A/N: Hello and welcome to my first Reverb offering for 2018, a Canon mangaverse fic featuring Tsubaki, Maka, Soul, Kid, Black Star, Liz, and Patti. Thanks so much to my artist, Insecure, for a great concept and truly inspiring art, and to my betas, Sahdah, Sandman, and Tiff, who pulled an all nighter behind me to help make sure this isn't a hot mess. CW for canon level violence, language, and portrayals of mental illness.

Enjoy!

It's hard to believe they're training again, as if the world weren't falling apart. It feels like the last thing they should be doing, but what else can be done with the Kishin so hidden even as his influence becomes increasingly pervasive? What else can be done with Crona still at large and spreading their own brand of madness?

Even her meister can sense they aren't strong enough to face so much; were the Kishin standing on the steps of Shibusen staring them all down, their strength would surely fall short. They need to be stronger, all of them, even Black*Star. Even Kid. Even herself, the shadow weapon, the inheritor of her brother's taint and her family's soul.

So they train.

They train and they focus and they pray to Death that it will be enough.

It's exhausting, this new training, to maintain a group link as they all attempt to manipulate the wavelength Maka shares through her weapon's music. It's especially exhausting for Tsubaki, who must struggle to keep her fragmented soul whole in the midst of such light, but it is a burden she bears quietly-there is no reason to worry the others when she is fully capable of handling the situation. She wonders if Stein had realized how difficult it might prove for her to maintain such a strong tie to Maka's anti-demon wavelength when he suggested they work to wield that wavelength as a collective. If the sadistic gleam of his glasses punctuated by a predatory smile in her direction had been anything to go on, she suspects he had been well aware.

Does Soul face such difficulty as well, with his infection and propensity for madness? A glance his way suggests he's more bored than anything, but then again, she maintains a facade of her own that reveals little. Still, Maka is his partner. They resonate regularly, so he must be used to the anti-demon wavelength, aside from which, she very much doubts he's trying to protect his inner madness. If only she could say the same.

Perhaps the most difficult part of all of this is that she feels that madness spreading the longer they train, the longer they are linked through Soul's music and Maka's wavelength. She must be wrong-how could linking to Maka make madness spread?

Yet she feels it. And this madness is new. It's different.

There are signs, too, subtle yet there. Bickering amongst the group is at an all time high, and sure, it's a stressful situation and everyone is tense and bickering isn't exactly abnormal for them-except when Liz is snapping at Patti and Kid is snapping at all, that's completely out of character. She herself had even snapped at Black*Star, her patience with everything worn thin, and she never snaps at anyone, let alone her meister. As they pause again, she decides it's time to speak up. Something is wrong and it serves no one to ignore what she feels so clearly, attuned to the darkness that has become a part of her own soul.

It's lunch time, so the various packed meals they've brought to the training field are being opened, the rustling of bags and packages audible even among the subdued chatter of the group.

"Um, everyone," she begins, never quite comfortable being the center of attention. Tsubaki is a creature of shadow and subtlety-the spotlight has never suited her even if her meister compares her to the stars. Then again, maybe that's accurate. Her light is subtle, soft, scattered, filled in with shadow. She isn't the moon, isn't the center as her meister prefers, but in the background, as she was always meant to be. Still, it needs to be said.

Her friends have not noticed her attempt to get their attention, too absorbed by the dubious enticement of hastily packed sandwiches-no one has the energy for meticulously prepared meals of late, not even her.

"I think something is wrong!" she says, projecting more loudly. At this, six pairs of eyes swivel in her direction in varying states of surprise.

Kid is the first to recover enough to speak, but the group scattered around the small, grassy clearing keep their eyes on her. Next to her, Black*Star displays a rare frown.

"Is everything alright?" Kid asks, voice mild.

"No, it isn't." Tsubaki's voice is harder than she means it to be but she's worried.

"Perhaps you could elaborate? Are you not feeling well, or-"

"It's the group link. There's-something wrong. A darkness, a taint. Can't you sense it?" She looks at Kid for a moment, then turns her eyes to Maka. "Can't you?"

Maka frowns at this. "I hadn't noticed anything different, no. Maybe you're feeling the black blood?"

"I don't think so." Tsubaki shakes her head. "Or if it is, then it's spreading or-I'm not sure."

Multiple frowns have spread across the group, much like the contagion she feels. They know her well enough, all of them, that they must know she wouldn't speak her mind unless she were certain.

"Alright, then." Maka stands, dusts off her skirt, looks around the group. "Let's try it again and maybe Kid and I can see what's going on."

Next to where she had been sitting, back against a tree, Soul rolls his eyes. "Or maybe we could actually finish lunch first." When Maka looks about to say something, eyes narrowing down his way, he adds more quietly. "Everyone is exhausted, and hungry. Ten minutes isn't going to make a difference."

Maka deflates, and Kid speaks up.

"He's right. Let's finish lunch, then we can investigate further. I also failed to sense this, so I'm glad you brought it to our attention, Tsubaki."

"Of course," she says, ignoring the sound of her meister hastily shoveling in a peanut butter and banana sandwich to get through the six she's packed him. Tsubaki takes a bite of the onigiri she's put together for herself, appetite lost in concern. Around her, the sounds of chewing are prominent, and she wishes Patti weren't across from her, shoveling in fists full of Doritos in her haste to get through them. She notices Maka isn't touching the onigiri she brought for her, and Kid and Liz have also stopped eating. This can hardly surprise her. Kid doesn't need to eat, Liz gets nauseous when she's worried, and Maka seems entirely lost in thought, eyes glassy as she attunes her soul perception to the group one at a time, frown still fixed on her face. Next to her, Soul continues to eat his own sandwich at a leisurely pace and says something quietly to Maka that Tsubaki can't hear. The meister snaps her attention to him, concentration broken, but nods and takes a bite of her onigiri.

Soon after, Patti pokes her sister in the ribs who takes a reluctant bite of some sort of chocolate covered bar. Good. They'll need the energy.

Fifteen minutes later, they're back up, standing in a large clearing among the trees of the training forest, three meisters with weapons in hand. The sun is high in the sky, dappling them with shadow and light through the canopy of leaves overhead, though as the group begins their linked resonance, the eerie loveliness of filtered light is replaced by the glow of their souls made manifest, filling the clearing with an overwhelming brightness that would probably make Tsubaki squint were she not in weapon form. The music of Soul's piano echoes through her, and she feels the strength of that light, tenuous and strained as the ties may be, like a spider's web pulled tight. Tsubaki basks in that careful balance between them all, their strength combined, but the darkness yet remains, weaving through the light like the dapple cast by the leaves above.

Kid and Maka both look glassy-eyed as their gaze moves from each other to Black*Star and back again. The music stops an instant later, a discordant clash of surprise, and the link ends.

"You saw?" Maka looks at Kid, lips pursed.

"I did, though I could not sense the source." Kid looks as unfazed as ever, voice even.

"Yeah, me neither." She heaves a frustrated sigh.

"We'll have to go to Professor Stein. He'll-"

"Oh, come on!" Black*Star cuts him off. "We don't need Doctor Slice 'n Dice for this, we can-"

Sensing the rising tension, Tsubaki phases out of weapon form. As always, the feeling is both strange and right as she takes just one of her many shapes, the one that is not steel. She places a restraining hand on her meister's shoulder. "Black*Star." Her voice is measured and careful. "Kid's right. There's something going on, and Professor Stein will be able to help us figure out what. You know if Maka or Kid had an idea of what this is or how to fix it, we'd already be doing it."

He looks like he's about to argue, but his chest, puffed out in anticipation, deflates. "Alright, whatever," Black*Star grumbles.

"Then it's decided. I'll go get the professor." Kid looks even more restrained and tense than usual as he takes it upon himself to conjure his skateboard and fly off to find Stein, weapons still in hand.

Returning with Stein, yet another group resonance, and Stein's long, thoughtful pause as he looks over the group one by one, it all passes in a blur. The gleam of his glasses in the dappled light is hardly a comfort as the professor clears his throat, one finger tapping his chin thoughtfully.

"You saw it, Professor?" Maka sounds almost anxious as she breaks the tense silence post resonance.

"I did."

The younger meister's impatience is nearly palpable. They have been friends long enough that Tsubaki is well aware of Maka's need for answers and action-uncertainty doesn't suit her at all, her fingers fidgeting with her skirt hem marking her discomfort.

She's not the only one. Beside her, Maka's weapon sighs in boredom that more likely masks anxiety while Patti breaks the silence by humming "Yankee Doodle" across the way. After another minute that the professor, in all his mildly sadistic tendencies, must deem adequate torment, he finally clears his throat.

"There is a dark thread in your collective resonance and I'm not sure of the source. My suggestion would be to perform a guided group resonance in which you use your connection to enter the souls of every member of the group and methodically seek the corruption to cleanse each of you from the inside out using Maka's anti-demon wavelength. Start with some of the less-" his gaze sweeps towards Tsubaki then Black*Star, who is currently upside down next to her, balancing on one finger in a display of his usual restlessness, before moving to Liz and Patti, the elder standing with her lips pursed, hands on hips, the younger currently cross legged on the ground working on a puzzle cube "-susceptible of the group, then work your way to those who regularly possess a higher level of madness." He adjusts his spectacles as he looks at Soul, who stares back at him blankly and shrugs as if to suggest he's too cool to care. They all may know better, but it doesn't stop him from wearing the facade.

"Enter the souls-" Maka frowns thoughtfully, hands now stilled on her skirt. "You mean-like the black room?"

"Ah, hm." The professor nods towards Maka, a smile that is a hair too pleased creeping onto his features. "Much like that, yes. But the-black room, as you've described it-appears to be a more limited space within your weapon's soul. This will be much more like your connection with Crona."

Kid, who has been quiet until now, finally speaks. "So we simply resonate as a group and-decide to enter each soul?" He sounds confused or perhaps skeptical, Tsubaki isn't sure which.

"Precisely,," Stein says. "Though it may take a bit of work to pinpoint where you want to go."

"And then-we cleanse this darkness using Maka's wavelength," Kid asks. "How does that work?"

Maka nods from where she stands several feet away, clearly having similar reservations.

"To be frank? I'm not sure." The group looks poised to pounce, but Stein raises a hand to cut off protest before it can begin. "When you sought Crona." He rests his gaze on Maka, adjusting his glasses carefully. "You cleansed them by forcing them outside of their isolation, as you described it, because that was what held them in place-fear of others. What the madness latches on to will likely vary for each of you, prying at your weak points. I can't tell you how to cleanse it because I don't know, but as with Crona, you should be able to work out the solution once you discover the root of the problem."

Another nod from Maka, this time at Stein. For herself, Tsubaki can admit she's leery. The other, hotter, feeling she quashes. Her soul isn't Maka's soul, and the rage of so many generations she inherited cannot possibly heal-there had been no cleansing her brother.

"Okay, professor," Maka says, voice firm. The determination is familiar; there's no going back now. "I understand. Do you wish to oversee?"

"I think it best." His voice is as flat and bored as usual, though, as he cranks the screw in his head, there is a glint of clinical interest in his green-gray eyes that makes Tsubaki suppress a shudder. "Given this will involve a deathscythe along with a death god, it hardly seems prudent to proceed without adequate supervision. I'll be bringing in Spirit as well, in case I find myself in need of a weapon."

The pigtailed meister bristles visibly at the mention of bringing in her father, but to her credit, says nothing.

It isn't long before their group is all sitting in a circle, hands clasped. Maka insists that the physical connection in the world will help them to stay together in the soul. Tsubaki knows the theory as well, but her experience with soul deep corruption has taught her that it's far less simple than it sounds in a textbook, and though she knows her friends are also aware of this, especially Maka, her experience is different. Then again, with Crona still out on a rampage in the world at large, maybe it's more similar than she credits. Tsubaki remains silent, unwilling to voice her own uncertainty. She's done her part in drawing attention to the problem-she will not darken the process with her doubt when it is driven by pain rather than prudency.

"So we resonate?" Maka looks up at Stein, who stands next to her father, far outside their circle. Spirit is up against a tree, trying and failing to look nonchalant. His patented hysterics in greeting his daughter done, he now just looks worried. It frankly makes Tsubaki more nervous; if Spirit Albarn is serious, then it must be bad.

"You resonate," Stein's drawl interrupts her thoughts. "You'll have to do it without the piano-" he raises a hand preemptively as he had earlier "-none of you can have the type of split focus Soul would need to maintain it, and even if that weren't the case, should this be related to the black blood, it would only help the infection spread. Fortunately, you are all well enough used to group resonance that the type of group connection you'll need to maintain should be achievable. It focuses on depth not power, and it has been a clash of control at the root of your prior issues."

That may be understating to call it a clash of control. More like a clash of ego and strong wills. However, Black*Star and Maka have both gotten better at reading each other's souls because there had been no choice, so they should be able to manage. As usual, their weapons will assist, the more comfortable resonance helping ease into one far less so. Even with the piano, Tsubaki works constantly to help Black*Star pull back just enough. Just enough would have to be-more, she supposes, but she would handle it.

Their first attempts are fairly predictable without the piano. It's been so long since they've even tried unaided by the natural connective abilities of their group deathscythe that even the most surface connection is tenuous and ends explosively the instant they attempt to go deeper. Frustration, difficult to avoid as they try and fail and try and fail again, only makes things worse. Tensions mount and writhe and that is not how this is going to succeed.

The surprise comes with Liz's voice, as they are on their seventh break, an hour gone by.

"We need music," she says matter of factly, one long nail tapping her chin.

"But, sis-" Patti begins as Black*Star scoffs, rolling his eyes, "Professor screw head already told us Soul can't do his weird piano shit, so-"

"Not Soul," Liz cuts him off, and suddenly she has the full attention of the group. Each had been engaged in their own conversations, but even Stein looks up from his book. Spirit has fallen asleep against a tree, the lack of progress and what must be his exhaustion at being stretched too thin as death's primary weapon finally catching up with him. Black*Star had already enjoyed snickering at his drool and had to be held back bodily by Kid not to draw on the elder deathscythe's face with a sharpie.

"Okaaaaaay." Black*Star folds his arms over his chest, eyebrows raised. "But I don't see any other assholes hanging around with soul pianos, so-"

"We sing."

"We-sing?" Maka blinks-everyone knows she can't carry a tune.

"Yep," Liz highlights the P with a pop of her gum. "We decide on a song, and we all sing, together. Focus us on something in common."

"It's-actually a really good idea." This comes from Soul, though there's a slight grimace on his face. Tsubaki guesses he's not looking forward to the inevitable sonic mess; he takes music quite seriously, she's discovered over the years.

"I agree. Why don't you all try it," Stein says with a push of his glasses before his eyes return to his book.

They quickly run into a problem-they don't listen to the same type of music, so coming up with a song everyone knows the lyrics to is yet another challenge.

Everything from "Shots" to selections from Les Miserables are thrown out as possibilities, but inevitably, no one knows all the lyrics.

"I've got it!" Patti exclaims into a lull. Six skeptical pair of eyes rotate in her direction-Stein is still focused on his book, and Spirit snoring. Patti's last suggestion had been "What Does the Fox Say," so the skepticism is warranted. "Tubthumping!"

Soul groans, Liz shrugs, and Maka and Kid both exclaim, "What now?" at the same time Black*Star pumps his fist with a "YOSH!" Tsubaki is in the dark right along with Maka and Kid, but says nothing.

"Oh, come on!" Patti rolls her eyes, hopping up from where she'd been picking grass to weave into bracelets. "I get knocked down-" she illustrates this by falling to rear, then jumps to her feet again "-but I get up again, you are never gonna keep me down!"

"Ohhhh!" Maka exclaims with a wide smile. Kid makes a bit of a face but nods. Soul groans yet again. Tsubaki finds herself nodding as well. It could work.

For her part, Liz hums and also nods. "Simple lyrics, everyone's heard it, could work. Nice, Sis." She grins Patti's way, who gives her a return grin and thumbs up. "We all know the lyrics?" Her sharp gaze scans the group, and more nods follow. Soul looks visibly in pain but still nods.

"It's ON!" Patti does a little jig in place and it's hard not to smile at her enthusiasm.

The group circles up again, holding hands for good measure, and the singing begins after Liz's suggestion of, "On three. And remember." Her eyes fall on Soul. "You have to at least try to mean it." Soul nods, and the fact he doesn't roll his eyes is a near miracle. "One. Two. Three!"

"I get knocked down!" They all sing-shout, Patti jumping up and down in place next to her, shaking her hand, Black*Star similarly enthusiastic on her other side. Tsubaki's arms may not survive this. "But I get up again! You are never gonna keep me down!" The pairs are already resonating, and as Maka does a little twist with her hips across from them, Tsubaki can't help but notice even her reluctant partner smiles her way at that. The song does well represent her grit. All of their grit, really. Maybe this can work.

What nearly breaks their building resonance just for an instance is when they approach the bridge and Black*Star and Patti croon in one, slightly off key falsetto, "Pissing the night away… Pissing the night awaaaay!" It suits them so well, however, wide smiles follow the shock, and the song continues. Their group resonance is solid. It's actually working!

It's working so well, they come to near the end of the song and suddenly, a blink later, their souls draw their consciousness away and they all find themselves in a field of red flowers, blue sky stretched out endlessly above them with a line of white clouds between and stretching into the endless horizon. The others look a bit confused but Tsubaki knows the place well.

They've arrived within her soul.