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Rise of the Demon Forge: A Hidden Danger? (Razgriz x Karameida)

Maka​
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Maka ran the brush through her hair pulling out a knot; she ran it through her hair a few more times before setting the brush down. She stared at her reflection for a long while in silence. "it still feels so surreal..." she thought looking down into the sink. She sometimes felt like the world around her might melt away and she'd awaken to find Asura staring at her. With a small little shiver she shook her head ridding herself of the imagery. She needed to stop thinking about it, it happened six year ago, they had won and now; now she was a married woman. Married to her partner and a Deathscythe, Soul. A small smile flitted across her face as she remembered their wedding ceremony. She was on her honeymoon and they were traveling around the world with someone elses money. It was fantastic.

Maka tightened the towel around her slender frame and looked out the bathroom door to the back porch where her husband was. "My husband..." she thought not for the first time. She felt the familiar surge of happiness and feminine pride well up in her breast. In the six years since Asura's demise, Maka and grown a little. Her chest had filled out a little more [admittedly not a whole lot but a little.] and she now had a slight flare to her hips but nothing would ever be able to dispel her naturally lithe and slender body. With a little shrug she walked out of the bathroom and into their bedroom. She tossed the towel onto the bed and pulled a white tank-top over her head. Leaning over she pulled on some khaki colored shorts which clung to her hips and slipped her feet into some flip-flops and walked out to the back porch and leaned against the frame. She glanced at Soul and smiled again, she knew he didn't overly like traveling and it made it mean that much more to her that he was just for her. She knew Soul would be faithful to her, he wouldn't be like her papa.

Maka's smile widened "To much for you huh?" she said laughing a little. Pushing herself away from the door she walked over to the reclining chair he was sitting in. Swinging her leg over the other side she straddled Soul and sat in his lap. She flushed a little and ran her fingers through his hair "Should I take pity on you?" she murmured leaning her forehead against his her arms now draped around his shoulders. She stared at soul for a long moment "Ah, I suppose we could relax for today. You've earned it." she said tilting her head back laughing softly. Standing up she sat down on the edge of his chair "Since I'm putting my plans for us on hold for today, tell me Soul; Are we just going to sit out here on the porch all day? she said turning her head to look at Soul.

It was madness that she could be sitting out on a porch over looking the ocean with a warm breeze washing over her skin. Madness that she was in a picturesque setting with her husband just having fun after everything that had happened to them. Perhaps it was because of everything they had gone through that had strengthened their bonds. She didn't really know but she couldn't shake the feeling that things had ended to....cleanly. At first she thought the feeling was just excess adrenaline and madness that had coursed through her system during the battle but as the years wore on she didn't know quite what to attribute the feeling too. "I'm just being paranoid...." she thought absently.

Resting her head in her hands she quirked a brow "So?" she queried. Maka didn't really know if she'd be able to do the whole sitting and relaxing all day; she was far more active than soul was but if he could put up with her energy she could deal with chilling for a day. How hard could it be?
 
Soul​

Soul had a feeling deep down that Maka was still a bit perturbed by the outcome of the war; she had worked so hard to save everyone, especially Crona....But she did seem to move past a great deal. Even so, Soul's link with Maka was incredibly strong by this point; low muscial notes played in his ear as he felt her uncertainty wash through her mind. "Seems like Maka still can't believe it, either; can't say I blame her. We saw some pretty crazy things" the young Deathscythe muttered mentally.

As Maka approached him, his red hues wandered her athletic figure; she'd certainly grown in some. Nowhere close to Blair, but she was a bombshell in her own right. Though one thing she seemed to like doing, even if her slight embarrassment at the act was noticeable, was straddling his lap. "Glad you see it my way...The taking it easy part that is" he replied with his characteristic sharp-toothed grin as their foreheads touched; it was this moment of contact that Soul felt her soul again. It was weird; ever since he became a Deathscythe, he could use physical contact to hear a person's soul. And right now, it was pretty upbeat but then he felt the drop again.

Maybe it was just her type-A personality, but for some reason Maka seemed still too on edge even though the war was by far over; sure, there was still the threat that another like Asura could arise again or that even someone might try to resurrect the bastard, but for right now...All the new recruits at Shibusen got to have their fun with the various new Evil Humans that seemed to be popping up now that the big daddy Kishin got destroyed in the Moon. There was really nothing to worry, in his eyes anyway. As she got up off of him, Soul's eyes followed her and as she asked for confirmation to her question he replied, "Maka....You worry too much, you know that? We're on vacation, we're supposed to be relaxing".

He then sat up and rested his chest against her back, resting his hands on her shoulders and adding "Asura's gone, Maka; that's what the fight on the Moon was all about. To put that bastard away for good. No one's going to be able to reach him again and try to weaponize him". Letting out a sigh, he then said, "But....To answer your question, I don't really mind if we do anything. But let's not go full-bore, alright? We have plenty of time to spend together, you know".
 
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Maka smiled when she felt soul's weight press against her back. It was a small gesture but it calmed her as nothing else could have. Soul had always been there for her, always protected her...comforted her and pushed her. She'd always had drive and had strove to be the very best but without Soul she probably would have never succeeded. She certainly would have never been able to confront Asura, or get through to Crona. She'd have never grown into the woman she was now. Maka reached up absently and lightly gripped his hand. She felt the comforting heat and strength of his body through her shirt and felt reassured. Even if the worst were to happen and Asura did return; she'd have Soul by her side. But she knew, it wasn't Asuras possible resurrection that troubled her; it was something else a bit closer to home. But try as she might, she couldn't pin point exactly what it was. "Thank you Soul" she said before finally moving.

Standing up she gave soul's hand a soft squeeze before releasing it. For awhile she gazed out over the ocean, watching the waves wash up over the sand before pulling back into the water. It was a calm peaceful scene that offered comfort to the unwary. But the ocean was a dangerous place beneath the glittering waves. Shaking her head she shoved the thoughts from her mind and leaned down to press a quick possessive kiss on Soul's lips before straightening up smiling. "I'll just go for a swim then. I'll also check in and let them know we are still alive." she said walking back into their room. Soul was right, they had accomplished what they had set out to do and surely no one would have waited six years to take action against them. If anything they'd have struck immediately, while everyone in Death City was still recovering. She mentally sighed and forcefully shoved the unwanted feelings back inside a box. She hadn't stopped worrying since Asura had first been released, it was by far time she stopped.

Maka came to a halt in front of one of the windows that had some mist still clinging to it and proceeded to write some numbers "42-42-564 when you want to knock on Deaths Door." she murmured absently reciting it from memory. She listened to it ring for awhile before her call went through.

"Hello, Death. Scythe Meister Maka checking in."
"Hello, Maka, its good to hear from you."
"How is the DWMA and Death City doing?"
"Great, speaking of the DWMA though, we've sent a new meister and her weapons out to your area to take care of a Kishin. I'd like it if you and soul accompanied them, make sure things don't get out of hand."
"I'm sure we could. When should they be here?"
"Fantastic! They are already there. The meisters name is Illayna Meoih, she's a knife meister."
"...Already here?"
"Yes. Might want to get a move on before they track down where you're staying. I'll talk to you later when you give your report of the mission."

Maka stared at the window for a moment longer before heaving a sigh. So much for taking it easy. She could imagine that soul was going to feel very put out, having to babysit a Meister and her weapons on his honeymoon. She'd have to find a way to make it up to him later. With another sigh she walked back out to the porch. "So I just finished talking to Death...." she started trailing off. "He wants us to watch over a meister whose already here. It shouldn't take long...but we should get going. I'll make it up to you later." she said with an apologetic smile. She felt a little bad dragging Soul out on a mission, especially since she said she'd let him take it easy today. There wasn't much help for it.

A few minutes later they were out walking down the streets, working their way to the Meister. It didn't take long to find her, she stood out from the crowd. The girls head snapped up and she stared directly at Maka, it was a little odd. "I assume you're Maka? Soul?" she said turning her gaze between the two people. "I'm knife meister Illayna Meoih. Pleasure to meet the two of you." she said with a quick nod of her head. " I don't mean to be rude but, I'd rather get this done with quickly." she said standing up. Maka noticed the girls rigid posture and smiled a bit. The girl was nervous. Maka just nodded a bit and stepped aside to allow the girl to pass "By all means, it is your mission after all." she murmured. Illayna's turned her head and studied Maka a moment before relaxing a little. "Alright. Thank you."

"Where is your weapon?" Maka asked absently.
 

It was always a good day when Soul could calm Maka down; even if he knew she would always the uptight bookworm deep in her core, that was more than easy enough to live with and he wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. "No sweat, Maka; someone's gotta balance you out" was his grin-filled reply as her hand came to rest on his for a brief moment. "Yep...Totally worth it" Soul commented mentally as an afterthought; his furrowed brows went back to their normal position as he too looked out to the ocean. Even as the semi-warm, salty breeze ruffled his silver-grey hair, he took the moment to really enjoy what he was experiencing.

However, his face soon lit up in surprise as Maka turned and kissed him fiercely; where did that come from? That wasn't something Maka did often, but he had to admit when she did it felt pretty nice. "Heh, sounds good. Try not to overdo yourself and say 'Yo' to Death for me" was his reply as he leaned back in the chair, closing his eyes and resting his head against his finger-interlaced hands. Unfortunately for him, he didn't really hear what Maka and Death were talking about and how it would relate to them having to watch over a new recruit.

So it was no surprise that when he felt a shadow over him, he peeked one eye open to see Maka herself standing over him. He really didn't like where this was going; couldn't they let the recruits just handle the Evil Humans? He hadn't heard of one popping up that required anything more than a Two-Star Meister. But before he could raise a protest, he felt his partner's hands wrap around his arm; all he could think to himself was "Man, what a dragggg...." before Maka carted him off and pulled along. It didn't take long for Soul to just give in and trudge along; all he wanted to do was relax. It wasn't like he was lazy, but surely the student couldn't have been that incompetent? No way this person was a three-star Meister; no, it was most likely a newly-recruited student.

They soon found who they were looking for, however; Soul could feel her soul quite well. A steady low hum, slow tempo, low key, timber and pitch. It was a fairly cold tone, but not so cold that it was discomforting. "Well, she's a ball of sunshine I can tell that much" Soul commented in his mind, gazing at her as if trying to see what her deal was; even still, he just replied with a nod of his head, "Yep, I'm Soul. Good to meet ya". Maka's question was one he was about to ask himself, but they would soon get the answer.

"Hey! Where ya goin', fatso? We were just having some fun!"

"You got some nerve stealing from a lady, pal!"

Those were the only two things they heard before a rather heavy-set red-haired man, wearing a heavy trenchcoat and brown khakis with brown tennis shoes, was seen bursting through the throngs of people just behind Illanya. His face was covered in bruises and small cuts and appeared to be followed by blue-haired twin boys. One of which was clothed in a white zip-up shirt, white sneakers and blue jeans, whilst the had the same style of shirt but black sweats and shoes, a dark purple plainshirt underneath and wore a hooded jacket over it. Regardless, both tackled the man in the legs and back, forcing him to tumble to the ground. "Please...don't hurt me! I won't do it again, I swear!" the strange man pleaded; the twin with the white shirt grabbed the man's hair and yanked his head up, "Yeah, you'd like that wouldn't you, you thieving fuck?". The twin in the jacket then knelt next to the man, adding "I hope you can see why we can't oblige that request; one should always treat a woman with respect. And to steal...". He paused to wave a finger in his face before saying in a mockingly sweet tone, "And that's something your mother should not have taught you".

The man was clearly petrified, shocked and scared about what they could and possibly would do to him. "C...Come on, guys! I'll turn myself in! Just please, don't hurt me!" Soul watched the spectacle for now, but knew they would have to be broken up; he could easily tell these were Weapons. And given the proximity and counteracting scales...They were clearly this woman's partners. He then turned his attention to the Meister and said, "Your partners, I take it? I'd get them under control if I were you".
 
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Illayna cringed when she heard the shouts behind her "Fantastic.." she thought not wanting to look at the trouble her weapons were causing. Did they really need to cause a scene and be so loud? Surely they could have handled matters a little more discreetly? And they just had to do this now? When Maka and Soul were there? She could have throttled them both right at that moment. It was made worse by Souls comment; she felt she was failing some kind of test. Instead of responding to the deathscythe she turned around and looked at her two weapons. "DAICHI! TAKESHI!" she hollered out to the twins. "Would you two please stop making such a scene?!" she said making her way over to them; her voice carrying easily over the crowd. Upon reaching them she grabbed each of their ears and yanked. "We re supposed to be here on a mission!" she said agitatedly.

Maka looked to the two identical men and then back to the knife meister. "So she has two weapons? Interesting..." she thought watching Illayna intently. She flicked her gaze to her partner and smiled a bit. They did seem like a lively rowdy bunch. She wasn't certain why Death had asked them to watch over the trio but she was sure that she'd eventually find out, either by observation or being told. When the girl marched over to her partners she sighed and turned to soul "I think she's causing a bigger scene..." she murmured to him amused. "If she was more shy and quiet they'd remind me of another pair..." she said thinking of Black Star and Tsubaki. Absently she wondered how the two of them were doing.

Illayna brought her two partners heads in closer together and leaned in "Can you two please try not to embarrass me anymore in front of them?" she whispered harshly. "I expected this out of Takeshi....but not out of you Daichi. What in the world possessed you to cause such a scene?" she asked staring at them both in turn. She really had expected Takeshi to pull some shenanigans, she'd just been unprepared for Daichi to also partake in the mischief. Of the two Takeshi was normally the troublemaker. Looking up she looked to where Maka and Soul were and let out another sigh "We'll continue this later when I've managed to discuss our mission with Maka and Soul..." she said trailing off and glancing around herself blushing slightly realizing that charging in there and grabbing the twins ears had just caused a bigger scene "And when there is less of an audience..." she said releasing each of their ears. Turning on her heel she made her way back to the table and sat down "I'm sorry about that..." she said not quite meeting their eyes.

"It's fine. There's nothing you can really do when your partner decides to do something." she said remembering some of her own missions with soul. Though considering the trouble Tsubaki had, had with Black Star, she definitely counted herself lucky. "You certainly could have had worse." she said with a little smile. She didn't hate or disrespect Black Star but she did feel sorry for Tsubaki because he was definitely a handful. She was glad to count him as a friend instead of partner. "Shall we get going? You can explain to us what your mission is on the way." she said said motioning for Illayna to take the lead.

A short while later they were all being lead down a series of streets and alleys after a bit Illayna began to talk.

"Me and my partners are hunting the Kishin, Erzsebet Bathory." she said quietly. Maka looked over at her a bit surprised "The Blood Countess? Lived in the late 1500's early 1600's?" she asked with raised brows. Illayna nodded "One and the same." she said falling silent. "We were uncertain at first since both soul and blood was taken but it didn't take long to realize who we were dealing with" she said with a grim little smile. "I'm sure you're aware what she preferred..." she said with a small sigh to which Maka nodded remaining silent. "In her time she killed six-seven hundred women alone. Death doesn't want her lingering..." she said pursing her lips. "Is that why Death asked us along?" Maka wondered. "I wonder what she's doing here in Martinique...." she asked to no one in particular.

Shaking her head she looked to Illayna wondering why; if Death was uneasy about letting this Kishin remain in the world...had he sent these three in the first place? Why hadn't he sent a three star meister instead? "Hmm" she said absently wondering once more what Death was trying to accomplish. "It's a little weird..." she murmured looking at Soul.
 

Daichi and Takeshi looked up as their partner yelled at them for being so noisy; Takeshi was the first to speak, "Yeah, yeah, just let us punch some manners into this guy....". Before he could continue anymore, he let out a yelp as she grabbed his ear; despite her stature, she was much stronger than she let on. "Hey, hey! Quit tuggin'! You're gonna rip it off!" "Oi, Illayna! Careful with that!" were the twins' replies as they were forcefully dragged away from their captive. Soul just grinned a little; he was kind of reminded of Kid, Liz and Patty in a way. Except this girl didn't seem to care much about symmetry, only that her partners behaved. He, like his partner, wondered how that particular trio was holding up. But for now he focused on why he and Maka were here, though he did have an inkling. "Well...I think I know why Death wanted us along. But I guess we'll really see during the mission" the Deathscythe mused, his face turning neutral once more as Illayna returned to face them.

The twins felt their ears released, both of them rubbing at the sensitized pieces of skin. "Expected it out of me!? What the heck's that supposed to mean?" Takeshi replied with a hint of annoyance, to which Daichi added, "Hey, I was trying to hold him back. But then that guy started running his mouth, and I don't take well to being sassed". Takeshi then crossed his arms and said to his brother, "Yeah, because he insulted your little 'problem'. You're such a whiner" But before Daichi could retaliate, their Meister's words shushed the both of them. Damn that Takeshi; he didn't get how weird the mark over his eye made him feel. How could he be so confident having such a grotesque marking on his face?

Regardless, when the police came to take the would-be pickpocket away - Soul had to explain what happened, just to make sure the two Demon Weapons didn't get into any trouble - the odd group went off down the streets. Soul honestly had very little knowledge of this Erzsebet Bathory, other than she was some kind of serial killer. "Pretty sure it's not a Kishin, more than likely it's a fledgling Evil Human. Though I've never heard of one taking the blood of their victim before...Usually they just go for the souls. Shouldn't be all that surprised though; never know what you might find with those things" Soul commented lazily; there was no way they'd be sending a rookie out if there was an actual Kishin on the loose. "Yeah, well, not this one...Every corpse that's been found was like a withered husk. Sucked dry" Takeshi replied, his arms stretching over his head, to which Daichi added, "What I don't get is why...Evil Humans only gain powers from souls, don't they?"

At this, Soul then said, "For the most part, they do. But sometimes they take other things to fuel abilities. Some even require external devices; like when Maka and me fought Frey D. Sadoko...We weren't sure what her deal was, but she could enter the dreams of people and kill them from within when they listened to a cursed record". Both of the twins were surprised at this, Daichi finally saying, "Really? What a weird creature?" "Yeah, but that does sound kind of familiar...It's like I heard it somewhere before..."
 
Maka :: Illayna Meoih :: Erzsebet Bathory​
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Maka listened to the conversation and was troubled by what she'd been told. No matter what they'd done in the past while they were still human; once they started taking souls from humans that was almost always the only thing that they took. She'd heard of Erzsebet Bathory and the horrendous things she'd done. She could understand why Death was so troubled by her appearance. Still she couldn't understand sending in Illayna and her partners. Why hadn't he sent at least his son? Death the Kid could have taken care of her easily enough...so why? Maka continued to muse over the problem that she'd been confronted with and a little uncertain of what Death was hoping to gain by sending Illayna out here to hunt Bathroy. And what did he really want herself and soul to do? Did he really want them just to watch her and make sure she wasn't in over her head? Or was he wanting something else? After awhile Maka shook her head and pinched the bridge of her nose. Her mind was going around in circles trying to understand what Lord Death wanted but that was akin to trying to understand the inner workings of a madman...or a genius.

Though in most cases, genius was closely followed by madness.

Illayna tilted her head to the side ever so slightly listening to the back and forth of the conversation and also noting Maka's silence. She could almost guess what she was thinking because she herself couldn't quite believe that she'd been allowed to do this mission. She wanted to do it right. She wanted to prove herself in a big way and she'd been given the opportunity to do just that. Admittedly it was a little nerve wracking having Maka and Soul there to keep an eye on her but at the same time she took comfort in it. If anything went awry, Maka and Soul would have her back. Just wait until she told the other students that she'd been able to fight with THE Maka and Soul. She'd be the envy of most every student. She smiled to herself as a burst of giddiness rose up through the nervous tension. She flexed her fingers at her side and took a deep calming breath trying to expel the distracting emotions. Just because she had legends at her back didn't mean she could let herself be distracted. It was one thing to be comforted by their presence, quite another to screw up and actually require their assistance. "I can do this..." she thought to herself.

Maka glanced over at the Meister and noticed the rigid tension in her back and shoulders. Well, at least she wasn't oblivious. She knew she had a tough battle ahead of her and that was important. Underestimating ones opponent was always a mistake. At the mention of Sadoko, Maka turned her attention back to her partner and the Twins. "Ah, I remember her...." she said smiling a bit. Sadoko had been the last evil human soul that Soul had, had to devour before finally eating Arachne's soul which had turned him into the Deathscythe he currently was. "That one was a bit tricky." she said reminiscing on all of her previous battles. "She was our ninety-ninth." she said looking at Soul and smiling. "It took us awhile to get back up there after Blair...but we managed." she said with a soft chuckle. It would be harder for Illayna to turn her weapons into Death's weapons. She needed one hundred and ninety eight evil human souls and two witches souls instead of the customary ninety-nine evil human souls and one witch's soul. She did not envy Illayna.

Illayna stopped and motioned for everyone else to stop as well. "Blood. We are close..." she said trailing off.

They followed the trail for awhile before coming to the doors of what appeared to be an abandoned warehouse. They all entered the Warehouse warily searching the shadows for any sign of life. Illayna stilled when she caught the barest of movements in one of the deep wells of darkness that existed at the farthest reaches of the structure. The figure moved closer to the small group at a sedate pace. After a moment a female came into view with. The first thing Illayna noticed was blood that dripped from the woman's chin and coated her hands. "Bathory?" she asked her muscles tightened and tense.

"Well, Well, you seem to have me at a bit of a disadvantage..." the voice that answered was low and sultry and held notes of wry amusement and undercurrents of authoritative steel.

It was not a pleasant voice she decided. "I've come to take your soul." she said not giving the murderess her name.

"Mmmm. You are quite pretty. Such soft supple looking skin. I believe your soul and blood will go a long way for me. Might you happen to also be a Virgin?" she asked practically purring. She licked her lips as if Illayna was some exotic fruit that she was dying to try.

A blush crept into her cheeks at the invasive question "I-I don't see how it's any of your business if I am or am not." she said defensively. When Erzsebets eye's widened and a satisfied and overly-happy smile tugged at her lips, she realized the mistake she'd made by reacting to the barb.

"Oh, you are!" she said sounding genuinely excited. "So fortuitous for me. You my dear, I absolutely must have you." she said her pretty face turning demonic as her smile widened.

"That is enough! Takeshi! Daichi! Lets go." she said without taking her eyes off of the Blood Countess.

Maka stared at Bathory and felt chills creep up her arms and back. There was something very wrong with this one. "Soul...." she said trailing off leaving the question unsaid. Her eyes were riveted on the woman who bathed in blood and tortured for amusement. "This is wrong..." she said in a whisper. She wasn't terrified of the woman per-se. At least, not in the way that Stein or Asura had terrified her. It was an altogether different fear and a feeling of acute unease. She knew something was horribly wrong with this but she couldn't identify what it was. One thing was for certain, her instincts were telling her this was very bad and she always listened to them. "I see why Lord Death was uneasy about this one in particular..." she said reaching for her partner. Having Soul there added a measure of comfort. She was a Meister and the bond between her and her partner was stronger than ever. That bond gave her strength whenever she felt weak.
 

As the group continued along, it seemed the twin Weapons were more interested in the exploits and adventures of the legendary team that helped bring the Kishin War to a speedy end. While Soul would have agreed with Maka in her thoughts that sending this team along probably wasn't the best idea, they did take on Blair...Even though she wasn't a witch, she was one hell of a fight. Soul grinned as he recounted how many times they failed and when they did succeed...It turned out she was a freaking cat that could transform and do all sorts of magic. Soul just grinned and replied to Maka, "Yeah, was a bit of a drag...But looking back, at least the practice was good". He left out how much Blair had - and whenever she had the opportunity - still tried to rile him up by dressing provocatively and rubbing on him. "Wait...What does she mean by that? What did Blair have to do with anything?" Daichi asked, to which Soul replied, "Case of mistaken identity...Thought she was a witch soul. Had all the right characteristics too, but...Wasn't meant to be. Had to start all over".

Takeshi smirked a bit, lost in daydreams at the mention of that fine pussycat; he'd seen her around a few times, and gods be damned if he wasn't going to try and get with her. He finally snapped out of it, saying "Heh...Bet that must have sucked. But you're a Deathscythe now, right? Man, I can't wait to get to that level; all the ladies will want a piece of this". Daichi then smacked his twin upside the head, "Cool your heels, moron...We aren't anywhere near there yet". "Aye, I just had my ear nearly yanked off!" the jacketless twin grumbled as he rubbed the back of his head.

At that comment, Soul's memory flashed back to when he finally did become a Deathscythe; every day, girls left notes in his locker at Shibusen asking him to ditch Maka and come be their partner. After the first few letters, he'd know what they were to just roll it up and throw it away. And though few people knew it, one of his letter writers actually confronted him and demanded to know why he didn't come be their partner. His answer? He already had one and that was the end of it. "Believe me, my friend...Ain't as great as it looks. Well, being a Deathscythe is....But you're her partner for a reason. Take it from someone who knows". Both twins just seemed to stare at him, their expressions of surprise and slight confusion; they hadn't even mastered Soul Resonance yet, how could he be so sure they were perfectly compatible?

However, all comments and storytelling were halted when Illayna noticed a trail of blood; Soul could hear faints notes off in the distance. Such a high pitch, fast tempo made quite the dark melody...Really dark. "Man, this does NOT feel right" the Deathscythe commented mentally; he wondered if sending a rookie like Illayna was a wise move on Death's part. Regardless, the small group followed the trail and soon arrived at an old warehouse; it didn't take long until the source of the evil harmony made itself known. He was oddly reminded of Jack the Ripper in this Evil Human; though he supposed that in truth, all Kishin Egg souls had much in common. But hers....This was violent. Far worse than the Ripper could ever have been, he thought. "So....This is that Bathory chick, eh? Hmph, doesn't seem so tough" Takeshi commented idly; Daichi was about to scold him when Erzsebet commented on the purity of their partner. "Oi, watch your manners when speaking to a lady, freak!" Daichi shouted; seemed any form of disrespect to a woman was one of his buttons.

At their Meister's command to enter battle, both of them grinned at each other before transforming into rather ornate knives and flying into the air of their own will to allow their partner to catch and wield them. Their blades curved in and out like waves, with a grip that seemed to be largely designed for a reverse-grip fighting style but could be wielded forehand if the situation called for it. Regardless, Soul took Maka's hand, letting her know he was there for her if she needed and simply stated as he gave her a gentle tug, "We should probably back off a bit...I got a feeling this battle's going to get messy. She's certainly got the strength to do it, I can tell that much...Let's see if her skill matches up to it, though".
 
Maka :: Illayna Meoih :: Erzsebet Bathory​
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Without taking her gaze off of the woman, Illayna reacted and grabbed the hilt of her two weapons. Letting the blades rest against her forearm she brought her arms up to about chest level and bent her knees, readying to act or react should either be necessary.

Maka looked at soul and pursed her lips but only nodded. She interlaced her fingers with his and took a few precautionary steps back. "You're probably right..." she said staring at the woman garbed in shadows. "I have little doubt but that she does indeed have more than enough skill." she said referring to Bathory. Now more than ever, her intuition was telling her things were even worse than she'd initially thought. "Not exactly what I thought we'd be doing on our honeymoon..." she said with a smile giving his fingers a little squeeze. She knew that even as powerful as Bathory looked, she wouldn't stand much of a chance against a Deathscythe and his partner. Not against Maka and Soul. It was a small comfort.

"Oh, does my little virgin want to play?" she asked with a cloyingly false sweetness to her voice. "I suppose it's only fair to warn you that I play a little rough." she said bringing up one of her bloodied hands to her face. For a moment she stared transfixed at the ruby red liquid dripping down her fingers. "I can't help myself you know. I can usually control myself until I break too far into the perfect skin of a woman and see the sanguine liquid of life well up. After that..." she said trailing off to glance casually at Illayna before pointedly returning her gaze to her hand "I break them" she said in conversational tones. She stuck her tongue out and drew it up her finger seeming to savor the taste of the blood that coated the skin. "Oh but do be careful my dear. I don't want to rush with you. After all...finding a genuine virgin and one with such a lovely complexion I might add; is so rare. I want to enjoy you. I'll do my best to hold back." she said licking the remnants of blood from her lips.

Maka stifled a shiver feeling suddenly very cold.

Illayna gripped her weapons even tighter and clenched her jaw shut.

The blood on her hands seemed to shift and crystallize, the fingertips turning into claws. She started to laugh. Low at first like an amused chuckle but it slowly got louder turning into a sultry and undoubtedly insane laughter. No one wanted to know what had suddenly amused the murderess. She abruptly stopped laughing but a wicked and demonic grin remained fixed on her full blood red lips. "Come to me my dear!" she said as if she were doing nothing more than beckoning to a lover.

"Are you ready, Takeshi? Daichi?" she murmured moving only the barest inch.

It happened quickly after that, one second Illayna was standing only a few feet from the entrance preparing to engage Bathory in battle and the next she was beside the evil woman. It took Bathory by surprise. Indeed, there was still an image of Illayna standing where she had been mere moments earlier. Illayna slashed upwards with her blade, Bathory instinctively brought up one of her crystallized arms to shield herself from the blow. The blade grazed harmlessly along the red armored skin. Illayna and Bathory jumped back. The after image that had been left by Illayna's quick moves, slowly disappeared. "So the kitten has fangs?" Bathory asked in mock innocence. She raised the arm that Illayna had struck and licked the area "Mmmm, I shall be more wary not to let your fangs dig in any farther than they just did." she said her eyes gleaming in malicious amusement.

Illayna just raised her arm to her face and said not a single word. Her eyes blazed fiercely with a tightly controlled fire that burned inside of her. She charged at Bathory and struck out with her left arm. She heard her blade clash against the Crystallized blood, could feel the small tremors that went along the blade. Dropping low she swiped out with one foot, aiming for Bathory's legs. Sensing her intention Bathory jumped back a few paces. Illayna got up and edged closer to her. The smile never left Bathory's lips, nor did the ill-concealed excited anticipation that gleamed in her eyes. "She is toying with me..." she thought narrowing her eyes angrily. She did not like being toyed with.

Illayna charged at Bathory once more for another skirmish.

"She's having fun..." Maka said staring at Bathory. She could feel her unease growing. "Something else is troubling me though....how did she manage to crystallize the blood that was on her hands? She's turned it into some kind of armor.." she said flexing her jaw. She shuddered intensely aware of the evil hunger that dripped from Bathory in waves. It gave her the chills. She watched Bathory and Illayna exchange blows and noticed that Bathory was very careful not to cut Illayna's skin and she recalled the mad-womans words

"I can't help myself you know. I can usually control myself until I break too far into the perfect skin of a woman and see the sanguine liquid of life well up. After that- I break them."

Her voice rang hollowly inside Maka's head and she shivered again. "Illayna managed to surprise Bathory with her first move...." she said trailing off. Illayna hadn't only surprised Bathory, she'd surprised Maka too. She had only noticed a small change in her movements and in the blink of an eye -or seemingly so- she was right beside Bathory and readying to attack her. It was made even more surprising since the image of her had remained in the place that she'd been standing. "But...she lost her initial advantage. She is having difficulties and I fear Bathory is only toying with her at the moment." she said furrowing her brows. Even with that she was still deeply troubled by the obvious change in the blood that had covered her hands. It didn't seem entirely possible but she had seen it happen with her own eyes. She continued to watch the progression of the fight. Bathory had playfully cut into Illayna's clothes but had done no more damage. "I'd rather we stepped in and just finished it..." she murmured but made no move to interfere. "She is rather good. I think Blackstar could teach her a lot..." she mused as she watched Illayna's movements.

Illayna tried to steady her breathing. She noticed that Bathory looked as coolly elegant as she had when they arrived. She glanced down at her own clothes noticing all the tears in the fabric. Bathory was definitely toying with her, like a cat that had cornered a mouse. She smiled wryly to herself. She took another deep breath trying to calm her breathing. "I've had enough. I think I would like to see your blood now." Bathory said, the claws that had adorned the end of her armored fingers sharpened and lengthened. Light gleamed off the wicked edge. "Come, Come my kitten. Lets enjoy ourselves." she said. An unholy light brightening Bathory's gaze. Fear slithered up Illayna's spine. Would she be considered a coward if they knew that she feared her enemy?"Takeshi....Daichi....please bear with me. Things are about to get a lot worse for you I fear...." she said biting her lip.

Bathory's eyes shone brighter "Ah...you misunderstand. Things are about to get a lot worse for you." she said almost purring.
 

Soul grinned at Maka's comment, "Well, at least we'll get to see what kind of recruits Shibusen's putting out". Of course, he was still a bit nervous that Illayna wouldn't quite be up to the task of killing this creature. Soul however, cringed a little as Bathory readied herself for combat, like something was paining him. "God, her wavelength's so chaotic now it was making my ears hurt" the Deathscythe commented in the depth of his mind. And the way she talked....He knew Evil Humans were some messed-up individuals but this Bathory was something else creepy. Maybe it was because compared to other Evil Humans she was exceptionally coherent in speech, maybe it was because of her fixation on something other than the soul of her victim.

Soul, however, just watched as the Meister and Evil Human faced each other down; it seemed that this fight would at least be interesting. He just hoped this little lady was up to the challenge, because he had a feeling Erzebet was not going to go easy on her. Though he found himself surprised when Illayna made her first move; needless to say, that was an impressive feat of agility. "Huh...So that must be an innate ability of hers. Even I can tell it needs some work, but with something like that even Black Star might have some trouble keeping up with her" Soul commented to himself; of course, it would probably be a really long time before that happened. Hell, if he knew Black Star, he was pushing himself beyond even what he was now.

However, things quickly went south for Illayna as it seemed the would-be Kishin adjusted herself to accommodate the illusory technique. "An Evil Human with a brain...This fight could get ugly pretty quick" Soul muttered; his eyes shifted a little to look at Maka as she posed her query. Come to think of it, that was strange; was the blood some kind of armor? The only other people who used blood like that were Maka herself and Crona, and that was under the effects of Madness using Black Blood. ""Wish I knew; only other times we saw a power like that was when we were in Resonance" Soul said, leaving out Crona for Maka's sake while still trying to figure out how the Evil Human's blood hardening power worked; he couldn't feel any shifts in Bathory's wavelength when she used it. It was so strange though; how could Shinigami-sama not know how her power worked? There always seemed to be least that much in the mission specs, at least when they were still actively hunting souls. Maybe this was one of the few that slipped under Shibusen's radar, he thought.

"Yeah...Though one could wonder if she'd stand up to his 'regiment'. Not exactly a walk in the park" was Soul's grinned answer to the comment on Illayna's skill; when it came to endurance testing, Black Star was well known for putting himself through trials that would kill just about anyone else. Of course, his heritage from the Star Clan helped a bit, but it was his desire to become the best and follow the Path of the Warrior that gave him the mental toughness to push through. Soul chose to ignore the comment on stepping in; he knew once they did, Illayna would lose all the souls she collected and would have to start over. This had to be done one on one, no matter how much they disliked it.

"Come on, babe! We can take this clown!" Takeshi growled, frustrated that they couldn't even cut this bitch. "Take it easy on her, Tak; this isn't like it was when we fought Stulhinger the Psycho, after all" Daichi retorted in his Meister's defense; with Illayna's skill, she'd overcome this...thing eventually. He just knew it, and he knew Takeshi knew it; still, Daichi was also wondering why they couldn't visibly cut her. The blades made contact, and both twins felt the friction...So why did they not spill any blood? "Don't worry, Illayna....Just focus, you got this" Daichi then said in reply to her comment; Takeshi just murmured and added, "There's gotta be a weak point somewhere...But where?"

However, Soul then looked up to the ceiling and around the room, a grimace forming on his lips as he then said, "Maka...We got company". Three new wavelengths were closing in around them and fast; before they knew it, the windows to the abandoned warehouse were shattered, the fragments falling to the ground with clinking sounds as three new twisted beings appeared all next to Bathory. One was in a simple pair of shredded brown pants, leaving his torso exposed; what made him creepy was that it didn't look like he had eyes, rather that the skin of his face was pulled up to cover every inch of it. Another was a strange, grotesque-looking woman in a tattered robe, her hands affixed with metal claws bolted into the knuckles with large screws. Her skin was pale as a ghost and her mouth seemed to be stitched into a permanent maniacal grin, the shoulder-length locks framing her face truly completing that psychopathic appearance. The third was oddly well-dressed in a black suit with a white buttoned undershirt and tie, looking very much like a butler; he even carried a tray with a silver teapot and cup in one of his glove-adorned hands. His hair black as night, he held himself in a professional manner but even with this the Deathscythe could sense just how tainted this one's own soul truly was. He knew for certain they weren't here as cavalry for Illayna; Soul just muttered, "They're with Bathory, Maka...Looks like we might just have to step in after all". One of the new arrivals then spoke, the well-dressed butler saying, "Apologies for being late, Lady Bathory...Dorothea just had to try out a new torture method she thought of". The grotesque woman then cackled, "Ooo...I do think you'll love it, Mistress. My best work, but I had to use a male specimen, sadly...They just don't react the same. So defiant....They ruin all the fun of it". The strange and grotesque woman then turned her head to see Illayna, her already wide smile growing till it seemed to literally reach her ears, "But, who do we have here? Oh my, it's a virgin isn't it? I can practically smell the purity. How lovely..."

She then turned back to Bathory, "I do hope she wasn't causing you too much trouble, m'lady...Then again, maybe we can punish her for her insolence. Ooo, to hear a virgin scream again...I'm tingling all over! HEHEHAHAHAHAHA!" The eyeless man then added, stepping towards Illayna a bit, "You better not have tried to hurt my woman, bitch; I'll tear out your intestines if you have". "Fenrec, Dorothea, do try to calm yourself would you...This is Lady Bathory's fun, you know" said the butler as he poured out a crimson fluid from the pot into the cup before presenting it to Bathory. "A refreshment for you, m'lady...A sample we acquired for your next target". As this meant on, Soul was just stupefied; who the hell were these people? At this, Soul realized this was no longer a game; they had to be put out of commission. The wavelengths...Soul could tell, just tell, that if they were going to get involved, Illayna would not be able to handle them. He gripped his Meister's hands a little tighter, letting her know that they needed to step in now and work to convince Shinigami about it later.
 
Maka :: Illayna Meoih :: Erzsebet Bathory​
​

Illayna smiled in spite of herself. The twins could be a pain in the ass to keep up with....but she also knew that she couldn't have worked with anyone else. Before she could comment though, three new souls appeared. A moment later glass shattered all around her. The little pieces glinted off of the weak beams of sunlight before cascading to the ground. Before they had all finished falling she saw who the twisted souls belonged too. She tensed up immediately and just as quickly forced her body to relax. They were just human, really, really fucked up humans....but humans nonetheless. Right? She flexed her fingers around the hilt of her blades and took slow steady breaths. "Just human...they are...just human..." she thought staring at the line of creatures in front of her. "Right, human....humans that look like they belong to something out of H.P.Lovecraft.....The butlers pretty cute though..." she thought suppressing a shudder. She winced when the other woman took an interest in her "Bloody fucking hell...my virtue is none of your business." she said through clenched teeth. She really hated being talked about like this. It was irritating. She flicked an annoyed but disgusted glance at the one called fenrec and gave him a mocking smile "Your woman? Well...if my partner looked like you, I might be tempted to look elsewhere for entertainment too." she said a little to sweetly.

Erzsebet stared at Illayna and rubbed her hands down her body, shivering. Not from the cold nor fear or disgust but from an unwholesome desire. "Do you know what you're doing to me?" she asked in a low voice. "You're driving me absolutely mad with wanting..." she murmured her voice soft and husky with lust. "Absolutely mad..." she whispered. "And you....are the cure for this madness. My elixir. My salvation." she continued as the glass rained down upon them like so many cruelly sharp rain drops. She watched as they fell all around them, seemingly transfixed by the play of light across the many broken pieces of glass. Blinking slowly she turned her gaze to the three arrivals. "Ah, so you've all finally arrived? Hm? I guess...I've been here longer than I thought." she said looking back at Illayna. "Time really does fly when you're having fun." she said with a beatific smile. "Ah, you are correct. She is very much a virgin." she said licking her lips. If she heard Illayna she gave no sign that she had. She scowled at Fenrec but the scowl transformed into smirk as Illayna bit into him. "I forgot to mention...she has sharp little claws and teeth. However, Dorothea is right. She is my fun and I'll not have you insulting and scaring her off." she said in admonishing tones. She flicked a glance towards the proffered cup and shook her head waving her hand dismissively. "I'll sample it later. I promised this sweet little thing that she would be my next. I don't want to break a promise. Besides I don't want to ruin my appetite before I consume my meal." she said turning a smile on Illayna. It was a terrifyingly beautiful smile. The smile of a predator. "Now, let us continue before we were....interrupted" she said flicking a look to her companions. "It is long past time I saw the blood that runs blue through your veins." she said smiling a smile you'd bestow on a lover.

Illayna stared at them and their odd conversation and stifled another shudder of dread. She knew that should even one of the three step in to aid Bathory she was more than done for. Even being the one to initate the attacks she hadn't even put a scratch on the woman and here she was, clothes torn to shreds and she knew...had it not been for the fact that Bathory had been playing with her...it could have just as easily been her who'd been cut to shreds. "Forgive me Takeshi...Daichi. You deserved someone stronger than me." she thought clenching her jaw.

Maka had been watching the entire scene with a sense of unreality. What were these twisted beings? They were like no other evil human or kishin they'd ever faced before. "It's not black blood...that blood...it was red. It also crystallized...the black blood did not crystallize..." she said narrowing her eyes on Bathory. "Lord Death will not have any issues if we take out the three subordinates. Illayna was sent after Bathory and Bathory alone. So long as we do not interfere in that singular battle...it should be alright." she said feeling her partners fingers tighten around her hand. Quickly re-adjusting her grip on her husbands hand she gripped him and pulled as he shifted into his weapon form. Gripping the staff with both of her hands she smiled. "It's been awhile." she said staring at the cruel edge of the blade. She rubbed one hand along the smooth staff before nodding to herself. Casually she walked over to stand next to Illayna. "I'll take care of the three stooges. You just worry about Bathory." she said staring at her opponents. "They should provide me and soul with enough of a work-out. Let Soul vent some of his agitation at being pulled out to work on his honeymoon." she said smiling without any real amusement.

Illayna started when Maka spoke to her. When she looked over her eyes widened. The infamous team, Soul and Maka. She could feel the power and the harmony of their souls, she was glad that they were on her side. "Alright. Thank you." she said smiling gratefully. "Well, thats one less worry. Lets do our bit, Takeshi, Daichi." she said taking a deep breath. She chanced another glance at them. Scythe Meister Maka and Deathscythe Soul...a truly frightening pair. Maka stood there with a negligent ease that was enviable. As if the coming battle meant absolutely nothing to her. She gripped her weapon with the same casual dis-regard that spoke of an endless ennui. A hunter thats been called out to slaughter a hapless rat. The vision made her once again thankful that they were on her side. She did not envy anyone who became an enemy of Maka and Soul. She turned back to her primary target, Bathory. "You won't be seeing any blood standing over there." she said with a polished smile.

Erzsbet glanced at the newcomers and eyed them curiously. They were a powerful pair. She'd gain a lot by eating her. But, she couldn't turn away from eating a virgin. The prospect was almost too much for her to bear. "Fenrec, Ficzko and Dorothea....keep her busy for me. Make sure...she doesn't interrupt me and the virgin." she said licking her lips. Before waiting for a response she rushed at Illayna, for the first time...initiating the fight.

Illayna knew she couldn't dodge so she did the only thing she could think of, she crossed her arms over her chest and felt the air knocked from her body when Bathory struck her. She knew she was being flung backwards but she could still feel Erzsebets hands on her and knew that she was intentionally pushing her away from Maka and her subordinates. It lasted only a few seconds but it felt so much longer before she felt her body slammed into some crates on the far side of the building. She gasped and her eyes flew open in shock. The crates behind her broke on impact. She slid to the floor struggling to get air into her lungs. Each breath she struggled to get in was painful. She looked at the woman whose beauty hid a sadistic, cruel and psychotic nature. When she could manage to breath without the pain she stood up and went after Bathory.

Maka glanced in the direction that Illayna had been, well, thrown too. "Well...she's alive." she thought twirling soul idly. She looked back to her opponents "So whose first? Or will you all rush me at once? I suppose if you did that...you'd have a slightly increased chance of survival. Not much...but certainly better than attacking one by one." she said. It wasn't boasting or bragging, just a simple statement of the facts. She brought her weapon to rest across her shoulders and tilted her head slightly waiting for the attack. Unconcerned as ever about the odds she found herself in she just...waited. "What do you think Soul? How long should they last? Two...three...five? Minutes?" she said appearing to seriously contemplate the subject.

Off in the distance everyone could hear Bathory's sick laughter echoing around the building.
 

Fenrec's breathing grew heavier, more primal as the urge to tear this woman apart grew within him; like his beloved, his clawed fingers were stained with blood that he'd spilled. And it seemed fresh too, like he'd just killed something recently. And it was true; the 'torture method' Dorothea had tested involved some rather 'creative' uses of his sharpened digits. However, all thoughts of wanting to smear this bratty little girl across the floor for her comment disappeared when Bathory chastised him. This was her fun, and he wouldn't be able to call himself her lover if he went around spoiling her surprises. Besides, he wanted to hear the bitch scream...Scream and scream until her throat grew raw and bled from the exertion. "As you wish, Lady Bathory; I'll simply store it for later" Ficzko replied in his ever-so-polite yet curt tone; the lid to the teapot was removed and the blood poured back before being sealed up again. When Bathory distinctly made her pointed remark at the three of them for 'interrupting' her, Dorothea and Fenrec flinched; Ficzko, however, just gave a small bow of the head and replied, "Apologies, m'lady; we only wish to look out for your best interests".

However, in Illayna's mind Daichi and Takeshi were trying to calm their partner down; though if one were to hear the actual dialogue it might seem like Daichi was actually trying to do that. "Jeez, no need to get all sappy and mope; all that's going to do is get us killed" was Takeshi's direct statement to his Meister. "Takeshi, there's no need for that..." "What? It's like Soul said...We're her partners for a reason. We're going to find a way to break this freak, but you need to focus, Illayna" Daichi was stunned; he realized, however, that he was being straightforward as always. Many times, his indiscretion in vocabulary got him in trouble, but the guy was right.

Soul, meanwhile, watched the world through the eye at the heel of his Weapon form; it was true what Maka said, as it was the same thought going through his mind. But still, if need be, he would defend that Illayna keep the soul of this wicked monster; if what Illayna said was true, then the initial objective was to only engage Bathory. Maybe Death knew of this? "This could be why Death asked us to be here...In case this happened. Guess it was good we decided to go to Martinique..." the Deathscythe mused aloud in Maka's mind. Maka was right though; it was as if the blood was a slave to Bathory's commands, much unlike Ragnarok and Crona's relationship. But, he knew that it would be up to Illayna for now to try to find a weakness in the Evil Human's armor.

The eyeless man, however, shook with indignation; once a former soldier, he realized that the path to true strength lay not under the rules and thumb of some General, but of his volition. And these brats dared speak to him to in such a manner? "You. Skinny flat bitch. Once I tear your throat out, I'm going to enjoy violating whatever's left of your virgin friend. And then I'll violate you..." Dorothea snickered, "Oh my, has the petite little thing struck a nerve, Ferenc? You usually like to play with your opponents, much like our dear Lady". Ferenc snorted, "It's because of their indignant tones...Thinking they're above me. They only do it because they're afraid...". At this Ficzko spoke up, "Ferenc, you really must control your temper" "Shut your mouth, servant! Or you'll find your blood on my hands as well..." "Dear Sir, you and I both know that's highly unlikely..." the butler Evil Human stated coolly. Dorothea, meanwhile, turned her attention back to Maka, saying with her creepy wide-mouth grin, "Oh my...I wonder if you're a virgin as well. No, your relationship already ran that course, hasn't it? I wonder how your partner will feel when he watches the one person he cares about scream in agony". Ferenc, however, eventually grew tired of the stalling and bellowed, "God, all of you just shut up! I'm going to kill this bitch!"

What came next was a rather horrifying transformation; the skin over his mouth seemed to literally pull apart, revealing a mouth full of misaligned sharp teeth. His body rapidly grew in size to double what it was previously, causing visible tears in the skin and exposed much of his underlying muscle tissue. The crimson-stained nails grew in length to become talons and the pants he wore were quickly torn to shorts; however, it wasn't long before Ferenc charged at the Weapon-Meister team, clearly intent on using his mass to try and crush the two of them. "Jeez...A standard raging Evil Human. Like a sluggish version of Jack the Ripper...What a drag" Soul muttered; honestly, after helping Maka face down Asura, Evil Humans like this were nothing. Almost pitiable, even. Dorothea was about to join in as well, but felt a hand on her shoulder. Then came Ficzko's voice, "No, my friend...Let Ferenc have his moment" "Besides, that brute has upset Lady Bathory far too many times for my liking" he added as an afterthought; his mind wandered back to all those times her 'husband' deprived his mistress of her enjoyment as he progressively lost control of his rage. No, he knew Ferenc would not survive; and Bathory would be better off without that nuisance anyhow. But he would serve a purpose here: Once the first strike was dealt, he would have an idea of what their power was.

Meanwhile, Daichi and Takeshi felt the gross contact of this woman on them; it was like being covered in slime. "Man, she's disgusting...But at least it's just her we have to deal with now" Daichi commented, to which Takeshi added, "I fucking hate this freak; all she's doing is toying with us! What kind of sick demented person gets their jollies off crap like this?!" "Someone who's not really a 'person' anymore; Bathory's completely given herself over to her darkest desires. She's an empty shell...And a dangerous one at that". As Illayna charged towards Bathory, trying to land a hit on the depraved demoness, Daichi tried to think of a way to use Illayna's Wavelength Control to an advantage they could use. "There's gotta be something...But what? We managed to surprise her before, we can do it again".
 
Maka :: Illayna Meoih :: Erzsebet Bathory​
​


In the warehouse metal clashed on crystal and the sounds of splintering wood and voices reverberated around the big building. The knife meister, Illayna faced off with the dangerous evil human, Erzsebet Bathory. Unlike the vast majority of Evil Humans she was able to speak and plan her attacks, was able to toy with her victims. She had patience, coherent trains of thought -if somewhat twisted- she was able to fight using more than just her instincts. She was an Evil Human to be sure but not one that you'd encounter every day. Nor the kind you'd ever encounter in a lifetime. It was all Illayna could do to defend against her. Erzsebet had gotten rougher with her and was now injuring her but she was still toying with her. Still playing with her food. It was like she was waiting for something to happen. Illayna slid back a few feet before coming to a stop. "I can't cut her..." she thought trying to control her rapid breathing. She wasn't sure how long the actual fight had been -it could't have been very long- but it felt like she'd been fighting this woman for hours. Her clothes were ripped and shredded, she was cut up and bruised, and a cold sweat beaded her forehead and fell down the side of her face to drip off her chin. And yet, Bathory looked none the worse for wear. She didn't even look like she was tiring. "Damn it." she mentally cursed gripping the hilt of the blades tighter.

"But my, don't you look delightful my dear Illayna." she cooed licking one of her blood bladed fingers. "Why don't you bleed for me?" she asked looking at Illayna's battered skin. She seemed almost disappointed at the lack of blood dripping from her wounds. "Maybe I'm not cutting deep or hard enough...." she said to herself. She looked down at her bladed fingers and pricked the top of her breast, she saw the blood well up before hardening. She pursed her lips, they were certainly sharp enough. She looked back at Illayna "So why won't you bleed?" she said almost angrily as if chastising a child for doing some wrong.

Illayna watched her and furrowed her eyes looking down at her own body. She really ought to have been bleeding by now. "What the...." she thought watching the evil human. "Even if I do manage to cut her...the blood would just harden into more armor...." she said looking down at her weapons. "What am I supposed to do here? " she thought frustrated. She wasn't sure if Takeshi was right. She didn't think she would be able to break and kill Bathory. How could she possibly pull off something like that when she couldn't even do a Soul Resonance with her weapons? At that an idea formed in her mind, something that could possibly work to give her an opening. "Daichi...Takeshi....I have a plan. Now I need you two to listen to me here." she said as the idea became more solid in her mind.

Elsewhere in the building, Maka and Soul faced off against three other evil humans. Servants and followers of Bathory. Maka surreptitiously surveyed the three left standing, she knew the ones called Ferenc and Dorothea wouldn't pose a single problem. Even before turning soul into a Deathscythe they had managed evil humans like them without even breaking a sweat. She wasn't sure what to do about the man dressed as a butler. He could possibly pose a work-out. "Knowing Death, this is probably exactly why he asked us to tag along." she said with a little smile. "Lets go to Martinique, nice quiet scenery. Perfect for relaxing." she said quoting her own words. "Well, I suppose even we might get a little rusty without some practice." she said laughing. Her body remained relaxed and her fingers rested lightly on the staff of her weapon. "I think of them all the only one who might pose a challenge is the butler looking one." she thought, mentally talking to Soul.

"Yeah, well lets get it over with." she said responding to him. She watched the one called ferenc charge at them. To her he seemed to move almost in slow motion. She could see every movement in great detail, every muscle movement. When he was mere inches away her body reacted immediately, tensing up she spun away on one foot out of his way and let him charge by recklessly. In the same fluid movement she brought Soul down from her shoulders and brought him around, catching the wild human in the curve of the blade, his own momentum pushing him against the cruel, sharp curve of the blade. With little effort on her part Maka pulled Soul clean through, effectively destroying the Evil human. She watched his body disperse until only his soul remained. Returning to her previous position with the staff resting across her shoulders Maka turned to the other two. "Who is next?" she asked. "I really think if you want to have a chance you two should attack me at the same time. Who knows, maybe one of you will even manage to injure me." she said with an insincere smile.

"Since it seems that simply trying to cut her would only create more of that armor; I believe we need to stab her in just the right places. To accomplish this, I believe we could use our other technique. Create our copy as it were." she thought looking at her surroundings. "I'll make a run for it, find some place to hide. We can create the double. Let Bathory attack that one....we can find an opening to attack her from there. I think it's our only chance." she thought pursing her lips and taking a small step back. "I'm going to make a break for it soon. I need you two to get ready to do this." she said taking another small step back.

"Is the kitty scared?" she asked when she noticed her take a small step back. "Good, you should be afraid. Very afraid indeed. I commend you for facing your own imminent death with such calm determination thus far. But it was never to last. Fear has a way of creeping up inside of us." she said her voice pitched low. Illayna turned and fled, the sound of Bathory's laughter echoing behind her. "YES, KITTY! FLEE! RUN! BUT I'LL FIND YOU IN THE END AND YOU WILL BE MINE!!" she hollered, excitement humming in her words.
 

This battle just won't end, both of the Weapon brothers thought; they knew Evil Humans could be inhumanly powerful, but this one...Illayna should have been able to hurt her a lot more. What could one do, when the opponent had apparently complete control over the blood in their own body? And Illayna's body was taking a beating; thankfully, she wasn't losing any blood, so it was just physical fatigue. "You think...maybe we're in over our heads this time?" Daichi asked to both Illayna and Takeshi, the former replying "No way in hell; everything breaks at some point and we're going to find out. We just gotta figure out where to hit her....Any suggestions?" This earned a groan from Daichi;

Though both were relatively surprised at the sudden change in hostility; she was pissed they weren't bleeding? Oh right, she wanted to see their blood now. The brothers felt a collective shiver run over them as Bathory then seemed to chastise them for not bleeding. "Maybe you should try harder, freak!" "Maybe you should try harder, freak!" both of them said simultaneously, the steel still ever-present in their voices. Illayna's mention of a plan only served to sharpen their focus; while nothing was said, an increased connection with their wavelengths would be felt by Illayna and serve as confirmation that they were with her.


Meanwhile, Soul and Maka were getting ready to deal with the first of Bathory's stooges; it was like someone put the world to quarter-speed for them, as Ferenc's charge was painfully slow to watch. "I'LL PULL YOUR LIMBS OFF ONE BY ONE, FLAT-CHESTED BITCH!" was the monster's bellow while he closed the distance, his massive arms raising over his head to beat them down as he came to within one step of Maka's body; little did the poor bastard know what that would mean for him, as he wouldn't get even a ghost of a chance to act upon his threats. His mass carried him forward, even as he felt the edge of the scythe on his gut; in one swift motion, the blade was pulled clean through and killed him instantly. The legs seemed to run forward of their own volition for a few steps while the upper body just floated; both then simply...disappeared into dust, leaving that crusty, darkened soul that was a Kishin Egg. "Yeah...The butler doesn't feel right; something's off about him. It was like he wanted Ferenc to attack first; you think he was using him to gauge us?" Soul replied to his partner, Ferenc's corrupted soul hovering behind them.

Needless to say, Ficzko was utterly disappointed and his face reflected that; well, that was a complete waste. He knew Ferenc would not last for long, but surely he could have lasted longer? A few seconds was hardly enough time to get a proper reading; Dorothea then said in quite a malevolent tone, "Well, there goes Ferenc! About time too; his anger was starting to aggravate me". Ficzko nodded and removed his hand from Dorothea's shoulder, adding in a neutral tone, "Indeed. I doubt Lady Bathory will miss him much, anyway. Still, he did serve one useful purpose: We must be careful. Seems these two are far unlike other Death Weapon teams we've encountered" "You actually got a read?" Dorothea queried in a surprised manner; Ficzko nodded and replied "Not much of one, but I could tell they're strong. Very strong and very harmonized with one another; I guess it's good that Lady Bathory refused this sample I brought".

Dorothea turned her attention back to Maka and Soul; if Ficzko felt he had to step in to deal with them, then they must be powerful. "Dorothea...Mind the spread, would you? Try to not interrupt Lady Bathory's fun" she heard Ficzko say behind her, the butler holding the teapot in front of him and looking like he was ready to pour whatever was inside into the hand below its spout. "Yes, yes...I assume we'll be starting off with that?" Dorothea asked, the excitement prevalent in her tone as Ficzko responded "We are, but we should up its potency a little". Ficzko then took the lid off the teapot; a slight suction could be felt before the soul of Ferenc zipped past Maka and Soul, joining the liquid within and his resealing the teapot. "Not right, what are you planning? Maka, be ready" Soul warned; he could feel their wavelengths growing more intense, they were going to attack soon.

Ficzko then poured out some of the blood in the teapot into a cupped hand; his fingers then closed and opened again to reveal that a crystal-growth version of the blood now lay in his palm, several pointed crystal fingers emerging from a cusp where they all joined. What was even weirder was that his gloves weren't even stained, especially given that he made several more of those strange crystals; could he control blood too? Soul readied himself to perform Noise Cancelling, the piano needed rising up in front of him; without warning, Ficzko then threw them at Maka and Soul. Again, nothing they couldn't avoid; however the biggest surprise came when Dorothea let out an ear-shattering scream. What Soul saw made it even stranger; the energy in the scream focused only on the crystals, shattering them at the cusp and essentially transforming them into scattershot rounds. "Maka, move!" Soul shouted; he quickly honed in on the frequency of Dorothea's scream and played "Adiago of the Soul", making the scream dull rapidly before being silenced altogether. While the duo was distracted with trying to dodge the projectiles, Ficzko poured more blood out into a puddle on the floor and after stepping into it, simply vanished from sight.
 
Maka :: Illayna Meoih :: Erzsebet Bathory​
​

Maka was now more than certain that Lord Death had anticipated this. Even if the girl had been competent enough to take on Bathory, there was no way she could have fought her and this strange butler. Perhaps if it had only been the brainless beast she'd just killed...but not her and this butler combined. The butler was just as odd as his mistress was. Both evil. But neither of them were your normal evil humans. She and soul had killed a few Evil humans who could at least speak and rationalize some but...the extent of Bathory and the Butlers abilities were quite astonishing. Her body reacted reflexively dodging the shattered pieces of crystal. She'd been momentarily thrown off guard when the woman had screeched like that. And she'd been curious about what they were doing, she knew soul would deal with the screaming woman but something about it all bothered her. He didn't seem the type to attack aimlessly and yet surely he would have known that this kind of attack wouldn't have done much against them. So what was he up to? Maka kept her eyes on him while she jumped off to the side to avoid being hit. As she landed on her feet she sank low and spun in a circle deflecting the crystals.

She only caught a glimpse of what happened to the butler but she knew that he'd only been attempting to distract them. And it had worked. Soul had already neutralized the screaming woman. Without hesitation maka moved forward at a surprising speed and brought the scythe down on the woman cutting through her body diagonally. There was a moment of silence before the woman disappeared around the kishin egg. If they were to play his game then she was going to make sure to remove at least one of his pieces. "I can't believe I fell for it..." she thought to soul. She clenched tighter to her scythe and brought it up into a slightly defensive stance while she focused around herself, waiting for something to happen. "What is he planning..." she thought.

Illayna rounded another corner. Her breathing was heavy and rapid coming in gasps as she ran through the mazes of boxes. How far should she go? Where should it be done? She felt the tension in her blades and knew the twins were waiting on her and ready to back up her plan. "This should be good enough...." she thought. She could feel what was left of her clothes clinging to the sweat that had covered her from the fighting and running. And a bit from fear. She felt drained of all power and energy. As if she'd been fighting and running for days. She rolled her shoulders and took a deep breath trying to calm her heart and get her breathing back under control. Her focus spiked up and she let out a long slow breath and closed her eyes, concentrating on what she was doing. It wasn't really a skill that was meant to be rushed but it was her only chance at the moment.

If it didn't work, well the outcome of the battle would be decided fairly quickly. She was no match for bathory in a one on one fight. She needed something to give her an advantage.

"Come back kitten." she crooned. She'd watched her run off. She'd decided to wait a little before pursuing her. She always loved a good chase. Made the capture so much more exciting. She could feel her pulse kick up a notch at the prospect and almost felt the orgasmic thrill of the kill explode through her body but the lack of blood kept her from that pleasure. "She's tough, I'll give her that. I don't think anyone has ever held out this long against me without losing even a single drop of blood." she said with a bit of irritation. She felt an unfamiliar sensation pass through her and then again a few moments later. She'd never felt it before but she knew what it signified. She frowned and looked over in the general direction she'd left the other three and the other meister. She hadn't really cared at the time but feeling it now...she was certain those three hadn't stood a chance. "Ah, well, Ficzko might." she thought.

She didn't seem to care that she had lost the other two. Turning away from it she began to walk slowly among the crates smiling. She'd make her bleed. There was no one that could come before her and not spill their blood. No one. "Oh where are you?" she asked in a sing-song voice. "Come out, come out wherever you are~!" she continued. She would either be hiding in terror or try a sneak attack. Those were her only two options anyways. She wasn't sure which she wanted more. Either way sounded delightful. She wandered around for a bit longer before her irritation got the better of her and she started destroying everything in her way.


Illayna could hear the destruction. She was coming closer; she knew she should have run farther along. Bathory would come upon her any moment. She winced with every crack she heard of the splintering wood. And occasionally shiver when she managed to hear the laughter that followed every destructive sound.

"So, this is where you've been kitten?" She said as she came upon the meister in a corner of the warehouse. "So neither hiding in fear nor a sneak attack. You were setting a trap." she said amused. "What a clever kitten." she said raising her arm up.

Illayna spun around and brought her blades up in a defensive motion. As her arms came down on the blades she kicked out her leg and caught Bathory in the back of the knees. Caught off guard she began to collapse to the floor, taking the momentary advantage, Illayna brought the hilt of her blades around striking Bathory in the back of the head and at the same moment flipped over her opponent stepping on her back and using her as jumping board enabling her to get into a wider area. Bathory unable to act at the quick attack felt her face and body smash into the cemented ground. She stayed there a moment before slowly lifting herself up and dusting herself off. She turned slowly around and faced the meister with hooded eyes. Illayna stood a few feet away defensively holding her blades up. Bathory felt like something was wrong.

It was true that cornered animals often attacked suddenly she knew that much but this felt different. And she looked way too calm to be a cornered animal. It could mean she was serious now? Or something happened to make her more confident. "So this is how you feel? That hurts." she said. Sharpening her crystal fingers she screamed and lunged at the woman.

Illayna reacted as if reflexively, defending against the evil womans blows. And the more she blocked and struck back the more enraged bathory became. "JUST WHAT IS GOING ON!?" she yelled completely enraged at the turn of events. This should NOT be happening. She was just a CHILD. A child who'd be terrified of and barely holding her own against her moments before. SO WHAT HAD HAPPENED!? In her rage she began to attack blindly which only gave illayna more of an edge which infuriated her even more.

A distance away high atop some large crates Illayna watched and evaluated the battle with some interest. "Well, thats interesting. " she murmured. Things were so much easier -it seemed- when you had no emotions to speak of. Illayna continued to watch the progression of the fight and more importantly, watched Bathorys movements. Illayna had managed to successfully create her doppelganger and had left her in that spot acting as if she were trying to accomplish something while Illayna herself found a place in which to watch the fight. "You understand what this means, right?" she mentally asked her two weapons. With this she might be able to get the upper hand. Though she'd feel more comfortable if they could preform a soul resonance. "When we get back...we are doing some very serious training." she thought sighing.
 

Ficzko was mildly pleased at the outcome of the technique; he'd expected her to react exactly as she did, but the fact that she even struck some of the projectiles and shattered them further was an added bonus. All that would do was allow him to attack across an even wider area. However, the loss of Dorothea would prove troublesome, as now he had to contend with this team by himself. "Never was much good in single combat; still, she served her mistress well. You will be missed dear friend" the butler mused mentally, his corporeal form now hidden in a pocket dimension. Between her and that blasted “husband” of Bathory, he always held Dorothea in high regard; unlike Ferenc, she actually tried to make Lady Bathory as happy as possible. But that would have to wait; unseen eyes peered from the shattered bits of crystal - which by now had melted into small circlets of blood - and watched the Meister’s every move. Like a predator in the shadow, he would have to wait for the opportunity.

"Don't worry about that now...It was obviously a distraction tactic. He's still here....But now it feels like his wavelength is all over the room. Can't pinpoint it" Soul replied; Maka was right though. This was going to be troublesome if they didn't find him soon. As Maka peered around the room, Soul's vision extended through the eye at the scythe's heel to provide another degree of visibility; last thing they needed was this freak giving them a surprise attack. Of course, even with the extra coverage there was still a blind spot, something that Ficzko would certainly exploit given the chance.

Or he would if he were not currently also concerned with how Lady Bathory was acting; she seemed to be losing herself in her bloodlust. Naturally, he would expect her to be a tad upset that she had yet to draw a single drop of blood from the nubile young woman; however, if she became anymore agitated she would leave herself open. And strong as she was, she wasn’t invincible; there certainly was a way to kill her. If the Meister he was facing was in fact Bathory’s opponent, he had a sinking feeling that she wouldn’t last a second. ”Need to finish this quickly and help my lady...” the butler muttered in his mind; time was now a factor and he needed to go on the offensive.

Meanwhile Takeshi and Daichi watched with their Meister as Bathory battled with Illayna’s double; it wasn’t a technique she used lightly. It took a large toll on her and would only last for a short while. ”Jeez…..Talk about a hell of an Evil Human. She looks….” Daichi started to say, but Takeshi interrupted ”That thing ain’t a ‘she’ no more, bro; it’s nothing more than an animal now. Started that way when it consumed its first human soul”. Of course, what he said was true….Still, he didn’t have to sound so cold about it. But then again, Takeshi was the more brutally honest of the two…He always had been.

”Alright then….Any suggestions on how to put it down?” Daichi inquired; Takeshi gave a short ‘No’ as his response. What could they do? Illayna’s double wouldn’t last forever…Plus, both of them noticed that the butler Maka was facing had disappeared. But he wouldn’t be gone for long, as they would soon find out.

From in front of Maka, one of the small circlets of blood rose and seemed to boil before taking form in the shape of the butler himself; it was like he rose from the puddle like a damned zombie. “Hello, dear. Looking for me were you?” Soul couldn’t help but frown; what the hell was this guy playing at? First he disappears, then he just shows up in front of them for no sound reason? Not right…Not right at all. ”Be careful, Maka…Something about this guys is REALLY off. But that’s not him. At least, not his real body” Soul informed his partner/wife. Ficzko continued, “What’s the matter? Surely dealing with partners couldn’t have frightened you that much, given how easily you dispatched them”. In a surprising turn, he then stated, “But I really must thank you for dealing with Ferenc; that unkempt brute was truly a thorn in my Lady’s side for some time. Can’t say the same for Dorothea, though; I was actually quite fond of her. She had such a…..zest…..for her craft, reminded me a lot of Lady Bathory, she did”.

As he spoke on, from behind the pair another small puddle rose up noiselessly from the ground and formed into a shining crimson blade. At this Ficzko grinned, “And I’m afraid I really can’t forgive you for that”. As the blade rushed forward, Takeshi and Daichi ignored their Meister’s comments and shouted simultaneously “Look out!” even though Maka wouldn’t be able to hear them. However, within the Black Room Soul’s finger struck the 44th key of the piano, causing the blood-blade to fragment and dissolve harmlessly. Not even a spatter would touch Maka’s form as the blood seemed to fall right back to where it had come from. ”Amateur…Did he really think that was going to work” Soul commented lazily; it was a fairly classic ploy. Talk to the enemy to distract them, then strike from behind. How many times had they seen that strategy. “So…Somehow you’re able to disrupt my ability by sending a small pulse of your Wavelength that neutralizes my own. And to do so with such precision….Well done” Ficzko commented; Soul smirked. So it had a been a test. He was trying to feel them out. The butler’s clone smiled toothily, “Guess that means I’ll have to try harder…”.

With that, the double seemed to just fall apart and go back into the floor like a phantom; this was going to be a pain in the ass. ”Maka, when this is over…Do you mind if I pick the next vacation spot?” he then asked in a joking manner; it wasn’t like they were expecting to get called as support for another Meister’s mission. At this, the butler’s voice echoed across the room, ”Let’s see how well your precision holds up…From every direction at once” Around Maka and Soul, the puddles of blood seemed to have moved; instead of just being on the floor and walls, they were even on the ceiling and more evenly-spaced. And within seconds, small darts came shooting out of each one, hurtling towards the team. Soul got to work, his fingers starting to fly across the keys; he’d manage to shatter most of the darts, but Maka would have to act fast to avoid getting hit by all the rest.
 
Maka :: Illayna Meoih :: Erzsebet Bathory​
​

Illayna furrowed her brows as she watched her double fight the demented human known as Bathory. She was so engrossed in her observations that she completely missed the conversation going on between Taichi and Daichi. She pursed her lips and watched Bathory's movements very carefully. She noticed the once composed woman was nearing a frenzied rage, becoming more and more like any other ordinary Evil Human. Losing her ability to think and plan her attacks would be a huge advantage for them. Still, the armored blood would be a problem, it was hard enough to deflect her Weapons. She watched as Bathory threw back her head and let out an earsplitting screech of frustration. She felt the vibrations from the scream pass through her and shuddered involuntarily. "And I have to keep her from cutting me on top of it all....." she thought frowning. She knew that if she were to bleed now that it would be over. She wasn't certain how she knew that but she knew it.

She felt her mind go hazy from exhaustion; creating that double did indeed take a lot out of her and wasn't something she liked to use. In fact it was a technique that only had two extremes; Victory or Death. If you used it carelessly, it would drain you completely and you'd be a sitting target for your enemy once the technique wore off. She shook her head and was about to say something when she heard Taichi and Daichi scream in perfect unison. Illayna's eyes widened in surprise and without thinking she turned to look over at where Maka and Soul were fighting. She watched the blade hurtle towards them and was about to scream herself when the blade suddenly dissolved. "Huh..." she murmured. Something about the battle of theirs seemed different. When she looked around she realized that two of the Evil Humans were nowhere to be seen. "Did they already take care of the other two?!" she thought incredulously. "That was fast..." she whispered. She watched them a moment longer before turning her attention back to Bathory and her double.

"I suggest you two worry more about us than Maka and Soul. Those two can deal with just about anything..." she said trailing off. There had to be a weakness. There had to be. "Watch closely, she has to have some weakness, I need your help to spot it. My vision is getting a bit...hazy." she said clenching her teeth.

Maka licked her lips and smiled lazily. "Obviously." she murmured looking around herself. "Looks like we can work off some of the rust thats accumulated on us." she said looking at the wicked curve of the blade. Maka flicked her gaze in the direction of Bathory and Illayana and her brows raised. "Impressive." she thought. There weren't many Meisters who could pull of a stunt like that. She turned her head and watched as a pool of blood began to roil and bubble slowly working itself into the form of the butler. She lowered her weapon and stared at the copy with a derisive smile. "I do think he's underestimating us." she murmured. There was no way either of them would fall for this. It was obvious that, that was not his real body. She only half listened to him talk, the majority of her focus was elsewhere, trying to pin-point where his actual body was. She heard Soul hit the key to the piano and flicked a glance back to the copy. "I don't like how he's playing with us." she thought.

At Soul's words a genuine smile tugged at her lips. "If I didn't know any better I'd say you weren't enjoying yourself. And here I thought we were having a good time." she said with a small laugh. "But if you insist I don't mind if you pick the next location. But you know, I have the feeling that no matter where we go, we'll always manage to get dragged into things like this." she thought affectionately. "Seems to be our lot in life. We'll just have to make up for it in...other ways." she thought with an innocent smile.

The smile slowly disappeared from her mouth as the pools of blood formed all around them. "Fool..." she thought. As the sharp blood blades flew from the puddles she heard Soul begin to play. His playing shattered a good majority but she knew even before he'd begun to play that he'd never shatter them all.

She wouldn't be able to dodge them, not this many but she could easily deflect them. Without a moments hesitation she began to spin on the ball of her one foot and started twirling her scythe. The movement was graceful and fluid nearly matching the tune that soul was playing on the piano. The blades hit the scythe with a harmless "clang" before falling to the ground. The few that made it through the whirling blade passed by without hitting her. It seemed almost unfair how easily they had managed to deal with that attack and come away completely unscathed. When the darts stopped, so did Maka. She stopped twirling the blade and brought it to rest across her shoulders. "Well, that was fun. But I think my clothes might have gotten a few tears." she said with a mocking smile. "Now, come out. It's bad manners to leave a guest waiting. Invited or not. And you call yourself a butler? Shameful." she said looking around. "If you want to finish us off you're going to have to attack us yourself. Your little tricks won't work." she said with a falsely cheerful smile. "Otherwise I fear you'll be stuck in a stand-off with me while your dear lady turns into a normal raving beast and is killed off by Illayna." she said as if commenting on the weather.

She was losing herself. Slowly she was giving into the instincts of the Evil Human. Her thoughts consumed with the singular thought of cutting her pretty flesh and letting the crimson blood flow forth. She'd stopped planning her attacks, stopped speaking, stopped doing everything except attacking. And as her mind fell into that of an animal, cracks began forming along her crystallized armor. When the double attacked, her blades dug into the crystallized armor instead of bouncing off harmlessly. Chunks of the blood crystal fell, liquefying as they hit the concrete floor.
 

Soul just grimaced as the attack continued; it wasn't all that hard to shatter the needles, but even with his skill level there were so many that he couldn't shatter them. And that was also part of what was bothering him; he should have been able to completely negate the attack altogether. But it was like each individual needle held its own Wavelength...But that couldn't be possible. No one's control was THAT precise. But he didn't really have to worry about it; his partner deftly deflected all but a number of needles she could count on one hand. And even then, none of them managed to do more than create small tears in her outfit.

Still, her banter made him grin and reply "Oh, I am having fun...It's like you said, even we could get rusty without some practice. I just kind of wish they'd give us more of a break; you'd think having "destroyed a Kishin" on a resume would be enough to make them steer clear". His tone grew a little more serious, " But you're probably right; even after Asura was destroyed, all it did was give us a temporary reprieve. If what Shinigami said is true, it's likely that other Evil Humans will want to try replacing him with themselves. We'll probably be working even while we're traveling around the world...Still never did figure out why they were here in Martinique, though. Kinda figured it'd be the last place someone like Bathory or this guy would show up".

Ficzko, meanwhile, was growing more agitated; while it wasn't a technique he used often, every time he had used it resulted in his opponent being turned into a living pincushion. He couldn't afford to waste more time with these two; without at least Dorothea to back him up, he was severely outclassed. Through one of the blood circlets on the ceiling, he could see his Lady turning more primal; this was bad and he knew it. Lady Bathory was deadly like this, but she risked the stability of her armor for increased attack power. Even worse was when the Meister's duplicate seemed to sink its knives into the hardened blood. "No" he muttered; he knew how to save his Lady, even if it would hurt him gravely. But there was nothing he wouldn't do to ensure his mistress' happiness. And with that, he put his emergency plan to work.

Daichi and Takeshi still watched with their master; they could feel Illayna's Wavelength starting to falter. She was using too much of this technique; Daichi then stated in a genuine concerned tone, "Illayna, be careful. Don't overdo it". Takeshi then replied, "Gag me with a spoon". This noticeably angered Daichi, "Hey, she's doing the best she can. It's not wrong to make sure she doesn't stress herself!". Takeshi let out a 'Pfft' sound and stated coolly, "If she didn't want to stress herself, she shouldn't have used this technique for this long. She knows the consequences, she doesn't need you to coddle her". Daichi then shouted, "You don't have to be a dick about it; and if you bothered to look, you'd see that Bathory is getting sloppy! Illayna, we should move now!" Takeshi shifted his focus, and sure enough, Illayna's double had actually managed to sink its blades into Bathory's armor.

"Who you calling a dick, asshole!? I call things how I see it; besides, it was a batshit plan to begin with." "Better than anything you came up with!" "I didn't exactly hear you being helpful either, Mister Military General!" The back-and-forth of these two would certainly show a deficiency in getting along, and would certainly need to be addressed when, as Illayna had suggested, they did more serious training.

From all around the room, Ficzko's voice played, "Unfortunately for you, my annoying little friend, our time together has grown short. I believe it's time for me to show you the way out...As a proper butler must do when his Lady does not want guests any longer". All at once, multiple copies of Ficzko's own body formed from the blood that spattered around them. All in all, there were eleven of them, thick blades of gleaming blood protruding from his fingertips much in the manner that Lady Bathory's nails did. And with that, he released a no-holds-barred barrage against the weapon-Meister team; what made it worse was they were even faster than one might expect, something that would surely give even someone as athletic as Maka a good runaround. Soul began to play once more; the strange trait of tonal variation in the Wavelength made a return, but even still the closest one to Maka shattered like glass. "He's getting desperate, Maka; his Wavelength just got more intense" he then informed his partner, swiftly shattering another blood clone to fragments.

However, as the two knife Weapons argued, a thirteenth clone suddenly appeared from above them and rushed Illayna; Takeshi took notice of this and forcibly removed himself from Weapon form. Shoving his Meister and brother to the side, the butler's blood blades sunk into his shoulder and forced a cry from him before Ficzko wound up his free hand to drive the other blades into his gut. "TAKESHI! ILLAYNA, TAKE HIM DOWN!" Daichi shouted. Unbeknownst to them, Illayna's double vanished before reappearing with another apparent copy of her; to Bathory, it might seem like the original article. 'Illayna' then charged Bathory, ready to strike but leaving herself somewhat open to a vicious counterattack. "Forgive me, m'Lady..." Ficzko then said; he knew what he had to do and he would not hesitate in the consequences of his actions.
 
Maka :: Illayna Meoih :: Erzsebet Bathory​
​

"You're assuming that they think logically." she pointed out with a wry smile. "They have been called many things. Sensible is not one of them." she thought while they waited for whatever the butler might try next. "Yeah, I don't think rust would really suit you soul. Definitely wouldn't look as cool in your weapon form." she said with a genuine laugh. "Not only do we have other evil humans who wish to replace Asura but they also wish to destroy us. It would give them a certain degree of bragging rights. If they could beat us, the ones who destroyed Asura, well...I'm sure you can guess where that's going." she said with a little sigh. "Well, perhaps they came here for that very reason. I mean when you think about it had we not already been vacationing here it's likely her spree would have been relatively unnoticed for awhile. It is a rather secluded place and so it's a very good hunting ground." she thought with a little shrug.

"Cut it out the both of you!" she mentally interjected into their argument. "It was a last ditch effort. It was a plan formed out of desperation, I know what the consequences of this move are. Believe it or not I didn't just decide to use this technique on a whim. I did weigh my options carefully." she thought. She didn't mention that the longer she had fought Bathory the more certain she was that she was about to die. She'd felt this fear grow within her as the woman toyed and played with her. And the more irritated Bathory became the more frightened Illayna got. It was self survival. Some instinct was telling her she had to remove herself from the situation or she was going to die. She closed her eyes and placed a hand over her frantically beating heart willing it to calm down. Just what was Bathory?

While lost in her musings Illayna heard Daichi say something and she snapped herself out of her thoughts and glanced back to the fight. "So she has..." Illyana murmured furrowing her brow. Looking at Bathory now it was almost impossible to tell she'd been the same woman Illyana had been fighting just a few moments ago. Now she resembled the wild beast she actually was. What in the hell was happening here? "Could you two NOT argue while we are in danger? If you must argue at least do so when we are safe!" she thought exasperated. But no matter what she might say or how she might act she was very grateful to the both of them. It was likely she'd have died a long time ago had it not been for them.

Maka did a quick survey of her surroundings noting all the blood splatters from the previous attacks. She couldn't read him as well as other evil humans she'd fought but figured it was a high probability that he'd use these splatters in an attack of his. "Bathory isn't the only strange thing here. This butler is also made from a different mold. I have a feeling we're over looking something very important." she said frowning a little. Before long she watched as something began to form within the blood puddles building from a formless blob into a copy of the butler himself. "What is he playing at..." she thought. Before anyone could even move Soul had destroyed two of them. The feeling she was missing something important did not abate and instead intensified. "Soul, I feel like we've over looked something crucial..." she said trailing off.

Maka turned to look over at Illayna and was just in time to see another clone charge at the young meister. Maka would not reach her in time and before she could even yell she watched as one of her weapons took the blow his meister should have received. It was so painfully close to something she had Soul had gone through that it robbed her of her voice. And because of that she did not notice the little "glitch" that happened to Illaynas clone.

Illayna did not know what happened. Did not have time to register everything. However she saw enough to realize she was about to be attacked and instead of the blades hitting her they struck Takeshi. She watched the weapons sink into his body and her eyes widened in horror. Grief and rage laced through her heart and she reacted without really thinking. She struck out with Daichi and watched the blade sink into the neck of the clone before ripping it out. The clone froze for a moment before falling in on itself becoming another blood pool. Illyana rushed over to Takeshi and gently placed his head on her lap "Why would you do something like that!?" she said her fingers shaking slightly. She tried to calm herself and think rationally trying to remember what she should do first.

There was a roaring in her ears. A loud roaring. It was deafening, drowning out everything except the need and desire to kill. It felt as if she were dreaming, nothing was clear, everything was hazy and irritating. She wanted everything to disappear into a dazzling display of bloody showers. Another rage filled scream erupted from her mouth as she sank deeper into the black murky depths of madness. She watched the infuriating woman charge at her and reacting on instinct alone attacked. The attack landed successfully and Bathory felt that lovely warm liquid spray across her face and body. Licking the blood from her lips she stilled. Her pupils dilated and the hazy rage that had filled them cleared. Blinking slowly she looked down at who she'd attacked. "Oh, Ficzko...." she murmured. She looked a moment longer before she disappeared from the building entirely. It was obvious she was at a disadvantage now "We will meet again young meister." her voice floated through the building before silence descended.
 

By the time things unfolded, it was all too late. The clone had landed its strike, barely missing any of Takeshi's vital organs before Illayna's counterattack cut his potentially fatal followup short. The clone seemed to go still, the blood fracturing into crystal pieces before liquefying into a puddle. The blunt young Weapon however, fell to rest against his Meister, her gentle touch doing unfortunately little to ease the massive shocks of pain coursing through his body.

He could barely hear Illayna's question, nor could the bleared vision from his teary eyes clearly make out her expression, but her touch showed him that she was more than just concerned. She was scared. "Gah...Don't start crying. You'll get salt in my wound." he grumbled, placing a hand over where the butler had pierced him. He could feel the sticky warmth; he knew his arm would be in a sling most likely, but at least he'd survive. "Fucking damn it...Stupid Jeeves." he added grudgingly. Daichi soon morphed out of Weapon form and knelt down to check on his brother. "Takeshi, knock it off! You almost got yourself killed!" "And if I didn't do that, we'd all be dead anyway. Besides...Your slow ass wouldn't have saved us."

Meanwhile, Soul and Maka were busy clearing out the last clones; as soon Ficzko went unconscious from the attack by his mistress, the rest of them simply...froze. The remaining few were within inches of the pair, poised to strike; however, their forms just quivered before shattering like glass, leaving only more bloody pools in their wake. Upon the halt of the assault, Soul realized that Bathory and that strange butler had made their exit. "Yeah, we did...But his Wavelength was something I've never experienced or seen before. Giriko was the only one we faced that could counter my Noise Cancellation...But that guy didn't just counter it, he avoided it. How can one vary it so much? And with such subtlety?" he pondered; Soul was no slouch in battle and was often quite astute at times, but this one stumped the hell out of him.

Still, once the battle was over, he shifted out his Weapon form to stand beside his partner. He looked over and saw Illayna cradling one of her Weapons; her shaking was a dead giveaway that the man was injured. Possibly even fatally. Giving a sigh, he then said "Maka, you should go comfort her. I'll tell Kid what happened." A scythe blade - its pattern reminiscent of his Weapon form - then popped out of his forearm where, its surface shining like crystal. Writing '42-42-564', he let the ringing go on and on. Finally, an old familiar face popped up.

"Soul. Didn't expect to hear from you for awhile. Sorry again for having to pull you away from your time with Maka. How's things?" he then asked; it was funny, even after all these years, Soul never could get used to seeing Kid in this form. After Shinigami had "passed on" and granted his position to his son, it was certainly a different time. Kid had said Soul would have been the last weapon, but then he went back on his statement later on after realizing that more Evil Humans would pop up. While he wouldn't do what his father did and take the Eggs people collected upon failure, he still made sure that people didn't just take on a mission for the sake of building up their Weapon partner to Deathscythe status for notoriety sake. Put simply, they would not receive any special recognition for having become Deathscythes; Soul was the Last, and that was that. Kid knew there had to be a check; having all that power running around would not bode well for anyone. After all, the Weapon gene had already thoroughly manifested itself into the gene pool. There was no getting rid of it.

"Could have gone better." Soul replied before telling Kid exactly what happened. Kid just listened the whole time, letting Soul finish before interjecting, "Well, you did exactly what you could have done. But you know, you could have intervened on her behalf if things were going that badly." Soul just shook his head, "They need to experience what it's like. The Evil Humans are getting smarter...Bolder. It's like ever since Asura was sealed, they...changed. Evolved, almost." A giggle was then heard in the background and all of a sudden Kid shouted "DAMN IT, PATTI! NOW IT'S CROOKED!" Soul just grinned and added, "I'll let you know about the follow-up later, Kid." before the reflection in his blade disappeared. He had to wonder if Kid enjoyed being stuck in that room; after all, it wasn't like he was bound to Death City like Shinigami was.
 
Maka :: Illayna Meoih :: Erzsebet Bathory​
​


Illayna shook her head trying to hold back the tears that threatened to fall like rivers. She smiled shakily and ripped some cloth from her outfit. Moving Takeshi's hand from the wound she placed the cloth against it and applied pressure trying to stem the flow of blood. "You're too reckless...." she said trailing off. He needed to be bandaged up, he needed a doctor. Illayna looked down at her hands which now had Takeshi's blood all over them. Her body began to shake again. "I'm sorry Takeshi. Daichi." she thought closing her eyes. She forced herself to calm down. She couldn't have a freak out right here, she needed to do what she could to help him.

Maka looked over at Soul as he shifted from his weapon form. "I have no idea. This was certainly educational. And worrisome." she said pursing her lips and looking around them. "You're probably right." Maka said looking over at the young Meister. Sighing a little she made her way over to Illayna and Takeshi. Going to the opposite side of Illayna, Maka knelt down. She saw Illayna's hands shaking, saw her trying so hard to keep calm. She had to give it to the young meister, she was doing a good job. "It'll be ok. Don't worry." Maka said her voice gentle. "Lets get this bandaged a little better ok?" she said with a little smile. Reaching into a pouch she pulled out some bandages and began to unwind it. "Daichi, raise Takeshi high enough so I can wrap it around him." After some shuffling and groaning, Takeshi's upper half was raised a little bit. Maka quickly wrapped it around him tightly securing the cloth Illyana had placed over the wound. "He'll be fine." she said as she finished.

Illayna watched as Maka quickly wrapped up her partner "Thank you." she said her voice breaking slightly. She raised her hands and watched them begin to shake again. She clenched her fists and placed them in her lap. She couldn't stop. The shaking wouldn't stop. She kept seeing the blade sink into Takeshi as he protected her. "It's all my fault..." she thought squeezing her eyes shut.

Maka looked at the young meister. She could tell exactly where the womans thoughts were going. Knew that she was berating herself for it. "It's not your fault Illayna." she said gently.

Illayna opened her eyes and stared at Maka. "How did you..." she said trailing off.

"Because I know the look. Believe it or not a long time ago me and soul were in a similiar situation." she said with a bitter smile. Even now all these years later the memory still haunted her.

"I see..." she said trailing off. She stared at Maka a moment longer before looking down at Takeshi.

"Wait here a moment, I need to go talk to Soul." She said raising up. Illayna didn't look at her but nodded. Turning on her heel she walked over to her partner. "We should really get moving. Takeshi is hurt pretty badly. And I don't think Illayna can exert any more control. It's amazing she's managed this long." she said looking over at the small group. Maka had a feeling that what had just happened was only a prelude of things to come. It was unsettling. "I don't like this." she thought furrowing her brows a small frown forming on her lips.

A few days later Illayna, Takeshi and Daichi were back in Death City. Takeshi was in the hospital and Illayna was on her way to visit him. Soul and Maka had come with them saying they needed to speak with Death and another meister weapon team. But she didn't say for what. Shaking her head Illayna knocked on the door before entering the room. "How are you doing Takeshi?" she asked looking over at him.

...

Bathory stared at her surroundings but she didn't take notice of anything. All she could think about was that young meister. "I'll come back to fetch you my kitten. Just wait." she murmured to no one in particular.
 

It had been a few days since the events in Martinique; Takeshi suffering that grave of a wound really had Illayna in a tizzy, even with Maka helping to keep her calm. But things returned to a relative normalcy fairly quickly; Maka and Soul had gone to see Kid Death and give a more detailed account of what happened. This would be the fifth 'abnormal' Evil Human encountered in the past six years; one other strange case was an Evil Human that every time it lost a limb, it would regenerate it. The only way the team was able to kill it was pulling its heart out and utterly incinerating it to ash. Where these things were coming from, no one could say.

Regardless, Maka and Soul had to cut their stay at the one island short to go talk to Kid; they would probably be allowed to head back out once this business was taken care of, if only because Soul still had to make good on his promise to go around the world. It was a lot of traveling, but it made her happy. He considered stopping by their place to see how Blair was doing; lord only knew what kind of trouble she would get into and how miffed she was they left her behind.

The meeting with Kid came and went; there wasn't really much to say, and they knew he was busy now that he'd assumed the role of Overseer of Shibusen. However, they would run into another familiar pair as they were leaving. One who also went through the sacrament of matrimony.

"Well hello, you two. Didn't think you would be back so soon."

Soul turned around to see none other than Stein and Marie standing behind them. "Could say the same for you, I though you too were going to stay in Oceania for a while. A year at least." Soul replied, smiling happily at the married couple. It was interesting at first, people use to tease them about ending up together and Marie would always deny. But now here they were...Married with a child.

"We were, but then I was offered to teach again at Shibusen. I was actually on my way to talk to Shinigami about my reinstatement. Who knows, I might call on the two of you to come in for a demonstration." Stein replied, chewing on what appeared to be a cinnamon stick. Ever since Marie was pregnant, he resolved to quit smoking for the health of their child.

Soul figured as much; all appointments had to be approved the Headmaster, who in this case was Kid himself. Though Soul was still surprised that Stein called Kid 'Shinigami'; but then it was an appropriate title...Even if not everyone was quite used to it yet.

Takeshi was laid up in the hospital wing in Shibusen; Nygus was able to stitch the slash, but it would be some time before the Weapon fully recovered. Like he suspected, his arm would be in a sling for a while; but then that damned butler had hit him deep. Nygus had commented on how lucky Takeshi had been; were the strike just a half-inch to the left, the blades would have severed his subclavian artery and he would have bled out in minutes.

And he would turn out to be still somewhat cranky; as Illayna and Daichi came to visit, he cracked his eyes open from napping to hear her asking how he was feeling. "Just peachy. Nothing quite like getting my arm all jacked up by Jeeves." he replied sarcastically; if he ever found that butler again, he would get his for doing this. Daichi sighed, stating "You know, you don't have to be a dick every time we talk to you." Takeshi just grinned, "Yeah, but then you'd be wondering what was wrong with me if I wasn't." At this, his brother let out a smile and shook his head; that much was true. At least with him being a snarky asshole, he was going to be fine.

As his mistress sat in her room, Ficzko was busy preparing a 'beverage'. "No, please! Let me go!" said a young blonde tiredly but with no less pleading in her tone, tied upside down and naked with several lacerations over her petite body; her eyes were sunken and her skin was sallow, the long golden tussles mussed from the exhaustion of being used as a blood bank. "Hmm...You do seem rather worn. Yes, I'll let you go." The woman's dull green eyes widened a little in joy, quite ready for her release.

Until the butler finished his sentence.

"Yes...I'll let you go into the next life. Be proud to have served your mistress so well." he then added, some of his own blood seeping out from under his bandages to form a simple blade. Which he then used to slash the young woman before she could cry out in protest; all that was heard then was a strangled gurgling as her jugular was severed, allowing the crimson fluid to flow free into the teacup held underneath. It didn't take long for it to fill, but there was some errant spatter. "So uncivilized, you got blood on my suit." he then finished, using a kerchief to clean the cup and dish thoroughly before taking it to his Lady.

Giving a knock, he then entered the room and placed the immaculate cup and dish on the small table beside her chair. "Time for afternoon refreshments, m'Lady. I'll have to fetch another supply, however; it seems we just ran out." he informed her, giving a slight bow. "How is m'Lady feeling today?" he then asked, obviously concerned more for her well-being than his own. Even if his own body was the one covered in numerous bandages from head to toe, his own neck heavily stitched and covered in sullied gauze.
 
Maka :: Illayna Meoih :: Erzsebet Bathory :: Marie​
​

Maka sighed as she and Soul were leaving after finishing giving their report to Kid. She had difficulty calling him "Shinigami" as she was just too used to calling him Kid. She was very worried about the anything but ordinary Evil Humans that kept cropping up. Sure, it was bound to happen from time to time....but the fact that they all seemed to crop up in such short succession was what was really worrying her. Before it was pretty rare to come across an Evil Human that was different from the others, in fact such cases were almost unheard of and it was only a handful of them across several generations. Not to mention that the abnormal Evil Humans that had been cropping up over the last six years were somehow stronger or better in some way from their predecessors. "Its like someone is experimenting with the Evil Humans....." Maka murmured.

Before Maka could say anything else she heard a familiar voice behind her and turned to see Professor Stein and Marie behind them. She gave them a genuine smile, happy to see them. "We only came back to give a report to Kid on what happened in Martinique. We're not really back to stay yet" she said. Upon hearing why the two of them were in Death city her mouth twitched as she suppressed a laugh, remembering when she and Soul had been in his class. "Those students don't know what they've got in store for them." Maka said. She had a great deal of respect for stein, she'd learned a lot from him. He was a great teacher but there was no getting around the fact the he definitely was one of the oddest teachers she'd ever known. And sometimes a little frightening. She remembered the very first time she had met stein. She was with Soul, Tsubaki and Black Star at the time, he thoroughly kicked their asses. He'd over ridden her normal calm concentration and sent her into a paralyzing fear.

Of course it had been a test at the time and they'd simply been unaware of it. Even so, he wasn't someone she ever wanted to go up against again.

"But, I'm happy you guys will be back in Death City again." she said. In all honesty she had been a little sad when they'd left but she understood why. "We'll be around long enough to check on things at the house. I didn't want to leave Blair in charge...but it was her or Black Star and Black Star would definitely destroy it, with Blair its just a possibility." she said sighing heavily. "We intend to pay a visit to Black Star and Tsubaki and ask them for a favor before heading off again." she said. She wondered idly if Illayna and her Weapons would be in steins class. "Actually....thinking on it. It might help if Illayna got help from Stein and Marie as well. Normally I'd suggest kid since he's one of the few who uses two weapons as well but after taking over for his father, he's been too busy." Maka thought wondering what Souls thoughts on it were.


Illayna forced a smile when her and Daichi walked into Takeshi's room. She had to struggle not to show just how badly seeing him bandaged like this affected her. She listened as they went back and forth and she gave a genuine smile. She was glad he was back to being a sarcastic asshole. But she still felt guilty because he shouldn't have been in here at all and had the two of them had a more skilled meister he probably wouldn't have wound up in here. She recalled what Maka had said to her about going through a similiar experience and she wondered how Maka had dealt with it. Illayna finally came to a decision to ask her because it was tearing her apart, she needed to ask Maka for help. She had to become stronger, become a better fighter for both of her weapons sake.


Bathory stared out at nothing at all. No one had ever escaped her, not since becoming the Evil Human she currently was. She'd been unstoppable, killing humans, meisters and weapons. Anything that she desired she took, used, broke and repeated with a new play thing.

But her. That young Meister was not in her possession. And she did not like that fact. Everything in her screamed out to hunt her down and take her but she suppressed it. The woman was probably back in Death City already and if she went there she would likely meet her end. She was not a mindless beast like the majority of the others, she was able to reason, make strategies, make plans and traps. She would bide her time and wait for the next opportunity to strike. Because one would appear, it was only a matter of waiting. In the mean time she would grow stronger, taking more victims. When Ficzko entered the room and proffered the cup of blood, she took it and took a sip frowning a little. Because of the desire she had for that girls blood, all other blood since had tasted bland to her. She took another drink before glancing at her servant covered in bandages and wounds. The worst having been inflicted by herself. She'd let herself slip so far that she'd been regressing into an average Evil Human, it was because of Ficzko that she was able to come back from that. It had cost her the sweet virgin meister and she was very angry at herself for it.

"Bored." she said sighing and closing her eyes.
 

Soul looked over at his partner, keeping silent and just watching as the little guy in the carriage played with the tiny mobile hanging over him. It was pretty damned cute, to say the least; he made an effort to keep his lips closed, as he wasn't sure if the baby would be frightened by his 'shark teeth'. Though he couldn't help letting out a chuckle as the memories of Stein's lectures came flooding back; god, what a drag it was sitting through those lectures. But the man had really helped them a lot. Without his teaching, he knew it would have taken him and Maka a lot longer to achieve Soul Resonance.

"Speaking of Black Star, Maka....We better head off before he leaves on another training expedition" Soul stated; even though the man had matured and focused, he still had a lot of energy to burn off. And the guy could be gone for weeks at a time if he found something an obstacle that really challenged him. At least this time, they had a good idea of where he might be: He'd taken on a rotating shift schedule with Sid as the physical education instructor at Shibusen. Oh, those poor bastards if they had him today.

"Is Black Star at school today?" asked Soul, Stein responding with a slightly devious grin, "Just follow the sounds of labored breathing, and you'll find him. Tata, you two". Soul then nudged his partner as Stein left, "Guess that answers that, huh? Should be right around the time the students go to lunch...Might be able to catch him just as he's calling it for the day."

Soon afterwards, they arrived at the infamous Shibusen steps; he could see the outlines of some students heaving as they clambered up the massive staircase, their bodies hunched over trying to get a second wind. Just up the way, they could hear a familiar shouting.

"Come on, slowpokes! All you gotta do is make it up here and you're free to go eat!"

Soul slapped a hand over his mouth, holding back a laugh, "Just think of how hard it was when we had to walk up it just to get to class...Who knows what he put them through before now?" He then grasped his partner's hand, "Shall we give the students something to strive for?", referring to his ability to have her ride atop him like a broomstick in Scythe form.
 
Maka :: Tsubaki :: Marie​
​

"You might be able to hear the labored breathing over the sound of him shouting." Marie said with a warm laugh. "Either way I don't think it should be too hard to find him." she said with a smile. Maka returned the smile, it was hard not to. Marie was always so warm and it seemed as if light radiated out from the core of her being. The kindness she gave had a way of working its way into the heart slowly driving away darkness, the fears and the doubts.

Maka waved to Marie, Stein and their baby as they left.

She shook her head. "Those poor kids. It was hard enough keeping up with Black Star when we were just teammates. I don't even want to consider if he'd been our instructor. What was kid thinking letting him be a physical education instructor? The only saving grace might be if Tsubaki is with him. Not that it would make too much of a difference I suppose...." Maka said on a heavy sigh as she and soul made their way to where Black Star was. Maka considered Black Star a friend but there was no getting around the fact that he was hyper, loud and obnoxious. He was single minded and did everything as if the people around him had those same exact qualities. It made things both exhausting and irritating. "Those poor, poor kids...." Maka said again cringing a little.

When they finally located Black Star her original thought was confirmed. They came upon a bunch of students; some of which looked like they could barely stand let alone walk up the steps of the academy. They heard his voice clearly up at the top shouting at them. Soul looked about ready to drop laughing, Maka just sighed and shook her head slightly a small smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. "Whatever he did to them must've been pretty intense. Half of these kids look like they are barely managing to stay upright." she said unable to stop herself from laughing.

She felt soul grab her hand and she smiled, warmth filling her. "I think...." she said trailing off and giving his hand a little squeeze "that, that is a marvelous idea." she said with a little laugh. She tightened her grip and pulled watching as he shifted into scythe form. Grabbing the snath with both of her hands she got onto it, sitting side saddle and then they flew up the stairs at a moderate pace. Students stared at them in envy and recognition and that just made Maka laugh again. "Work hard enough and you won't have to walk up here either." she said raising her voice slightly so they could all hear.

Tsubaki stood next to Black Star at the top of the stairs where they watched the students make their way very slowly up the stairs. Black star tried to get them to hurry up the stairs and she just sighed. Once again, he'd gone way over-board with it and by the time it was time for lunch they looked exhausted. When they realized they had to climb the stairs some of the students looked as if they might die on the spot. She was about to say something to him when she heard a familiar voice. Looking back down the steps she saw Maka riding on Soul up the stairs and she smiled "Maka and Soul are here." she said to Black Star while she waved to them. "I wonder why they are here....arn't they still on their honeymoon?" Tsubaki asked curiously as Maka waved back to her.
 
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