"You can't catch me!"

Kanda didn't see a point in trying, considering how Alma was orbiting around him, never straying more than two feet away. "You're an idiot, you know that?"

"Says the slowpoke that can't catch me?" Alma wasn't running short on breath anytime soon; he could do this all day, and he wanted to. It was…fun to play with Yuu again.

"You're an idiot…" Kanda reiterated, but his tone lacked its usual acidity. He plopped down on the ground and contented himself with watching his old friend run.

"Yuu?" Alma slowed from an all-out sprint to a comfortable jog, also ceasing his dizzying laps in favor of running in place in front of the teenager.

"Just give back my hair tie."

Without another word, Alma complied.

"I'm sorry."

All of Alma's movements died away at those words. "Uh…did you just apologize?"

Kanda glared at the evident shock in Alma's tone.

"I—I guess I'm sorry too, Yuu." Alma settled himself down facing Kanda. "I know I can be annoying…"

Kanda fingered the ribbon in his hands, not yet bothering to employ it in his hair. "I'm sorry for killing you."

"Oh." Well, that just shot the ambiance up a couple notches in severity. What a serious conversation this was turning out to be. But Alma didn't mind; any conversation was one to be treasured when it came to Yuu. "Then…I'm sorry too. For that. Or…uh…for trying to kill you." He didn't exactly succeed, so he couldn't very well apologize for it.

"Thank you."

Okay, now Alma was growing more suspicious by the second. What the heck had happened to Yuu?

"Thank you…for being there. In the beginning. And the end too, I guess." Kanda heaved a sigh as if it took great effort just to breathe. "You…you saved me."

From what? Alma wanted to ask. If anything, Yuu saved him—from killing more people, from killing himself, from the loneliness.

Oh. The loneliness. Was Yuu ever lonely? Alma searched Yuu's expression for any giveaway to his feelings but was soon reminded that the stoic teen's face was never a good place to look when one wished to read his thoughts.

Road did not like where this was going. It was becoming too real. Alma was becoming too real. He was a figment of her imagination, polished to near authenticity by the information found in Kanda's memories. But Alma had been…thinking. He was becoming capable of thought processes, emotions, and…words. Words that she didn't remember planting in him.

It was time to end this. Maybe Kanda was forging Alma to his own liking now. Maybe he'd somehow managed to control this dream as well as she could. Or maybe the real Alma was working through the mental connection all Noahs and akuma shared, a connection that could only be suppressed and never severed.

Whatever it was, it bothered her. She didn't like to be bothered.

Uh oh. The Noah wasn't happy. "Yuu…" Alma grabbed Kanda's wrist, jerking the teen's attention to him.

Somehow, Kanda understood what was about to happen. Perhaps their friendship was still solid enough to inspire mind reading powers between the two.

Alma's next word only served to confirm Kanda's guess. "Run."

And leave him to relive that nightmare years ago? "Not on my watch," Kanda growled, crouching as Alma began to transform.

Somewhere on that face distorted by pain and self-disgust, Alma smiled in gratitude. This was the Yuu he knew.

Lenalee didn't need to yell duck. Lavi simply did.

A blade of wind whizzed over his head and sent the pursuing Lulubell spiraling back. Lavi didn't miss a step as he leapt onward in this rapid retreat towards his friends. "This sucks, this sucks, this sucks!" he screamed even as his chest swelled with hope.

"General, please—" Lenalee's plea decayed on her lips as she realized how useless Tiedoll could be when caught up in his apprentice complex.

The veteran general was staring blankly at the unconscious Yuu as his Innocence cradled the limp teen in its arms. "Oh, my child, what terrible ordeals you must be going through."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Road?" Tyki asked accusingly as Road allowed their hostage to slip pass her.

"It doesn't matter," she retorted in response to his inquiring, urgent hand movements. "He won't escape."

Tyki gave a shrug in return, deciding instead to focus on the opponent he'd been delegated. He sent his Tease in first as a distraction, feeling for more as the reserve hidden in his body grew dryer. "Shoot. Time to reproduce, my lovelies," he murmured to the last of his golems.

"As if," Lenalee hissed, refreshed from Miranda's healing. "Eat this!" she yelled, launching forward through the hungry swarms of Tease and aiming a ruthless kick designed to quite literally wipe that smirk off Tyki's face.

"Lulubell!" the Earl called shrilly over Tyki's shrieks of profanities, hopping from foot to foot. "Come here, dear, and send a message to those twins. They should've been here hours ago!"

"Yes, Master," Lulubell grunted, despite the fact that she couldn't follow through with the Earl's request. Not with that girl around at least. Those boots needed to go. Now. "Tyki," she growled, frustration redoubling at the fact that this female was supposed to be her brother's problem.

But the said Noah appeared to be out of commission, huddling in a corner somewhere to nurse a bloody nose. It seemed that his Noah regeneration couldn't quite keep up with the damage still inflicted by the shards of Innocence lodged in his face.

An invalid already. And on their side too. The humiliation…

The Bookman had been positively livid at the mere sight of Lavi, shoving the redhead into the Gate to spare his eyes from lingering any longer on his battered apprentice. "Get treatment from Miranda," he'd ordered unnecessarily. It was more to reestablish his authority as teacher than to make sure Lavi got healed; after all, the sooner one was restored to competency, the sooner one returned to battle.

"Stop pushing, damn it!"

"You're too slow, hehe!"

Footsteps and gun loading sounded from behind Lenalee. "Now that we're here, let's get the party started!"

"Ah, you must be Jasdevi." The Bookman eyed them with distaste, disapproval deepening at their scandalous attire. "I've heard of your conduct from Lavi, and it would give me great pleasure to discipline you disrespectful imbeciles." The Bookman struck a taunting pose against the twins, ordering them to come forward with a flick of his hand.

"The old geezer wants to play!"

"Komui, please step aside." Allen's voice suggested coherency that was rarely associated with him these past hours or so, and in his relief of that detail, he nearly retrogressed from it again.

"What do you nee—Allen?" Komui held up his hands against both the determined Allen and the wary Link. "Allen?" he asked again, not liking how foolishly repetitive he sounded. "Where's Xiv?" By now, he could tell with a single, concise glance that something about the pair had changed yet again.

"We're ready," was all Allen said. "Please let us through."

Komui did. Only because Allen spoke in first-person plural.

"Fight it, Alma! Control it!" Kanda skidded across the floor, hands instinctively reaching for Mugen where he knew the sword wasn't.

"I—I don't know if I can, Yuu," Alma said through tears even as he pulled his arm from the ground where Kanda had stood seconds ago. "I'm not like you. I can't use it like you do."

"It's easier than it looks!" Kanda shot forward, grabbing Alma's normal wrist and flipping the boy over onto his back. "Find something worth fighting for!"

Alma had been fighting for Yuu since day one; if that wasn't enough, he didn't know what was. "I'm sorry." He sniffed at the snot in danger of spilling through his clenched teeth. "I can't."

"Yes. You. Can!" Kanda only renewed his grip on Alma when he felt something sharp pierce his abdomen. He didn't look down to see what a mess was down there 'cause he really didn't want to know.

Despite Kanda's absolute faith that Alma can, Alma couldn't. He knew he should be able to. He didn't love Kanda any less than the vice versa, and his resolve wasn't any weaker either. But he faced an obstacle Kanda never needed to worry about. The Noah. She was in his head, whispering mean, terrible things that threw his thoughts off. "She…she won't let me."

Kanda's eyes widened in recognition. He shoved himself away from Alma, stumbling as his wounds protested. Easily ignoring the pain, he clutched the hair ribbon still in his hand, shouting at it, "You stay out of this, Noah!

Road blinked. The human knew.

Kanda knew what form she took in his dream.

He was toying with her. He was toying with her.

Impossible. She'd created this game, so she owned it. It was hers to manipulate and hers to enjoy. She could put a stop to this whenever she grew bored.

And so could Kanda.

Yet he wasn't. He wanted to stay in the dream.

Was the boy suicidal? Insane? Or…soft? Softer than she—than any of them—had predicted.

Was he staying for Alma?

When Xivnallen emerged from the Gate, all hell met them. Lavi—who had rejoined his comrades the second Miranda deemed him ready—and Lenalee were facing off against Lulubell.

The Bookman was holding up incredibly well against the twins, who Xiv had sensed and fretted over. For a moment, they were all for aiding the senior Order member, but it had been brief, much because the Bookman was practically bouncing off the walls in his enthusiasm to "educate you uncultured fools!"

Tyki was…out of action, and Allen really didn't have the heart to deafen a blind man, even if his Innocence was less forgiving.

Crowned Clown was trembling so violently, Allen required both hands on the handle. "Calm down," he murmured in assurance, though the sound of his voice seemed to excite the weapon even more.

Allowing the Innocence time to settle, they searched for whom they would've challenged first naturally had their friends' wellbeing not opted for top priority. But where was he? The Earl wasn't exactly hard to miss.

Xiv's panic dosed them with adrenaline, and before Allen could even pinpoint the cause, his legs stepped back into a Gate under Xiv's command.

Narrow escape there, Xiv muttered, recalling the marshmallow's sudden attack at their unguarded rear. Ready? We're about to go back. They needed to act fast if they wished to reenter battle in an advantageous fashion. Xiv only had that last glance of the room to go by as he summoned a Gate where he hoped was well-placed.

To their credit, it was located conveniently above the Earl, and Allen didn't waste the chance, swiping down and effectively decapitating the Earl's hat.

For all his extra luggage, the Earl still moved like a lithe snake. Though he hadn't anticipated a surprise attack in such a flashy style, he had to marvel at the clever idea as he dodged. "How elusive you are," he commented; the Earl didn't even have the time to retaliate before Allen disappeared yet again.

Damn the Ark. Damn the Fourteenth.

Where would he show up next? Well, it was best to move around a little. The longer he stayed in his current position, the greater probability that Xiv would call Allen down upon him.

The Earl chose to take a single step back—not out of laziness against traveling further. Sure enough, Allen descended on where he had stood, cutting the air where he no longer was. With a grin, the Earl slashed at the boy's back with Rero, only to curse when Allen retreated into yet another Gate.

Scary… Allen whispered, incapable of higher decibels as his heart pounded all else out of interest. He almost got us.

Xiv tapped his—Allen's—foot in contemplation. Reformulating his plan—really, they were winging it more than his organized habits would've preferred—he replied, Even quicker then. Be ready. You will have two seconds at most.

But honestly, they were already doing better than he'd dared to optimize. Xiv was so proud.

Thanks, Allen answered with a small grin. He himself felt the beginnings of a disgraceful father complex coming on.

"Listen to my voice! Idiot, watch where you're swinging that thing!" Kanda hit the floor with vigor so desperate, it forced shameful noises out of him.

"Sorry! Sorry!" Alma cried in distress. He truly hated his body with everything he was worth. He'd never really liked it to begin with, for it stood for a life of experimentation and abuse, but now it was unforgivable. "Stupid hands! Stupid arms! Stop already! Can't you see you're hurting Yuu?"

"Don't get distracted!" Kanda felt the need to reexamine his situation since it was appearing more fruitless with each passing minute. What the hell was he doing? Why was he still here? He knew how to defeat Road, so why didn't he just do it? Upon further evaluation, he self-diagnosed himself with The Allen Syndrome.

Only Beansprout would go to such lengths to help an enemy in a dream. Even if the enemy had been his best friend.

The Earl took note of the shallow cuts along various parts of his body, little indications here or there of the father and son's mounting dominance in this petty game of tag.

Uncle Earl was not amused.

He heard the swish before he saw the blade. Saw it stab his shoulder before he felt it.

And he gave a toothy…look—it didn't quite make the cut as a smile, even by his queer, creepy standards. With a heave of air, he grabbed the sword by its blade "Can't run now, can you?"

Yanking on it was ineffective, Allen soon learned, even as he presumed that the Earl was as eager as he was to put distance between them, if the smoke rising off the Earl's hand where it made contact with Crowned Clown was anything to go by.

"My turn," was the whisper.

Rero shed his umbrella getup, slicing across Allen's chest. The boy had felt the tug from his waist as Xiv jumped back to avoid the blow, yet their body couldn't completely evade, anchored to place by Allen's death grip on Crowned Clown.

The Earl released him and watched with satisfaction as his enemy withdrew. They escaped, but left enough blood to please him.

As soon as they were within the walls of their Ark, they sank into a bench the Ark had hastily provided, staining the white surfaces around them.

Allen! Xiv felt the pain but could do little to quell it. Allen!

Ack. That was my fault. I couldn't get Crowned Clown to let go.

It's fine. Rest. Just rest for now and wait for us to heal.

Allen was about to question Xiv's strange statement when he felt tingling under the throbbing around the injury. The bleeding slowed steadily, and the muscles merged together. What the… High-speed regeneration?

Xiv only nodded as if it was as obvious as the wound it had healed.

That was fast. Allen rolled his neck testily, patting his chest where just a dull ache lingered.

Xiv nodded yet again. The Fourteenth's regeneration was the fastest out of the Noahs, probably due to all the "practice" he'd achieved from the abuse he'd received from his family members. As the youngest, Xiv had often been subjected to his siblings' stressed-induced rampages where they took out their pent-up frustration on whoever stood nearest.

The memory of one of Jasdevi's raging episodes sent shivers down his spine.

Ahaha… I never would've guessed that you're actually younger than those two, Allen observed.

In the comfortable silence that trailed, they breathed.

Reluctantly, for he wasn't exactly thrilled about exposing Allen to the Earl so shortly after recovering, Xiv sighed. Time to counterattack.

You idiot. You stupid, pathetic, wretched excuse for a guardian. The genes were furious.

What? What's wrong with you? Crowned Clown thought the genes' wrath to be completely unfounded and possibly rooted to jealousy at the fact that the Innocence was seeing more action.

Fool! You think you're being the most helpful here? We were the ones who just cleaned up your mess! What's wrong with you? Why didn't you let Allen go? Didn't you see the Earl coming in to mutilate your precious master?

Sh—shut up! I couldn't help it. I haven't been with Allen in so long. And I know Allen didn't want to separate again either!

You… Just…just be quiet. Be quiet and stay still and be used and pretend you don't exist and maybe try not to kill us all?

Ahaha… Hi. I'm too ashamed to say much this time. I'm not really sure if I made sense this chapter. I lost some of my touch for these characters.

But thanks for reading, if you're still around.