Maka asked warily, staying pressed against the wall.

"The watch you just gave me. Look. It has the piano keys and G note. You gave it to me as an apology for what happened last night. You're wearing the yukata borrowed from Tsubaki and the wooden sandals were tossed over the edge of the stone wall when the explosions went off; we were watching the fireworks at the annual D.C. summer festival." Soul explained quietly while holding out the dirtied watch for her to see. Emerald cautiously examined it. The weapon held his breath as she searched his face for the truth.

Maka pushed herself from the wall and into his arms, slumping heavily against him as she cried silently. Soul held her tightly, placing a hand against the back of her head. His strong, powerful, brave meister looked just as broken as the people here, a side of her he never wanted to see again. Another explosion shook the building, debris opposite of them crumbling over Kid's chair in the center. The fight between Black Star and Kid was going to bring down the school in a matter of minutes. Sweeping away some of the tears with a thumb, Soul did his best to comfort his meister in the little time they had. Very gently, lips briefly pressed against the top of her ashy locks.

"It'll be alright. I won't leave you again, Maka. Are you good to move? We need to get—"

"Well, isn't this interesting?"

_B_

"Nice of you to show up again, Black Star," Kid drawled as he effortlessly blocked the ninjas attacks. "It's only been, what, three years? Three years, one hundred and thirty-seven days if you want me to be precise about it."

"Shut it! You abandoned everyone and hid in your fucking castle like a coward!" Black Star screamed as he swung his blade down, the Reaper's cloak deflecting the hit. "You gave up! You left the rest of us to die! Your power is stronger than Asura's, yet you just sit here and mope while the rest of us are starving to death or being eaten by those monsters! I doubt you even realized we had to bury Jacqueline a few weeks ago. We found her body, torn apart and ravaged by those things, Kid. There were countless others we buried, but I doubt you care."

"Death happens to us all at some point." Kid swung his leg out, catching Black Star in the back and sending him flying. "With life comes death, the cycle continuing endlessly. Nothing can change that."

"Are you saying Maka's death was because of the cycle of life?"

Kid remained silent, watching his former friend dig himself out of rubble. What happened to Maka was not justified by any means, regardless of the madness, but their lives continued on no matter how miserable and desolate it was. All of them had been traumatized as Soul hacked his own meister to bits, laughing manically while doing so. Madness had completely taken over his mind as they fought him, screaming, crying, cursing at him for taking such a precious life away. But in the end they couldn't do it, couldn't kill the person they considered family as he continued on his tirade.

"I am not saying that." Kid sighed, tiring of the conversation. He just wanted to go back inside and spend the rest of his eternal life alone and miserable. "What happened was something nearly impossible for us to stop. Call it fate, or whatever you want. We both know none of us could kill Soul."

Black Star swayed to his feet, using the back of his hand to wipe the blood from his mouth. Kid was staring at him emotionlessly like usual. Bastard wasn't even bothering to go full strength against him. Like he wasn't even worth it to fight. Seems he'd given up as well. Still, didn't give him the right to act like the biggest asshole ever created.

"Soul could've been stopped, he could've been tied up and locked away in the damned basement of the school for fucking eternity, but you just stood there and watched. Her death is on your hands, Kid! You're the God damned Shinigami who couldn't stop his murderous friend!"

"Enough! Both of you!" Tsubaki snapped as she transformed, standing between the two with her arms out. Black Star shifted his foot to protect her until a hand firmly pushed him back a few steps. "Look what's happened to us! We were friends, are friends, and you two are arguing over something that isn't the cause of all this! Asura released the madness, not Kid. Instead of bickering, we need to fight together as a team once more to stop him."

"This is none of your concern." Kid said darkly, turning black eyes to the weapon.

"This is everyone's concern! I understand the overwhelming madness in your body is because you needed to be stronger than Asura to defeat him. I know you can sense his soul in there, Kid. We're down the most powerful meister-weapon team but we have someone here who can help."

"'Baki, I doubt Soul will want to help save this damn corrupted world," Black Star huffed arrogantly, arms crossed. "He's got his own damn issues to worry about, why would he—"

"That Maka in there is nothing more than imposter."

"You are fucking—!"

Madness exploded from the school, washing over them all in a heavy haze. Kid moved his head slightly to glare at the unseen source. Black Star took a few steps back, shielding his face with his arm as a heavy dust kicked up, pulling Tsubaki behind him with the other. Something wasn't right. Soul had just gone in there, he couldn't have fallen to the madness so soon.

"Black Star," Tsubaki called out, voice trembling. "It's him."

"Kid, where the fuck is Maka?" The Reaper briefly glanced at him.

"You mean that thing that's imitating her? I left it in the Death Room. It was too wounded to move anyways, so this takes care of th—"

Kid jolted as a fist collided with the side of his face, his footing slipping on the loose rock beneath him. With wide eyes he stared at Black Star, fingers barely touching the now swelling mark. Immense hatred and rage rolled off of Black Star's tensed body, his breathing heavy as blue eyes turned yellow. Been a while since he'd seen that face.

"She isn't an imitation, jackass, she's real and going to be killed by Soul again if you don't get in there and stop him!" Black Star roared as he swung again, clipping the top of his head. "You're fucking disgusting! You're no better than Asura at this point! I won't sit around and watch her die again!"

Kid watched silently as he took off, blasting right through the front doors of the school with Tsubaki on his heels. The madness inside of him began to twitch restlessly, anxious for a good fight. The will had died out long ago, the looming memory of the bloodshed a constant reminder of Asura's power. Two soul wavelengths entered his perception and he remained still, instead searching the souls inside of the building.

"Kid! Where's Black Star? He got away from us!" Liz panted as she and Patty staggered up to him, bruised up but still in one piece. "There was this girl that looked like—"

"Maka. I am well aware."

"She got us good, went all nuts with madness and beat the shit out of Ox." Patty tossed in, scuffing her torn and dirty shoes against the ground. "Kid, I think she's real. Like, really real. Sis and I followed her for quite a ways and she acted like she had no idea where she was."

"Interesting."

"What's going on in there? The madness is becoming sickening," Liz held her cloak to her scrunched face. Despite being Shinigami's weapons the madness still affected them to a certain degree.

"He's here."

Soul kept Maka tight against his chest as he slowly backed away, eyes never leaving himself. Whatever the hell it was didn't seem human anymore. Madness was pouring from his body, spilling to the floor and slithering towards him, the tendrils lashing out at his feet. Black eyes stared eerily at him, sending a shiver down his spine. His body was awkward, as if his bones had rearranged themselves, limbs elongated and thin, back hunched. It reminded the weapon of when they were called to Russia after Chrona attacked. Or the demon in the Black Room.

"You look like me," Soul, the other one, mused aloud. "Interesting. The black blood still flows in your veins, yet you haven't fallen to the madness. Why is that? Are you afraid of the madness? Don't want to drown in it? Or is it because of…" He motioned with a gnarled hand to the meister.

"Don't fight him, Soul, you'll be sucked into the madness. I can barely fight it off," Maka mumbled against his jacket. "Get as far away as you can. My anti-demon wavelength isn't working in the overwhelming madness."

Maka was right, the madness was beginning to make him feel fuzzy, the familiar fire surging through his veins at a fast pace. The corner of his lips twitched. He wouldn't last more than a few minutes longer being exposed like this.

"What the hell happened to you? Too weak to fight it off?" Soul taunted the being standing before him, hoping to buy time as he slowly inched backwards. "How pathetic you lost yourself to the madness. You shouldn't even have the title of Death Scythe, the last Death Scythe at that. Fighting so hard to earn that title, to become the best meister-weapon duo in the school only to fail in the end. You fought countless witches, pre-Kishin, Crona, and even Asura, but this is what got you? Madness? Something that's been engrained into your body for so many years? Becoming one with the black blood and utilizing its powers to slay those who threatened the peace of the world?"

Maka scrunched her brows in confusion. What the hell was he doing?

"The person you cared most about, loved, protected, saved countless times…you killed her when she tried to stop you. After everything…you killed the one person who could save you!" Soul snarled dangerously, his anger getting the better of him.

The slithering tendrils stilled as did dark Soul, black eyes studying his normal opposite. Slowly, almost painstakingly, the madness began to recede as the weapon continued staring at the two. His lips parted a few times, words failing to form before closing once more. His body straightened out, hands dropping loosely to his sides. With a sharp intake of breath, he spoke.

"I never…wanted to kill her." Dark Soul said slowly, surprising Soul. "I had no control over my body after the madness seeped into my mind and took over. I had to watch…watched as my body moved on my own, watched the blade materialize before it swung down, watched as her expression turned to sheer terror as her skin split open."

Soul stared at his counterpart with absolute disgust, red eyes wide with disbelief as he clenched Maka tighter to him. Standing before him was an absolute monster. Grinding his teeth together, the weapon resisted the urge to slice him in half, body shaking in barely contained murderous rage. Maka let out a squeak of pain and grunted for him to loosen his grip.

"That's all I see…every waking second, minute, hour, day, month, year. There's still a part of the old me, buried deep inside beneath the madness. It takes over the madness for a short while, but it never lasts long. Asura's madness is overwhelmingly comforting."

Dark Soul suddenly grinned manically, the madness expanding around him rapidly as his arms transformed. Soul felt his back hit against something and glanced back to see he had hit a slab of concrete, misjudging the distance to the hallway to his right. He couldn't make it before the attack hit so the weapon quickly turned his back, hunching over and covering Maka's head against his chest.

"Time to—!"

"LIKE FUCK YOU WILL!"

A loud explosion rang in Soul's ears as a powerful wind picked up, whipping violently at his body. Electricity filled the air and Maka carefully peeked over her partners shoulder, green eyes wide. Black Star had slammed into dark Soul with his wavelength, clutching him tightly around the throat. Tsubaki quickly made her way over to the duo, tugging hard on Soul's jacket towards the hallway.

"Black Star!" Maka cried as a blast of madness sent him crashing into the spot they were just at.

"Get her out of here, now!" The ninja screamed as he launched himself forward, arm pulled back tightly, palm bursting with electricity. "Tsubaki!"

"I'm on it!" The weapon yelled back, frantically shoving Soul down the hallway.

"W-wait! We can't just leave him!" Maka cried desperately as she tried loosening Soul's grip. He refused to budge an inch. "He'll be killed, Tsubaki!"

"If that's his decision, then I can't stop him, Maka." Tsubaki kept her gaze forward as they ran. "We've all lost you once, we can't lose you again."

Maka bit her lip to stop the tears from falling as they weaved around debris and sprinted down collapsing stairwells. Tsubaki suddenly jerked to a stop, throwing her arm out in front of Soul, eyes trained ahead of them in the darkness. A flash of light produced two kunai in her palms, fingers wrapping tightly around the handles. An overwhelming soul wavelength hit the meister in the face. He was back. Out of the three of them, none would make it out alive.

"Shit, is that…?" Soul muttered as he took a step back, the madness twitching wildly in his body as his fingers began twitching uncontrollably.

"You remember how to get back?" Tsubaki spoke lowly. "We'll rejoin you later, get her to safety."

"Not you too, Tsubaki, please." Maka pleaded to her friend, receiving a strained smile in return.

"This is how our world is, Maka, it's everyone for themselves now. We'll find our way back to you, we always do."

Kid emerged from the shadows slowly, cape furling and twisting around him slowly as he studied the people standing before him. Tsubaki slid her foot forward, shifting to a defensive stance as she held her arms close to her body. Dulled golden eyes briefly glanced at the demon weapon before shifting to rest on a familiar pair of red eyes.

"It appears you are different than your corrupted counterpart." Kid said evenly, eyes darting to Maka. "And I recall warning you not to move from your spot. Apparently you're incompetent to instructions."

"Did you really expect me to sit around and wait so you could kill me?" Maka said sharply, motioning for Soul to release his grasp. "Kid, you've read my soul, you know I'm real. I understand you've distanced yourself from everyone because of what happened. I…ran into this world's Soul after you left, he told me what had happened, how the madness took over his mind and body. A part of him, the original him, still resides in there somewhere."

"He slaughtered nearly the entirety of this city after slaying you, do you expect me to forgive that? Just pretend it never happened?" Kid's eyes brightened as the lines of Sanzu began to glow. "You fail to comprehend the full severity of the situation, imitator, the never-ending nightmare it is to live in this world overrun with Asura's madness."

Maka steadied herself on the ground, lightly removing Soul's tensed hand from her shoulder as she faced Kid. Every movement she made, every slight twitch, was followed intently with his eyes. Kid was guarding himself, wary of the distance between them. Taking a tentative step forward, the meister noticed how his foot shifted slightly backwards. Another step, another shift. His eyes widened a fraction more as she kept moving forward. Soul shared a nervous look with Tsubaki, both watching, tensed to move at a moment's notice.

"Kid," Maka said softly, stopping the Reaper in his tracks. She closed the distance between them, looking up at him with a calm demeanor. Slowly she raised her hand, fingers outstretched towards his face. "Let me help you. There's still time."

Kid tensed, eyes wide as Maka touched his face and rested her palm against his cheek. It was…warm. A warmth he hadn't felt in years. It was something that didn't exist anymore in this cold Hell, a foreign feeling that had died off many years ago. Slowly he raised his hand, the Sanzu lines extinguishing to do the same, dirty fingers hesitating to touch her face. After a nod from her, he closed the gap and rested his hand on her face.

"I'm alive, Kid," Maka whispered, shifting to clasp her hand over his. "I may not be the Maka from this world, but I'm here right now. I'll do anything I can to help you, so please, help Black Star before we lose him too. Use your power to help your friend, our friend, Kid. I know you can do it."

Kid hesitated, staring uncertainly into those confident emerald eyes he missed so much. After everything that'd happened over the years, the last thing Black Star would agree to would be his help, especially after the beating he just took from the Reaper. Most likely the ninja would vehemently deny the help and try to attack both him and Soul. But something about the way she looked at him with such determination and confidence swayed Kid and he slowly nodded. An explosion trembled through the building, dust falling over them in a heavy powdered sheet. A deafening groaning sound resonated through the air. The two meisters looked up in surprise.

"Maka!" Soul screamed as the ceiling above them began collapsing, Tsubaki forcing the two weapons backwards as tons of concrete crashed into the ground.

"Maka! Can you hear us?" Tsubaki cried out as she waved at the thick cloud of dust, coughing into her arm. "Maka!"

Another rumbling shook the ground beneath them, the dust being blasted away with a powerful wind. Just as quickly as it came it vanished, leaving the immediate area cleared of any dust and debris. Maka unclenched her eyes, aware of the arms wrapped around her protectively and jerked her head up to look into golden ones. Kid's eyes were glowing brightly as he gave her the smallest hint of a smile before releasing her and stepping back. The lines of Sanzu died down.

"Kid…"

"We'll talk later. Leave the area, I'll find you." The Reaper chastely kissed the top of her head before heading towards the stairwell, cloak floating softly above the ground. It felt like he was silently apologizing, yet there was something more to it, almost as if he were saying goodbye.

"Maka, are you okay?" Soul rushed up to her, taking her face in his hands, examining every inch. Maka allowed him to do so; the amount of panic in his voice and soul nearly had her breaking down. Her recklessness was going to be the death of him one day. "He didn't hurt you at all?"

"I'm fine, Soul. I think I got through to him," Maka released a small breath and winced. Pressing a hand to her stomach, she grimaced as she pulled it away, looking at the fresh black blood coating her palm. "I…"

Maka felt the world around her spin as her legs gave out, the dull colors swirling violently before everything plunged into darkness once more. Soul supported her weight against his chest, brows knitting together in distress as he supported her in his arms. Tsubaki was at his side quickly, reaching into the small bag slung across her back and pulled out a small roll of bandages. Working quickly, she wrapped the roll around Maka's waist, the black blood slowly seeping through the dirt tinged fabric. The demon weapon tied the ends tightly before stepping back, wiping the blood on her hands against her clothing as if it were nothing more than dirt.

"Tsubaki, I need you to get her out of here. Take her away from the city where she's be safest." Soul spoke quietly as he scooped up his unconscious meister, resolved steeled. He was going to fight his clone for what he'd done to her. "I'm going with him."

"Soul, are you sure? Things are going to get even more dangerous with Kid joining." Tsubaki knitted her brows as she gently placed a hand on his arm. Worry was palpable and the weapon nodded softly. He had to do it.

"He laid his hands on her, I can't forgive that. I know you understand it, so please, take her and go." With a nod of confirmation, Soul carefully placed Maka on Tsubaki's back, ensuring she was fully secured before stepping back. He brushed a few strands away from her face, tucking them behind her ear.

"Please, be careful up there."

"I will. Take good care of Maka for me."

"Don't worry, I'll get her fixed up when I get to the hideout." Tsubaki adjusted the weight on her back before sparing him another glance. "Bring them both home. Please."

Soul nodded and Tsubaki took off into the darkness. With a deep breath in, the weapon steadied his nerves before turning on his heel and following the path they had just taken. He wasn't sure what was going to happen once he got up there, nor if he would come back in one piece, but one thing was for sure; he was going to destroy the other him.

If it meant saving Maka, he'd kill anyone who laid a hand on her.

Even if it cost him his life.

Kid stared anxiously out of the plane window, his leg bouncing rapidly against the carpeted floor. As soon as the remainder of Mardella's magic had vanished, Black Star and Tsubaki were sent to find the box in Maka and Soul's apartment while the Reaper called an emergency meeting in the Death Room for all teachers and Death Scythes. It wasn't an easy thing to do, suddenly announcing that the staff would be in charge temporarily while he left the city for urgent business. Only the Death Scythes and the teachers closest to Kid knew the exact reason for the sudden leave. Spirit had tried to force his way onto the plane as they were boarding but Marie knocked him out cold, assuring the team everything would be handled.

Behind him, Tsubaki, Liz, and Patty sat around a map of the area they were travelling to, talking quietly amongst themselves. Black Star was sitting in the back corner of the plane, silently staring out the window much like Kid was currently doing, arms crossed tightly over his chest. Forcing his leg to stop twitching, Kid felt his back pop as he stood. They'd been on the plane for nearly ten hours already with another few or so to go. The girls barely acknowledged him as he passed by, too engrossed in the battle plans they were preparing.

"We'll get them back," Kid spoke quietly as he stood over Black Star, though even his own words lacked a convincing tone.

"I'm going to find that witch, Kid, and I'm going to murder her. You won't stop me." The ninja replied darkly, narrowed jade eyes never leaving the clouds as they passed by. "I'll tear through an entire country to find her."

"I understand what you're feeling, what we're all feeling, but we can't afford to be reckless about this. Witch Esadora is an ancient witch akin to Mardella, meaning she's immensely powerful as well. With Ametrine's soul, Asura's madness, and the ability to open tears in space, we can't tread lightly around her."

"Whenever we do find her," Black Star broke his gaze to look up at his friend, eyes flashing yellow for the briefest moment. Kid let out a throat noise and hardened his expression. "I won't hold back until I rip the soul from her body and crush it in my bare hands."

Kid pursed his lips and tightly nodded. There would be no stopping him. With a heavy-handed pat on his shoulder, Kid turned to walk to the cockpit anxious to check on the item in the box they had retrieved. It was something unexpected, at least to some extent, when they had opened it in the Death Room. As the lid was removed, a brief flash of light illuminated the surround area before dissipating and revealing the item. It was a golden compass, a type that none of them had ever seen before nestled snugly in a silver pillow. The face appeared to be celestial themed with a night sky showing the constellations in their respective positioning among the stars. The intricately carved needle was resting in the North position, unknown symbols imprinted into the arm.

With a quick knock on the cockpit door, Kid waited for the all-clear before entering, shutting the door silently behind him.

"How are things looking so far?"

"Things are looking good, Lord Death," One of the pilots nodded approvingly. "We're even looking at being ahead of schedule by an hour or so thanks to the tailwinds. My guess is around two hours or so and we should be reaching the landing strip."

"Excellent. Has the compass been working well?"

"This thing is the most accurate compass I've ever seen! Whoever created this turned it into a masterpiece." The co-pilot beamed as he carefully handed it to Kid, treating it like a delicate piece of glass. "It's even better than the on-board equipment, if I say so myself."

Kid held the compass up, cupping it with both hands as he watched the arm slowly sway Northeast to hover over the Cygnus constellation. He wasn't sure if it had a specific meaning or not, though the constellation tended to be the most prominent during the height of summer. It was silly to assume the stars were guiding them in the direction of Esadora, though after everything that had happened so far, Kid wasn't entirely sure he didn't believe everything evolved around the stars.

A knock on the door pulled the Reaper from his thoughts and he carefully handed the irreplaceable compass back before bidding farewell to the pilots. Black Star was leaning against the wall just outside, hands shoved deeply into his pockets. With a quick nod of his head they headed towards the girls.

"We've mapped out the area of woods surrounding the landing strip," Tsubaki explained as the two boys joined, tracing a delicate finger over a red highlighted area. "There's a smaller zone to clear on the left side and the larger one is on the right. The landing strip goes straight for about two miles or so before the jungle hits heavier foliage and the runway ends. If we split up into teams we can each take one side. If someone locates the witch, send a signal flare and we'll come running to the location. Try to avoid conflict if possible, we want to keep her where she is since the jungle goes on for dozens of miles in each direction."

"Shouldn't we just be able to sense her magic?" Liz asked, tapping the map with an elongated nail.

"She could be using Soul Protect," Kid input. "I'm not as skilled as Maka when it comes to sensing soul wavelengths, but Witch Esadora is an ancient witch, one who is immensely powerful and conniving if she was able to steal the celestial blood from Witch Mardella. I wouldn't put it past her to place traps throughout the area."

"I'll just blow them all up, no big deal." Black Star shrugged at the exasperated groans.

"Stealth, Star," Liz swatted a rolled-up magazine at him, grimacing as she missed. "If this witch has the power to open different dimensions, then we need to take every precaution!"

"We'll get them back, don't worry." Kid clapped Black Star on the shoulder, gold burning into green. "We won't stop until they're safe and sound back home."

"S'not what I'm really worried about," Everyone looked at him, confused. "It's the fact that they were thrown into a world overflowing with Asura's madness. What's gonna happen if Maka can't get to Soul if he loses his mind there?"

The group went silent, the question weighing heavily in the air.

What would happen? Kid knew the black blood had been under control for years, but there hadn't really been a massive surge of madness flowing in the world after the battle on the Moon and the Russia incident. Maka was also always at his side, her anti-demon wavelength keeping the madness at bay. He had all the faith in the world that they could handle themselves without issue. Being in a realm where Asura's madness reigned freely wasn't for the weak minded.

"They'll be alright," Kid finally spoke, feeling all eyes on him. "As long as they're together, they can overcome the madness. I have complete faith in them."

He just hoped he was right.

---

Mardella rarely ever visited Ananke in her Olympus home due to the fact she always ran into other Gods along the only pathway to where the mighty and powerful beings resided. Currently, the God Narcissus was blocking her attempts to pass, admiring his perfect looks in a mirror while chattering aimlessly about himself. Being the patient person, Mardella allowed him to ramble on for the first few minutes, but her patience was wearing thinner by the second.

"Narcissus, forgive me for interrupting you," The God merely hummed, barely heeding her presence. "I have urgent matters to attend to, so if you would kindly move aside—"

"I haven't even finished telling you about the most dramatic part of the story!" He whined, pulling at the corners of his eye, searching for crow's feet. "So, there I was, admiring myself as usual, when I see what appears to be a grey hair! Can you believe that?! I panicked and spent hours trying to find it once more only to discover it was just a thread from my robe!"

"Narcissus—"

"I can't believe I panicked over a thread! Thank the Heavens above it was just that and not a grey hair! I don't know what I'd do with myself—"

"Narcissus, please—"

"Do you think I'm getting wrinkles, Marcy? Oh, I would be devastated—!"

Mardella felt her last nerve snap and she felt the uncontrollable rage of Chronos bubbling to the surface. With a flash of light her body transformed, growing and stretching to an impossible height, a long white beard pooling on the pathway. A shimmering celestial robe donned the massive body as it towered over a now speechless Narcissus, anger contorting his aged face.

"You ignorant fool," Chronos rumbled down at the puny God below him. "The fate of the world is resting on my shoulders, yet here you are blathering away like an annoying bird attempting to chat its way out of death. Lest you want to become crushed beneath my feet, move out of my way."

The God did such that, bowing while profusely apologizing as he scrambled out of the way, his mirror long forgotten as it fell from the pathway spinning into the cosmos below. Chronos grumbled before reverting back to Mardella's usual form in a flash of light. The witch pursed her lips as she sent a glare at the self-obsessed God, sending him scrambling for the hills far away from her. With a shake of her head, Mardella marched down the pathway fists clenched at her side. If that idiot hadn't taken so long talking about himself then maybe she would have arrived by now. Time was of the essence.

Many of the Gods residing in the Heavens ignored her for the most part, whispering slander and spreading rumors behind her back, though when Chronos made his appearance, they fell at his feet worshipping the ground the powerful God crossed. After avoiding the realm for hundreds of years, the Gods were tittering as the news spread like wildfire. Mardella knew it wouldn't be long before the offspring of Chronos would be welcoming her with weapons drawn as she noticed Hermes zooming towards the center of Olympus. Tensions had been high ever since the God attempted to eat all of his children, according to predictions told by Gaia and Uranus, with Zeus being the one who escaped and eventually defeated his father along with Poseidon and Hades.

As powerful of a Titan as he was, three of his own had managed to overpower him and throw him into the body of a powerful witch on Earth, becoming an experiment of sorts for their entertainment. The first few hundred years were miserable as the two opposites battled constantly for reign of the body, pockets of space becoming destroyed by powerful magical spells as their powers clashed against one another. Though they eventually came to terms, it was a long and painful road to get to that point.

Zeus shall arrive shortly. Poseidon and Hades shall most likely hear of our arrival.

"I am well aware of what is about to happen," Mardella answered Chronos with a tight voice. "I wish to be done and gone before another confrontation occurs."

They will not allow you to change the will of the stars.

"What choice do I have? Witch Esadora is nearly as powerful as I am, meaning she can throw the world into chaos at any moment. The flow of time is beginning to alter in the realm we were just in. Asura will release his madness and corrupt everything and everyone unless we stop it."

They will not allow the timeline to be altered by a chimera of witch and God.

"Then I will do it without their help and accept the consequences of Ananke."

Ananke's house shimmered into existence just a few hundred feet from the witch, a quaint temple with a vibrant garden lining the now stone pathway. Servants were tending to the foliage with care, lightly snipping magnificent rose bushes into a perfect spherical shape. A young girl, happily laying rose heads into her woven basket, glanced up at the approaching figure. With a double take, she quickly whistled an alert to the others before throwing herself at the edge of the pathway, kneeling and bowing with her basket in front of her as an offering. Others soon joined, holding out their offerings of every imaginable type of flower variety growing in the garden.

"Welcome, Witch Mardella and God Chronos." They chorused. "This way, Goddess Ananke is awaiting your arrival."

Such pathetic servants, my child deserves strong armed guards to protect her from that nuisance Zeus and his insatiable loins. Chronos grumbled unhappily.

"You can complain later, we have little time before your other child shows up and blasts this place into oblivion."

Mardella swept up the massive marble steps, cloak swishing wildly as she hurried into the temple, glancing over her shoulder towards Olympus in the distance. Dark clouds appeared to be forming over its peak, a sign Zeus had received the news.

Servants ushered the witch along solemnly, the tension in the air causing unease. An illuminated doorway to their right meant Ananke was most likely in there but certainly not alone. Three voices drifted from the room as they neared, ones Chronos knew well as he sighed heavily within Mardella.

The fate of time is never wrong…

And it can never be swayed…

For it shall defy the will of the stars…

"I am well aware of the will of the stars," Ananke replied quietly as Mardella entered the room. "My children, this is a grave matter that if not taken care of shall—"

Ah, God Chronos and Witch Mardella…

A pleasure…

To see you once more…

Ananke turned swiftly, greeting Mardella with a short bow. Returning the greeting, the witch lightly made her way over to the three figures sitting around a pile of golden threat strung tightly around a handful of wooden spindles. One of them, a beautiful blonde-haired woman, held a glimmering thread between her fingers as another grasped the other end, her rich brown locks waving down her back. The third, with shimmering silver locks, held a pair of sharp shears up to it, watching as the thread began to glow brightly before the blades sliced it cleanly in two. The three young women, scarcely clothed in Grecian robes, stood and bowed before the God.

"Moirai, I come to you today to—"

Ask for our assistance…

In regard to the flow of Time…

Becoming corrupted with madness…

"I beg of you, the madness of Asura has escaped into the flow of Time threatening all matters of reality." Mardella pleaded to the Ladies of Fate. "Even the Gods will not be safe from this threat."

We are well aware…

That even we are not safe from this threat…

Which looms over us in a haze of darkness…

"Father, I have tried everything in my power to convince them to allow you to alter the timeline," Ananke spoke softly beside Mardella, soft golden eyes filled with sadness. "They say it is the will of the stars, in which it cannot be changed. Please, even I understand the severity of this catastrophe awaiting to befall us all."

Mardella grabbed her hands gently, looking at her with a soothing demeanor. "I shall do what I can, Zeus has heard of my arrival and shall be here soon. Can you distract him?"

"Yes, I will do what I can." Ananke nodded, bending down and kissing the hands enclosing her own. "I leave fate within your palms."

Once she was gone, Mardella felt the familiar searing heat as Chronos began to emerge from within. Unlike last time, his form retained more normal proportions, though he still towered over the Ladies of Fate. With bows of their heads, they greeted the God before them, offering sacred wine to him. He took it with murmur of gratitude.

God Chronos, Father of Time…

We welcome you to our sanctum…

As the Moirai…

I am honored to be in your presence, Clotho, Lachesis, Atropos. I request your guidance and judgement in these troubled times.

Of course, God Chronos, we shall offer…

The answers that you seek…

In order to save the realm from destruction…

Asura, a being of pure fear and madness, has begun to corrupt multiple streamlines of Time, altering the will of the stars and destroying everything in its path. Chronos recited the words Mardella was instructing to him. I ask of your assistance in stopping this creature of destruction by cleansing the timelines and returning them to the normal flow.

God Chronos…

Witch Mardella….

We respect your authority…

Mardella frowned as she watched through Chronos' eyes as the three exchanged an uneasy look amongst themselves. Ananke was the one who could command them, though there was another who could sway their decisions as well…

We have been directly ordered…

By the God of Lightning…

To disobey any orders from you or Goddess Ananke…

Zeus may think he has say over what you can and cannot do… Chronos rumbled dangerously, the three Fate's flinching back. But I command thee to pay no heed to his orders and to abide by thine word and of Ananke. I have heard the will of the stars' screams of agony as life diminishes from the cosmos, life burning for eons extinguished as they are overwhelmed with madness and insanity.

The three shared a distressed look. They were internally debating between themselves judging from the rapid eye movement and various facial expressions. Mardella grit her teeth. She knew Zeus would pull something stupid like this, the arrogant bastard only wanting to control everything atop his golden throne in Olympus. Though they may have been commanded by the almighty King of Gods,

Chronos and Ananke were the ones who could truly sway the will of the stars if needed.

After much debating…

We have decided…

Before Atropos could speak, a roar shook the temples foundation, sending the spools of thread scattering across the marble flooring. Chronos stood, anger contorting his face as the air filled with electricity. Ananke's pleading voice echoed down the hallway. Fear filled their faces, clinging to one another with nervous glances between each other and Chronos.

Conceal yourselves, I shall find you after this matter is taken care of. Do what you must to save the realms from the unquenchable madness.

The Moirai quickly vanished in a cloud of smoke, any trace of their existence gone.

"Chronos…"

I am aware, Mardella. They cannot abide by his restrictions and they will do what they can to prepare. I will end this quickly.

Chronos walked slowly through the doorway, celestial eyes burning brightly with the rage of a thousand suns as they turned to his child storming towards him, lightning bolt in hand. Ananke quickly backed away, ushering the servants and crowd of nosey Gods and Goddesses far away from the temple before the battle ensued. Zeus stopped just feet from his father, a dark expression on his face. Arrogance would be the best description befitting of the God. Strutting around like a golden peacock throwing lightning on whims and sowing his seed in whatever moved.

Father, your presence here was unknown to me, though I know full well what you are here for.

Zeus, you have no right to command the Fate to disobey orders from Ananke and myself. Has all of the entitlement of being 'King' of the Gods rotted your mind?

My mind is clear as always, Zeus snarled as he eyed his father up. You have no business in attempting to alter the flow of time—

Foolish child! Chronos bellowed, the temple threatening to collapse from the force. Do you not see what is beyond this realm? How not only the stars above are dying out rapidly, but many tears in space are being corrupted by the madness? If you could look further beyond than the blessed fruits of countless women you would notice this world is threatened as well!

Silence! I shall not take these insults to my kingdom!

I created you! I gave you life! You think of nothing but yourself!

You devoured my siblings due to a prophecy of being overthrown by your children! Yet you fell right into that ensnarement and found yourself merged with the body of a witch as punishment. I guess it was not harsh enough of a judgement brought upon you. Zeus lifted his arm back preparing to throw the lightning bolt.

"Give me control of your arms, Chronos!" Mardella cried as the power of the bolt increased exponentially. "I can deflect it—!"

There is no need, Mardella, for I shall not be the one receiving harsh judgement. The God rumbled as he inhaled deeply.

With a slow exhale, Chronos' body began to expand rapidly, his back hitting the ceiling and causing marble to rain down over Zeus. A mighty explosion shook the realm as the God transformed into his Titan form, towering above all others with a mighty roar. Lightning clouds darkened the skies as the air became supercharged, small bolts hitting Chronos in succession. A blast of marble revealed an angered Zeus, bolts vibrating violently in his palms.

Lend me your power, Witch Mardella, so that we may end this once and for all.

"Are you going to kill him? Your own child?" Mardella asked hesitantly, preparing to release the full extent of her powers. "I understand your reasons, but there must be another way to end this amicably, Chronos. We are running out of time."

I ask of you, your strength, Mardella, not to vanquish my own blood, but to freeze all of Time.

It hit her instantly. "Y-you want to freeze the realm in order to fix the flow of Time? The consequences of that are—"

I am aware of the punishment for this sin, there is no other option lest I slay the entirety of this realm. Chronos lifted a mighty foot before slamming it down onto Zeus, the shockwave obliterating the temple remnants. Zeus will not back down easily. Together, we can freeze Time and preserve the will of the stars. Look, darkness has already begun to seep into this world.

Mardella watched through his eyes as he pointed a massive finger towards the Northern sky, a noticeable dark cloud growing larger by the minute as it slunk towards them. Asura's mark flashed on her palm, the searing pain causing her to wince. Zeus used his mighty strength to lift his father's foot above his head, body enflamed in electricity as he pushed with all his might to send the Titan stumbling back.

"I pray you know what you are doing, Chronos."

I alone shall atone for the sin I am about to partake.

Magic pooled in Mardella's core, quickly travelling from her torso and throughout her body, the most power gathering in her hands. What they were about to do was heavily forbidden due to its dark magic nature and potentially permanent results. With a shaky breath out, Mardella's mouth formed the words.

"Heavens above, hear thy call, thine will is thy command, thee shall obey. Align the cosmos, cease the flow of Time. Forbidden spell of Darkness–" The celestial orb appeared in her outstretched hands, glowing warmly as it levitated upwards. With one final deep breath, she unleashed her magic. "Ouránia diafthorá tou chrónou!" Celestial Corruption of Time!

---

Black Star coughed heavily as he sat up against the wall, blood dribbling down his chin. He was no match for Soul, the overflowing madness making him many times stronger. Without a weapon it was a death sentence for the meister. But if it meant saving Maka, even if it wasn't their Maka, then he'd gladly die to know she was safe.

"C'mon Star, I know you can fight a lot better than that." Dark Soul taunted as he sauntered over slowly, blades dripping with blood. "You were one of the best fighters for the DWMA, nearly stronger than Kid. It's no fun killing you if you're just going to sit there and accept your fate."

"Yer a real piece of shit, Evans," Black Star wiped the blood from his mouth, grimacing as pain shot through his arm. He was fairly sure it was at least dislocated if not fractured. Malnutrition did that to you. "If the real you is still in there, this isn't cool."

"Unfortunately, the real me is currently drowning in Asura's madness. He does try his hardest, cursing and screaming as he tries to stay afloat though he never stays for long." Soul stopped just in front of the downed meister, blade lifting above his head. "At least now you can join Maka for one last reunion. Goodbye, Black Star."

His body felt heavy as he glared up at his former best friend, blood seeping from the scythe wound to his chest. He'd tried harder than most of the others to survive this hellish land for years. There were times when he'd wanted to end it all, to be put out of his misery and the haunting nightmares that clawed at the edges of his mind. Tsubaki was the one thing keeping him alive, her presence keeping him grounded to reality and out of the dark corners of his mind. Maybe they both should have died, almost everyone else had thanks to the unending madness plaguing the world. As he watched the scythes blade glint with his blood, Black Star accepted his fate readily as he closed his eyes, taking solace in knowing Maka had been saved for the final time.

Searing pain tore across his collarbone as the tip of the blade connected briefly, blood pouring down his chest and he let out a strained yell of pain. When no other pain followed, Black Star snapped his eyes open, mouth gaping at the scene before him. Soul had stumbled backwards with hands clutching at his chest as he released an agonized scream. The madness was reacting as well, spasming around him violently like it was being burned alive. Hands clutched at his head as the weapon stumbled backwards, tripping over a chunk of rock before hitting the ground hard.

"Black…Star…" The meister jerked in surprise, staring at the twitching form with wide eyes. "Get…out of…here…now…"

"Soul? That really you?" Black Star pushed himself up with a grunt, clutching his shoulder. "Can you hear me? Fight it, Soul, take back control of your body!"

"Can't…hold on for…much longer…please, just go…"

"I…" Could he really save him at this point? The madness would most likely just consume his soul once more, taking the meister down with him. But Soul was his friend, no matter the circumstance. He had to try. "Maka is alive. You need to fight for her, Soul. Don't you ever give up on fighting! Show me the strength you worked so hard to reach as a Death Scythe! Don't throw away everything you and Maka worked for!"

A flood of madness blasted over the area and Black Star's back hit the wall, the immense pressure pinning him there. Dark Soul was pushed back from the force, flying across the room and slamming into a wall, the blast aimed directly at him. Through squinted eyes, he noticed it wasn't coming from the weapon himself, but from to his right.

"Black Star!"

"Soul?"

Soul appeared by his side, fighting the force of the madness radiating over the area. A hand lowered to the downed ninja. "Can you still fight?"

"Y-yeah, I think I can still fight, but Soul—"

"Get him out of here, Soul. I'll take care of the rest." Black Star tensed at the voice.

"Kid, the fuck are you doing here? Finally playing hero after most of our friends died off?"

"Star, I can explain later, we need to get out of the way." Soul tugged on his arm, wincing as a stray rock sliced across his cheek. "Tsubaki already took Maka and left. This whole building has become unstable and you look like absolute shit right now."

"I ain't leaving here," Soul opened his mouth to protest but Black Star cut him off. "The other Soul, he's still in there. He overpowered the madness and saved me from having my head lopped off."

"Whether or not he's in there, he still needs to pay for his sins." Kid replied darkly as he waltzed past them, lines of Sanzu glowing brightly.

"So, you're going to kill him? You think that will bring Maka back? She's dead, Kid, and no matter much you beat the shit out of him it won't bring her back. If you can purge the madness from his body, then maybe—"

"Maybe what? Cleansing him is only a temporary solution, nothing more. Even if it were possible to purge him completely of the madness, it could cost him his life. Soul is one with the madness and black blood. Take one away…"

"And he'll die." Soul finished tightly. He wondered if the same thing could happen to him.

"Well, isn't this a nice little reunion." Dark Soul gave a twisted smile as he pulled himself from the rubble, black blood cascading over his face from a head wound. "All reunited to fight against the bad guy. Such a cliché moment."

"This will be a one-sided battle. I should have done this long ago." Kid released his full power, the force sending Black Star and Soul skidding back.

Dark Soul grinned as he threw his arms out, accepting the blast of madness with welcome arms. The blast obscured his body from view, the force of the wave enough to blow out the wall behind him, debris flying into the distance. Soul transformed his arm, slashing at any rocks that bounced back towards them. Kid narrowed his eyes as he extinguished the madness with a closed fist, body tensed as he looked around, following something unseen through the walls. His eyes landed on the area where Soul and Black Star stood, palm quickly shifting towards them.

"Move."

Soul yanked the ninja to the ground just as the concrete slab behind them exploded, the blackened tip of the blade slicing a few strands of the weapons hair. Kid fired at him immediately, dark Soul dodging it by shifting his weight mid-air.

"I know," Soul purred as he landed above them all, balancing on a bent, rusted piece of steel. "Why don't I tell Asura where your little friends are hiding out? I'm sure he'd love to visit with Maka before he rips the soul from her very body."

"What?" Soul yelled, snapping his neck up to glare at his corrupted counterpart. "Don't you fucking think about it!"

"Like we'll let you anywhere near them!" Black Star snarled as he pushed past Soul, forcing his soul's wavelength to pool in his hands. Kid glared dangerously at his former friend, golden eyes burning brightly. Dark Soul tittered with glee.

"Oh, maybe I should have mentioned he was already on his way there. It's not every day I have to become a distraction for Lord Death, my apologies for the poor performance."

Soul felt panic flood his body as he whipped his head to look at Black Star. He could feel the anger rolling off of him as his eyes flashed yellow and he vanished.

"Soul, get out of here and protect the girls! Gloomy and I can handle this!" Black Star barked as he swung his good arm at Dark Soul, missing his target by a long shot.

"Is now really the time for nicknames?" Kid drawled as he cut Soul off, kicking him and sending him crashing through the floors.

"I won't leave you two!" Soul yelled, throwing his arm over his face as the wind sliced at him. "Star, you're too injured to fight right now! Let me and Kid handle this."

"And they say chivalry is dead." Dark Soul cooed as he appeared before Soul, arm swinging back. "You wanna play scythe boy? Then let's play!"

Soul quickly rolled out of the way, hearing his jacket rip in the process as Dark Soul sliced at him as he shot by. The thick material split completely in half and the weapon tossed the remnants aside, transforming both arms as he stared down his counterpart.

"Fine by me!" Soul yelled as he launched forward, twisting as he jumped into the air.

"Kid, what the hell do we do?" Black Star watched as their blades collided at nearly untraceable speeds, the clangs of metal nearly deafening. "We can't just leave him here to fight, the madness will suck him in without Maka!"

"I can sense Asura is on his way here, we need to secure the girls and stop him from killing Maka." Kid took one last glance at the battle before turning on his heel. There were bigger issues to handle. "Soul can handle himself."

"You hit yer head or something since I last saw you? Since when the hell do you care about either of them?"

"No, a certain meister has just reminded me of something important." Kid said softly, the corners of his mouth twitching.

"I knew she would get through to you!" Black Star laughed and clapped him on the shoulder. Golden eyes darted over to glare at him.

"Don't make me blast you through the wall."

"Ah, you love me, and you know it!" The ninja turned in the direction of the fight and cupped his hands over his mouth. "Soul, you better kick his ass or I'm kicking yours back to your own world!"

"I'm more afraid of Maka beating my ass for losing!" Soul grunted as he blocked Dark Soul's blades, the metal screeching as it scraped together. "Now, get out of here and stall Asura until I get there."

"Don't die on us!"

"Never planned on it."

Kid and Black Star left the room and the two weapons skidded to a halt, sweat dripping down their faces as they stared each other down. Soul felt the madness squirming inside of him, begging to be freed to unleash destruction. Crimson eyes narrowed. It was risky to let loose in a situation like this. The sheer amount of madness emitting was already causing ticks, any more and he'd be submerged without a life raft to pull him out.

Come on, Evans, you know you want to release the madness,

'So, you're finally back. Took you long enough.' Soul thought as he swung his leg out, connecting with Dark Soul's face. 'I always knew it wouldn't be so easy to kill you. Talk about timing.'

Thanks to your meister, I ended up being suppressed by her overwhelming anti-demon wavelength once the madness was purged. That really is a terrible thing, you know. The ogre huffed indignantly.

'Saved my ass more times than I can count. Now, are we going to just sit around and talk or are we going to get down to business?'

Soul stood in the darkness, hands shoved in his pockets as a door materialized behind him, a bright light slipping through the opening. With a grin he turned, stepping through the door of the Black Room, his usual clothes now replaced with a pinstripe suit. The ogre stood by the piano, gesturing to the pulled-out bench with a wide smile. A hand loosened the tie around his neck.

I've kept her nice and clean for you. Let's put on a good show for our audience, shall we?

Taking a seat on the bench Soul lifted the cover, running his fingers over the ivory keys lightly. He positioned himself with hands hovering over the keys at the ready. He closed his eyes, relishing over the familiar warmth zipping through his veins, electrifying every nerve in his body. It felt good, the madness, as it washed over him and the weapon readily accepting the immense power. He could hear the ogre tittering excitedly beside him.

'Let's give him a show he won't soon forget.'

With a deep breath in, Soul slammed down on the keys, a dark haunting tune erupting from the piano.

"Oh? Seems you're ready to fight for real this time." Dark Soul felt his lips curling into an impossibly large smile, giddy as he watched the splitting image of himself suddenly slouch over. "Well, come on then, don't disappoint me!"

"The only disappointment…" Soul chuckled lowly, his movements jagged as he straightened up. "Is that this fight will be over before you can even blink!"

Dark Soul blinked and the weapon was gone, barely a cloud of dust moving from his spot. Something collided with his back and sent him crashing through the walls of the school, the already unstable structure groaning under the chaos as he rolled to a stop on the debris lidden floor, coughing. A noise reached his ears and he stumbled out of the way just as Soul landed where he was, blade imbedded in the tile. The madness inside of him tingled excitedly as he stood, the cloud of dust separating them slowly clearing.

"Feels nice, doesn't it? All that power coursing through your veins!"

"Unlike you…" Soul growled lowly, stepping through the dust screen, bladed arms at his sides. "I can keep my cool while under the madness. The real you may still be under there somewhere, but unless you can fight your way out, then today's going to be your last."

"Show me, Evans, what it's like to be the last Death Scythe!"