Searching for A.W. - The Clown's Joke

Searching for A.W. - The Clown's Joke (A.W（アレン・ウォーカー）をたずねて・道化の戯れ言, A.W. (Aren Wōkā) wo Tazunete Dōke no Zaregoto) is the 221th chapter of the D.Gray-man series written and illustrated by Katsura Hoshino. The chapter is published in Jump SQ.Crown in January 2016.

Color spread
Yu and Alma back to back. Kanda is wearing his exorcists uniform and wields mugen in his left hand and its sheath in his right hand. Alma is in his akuma form, he looks skyward.

Cover page
Allen and Nea sit on a red couch. They are both in suit and tie, Allen has a red tie and Nea a black one. Allen' s eyes are shut and Nea is leaning on the backrest with his legs crossed.

Short summary
Nea is restrained by the finders's talismans. One of them sees the earl human face which prompts the latter to use his soul consumption power on the finders. After devouring their souls, he attacks Nea but Nea is saved by Howard Link who restrains the earl with a spell. Link takes Nea and Johnny and goes a few blocks away. Link claims that he is now Nea's ally.

Summary
Members from the Black Order activate a talisman that seals Allen (Nea) making him unable to move. Mana, who is still insane after conversation between him and Nea, speaks of Nea's name multiple times, which a piece of The Earl of Millennium's face appears on Mana's face on the right side. The members reveals that they are coming from the Black Order. Eams is calling for back-up to surround Allen (Nea). Through the members of the Black Order, Nea thinks to himself that he did not detect them due that he is still not used to Allen's body. Mana, who is coming close to Nea is getting pushed away from one of the members which Nea calls out his name. Nea warns the members that they have to run away, one of them was trying to say something to Allen, but he got attacked from behind with a unknown technique. Mana than procedes to absorb the one he'd hit with the technique, Allen(Nea) then tells Eams that he must run. Eams asks Allen what he had done, but Allen(Nea) tells Eames that he is not the person that done it and warns him to run away. Eams is shocked to see that the 'old man' is in fact The Earl of Millenium. Eams takes out his gun and shoots towards the Earl, but the Earl chews and spits out the bullets in a strange way. The Earl tells Eames that he has seen his true face, which shocks Eams. Allen(Nea) warns Eames that he has to run due that the Earl is about to devour him like the other member. Eams listens to Allen and is running away from the Earl. While running, Eams is contacting the headquarters to report the news. The Earl is using his technique to devour Eams which pierces to Allen's body towards Eams. Nea thinks to himself that he warned Eams and calling him an idiot. Eams is absorbed by The Earl of Millenium and focusing himself towards Nea, asking him what they were talking to each other.

Nea then remembers what a friend told him long time ago about the Helix of Life, which he knows that the ability the Earl uses is to absorb human souls. Nea asks the Earl, who he refers as Nea, if he is going to devour him for the second time. The Earl remembers that conversation and tells Nea that he not Mana, but he do know where he is. This shocks Nea, and the Earl explains that Mana is at a place where he can never return. Nea mocks the Earl saying that he has some lame jokes despite being a clown, but praised him for finding Allen. Nea explains with the last sentence that he spent all these years with Allen, but the Earl tells Nea that it wasn't him. Nea continues until the Earl breaks again turning insane, and starts to attack Nea. The Earl tells Nea that he is truly in the way. Nea and the Earl were about to clash until mysterious objects hits the technique of the Earl. Link appears and sees Mana, which he assumes that he is The Earl of Millennium. Link asks the Earl to step away from Allen. Nea is shocked seeing Link wondering why he is alive. Link uses the talisman to stop the Earl and frees Allen from the Earl. Link takes Allen with him, which they are later seen in a safe place somewhere in the town. Link apologizes to Allen for his roughness, and explains that it is difficult to hold the Earl in one place.

Nea pretends to be Allen, which Link is looking to the wounds Allen has after he was pierced by the Earl. Link tells Allen that the Earl is a dangerous course and that members from the Order are appearing as well, which is why they can stay longer in the same place. Link uses Atūda to heal Allen's wounds, Link was surprised to see Atūda in action. Allen, who had noticed that his body had his own life force, trying to ask Link what it was, but he was stopped by him telling Nea that he can stop pretend to be Allen which he can see through his 'ki'. Allen who is wondering what he was talking about claiming that he is Allen, Link tells him that he only feel a cold murderous intent, which is completely different than the Allen Walker Link knew. Nea throws out his disguise telling Link that he is a sharp human, which he noticed that he can's hide his appearance. Nea asks him what he is going to do about it, and noticing that he is in pain, Nea warns Link that he wants to kill him.

Link explains to Nea that his master Lvellie made a secret pact with Cross Marian, which he got sent here to protect Nea, the 14th. Link explains that he has been waiting for the past three months to talk to Nea and not with Allen, telling Mana that he is an ally of the new 14th proposing to him to use his life, which Nea find it scary to hear.

Chapter Notes

 * The technique The Earl of Millennium uses is a technique that can devour human souls.
 * The 'friend' Nea was talking about could be Allen, due that the two bears lots of similarities with each other. It is also possible that Allen's Eyesight is not clear as he is seen wearing glasses.
 * Lvellie and Cross Marian both made a secret pact with each other to protect Nea.
 * Link is revealed to be an ally of the 14th, as well as Lvellie and Cross Marian.

Trivia

 * With 56 pages this is the third longest chapter of the series.
 * This is the last chapter of volume 25.