London, England, United Kingdom

Bang "Ok, never do that again. I think I'm gonna be sick." Baltor said as they reformed on Piccadilly Square. "Sorry, I don't want to die today! So, here we are London, England. Follow me, they'll be following my trail soon enough." the girl said as she ran towards the street.

"Hey, witchling!" Baltor shouted as he tried to catch up with her. "My name is Alice Hart!" she said. "Would you stop running, Thank you, please send me back to my partner?" he begged. "I can't for another 2 hours, that spell takes alot out of me!" she replied as a massive hole appeared at her feet.

- Baltor Orthos
"Where the hell are you?" Baltor shouted as he followed Alice into the sewers. "Over here, I'm looking for the portal to Mabaa's palace, nu." she replied feeling the walls on her left. . "Here it is Hippadee Hippadoo Hippity Hoppity Nuu Nuu Nuu, Portal Open!, follow me!" she said running through the portal. "Jorma's going to kill me and i never go to eat my icee." Baltor whined before running head first into the portal.


Continued In Mabaa"s Palace

Shara held her staff tightly as she hovered silently over London. “As commanded… reek havoc…” She smiled slightly as she broke the shadow spikes that she used to entwine this and all the other experiments she had left in major cities around the world would be free to full fill their purpose to Aro. “Time to enjoy the show… bye bye London…” She said with a soft lulling laugh. “Civilization is a mockery… chaos is the only absolute… all paths lead back to primal instinct… lets see what master’s pets can do.”

~Jorma Yole

After traveling the United State's eastern countryside, Jorma had returned to Egypt to see if Baltor was back. But he wasn't, so she hopped on over to England. A wonderful country where people had cool accents. Maybe she could acquire the accent by eating enough British souls. She began in a small town where she acted as a plague, wiping out three whole families and a few extra people. Now she was in London, wondering where else her Weapon partner might have ended up. She was beginning to get tired of looking for him and contemplated going ahead with other plans without him.

~Death the Kid

The Shinigami Death the Kid had grown into a fine young man. His obsessive-compulsive tendencies had diminished with age, somewhat. He now constantly wore the Shinigami robes, though he found the mask stifling. Liz and Patty had also matured to a certain degree. Liz was no longer as much of a scaredy-cat, but Patty still subconsciously refused to take things seriously. The three together have become quite a strong team and now take on quite dangerous missions. Such a mission is what brought them to London, England, where a powerful Kishin had been released to reek havoc across the city. Little did they know what awaited, floating above the streets and buildings of the great city...

OOC: I figured if a villain was building a trap to catch a Shinigami then we should give them a Shinigami that is a little easier to catch. Makes things more interesting I think. Anyone may feel free to play these characters at any time.

Shara opened her eyes to watch Death the Kidd enter London’s boundaries. A foolish creature who would dear meddle in her masters affairs… the only outcome would be death… The witch smiled with maleficent intent. Before landing on the ground and approaching Death the Kidd with a charming smile. “Oh my… aren’t you Death the Kidd?” She said with a slight giggle of embarrassment. “You’re a Shinigami! Its such a pleasure to meet you…” Her smile quickly turned into a smirk as she twirled her staff and her Soul Protect released with a quick word beneath her breath. She leapt backwards and landing on her hands before propelling herself several more times backwards in the same fashion in a few moments. “Night, Blight, Shadow, Curtain, Night, Blight, Shadow Curtain… Song of the Siren” She let forth a haunting tune which filled the air and came down softly like a warm blanket… and the sense of safety the presence of a young child’s mother presents. “Sleep child… you have no need to fight… such would be pointless… why not just sleep and be safe in my arms forever my sweet little child.” She stepped forward arms extended. “You’ve been through so much… faced so many trials… it is time to rest. It is time to le others fight their battles or they shall be forever lost. You don’t want these people to die when you’ve gone and passed?” She pressed her finger against her lips every time Death the Kidd would try to speak. “Sleep… rest… you deserve it my child.” The haunting melody still hummed from her throat even as she spoke… it was a strange sensation… motherly love or magical lies?

~Death the Kid

Death and his two cohorts stopped as a woman approached them. He raised an eyebrow, this woman wanted to make introductions? Apparently not, as she leaped backwards and revealed herself to be a Witch. Death and his Weapons took up a defensive stance, waiting for her move and became confused when she appeared to start singing. Death's eyes drooped and he started to slump. Realising what was going on he stiffened. "Liz, Parry, watch out, she's using a spell on us. Get ready to attack..." Patty was already curled up on the ground, snoring. A sweatdrop appeared above Kid and Liz. Death the Kid turned back to the woman, her arms outstretched, welcoming... He began to relax, then jerked back. Every time he tried to interrupt her her words would interrupt his thoughts. "No," he murmured, "I'm not going to get caught in a trap this easily." He forced himself back into a battle stance. With Patty incapacitated he would have to fight unarmed. "Liz, try to get her awake while I distract this Witch."
"Right!" Liz replied resolutely, but she felt herself yawning.
Kid charged the Witch, forcing the fatigue from his body. He was a Shinigami for crying out loud, he should have no trouble defeating a single Witch!

~Jorma Yole

Jorma's boredom didn't last long as she came across a Kishin that had (unbeknown-st to her) been released by Aro's cohorts to reek havoc on the city. She had a delightful fight with the monster who had quite a long range. She finished the battle by throwing a poor unfortunate British boy at the monster to distract it, then rushing in for a killing blow with a knife she always kept on her. She wished Baltor were here, he carried a bag with some of her other belongings and while it wasn't nearly as hot in London as it had been in Cairo, she found herself perspiring after the battle and wished he were there with her fan and a parasol. She had a delicious feast of the Kishin soul as well as the young boy who had died from the Kishin's whip-like blade when she had thrown him. As she finished her snack she began walking, hopping onto a stone wall and following it through the city. Before too long she heard a strange song-like noise and followed it, happening upon a fight between a Witch and... a Shinigami? Jorma's anger surfaced as she remembered her days at the Academy. If the Witch didn't finish off that kid, she would, and she would taste the victory over both once they were weakened enough for her to intervene. On the other hand, a nap didn't sound too bad...

“Oh… how rude of me my child… my sweet little babe. I am Shara Night Arade… I hope you haven’t heard all the horrible lies about me. it’s a sad truth really you sanctify nature… and they call you a murder.” As Death the Kidd continued to move towards her, she didn’t bother to move or dodge merely open her arms for an embrace… all she needed was skin contact that in combination wither her Song would be enough to stop a Shinigami right? She didn’t really care, the Shinigami stood no chance either way. He was naïve and left his weapons behind. “You come to greet me then, such a gentlemen. Not making a lady wait longer then necessary.” Shara’s eyes shifted towards Jorma. “Dear… Night sees everything… we are the shadows beneath your chin… the darkness that hangs beneath every step… air you breath. Though I’m quite disappointed… that soul you just consumed was property of my master… for that you must be given to the warm embrace of eternity… unfortunately I have no time to tuck you in… Night, Blight, Shadow, Curtain, Night, Blight, Shadow, Curtain… Shadow Spite.” A black silhouette of Jorma appeared in the witch’s hand and a black needle in the other. She drove the needle into both of the doll’s Achilles tendons and watched as the pain mimicked itself onto Jorma. “That should keep you from interfering.” She turned to face Kidd and the doll changed into a silhouette to mock Kid perfectly. “Do you wish to do this the easy way… where a slowly cause you to drift into sleep and you die painlessly when I slash your throat or do you wish the most horrific death you could dream of?”

~Death the Kid

Death the Kid slowed and stopped when he saw that this Witch wasn't going to dodge. Obviously she had something planned, other than luring him and his Weapons to sleep, from which they probably would never wake. He glanced away from the Witch for a moment at a newcomer but the drowsy song seemed to have an affect on her as well. Then the Witch Shara used shadows to make... a Voodoo doll? This was not good. Kid concentrated. He'd have to use his Weapons, or at least one of them. It may not be symmetrical, but that didn't mean it was not possible. He'd been working on this, hadn't he? He tried to relax and get used to the idea of only using one weapon, but he couldn't relax too much or he'd drift into sleep. Finally he was ready.
"Liz, I need you now!" He called to her.
"Huh? Oh, OK." She replied sleepily. She had been able to wake Patty enough that the other girl had grabbed her like a Teddy Bear and Liz had almost found it comfortable to sleep. Now she sprang into action, the sudden movement alerting Patty who looked around quickly. Liz burst into a ball of light beside Patty, and sprang into Kid's hand, Patty watched, eyes bleary from sleep.
With his Weapon in his hand (gulp, it's not symmetrical! Calm down!) Death the Kid took aim at Shara and fired.

Shara cocked her right brow as Kidd call on one of his weapons though before he managed to pull the trigger she had side stepped and vanished into the shadows. “You would shoot at someone who only gives you their deepest affections? What a little vile miscreant.” Her shadowy form appeared behind Kidd, the black needle piercing the doll’s wrist on which hand was currently holding Liz. “You can’t defeat me if you can’t fight.” She withdrew the needle before stepping towards Kidd. “Why continue to fight… you only continue the same struggle endlessly… Kishin after Kishin you will find no ends… no means to save this world. For in the end all creatures thirst for power… and the temptation of devouring the souls of others to steal their power will never cease to allure the weak and fearful into its embrace. I offered you a quick… painless death where you simple fell asleep and ended your days in bliss… but now you’ve forced me to inflict endless pain and suffering upon you.”

~Death the Kidd

Kid grimaced, dropping Liz to the ground and clutching his wrist. He glared behind him at the Witch who continued to hold the strange Voodoo doll.
"I will continue to fight, regardless of how foolish it seems to you." He said defiantly. "I believe everyone has the right to live, but no one has the right to devour a person's very essence, that's just plain wrong!"
At that moment Liz returned to her human form, pushing Kid out of harm's way as the Witch took a step closer. "And I'll continue to fight as well," she said angrily, "to protect Kid and Patty from you."
...
Patty mumbled in her sleep at all the yelling.

Shara sighed raising her hands to quickly muttered her spell beneath her breath. “Then I shall spare you of death… however I can not risk leaving you conscious… you following me or attacking me on terms not of my own would be quite problematic.” She turned as her spell took effect… every speck of darkness where the light just couldn’t reach extended forth from Kidd’s body until it pierced his skin and organs from the inside out. “I am not so heartless as to kill a child for the parent’s faults… though understand if you pursue me or challenge my power again I will be forced to kill you. As your father killed my precious daughter… I will slay his son if said son gets in my way so much as one more time.” She said stepping back into the shadows and vanishing completely.

~Death the Kid

Kid was amazed at Liz's courage, usually she was cowering behind him but today she was between him and their enemy. She and her sister certainly had grown strong. He glanced at Patty who was busily blowing a snot bubble while snoring. Maybe Patty could do a bit more growing... He himself felt weak, having not been able to stand up to this Witch. He stiffened as she began a spell, expecting some sort of death blow. But she caught him off guard... again...
“Then I shall spare you of death… however I can not risk leaving you conscious… you following me or attacking me on terms not of my own would be quite problematic.”
Kid's eyes widened and he gasped in pain as what felt like thousands of tiny knives impaled him. Yep, that definitely hurt. And so did his ego, she didn't see him as enough of a threat to kill him on the spot. As he fell, he heard her last words.
"...if you pursue me or challenge my power again I will be forced to kill you. As your father killed my precious daughter…"
Daughter? What is she talking about?
This was his last thought as darkness overtook him.

Liz felt pretty useless, she had tried to protect her Meister but the Witch had used her shadow power to get around her. Now she had two unconscious persons to worry about. Maybe since the Witch was gone she could wake Patty and the two of them could take Kid home. Yeah, that was a good plan! She went over to Patty and thought about gently waking her, but she was frustrated at the outcome of the battle and ended up kicking her sister, letting all of the frustration out. Patty flew across the street and crashed into an outside dining table.
"What the hell was that for!?" She screamed.
"Come on, we need to get Kid home, we lost." Liz said unhappily.
"... We were in a fight?" Patty asked cluelessly.
Liz shook her head as the two of them lifted Kid's limp form and headed out of the city.

~Jorma Yole

Jorma awoke from her nice nap, except there was a terrible pain in both of her ankles. It was then that she remembered the Witch. That damn woman! She thought, rubbing her sore tendons, relieved to find that they weren't actually torn. Then she remembered the Shinigami. Such a tasty soul his would be. She fully intended on devouring the soul of the loser of this battle and her mouth watered at the idea of such an easy snack. She climbed back onto the wall she had been following and looked down on the battlefield. All she could see were bloodstains on the cobblestones. Damn it. She definitely wished Baltor were here, she was hungry but didn't want to do any hunting. She would have to punish him for staying gone for so long.
After a while she got bored of sulking against the wall. Berlin wasn't too far away and Germany was the next target on her list. After helping herself to a couple of lovebirds on the way, she conned her way onto a plane and was off, making a snack out of the maintenance guy in the luggage compartment.

~Doctor Franken Stein

The trip to London was pretty uneventful, Stein ignored the students with their excited ramblings and tests of strength. He ignored Ravel as she did her homework on the zombies, which he had assigned to her before they left on the trip. He himself was engrossed in his own work, on the zombies, on Medusa, and on the missions ahead. Basilisks and Dragons and other creatures that were surely saturated in Madness, Emblems that may or may not even be there. On a few occasions Stein tensed, though he hoped no one noticed and surely the students didn't, at one point a flight attendant had asked if he needed a barf bag, which he had indignantly refused. The Madness was getting to him, he could feel it in his veins and the closer they got to their destination the stronger the feeling grew. Fortunately it was still a simple tingle here or there but it was enough to cause him to grit his teeth and worry. He was sure he could hold himself together for these missions. He was sure he could...

The Explosive Ninja Death Parfait <3

The short 13 year old girl in the Falling Star class with multi-colored streaked hair bounced energetically behind Stein, but she noticed something. He was acting odd. She felt something strange about his aura emanating from his body. "Aye, yo Doctuh Stein? You a'ight? You actin kinda weird and it's kinda creepin me out."

~Prof. Stein

Stein meandered the country road that the group had been dropped off on. They were just outside the city of London and he had a vague idea of the direction they were to head in. Honestly though, trying to keep even a small bunch of new students in a group was like herding adolescent cattle. There was one particular girl with, interesting hair, bouncing along near the front of the group. She was kind of annoying but at the same time was probably the best thing keeping him sane at the moment, keeping his mind off the madness. The madness... His head began to swim and his eyes blurred, he felt himself begin to stumble and stopped, gritting his teeth. Suddenly the girl's voice broke through and he realised he'd stopped moving. He groaned quietly to himself then put on a reassuring smile and turned to her.

"Oh no I'm fine, really there's nothing to worry about, it's just that I think we ought to head a little more to the left, our destination isn't going to be directly on the road in front of us, it's probably hidden in some ruins or something."

One good thing about the Madness, the closer they got to the Emblem the more it affected him, acting as a sort of homing beacon. Fortunately the Madness infused in the guardians or relics here wasn't too much for him to handle. Not at the moment anyway.

3 days 23 hr ago, as written by CherrySwirl
The Explosive Ninja Death Parfait <3

The energetic girl was getting bored. They'd been walking forever. She was irritated and it was time to let everyone know. "Dr. Stein! Dr. Stein! Dr. Stein!...are we there yet?"

The Mad Scientist, Doctor Franken Stein

The girl was so hyper and impatient she hadn't realised Stein had stopped and so she ran right into him. Stumbling backward she fell on her bum in the middle of the field the group had been walking through. She looked up to see Stein turn the group, a maniacal grin on his face, the dim rays of the sunset reflecting fire off his glasses.
In a strained, quiet voice he said "We're here."

London Countryside

The group had been meandering through various fields and glades, having left the road a good three hours ago. Now they had come across a large wooden cabin surrounded by a wooden fence. A round barn could be seen a ways behind the cabin. There was absolutely no sound here, no birds chirping, no insect noises. The doors to a root cellar were against the right side of the house, the doors were chained and locked with rusty chains and a rusty padlock. The entire area felt strange, dangerous, and enticing. The students may not know it, but Madness emanated from the cellar, affecting everyone and everything in the vicinity.