The mystery man quickly makes the string he had reconnects and breaks the connection of the dark magic just so everyone doesn't get hurt he sends Kuro a message deep within him "You need to wake up! You're hurting your friends." The mystery man won't do much action right now; he wants Kuro to control it since he knows he can. "What's wrong with him!? Whose that!?" Mooncaster asks eyeing mystery man while worried about his friend. Kuro's fur is completely black however his string that the mystery man and Martha can see still has a sliver of its usual light blue color. "Kuro! I don't know what's wrong with you but you need to snap out of i...t" Mooncaster starts to say only to have Kuro suddenly in front of him with a cold, cruel smirk before he kicks him in the gut, sending him slamming straight through the temple wall at the same time, another blast of dark energy is used to send the other's slamming into separate areas except for Martha whose protected by the mystery man's strings. Martha shivers at the cold and cruelty inside of Kuro's eyes before he disappears, reappearing behind Aussie, who just manages to block the attack. "H-He's losing control of himself" she whispers, staring shocked at the usually gentle and easy going fox. "Kuro, I don't know what's wrong with you but you have to snap out of it!" Mooncaster shouts hesitant to fight his best friend but he jumps in the way to defend Malada from Kuro's black magic. Suddenly the woman is back but only Martha and mystery man can see her "This was his choice...I could do nothing but place the strings to seal it but the strings have weakened...they will always weaken no matter how many years they are reapplied...listen to me closely child of ancients" she goes quiet as Kuro growls and nearly manages to kill Tim if he hadn't of managed to slither out of the way. "Thiss issn't funny!" Tim hisses quickly hiding behind a ruined building. The woman looks at Kuro and for a split second they can see the fox from old before she continues talking "Their is a way to give him back control over himself but...it's very dangerous to you...your life will be bound to his...you must....do....and then...." her words are vanishing as Kuro's dark magic starts to overtake the area and they all can suddenly hear screams and pain echoing. Kuro's voice speaks but it's both his and not his at the same time as if someone else is also speaking alongside him "This pain...all these delicious screams....I'm going insane with the power this darkness gives me~ I'm losing control and I don't want to lose control but the sounds, the pleasure I feel from it...it's becoming too much~" Martha stares up at Kuro as he glares coldly at her and mystery man. Mystery man attempts to assist him in regaining control, with his strings but Kuro's dark magic has become too strong to be forced into sleep anymore, easily preventing Kuro from regaining control. Martha feels something, deep inside her, a wisdom of what she must do and the consequences that will come from her choice but she grits her teeth. "I won't abandon him! Kuro, you're stronger than this magic! Don't let it corrupt you! Fight it!" she shouts knowing she needs him to be fighting it in order to have the opening she will need. For a second Kuro smirks coldly at her before his eyes flicker between his normal color and the black abyss. He's fighting to regain control as hard as he can. "Guardian! Now! Use your strings to bind him in place for me!" Martha shouts at mystery man who does as she orders, wanting to save Kuro if at all possible. The other's struggle to their feet and look at her before sharing a single glance. They all nod and together they let her strings touch their souls, feeding her some of their power to give her strength. None of them know what they are doing, only that this feels like what they must do to save their friend. Honestly they all felt connected to each other from the moment they first met, like they've known each other for far longer than time itself. Martha takes a deep breath and lets her red strings glow brighter than ever before, powered by her friends' souls, and having frozen time, however the mystery man is surprised she can stop time although he breaks the frozen time on himself with his own strings as she connects her own string to Kuro's dark-blue soul and speaks powerfully "With this string, I bind thee to me, forging the sacred contract of ancient servitude. I reforge the magic seal inside, giving full control over the darkness that my servant selflessly sealed away inside itself to protect everyone from this dangerous foe. Now to repay it's selfless act, I bind thee to my own soul so that it may gain full control while also tying our fates to each other from now on!" The red string glows so brightly that it almost blinds everyone but when the glow disappears, Kuro is laying on a dark cloud, his fur back to it's usual light blue color except the tips of his ears and tail which are now tinged with black. Kuro groans lightly but doesn't wake up and Martha passes out from exhaustion. Mystery man catches her and after a bit of silence they all get to the nearest town with mystery man carrying Martha and the dark cloud following them with Kuro curled ontop of it, sleeping peacefully. Once they're all inside the hotel room, the mystery man turns invisible again, unable to be heard or seen. He gently touches Martha's head, slightly moving some of her bangs away from her face as he whispers "You're like me. You have the same power as me...I thought that was impossible"