Chapter 15

The room wasn't noisy, but there was bit of whispers and low chatter that filled the air. They were standing off to a far side, looking over heads at the centered stage and podium where the Mayor would be speaking. Apparently Medusa was to be in attendance as well with her own words but for the most part, they wanted to see what their Mayor had to say. They needed that security from their leader by knowing he had some kind of control over what was happening. Soul leaned heavily into the wall, eyes lazily searching the crowd as a tall figure and red haired man whispered to one another in the distance. He recognized the red haired man as Maka's father but the tall figure he wasn't certain of. "Eh Soul, who's the tall freak Maka's old man is talking to?" Black Star's voice cut through.

"Dunno, a body guard maybe?" he answered back into his headset with a low voice. "You worried?" A scoff was heard.

"Hardly, we just need to watch out for botches in this plan…" He paused. "Speaking of which, look to your left." Glancing to his side, Soul's eyes fell on Kid who was walking towards him, expression blank and his in his pockets. A brow rose when his gaze finally fell on Soul however. "Good luck." Black Star snickered before his set clicked off. Soul swore under his breath but he turned and fully faced Kid with a nod.

"Hey man."

"Soul, I didn't expect to see you."

"Ah… yeah it's a last minute thing, you know." Soul answered. Kid cocked his head to the side slightly, a curious look crossing his face.

"Oh really? Is Black Star here with you as well? The girls are here sitting somewhere you know." This was getting awkward.

"No, he's tending to some things with Sid today." The pair stood facing each other in an awkward silence. "So, um, Liz was supposed to be here, right? Where's she at?" Kid pursed his lips and frowned slightly, looking away.

"She got annoyed with me and went off somewhere. I can't go after her right now because my father is about to go up and I want to be nearby." He answered. There was a hint of defeat in his voice despite his annoyed expression. Soul smiled knowingly. Reaching out, he clapped him on the shoulder.

"If it makes you feel better, we've all been going through it with our girls." Kid's eyes widened. "But at the end of the day, I'm sure she'll talk to you when she's calm." Earning a confused blink, Soul gave a confirmation nod in return. Kid smiled slightly.

"You're right… It's just been a rough time I suppose." The dark haired male let out a sigh, squared his shoulders and looked up. "I'll speak to her as soon as this press conference has ended." He decided. There was a determined glow in his eyes. "Thank you Soul. I'll see you after the conference. I need to speak to my father briefly." With that, he walked off towards where the strange tall man and Maka's father were.

"Looove doctor." Soul glowered when Kilik's teasing voice and Black Star's laughter sounded in his head set.

"Go to hell, you two."

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"That's him…" A voice whispered into the headset. Black Star leaned forward, eyes narrowing as the room went silent and a tall, odd looking man walked up to the podium. Sid had mentioned something about the mayor was a strange looking man that would easily be overlooked or steered clear of because of his eccentric ways and appearance, but the azure haired man was still taken aback by the far too chipper manner in which the man took the stage and greeted the audience. He was nothing like Kid, though his cheerful golden eyes were far too familiar.

"Welcome, welcome citizens of Death City!" Faces dropped significantly as the man began to speak.

"Is he serious?" Soul chocked out. The man was animatedly waving to the audience of slightly awestruck and confused people before continuing to speak in a far too chipper tone that progressively began to calm as he went on. Every so often he would throw in a lame joke or smile jovially. In all honesty, it was comforting and unnerving all in the same sense. Scanning the spectators, Black Star's eyes fell on Maka and Tsubaki who were all posted up by a nearby wall listening intently.

"Soul I spotted the girls." he murmured into the head set, stealing a glance at Sid, who was scanning the area intently, rifle in place. He wasn't paying any mind to the side discussion being held apparently.

"Who are they near?" Soul finally asked back.

"Looks like Akane's station... You hear that, Akane? If things get out of control you better have my girl outta here."

"We'll have anyone not involved out of here, Black Star." A calm voice responded only to receive a grunt in response. "Just keep a close eye on the target. Giriko seemed very restless before the speech even began."

"He's right, Black Star," Kilik spoke up. "Metal face is on the move."

"Liz, head him off." Sid had spoke now, suddenly sitting up straight. "Something isn't right."

"On it." Liz answered. The mayor was still speaking and no one paid mind to the moving figures in the audience much. That made it just that much easier to spot anything out of the ordinary. "Found him." Giriko could be seen standing near one of exits, his hand reaching inside his blazer.

"Nygus, take him out." Sid ordered without hesitation. There was a grunt of confirmation. "Everyone take position. It looks like something's up." Without hesitation, everyone began to shift. Medusa was still in the presence of Ragnarok, but Chrona was gone, as was Noah.

"We've got one missing." Soul informed swiftly. "Black Star, where are you?" he hissed, noticing Giriko had once again vanished. It didn't help that the people in the audience were now standing and clapping, blocking most vantage points.

"In the crowd... Someone gimme a damn update!" The azure haired man snapped. He was leaning heavily over the side of a railing near a set of stairs, hood up and face mostly concealed. "What's going on?" While Nygus had reported apprehending Giriko, something wasn't right. No one noticed the extra person on stage.

"Someone find out where Chrona is." Nygus ordered.

"Hey, look…"

"Wonderful speech, sir. Truly beautiful." A voice cut through the applause. The claps had stopped with all eyes still on the stage. "But I'll have to show you just how wrong you are."

"Shit!"

"Someone get the mayor outta there!"

"I'm on it!" Kilik answered, pushing his way through the standing, shocked crowd. Sid was directing through the head set. Akane had already taken out a few extra men brought out by Noah with the assistance of Nygus. Some of Giriko's swearing could be heard in the background of their headsets.

"Make sure Medusa doesn't get out of here."

"And keep bystanders out of the way." They could have only been so lucky.

"Who are you?" All eyes fell on Kid who had approached, eyes narrowed at Noah while his father seemed unfazed and almost curious about being confronted. Noah cocked a brow at the glaring younger man before an entertained smile crossed his face.

"I suggest you stay out of this, boy." A string of swears could be heard through the head set as Ragnarok took the stage, pointing a gun to the back of Kid's head with a twisted grin.

"Do something!" Liz's voice snapped, panic evident.

"Abort! Plan C! Plan C!" Soul hissed swiftly, rushing from his spot as all attention was rested on Noah.

"Don't let anyone see your faces!" Kilik spoke swiftly.

"Take them out now."

"On it." Almost instantly, figures jumped from their hiding spots, guns poised. Noah raised a brow despite the fact there was a gun pointed to the back of his head and shocked screams and gasps in the audience. People had started flooding from their seats but froze when the men Sid appointed ordered them to stop moving. Too much movement would clearly cause too much commotion and distraction.

"Well if this isn't interesting…"

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The main hall seemed to have gotten very quiet but Tsubaki waited patiently for Maka to step from the bathroom stall, leaning against the sink and yawning behind her hand unaware of what was happening beyond the bathroom. The mayor really was an interesting man. Nothing like Kidd at all. At the sound of the flush, Tsubaki watched as her exasperated friend stepped from the stall and moved forward to wash her hands. "You feeling ok?" She nodded mutely.

"Yeah, just feeling a little light headed is all. Maybe it's the crowd or something." She answered with an apologetic smile. "It sounds kinda quiet out there. You think we missed the end of the speech?"

"Probably, but we still have to hear the rebuttal, don't we?" Tsubaki answered as she pulled open the bathroom door only to freeze in the doorway. Maka frowned.

"What's wrong?" She asked, only for Tsubaki to step to the side and reveal a far too anxious Chrona standing at the other side of the door. "Chrona! I didn't know you were here!" Maka called, moving past her best friend to the fidgeting male. When he looked up, he seemed to be trying to look serious but at the same time, he was shaking and it took away from the supposedly intense stare.

"Are you ok?" Tsubaki asked hesitantly. Nodding feverently, Chrona reached around the dark haired woman and grabbed Maka's wrist, pulling her from the bathroom.

"Hey!"

"You two have to get out of here now. Something bad is going to happen!" he informed hurriedly while Maka pulled from his grasp and glared.

"What're you talking about?" she ordered. He casted his eyes away and began mumbling something strange under his breath while rubbing his arm. "Chrona!"

"Please listen and come with me…" The pink haired male choked out, causing both women to stare at him in shock. Maka faltered and glanced at Tsubaki who seemed just as uncertain as she was. Neither of them had much contact with Chrona. In fact, Maka had random run-ins with him a few times after she first met him, but he always stuttered and stumbled through their brief conversations. He had never given her a reason to mistrust him, however, none of this seemed right.

"What's going on…" She finally ventured. Chrona opened his mouth to speak, but the sound of shots and screams filled the air. Chrona had quickly rushed forward and pulled both Tsubaki and Maka to the ground as the doors to the hall flew open and screaming people came flooding out, some of them stumbling to the ground and covering their heads as well.

"What's going on?" A bunch of voices were screaming while stumbling over those who dropped to the ground. There were more shots heard followed by screams causing more people to drop to the ground as men in black rushed from random directions barking orders.

"FUCK!"

"What's happening!"

"Everyone get down!"

"J-just stay calm!" Chrona choked out before pushing himself from the ground and rushing after the men in black into the hall that everyone was still rushing from. Maka let out a shocked squeak as he vanished in the crowd.

"Chrona, wait!" she screamed after him but Tsubaki grabbed her before she could move too far. She didn't say anything but fixed her friend with a pleading look. Something was going on and no matter what, getting up off the ground and chasing Chrona was going to be more trouble than they needed.

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Kid cringed in pain, moving to grab hold of his aching shoulder, but realizing that there was something off. Cracking an eye open slightly, his gaze met with mostly while and his ears were starting to tune in some of the sounds around him. There was a strange beep sound and hushed voices speaking. That couldn't have been right… Wasn't he supposed to be in City Hall? He moaned as his head began to throb. "Guys, he's waking up!" a hushed voice responded anxiously.

"Oh, so he is alive?"

"Black Star!" The voices were all familiar and anxious, causing the dark haired male to open his eyes groggily and stare at the group of anxious on lookers through bleary eyes. Liz's face was the first her could make out and the mixture of pain and gratefulness that crossed her features made him fully process his surroundings. His friends were around his hospital bed, Black Star with his arm in a sling and Soul with a few scrapes, bruises, and bandages, but otherwise stable in appearance. Liz herself looked as if she had been in a scuffle herself, but she was more focused on his condition than her own.

"Kid! You're ok!" She chocked out, tears welling up in her eyes while he continued to stare at her through the throbbing in his shoulder and head.

"What happened?" He finally asked, trying to sit up only to have his fiancé stop him.

"You were shot, dude." Black Star spoke up and cringed when Tsubaki nudged his injured arm in an effort to silence him. Liz nodded, letting out a shaky sigh.

"He's right… You got shot through your shoulder… We all got a little beat up but you lost a lot of blood." She chocked out while Kid stared at her wide eyed. Everything that had happened was a complete blur to him and the last thing he remembered were screams and shots before everything went black.

"Who…"

"You jumped in the way of your father," Soul spoke up from where he sat, Maka propped on the arm of his chair. "I gotta say, you react pretty quickly in time of chaos."

"But don't worry, you're dad is fine." Maka added swiftly, clearly noticing the concern that crossed their friend's face. "He was taken somewhere safe and the men that were involved all were taken away."

"And they're in worse condition than we are." Black Star added, puffing his chest out proudly.

"But why were they after my father to begin with… it was all premeditated and you were there." Kid informed, looking pointedly at Soul and Black Star. He noticed that even Liz had stiffened significantly. He frowned slightly. "You knew about this?"

"It's not something that can be discussed in such a public place." Liz offered but Kid wasn't content with this, he opened his mouth to retort when the room door flew open and Patty came in, arms pull of small containers.

"I found the jello!" she sang, skipping over to the bed and dumping the load into Kid's lap. "This is for you to get better quicker and to celebrate saving the mayor!"

"Patty…" Liz started, but her chipper sister continued.

"Wasn't it so smart of sis to help out Black Star and Soul?" she hummed.

"What?" Kid asked, perking up at these words while Liz moved to shut up her younger sibling. Patty hopped out of the way however, looking at Kid with innocent confusion.

"Yeah! There was a plan to kill your dad and they guys pretended to be on the bad guys' side to help out. Even sis did!"

"Are you serious?" Maka had jumped from her seat and gripped Soul by the front of his shirt in rage. "You put yourself blatantly in danger?" The white haired man grimaced.

"We weren't in any direct danger. The plan was that we were supposed to be the one's to take out the mayor. Someone must have caught on… It sucks that Medusa and Ragnarok got away but whatever." Maka's eye twitched.

"What about Chrona!"

"What about him?" Black Star spoke up, earning everyone's attention. "He didn't do anything as bad as the others did. He's a simple accomplice. They'll probably let him off." He explained with a simple shrug.

"But what about you two?" Tsubaki asked. "All three of you? You're going to be connected back to them." She pointed out.

"That's all settled as of yesterday," All attention turned to Akane, who walked into the room, holding a card in one hand and a faint smile on his lips. "Hope you're feeling well, Kid." He greeted while the OCD male seemed to be conflicted between outrage and confusion.

"Who is he and why is he here?" he bellowed while Liz cringed. Black Star let out an exasperated sigh while Soul gave their friend a sympathetic smile.

"Guess we have no choice but to explain all of this after all, do we?"

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Black Star didn't bother to stifle his yawn as he tugged at his tie in an effort to loosen it without Kid noticing. The guy was already on edge and Soul was trying to calm him while the azure haired ex assassin decided to distract himself by walking around the venue and observe the guests that were arriving. He really wasn't a man for these types of events. Especially if they weren't in any way focused on him. He grimaced just thinking about how Liz had threatened his manhood if he even thought of taking any attention from her as she walked down the aisle in the dress she had practically starved herself to fit into.

To think a few months ago they were partners in crime, working to protect those the cared for the most. Explaining everything to them had been painful enough since they seemed to think that there would be a hit on them next, but for the most part, Noah had vanished, Giriko was back in prison, a close eye was being kept of that Medusa woman and Capone had left them alone. Chrona, however, had been missing as well. He had gotten off from the trail without any problems, but his disappearance from Death City seemed to have Maka on edge a lot according to Soul.

"There you are." Glancing over his shoulder, a grin crossed his face when his gaze fell on his girlfriend. The dress she wore was low cut in the front and hugged her curves perfectly. They had even taken her usually straight dark hair and pulled it up into a style of waving curls. Walking up to him, Tsubaki reached up and began adjusting his tie. "You look handsome." She hummed.

"You don't look half bad yourself." Black Star teased, leaning forward and kissing her softly. "So, when the hell is this whole wedding thing starting? I wanna get outta this monkey suit." Tsubaki laughed and shook her head.

"Liz is just about done with her make-up… I'm certain the service will be starting soon." She answered. Black Star gave a miserable groan in response.

"There's no reason such things should be so tedious." He grumbled. "Promise me that when we get married it won't be this much of a pain." Tsubaki's face had reddened but she nodded in response, earning a wide grin from the man in front of her. When they had made their second trip to Japan with the company of Sid and Nygus, Black Star had taken it upon himself to make a huge show out of proposing to her in front of both their families and several on lookers. Everyone had been taken completely by surprise by the young man's actions. It would have been more romantic if there weren't people trying to watch the New Years fireworks show staring at them in complete shock, but Tsubaki still bawled her eyes out and accepted all the same.

"I'd prefer a smaller wedding anyway." She informed. Black Star opened his mouth to speak but was cut off by the sound of someone clearing their throat.

"Yo jackass, what the hell are you doing?" The couple turned towards Soul who was exasperatedly adjusting his tie. "We're taking our places so let's go." He all but snapped causing his best friend to scowl.

"Get the stick outta your ass, we're coming." He grumbled back, allowing Tsubaki to take his arm and lead the way. The guests were taking their seats and Black Star could make out some important figures in the audience. He wasn't sure what positions they held, but he knew they were important. Nygus and Sid could be seen sitting with Maka's father. The red haired man seemed very anxious for some reason. He was a weirdo any way. Angela could be spotted, moving anxiously in her seat next to Mifune who remained as calm as ever. Akane was sitting with the pair, seemingly unbothered by Angela's constant movements. At the very end Kid stood, looking as poised and dignified as ever. Would it be rude to remind him during the reception about how he almost puked up his life a mere twenty minutes prior to taking his post at the altar? Tsubaki wouldn't be pleased… and Liz would probably flip a shit. The sound of the music playing snapped the azure haired man from his thoughts. That and Maka's annoyed hissed from behind him to pay attention and to move his ass. Soul had chuckled knowingly at his best friend's over the shoulder glare while Maka glared at the azure haired male from where she stood with her arm linked with her boyfriend's. She was a pest sometimes.

Fighting back the urge to make a comment about the dress making her look like a twelve year old girl, Black Star held his arm to Tsubaki and followed the pair in front of him the way that Kid had ranted and raved for him to do for months, weeks, days, and hours before the wedding had even started.

He had the rest of his life to have all eyes on him… and Tsubaki.

Author's Note: I struggled so badly with ending this story... -_- It drove me insane and midterms didn't help. But yeah, this was the ending of this AU series for me. I think Twists of Fate will remain my favorite. That was my baby lol. All the same, thanks to all of you SOOOOO SOOOOO much for reading, reviewing, alerting and all that for this story! Please subscribe to me, check out my other fics and even make suggestions if you like. I have a couple one shots in my mind I'll have up eventually and a SE Next Gen fic I plan to present sometime next month. Hope to see you there! :hug: