Diplomacy was awful. Everyone demanded and nobody gave. Sometimes Kid wished he'd never made peace with the coven. He banished those thoughts. The treaty had been a crucial step to defeating the kishin. It continued to save lives to this day. The lives of his students. Paperwork and squabbles were a small price to pay. If only the other side understood as much. That head witch seemed hellbent on straining their peaceful relations as much as she could. Every minor inconvenience, every disagreement was turned into a major point of contention. It was understandable, given their difficult history. Peace could only be achieved through concession and hard work. He merely wished the task had fallen to some other reaper.
And now, a witch had been killed by one of his subordinates. Realistically speaking, there was no room for debate. That woman had committed multiple murders, attacked his associates. Those actions violated both his laws and those of witches. Maba would not see it that way. He could already hear her labeling the incident a hate crime against witchkind. Worst of all, he had no proof of the dead witch's guilt. He would need more than words to smooth this over.
Kid reached for his coffee. The cup was blown out of his hand. His chair and body followed suit. A shock wave tore through the Death Room, scattering his papers, knocking over furniture. The reaper managed to break his fall and flip over onto his feet. There was no source in sight. It must have come from outside. The death room wasn't just any physical space. Powerful boundaries separated it from the city. A simple explosion would not have reached. That much would have been apparent to him, either way. He could feel it in his head. In his senses. The world around him had lost its colors in the wake of the shock wave. His surroundings, his clothes, even his skin had gone black and white, distinguishable only by their respective shades. He doubted any of these objects had actually changed color. Rather, his brain was being impacted.
He closed his eyes and concentrated. Scouted his mind for foreign influence. Something tugged at his emotions. Tried to rile him up. It was faint, but it was there. Reminiscent of madness. Yet, it wasn't madness. The kishin had been sealed on the moon. The only madness on the planet was his own. And he made quite sure it was well contained. The feeling in his mind was different. Less grandiose. An alcoholic buzz. Righteous anger. Heartbreak. Obsession. It took many shapes, aiming to get him worked up. It posed no threat to him. The position of grim reaper came with certain advantages. He was naturally resistant to these underhanded attacks.
That being said, him being able to feel the effect so clearly was concerning. His subordinates and students did not enjoy that same advantage. Nor did the other inhabitants of the city. If the effect was as oppressive everywhere else, it would cause problems. He rushed out of the room. It was late. The halls of the academy were expectedly empty. The reaper ran outside. Through the gate, down the stairs. The dark streets bustled with commotion. Shouting. Panic. Meisters fighting their weapons, civilians eachother. Crying teenagers, unmoving bodies, fire. Among them, bestial monstrosities clad in robes of smoke. He needed to help his people. He needed to find the cause. He needed to calm down. Rushing in would do no good. Kid took a second to think.
Maka's reports had mentioned psychological attacks. The same foe? She was supposed to be dead. He hadn't been able to verify the details with Black Star. The blue haired man was strong. Among the strongest meisters in his service. It wasn't uncommon for him to take out powerful enemies by himself. He couldn't sense souls. It was feasible an intelligent opponent could have deceived him. To what end? Maka had been worried about an infection. Stein had found nothing. The man was competent. Black Star hadn't gotten checked. He'd fought the same enemies. Pieces fell into place. He needed to get to their residence. No easy task. They lived on the other side of the city. Students and monsters crowded the streets. He couldn't leave them. No matter. He would carve a path. It was his responsibility.
A beast not far from him was his first target. It loomed over an unconscious student. He covered the distance in a single motion and cut its body with one stroke of his bare hand. It disintegrated, leaving nothing behind. In line with Maka's findings. Kid had not fought in quite a while. His position had turned into somewhat of an office job. There was no weapon with him. He could deal with these minions, but if there was a powerful enemy in the city, he'd prefer to be armed. He hadn't teamed up with his original partners since his ascension. Being wielded by a grim reaper put immense strain on regular weapons. Liz should be home. He hoped she had remained unaffected.
Several death scythes were stationed within the city. Marie would be with Stein. His lab was too far. No way to make it there in time. Spirit could be anywhere. He was probably drunk and generally not to be relied upon in an emergency like this. That left Soul. The last death scythe was likely his best option. Their apartment wasn't far from that of Black Star and Tsubaki. All the more reason to rush there. He came across a pair of students. A boy and a girl, fourteen or fifteen years old. The girl was crying. The boy shouted, expression twisted.
"You're going to leave me! I've seen how you look at other meisters!"
She screamed and transformed her arm into a spear.
"I HATE YOU!"
There were no good outcomes to that situation. Kid needed to interfere. He positioned himself between them.
"Stop! You're being manipulated! Calm down."
His words didn't reach.
"MOVE OUT THE WAY!"
The girl swung at him. He avoided it. The boy tackled him from behind. There was no talking to them in their current state. The reaper could not afford to waste more time. He carefully hit each of them in the back of the neck. It took great precision, but he was confident he had only knocked them unconscious. That should prevent them from harming each other. Still, leaving their bodies like that was dangerous, too. An older girl in DWMA robes caught his eye. She was running along the sidewalk. Kid called out to her. She reacted. Seemed reasonably sane.
"Lord Death? What's going on? Everyone's going crazy!"
"I'm trying to help. Are you alright?"
"Yeah, I think. My partner ran off. I'm looking for her."
"You can't be running about unarmed. I'll take care of things. Could you bring these two into the academy? And any others you come across."
"Uh, sure. I mean yes sir!"
The girl was no professional. Kid didn't want to endanger her. He was supposed to protect this city. Circumstance had forced his hand.
"Thank you. But don't take risks. If you come across enemies, you run."
"Understood."
A stroke of luck. That freed him up to continue his mission. Apparently, not everyone had gone mad. Not yet. Time was of the essence. He left his new favorite student behind. The city was in disarray. Time after time, he had to stop to break up fights and deescalate. Some of them listened to his words, most he had to knock unconscious. Any stable minds he encountered were instructed to evacuate civilians as well as incapacitated meisters and weapons. The more ground he covered, the more he retook control of the city. Areas were purged of monsters, the unstable neutralized, fires put out. But it was slow work. He couldn't realistically protect the entire city. Plus, people would wake up sooner or later. Unless he dealt with the source of the attack, they would just go out of control again.
His liberation quest suddenly came to a halt, roughly halfway to his destination. The atmosphere was getting thicker. More color drained from the world. Shades of gray merged. Objects became harder to tell apart. Surfaces separated by thin lines. Surreal. Even he had trouble keeping his train of thought. A girl sat on the stairs to a building, sobbing uncontrollably. Next to her, a body with a massive hole in its chest. Both of them covered in black liquid. A few meters further, a young man repeatedly bashed his head into a wall, all the while laughing wildly.
Dark stains quickly became a common sight. Blood, he figured. Crying and laughter were omnipresent. Kid encountered no more allies. The people he found ranged from passively unhinged to actively hostile. If anybody in this area had kept their wits, they must have long since evacuated. He told his subordinates not to follow him any further. Then he sprinted. Past burning buildings and bodies. He grew sad. Then angry. This attack had already cost the lives of so many students. He couldn't get upset. If he gave in, even he could get overwhelmed. That woman would pay.
The reaper had almost made it. A few hundred meters were all that lay between him and ground zero. He had encountered neither students nor civilians for several minutes. Instead, the area was filled with those monstrosities. He cut them down. Having turned a corner, he spotted a familiar man in a suit. Spirit. He didn't notice Kid. Encountering a death scythe was a relief. Encountering this particular death scythe was a gamble. Spirit was plenty unhinged under normal conditions, there was no telling if he would be of use. Either way, he had to find out. The reaper called to him.
"Spirit!"
"Kid?! Have you seen Maka?!"
There was dirt all over the weapon's face and suit. He'd turned to him in one jerky motion.
"I have not. I'm looking for her team and Black Star's."
"Screw that idiot! We NEED to find my DAUGHTER!"
He sounded deranged. But he wasn't completely gone. Their goals roughly aligned and Kid needed all the help he could get.
"Very well. Let's look for her together."
His face relaxed.
"Okay. Yeah. We can do that."
Spirit took his weapon form. They eliminated several more beasts as they progressed through the area. The reaper really needed to reach Black Star's place. But Spirit might turn on him if he forced the matter. Finding Soul would be helpful in and of itself. Assuming he was faring any better than Maka's father. It became a non-issue when a robed woman appeared in front of them.
"Bullying newborns is rather mean, don't you think?"
A flowing, oversized dress. An unsightly soul that had suddenly appeared on his radar. This woman was definitely a witch.
"How dare you attack my city?! I'll have your head!"
She cackled.
"Like you took the heads of all those students of yours?"
Her words made no sense. Empty taunts. Engaging in any further conversation would only benefit her. Fighting inside the city was a problem. Him going all out here would cause more damage than this entire attack had. For now, he would scout the capabilities of their opponent. With any luck, they might be able to take her out in simple melee combat. He jumped close to her and swung. The scythe went right through her, drawing no blood.
"Aren't you rude? How unbecoming of a lord. I wasn't done talking."
Luck did not look to be on their side. She had to be employing some sort of trick. A projection or an illusion.
"Keep your words."
There was no way to tell. Regardless, she wouldn't be able to harm them if she wasn't physically present. Her goal, then, had to be stalling them.
"Such terrible manners. And here I thought we could put our differences behind us and have a civilized discussion."
"I don't have time for this. We're leaving, Spirit."
The woman wasn't going to make it that easy. She directed a question at Spirit.
"Going out to look for that blonde girl? You are her father, are you not?"
Goddamnit. Spirit greedily swallowed the bait. He untransformed and responded.
"What do you know about my daughter?!"
Her smile became wider.
"Oh, I've gotten quite familiar with dear little Maka."
"WHERE IS SHE?!"
"She should be somewhere around here. I was hoping to use her, you know? Her and that death scythe of hers. Alas, they turned out to be useless."
His partner was getting more and more worked up. If only he'd ran into any other weapon of his.
"We have to go, Spirit. Can't you see she's trying to delay us?"
"SHUT UP! I have to protect her!"
Too far gone. Leaving him behind wouldn't be optimal, but it looked more and more like his only option. The witch's taunting continued.
"Why do you care so much? That girl hates you."
"THE HELL SHE DOES!"
"It's true. I've been inside her brain."
"You're LYING!"
Spirit threw himself at her, arm transformed into a blade. His cuts accomplished nothing. That didn't stop him from recklessly slashing away. The more he attacked, the louder the witch laughed.
"You're a pathetic father. Honestly, you're no father at all. Just a disgusting creep that had too much unprotected sex."
"SHUT YOUR FUCKING MOUTH!"
He was out of control. More and more limps transformed into blades. His rampage turned indiscriminate. He cut lamps, walls and trees. Bringing him had been a bad idea, after all. The reaper couldn't change it now. A frenzied death scythe could not be left alone. The weapon needed to be stopped. Kid aimed to take him out with the same move he'd used on the students. While Maka's father was absorbed in his tantrum. He quietly moved behind him and went in for the strike to the back of the neck. The unpredictable movement of his target prevented a clean hit.
The reaper found himself as the new subject of the weapon's rampage. Spirit was not the type that fought well on his own. But he was losing time. Kid could not afford to wait for him to wear himself out. The young god gave up his strategy of kiting backwards. Instead, he moved in. One slash was avoided by ducking. Then another with a sidestep to the left. A third one grazed his shoulder as he slipped past his assailant. Finally in position, he went for another knockout strike. This time, he didn't miss. Spirit fell forwards, passed out.
"Is backstabbing your allies some kind of hobby to you?"
The witch had been gleefully watching their scuffle. Let her talk. It was time to move on. He ran past her. She appeared in front of him. He turned a corner. She was already there. He'd been right. She really wasn't physically present. Nonetheless, she kept talking to him.
"You're wrong, you know? I'm not stalling for time. And I don't make empty threats. You really have been killing your own."
More nonsense. He had made sure not to hurt the students he'd knocked out.
"How do you think I've gotten this many of my followers into your city? Past your detection?"
He wasn't stupid enough to respond. No more distractions.
"Here's a hint. I haven't."
Words were bothersome little things. Try as he might, he could not tune them out completely. They reached his ears. Then his brain, his subconscious. He, of all people, knew not to listen. Not to waste time considering malicious lies. And still, his brain considered them. She hadn't gotten those monsters into the city? What was that supposed to mean? Had they already been here? Impossible. He had personally disposed of at least fifteen. No way that many could have been hidden. She kept saying he had killed his own. The only things he'd killed were the beasts. He didn't recall allowing such grotesque creatures at the academy.
Perhaps they hadn't always looked like that. Had regular appearances at one point. If they were his own, that would have made them students. A sickening thought. Had this many sleeper agents infiltrated his school? Or had regular students been transformed into these monsters? He had found plenty of survivors. Far from here. None of them in the area. Only monsters. That had to be it. The idea set him off.
"You disgusting creature! What have you done to them?!"
Another cackle.
"I just changed them a little. You're the one that cut them down."
He couldn't get angry. She might have been bluffing, anyway. Between his impaired vision and the smoke around their bodies, it was impossible to verify just what those things actually were. To begin with, it made no difference what they had been before. They were enemies now. They threatened his protégés. For their sake, he would strike them down without remorse. The witch began a one-sided rant.
"You are a cruel man. But that's easy to say. Can you still kill them, knowing now what they are?"
As if on command, a horde of beasts surrounded him. These ones did not produce any gas. He could see them clearly. Their grotesque, misshapen bodies. It did seem they had been human at one point.
"Perhaps you recognize some of them? Well, go ahead and kill them, just like you did the others."
He was loathe to admit it, but it was getting to him. Among the creatures around him, several of them wore uniforms of the school. They were in tatters. Ripped. Stained. A result of the transformation, no doubt.
"The metamorphosis is excruciatingly painful, by the way. Everyone shrieks and cries."
It was his fault. Every death that happened here today. Every bit of suffering that had befallen these students. There was nothing more he could do for them. Nothing but to put them out of their misery.
"Do you think that will make up for your failures?"
He had to try. It was all he could do. The monsters came at him. He sliced through them. Even unarmed, he was still a grim reaper. The sheer power of his wavelength eradicated their frail bodies.
"How does it feel?"
Repugnant. Dirty. He was doing it for them, but he really was killing his own. The very kids his father had entrusted to him. He had to keep going.
"There's still more."
His humanity dwindled with each strike. Yet, they just kept coming. How many of them had he failed?! Were there any humans left? It didn't matter. He had to set them free. Every last one of them. It was his responsibility.
"Slaughter them all, little reaper."
Corpses littered the plaza. They couldn't disintegrate fast enough. The walls around him, the asphalt below. All of it had been painted the same dark grey. More came. More fell. There was no end in sight. His mind had long since given out. He kept slashing. Killing. Freeing them. In that moment, he wasn't so different from the students he aimed to release.
One beast killing another.