A/N: This is my first attempt at a multi-chapter story. I have no idea how this will turn out. As far as chapters go I can't promise all will be this long and I have no idea what the updating schedule will be like. This story is AU, set basically within what I can only describe as Earthly limits. So no magic and such.

Disclaimer: Consider this chapter and the ones soon to follow all disclaimed. It may be lazy but I refuse to remind myself over and over that I do not own Soul Eater.

The laughing moon spilled light across the deserted streets, wheezing blood between its teeth as she crept along the deep shadows of the crooked buildings. The wind squeezed into the alleys, sending abandoned trash skittering along oil stained pavement and disrupting stray cats that darted between tin cans. She was soundless and invisible, blending into the night around her.

It smelled of stale booze and death, a sad scent that lingered in the air, seeping into every crack and pore of the city. It was quiet, save for the creaking wind and even that came intermittently, almost as if it was trying to make up for the lifeless atmosphere of the town. But it could not. Trull Brook Town was dead, now only a skeleton of what it used to be.

At least that's what everybody else saw. A forsaken city that could never make up for its former glory; memories of what it used to be were the only thing that had kept it standing thus far. It was not worth the time it would take to demolition it. Falling apart at the seams didn't even start to cover the rotting infrastructure of the city. Maka knew better.

She wasn't fooled by the solemn sidewalks or the blank sky. She could look past the subtly distracting nothingness it displayed, push aside its façade and look it straight in the heart. What she saw there was evil.

It fueled the putrid odors and disheveled sight that defined Trull Brook Town and created the misleading emptiness that smothered its once lively culture. Maka was here to destroy it.

The creak of a rusted warehouse door swinging open sounded like a gunshot through the alley. She stopped and stepped quickly behind an overflowing garbage bin. Peeking around the corner she watched a man step out of the building. He glanced around the alleyway, over the spot where Maka hid, before hunching up his shoulders and slinking into the empty streets.

He was a menacing man who paralleled the apathy and filth of the city. Both had a sense of heedlessness that made them so much more frightening than the usual fiery rage that came with danger. Their particular attitude would lull you into a false sense of security. Misled by the subtly emptiness they presented, you would not even have time to scream as silencing claws ripped you apart.

Maka was here to stop that. Stop them. She could deal with the man and banish this terrible city before they took any more unassuming victims. She had to.

Shuffling footsteps gave away the man's position as he ambled down the cracked sidewalk but he was so unconcerned with being followed in such a lonely town she need not expend much effort in trailing him. His shadow swung around him as he passed under the flickering street lights and she moved in closer, shrouded in the darkness the titled buildings provided. The evil smirk that twisted his lips would not last for long.

He spun around, almost over turning, as she finally let her boots tap out a clear rhythm to the center of the street. He seemed shocked, she noted with dry amusement, to see some else out at this time of night. Her mouth set into a hard line, betraying nothing, as he gawked at her, his hand twitching to the weapon she knew was concealed under his jeans.

The man relaxed immediately when she stepped into the lamplight. His eyes narrowed mockingly at her pigtails, dragging leisurely over the tight jeans and blouse she wore as well. He discarded any notion that she was a danger, now looking pleased at seeing the lone girl facing him in the abandoned street. His mistake.

"What're you doin' out here all on your lonesome, eh girly?" His uncultured drawl pulled a scowl across her features. He was a fool for underestimating her. She was no idle threat. But in his defense he wasn't the first to make that oversight.

"You shouldn't be out here all alone, you know. There're some real bad people 'round these parts."

Many more an arrogant man had done the same. They took one look at her skinny body, scraggly limbs, innocent clothing and dismissed her as nothing. No one took her seriously. They hadn't since…

Since…he had been around.

But it didn't matter anymore because he was gone. For good. And the lack of her enemies' defenses gave her an edge. Not a single one had gotten away with his or her life. As if they would want to after she was through with them.

"Hey! You listening, Pigtails?" The creeps always went after her hair. She peered at him with dark jade eyes from under wispy bangs.

"No."

"Wha…!" He looked outraged. His smirking face distorted in rage, accenting his broken nose and crooked teeth. "You're gonna want to take that back, bitch. No one talks to the Saw like that."

Maka controlled the urge to roll her eyes. If the creeps went for the hair, then the utterly hopeless losers took time to find pet names for themselves. This Saw guy was unoriginal to say the least.

He ran his gloved hands through his matted hair and straightened his collar. As he adjusted the rest of his clothing, collecting himself, he glanced at her again. "I'm gonna teach you a lesson, little girl. You'll wish you'd never seen my handsome mug by the time it's over."

She was done with this idiotic charade; there were better ways to waste her time. He rubbed the metal stint that braced nose as he swaggered closer. She threw one last disdainful look over the man's sleeveless shirt and clanking work boots before she straightened up and centered her focus. It was time.

He came to a halt a few feet away from her. The Saw rolled his shoulder until they brushed the bottom of the metallic rings in his ears, tightening his biceps under the long gloves, smirking as he ran his eyes over her chest.

"You aint got much. But it'll do."

He reached behind him and pulled a chainsaw slowly from the waistband of his baggy jeans. It glinted dully in the moonlight, old blood splatters adorning the blades. She stood absolutely still as he slunk closer.

"Ready to die, Pigtails?"

The metal chain whirled, releasing specks of dried gore that fluttered to the ground. The harsh grating of steel on steel filled the air.

"Are you?"

He started at her voice, stumbling back a few steps when she pulled a weapon from her own jeans. Recovering, he brought his arm down at her head. She parried the blow easily, catching the saw on the sharp edge of her curved blade. For a moment there was a struggle for power but he was caught off guard as the rest of her weapon extended into full form. The shaft caught the side of his head, sending him sprawling across the pavement. She swung it in an arch before placing the scythe with a resolute crack atop the ground.

"What the hell!"

Maka stared at him coldly. He picked up his chainsaw from where it laid a few paces away and scrambled up. The Saw's scraped arms held the weapon in a rigid grasp. She could see his incredulity. This obviously had never happened to him before. No one had bothered to fight back, let alone challenge him. She strode forward, swinging again. He brought the saw up at the last minute, deflecting the hit before tumbling over again. This was child's play; he stood no chance. She almost felt bad for him. Almost.

"What the fuck do you want!"

He tried to hold his ground and control the shakes that threatened to consume his body as she towered over him.

"You, serial killer, Giriko the Saw – your murdering days are done. Your soul is mine."

She kept it simple and to the point. No draw out exclamations, no narcissistic rants. It might have been a bit cliché but clichés were so overused because they were constantly true. His eyes widened in fear and his heart started beating even harder. "N-no…"

He buckled in himself, shrinking and cringing away. She sneered in disgust. Turning away from his pitiful display, she studied the reflection of the moon in her silver blade. She ran her fingers along the razor-sharp curve, tracing the plain metal as his sniveling grew softer.

Her eyes hardened when there was a flash at the corner of the mirror like scythe. She swung it over her shoulder where it collided with a spinning chainsaw. His battle techniques were about as creative as his name.

She spun her whole body around, jamming the curvature of the scythe into the chain, twisting the rod in her hands until the saw was pulled out of his grip. His weapon skittered off to the side, out of reach where the chain whirled around the frame a few time before sputtering to a stop. She hooked her blade around his neck when he started toward it.

"Don't."

She tugged it closer, until the sharpened edge drew blood, discouraging him. Giriko stared at her with wild eyes, fingers twitching as if he wished they were squeezing her windpipe instead of holding empty space. The wind blew warm gusts, tousling their clothing, his harrowed breathing opposite of her calm and collected pace.

In a last sudden and desperate movement, his hands struck out toward her, two extra chain unfurling from hidden chambers at the base of his gloves. They wriggled and swayed in the air, taunting her carelessness before wrapping around her back, all the way to her sides and stomach. She gasped as the cold metal spikes bit into her skin.

"Gotcha, Pigtails." His lethal smile made her skin crawl and he laughed as blood slowly dripped down her torso.

She clenched her teeth and tightened her grip on the scythe. Maka threw her weight backward, ripping the chains from her body with a cry. Before he could regain his bearings she twirled her weapon, moving it in a complicated maneuver around her back and then up to his neck where she imbedded it down to the bone.

Like all the victims that had fallen at Giriko's hands before him, he died with a silent scream on his lips. His eyes portrayed an almost comical disbelief, his hands clutching the chains even as his life drained away. He fell in a broken heap in the middle of the street, a position reminiscent of the one he took when portraying the false turmoil from earlier. There was no pretending now.

Maka looked down at his body. He fit in perfectly with the city; just another piece to the mismatched jinxsaw that was Trull Brook Town. She took in the leaning buildings and dirty street lanes one last time. It was a puzzle that was not worth solving.

The adrenaline was wearing off and the burning of the blade slashes were starting to grow stronger. She was wiping her hands off on her jeans when her phone went off. She used her cleanest fingers to fish the sleek cell phone out of her pocket.

"Hello?"

"Maka." She could hear the underlying worry that accompanied her name as the voice carried across the speakers. Shifting her shoulders, she tried to forget the mounting pain that blossomed across her upper body.

"Tsubaki."

"How is your case going? Do you have any leads?"

"I got him."

"What!" Disbelief and awe colored her voice. "Already? But you just started two days ago!"

"That's time enough."

"Wow, Maka, that's really impressive. I can't believe –"

Her voice cut off abruptly and she heard a scuffle break out on the other end of the line. When the voice came back it was loud and obnoxious.

"YAHOO! Hey, Maka, I bet you kicked that little fucker's ass! About time. That dickhead deserved a good beating. You let him suffer, right? Please tell me you let him suffer!"

"Black Star." Maka greeted.

"That wasn't an answer. Not that you could ever outshine a god like me but your timing on this one wasn't half bad, at least compared to some of my easier cases." She could hear Tsubaki in the background, ordering him to be nice. She ignored the jab.

"I'll be back soon. Clean up should be fairly quick and then I'll be on my way."

She could feel him bristling at the lack of attention to himself but before he could say anything Tsubaki reclaimed the phone.

"Okay, we'll see you soon, Maka. Be careful, alright?"

"Bye."

She snapped the phone shut, staring as the screen faded back to black. She was being inconsiderate. She knew that. Tsubaki was just trying to be kind and even the infamously egotistical Black Star was reigning in his temper for her sake. But she could not find the will to reciprocate their efforts. The drive to interact and reach out to others had vanished with him. But she wouldn't think of that now.

Maka put the phone back, replacing it with a black lighter that felt heavy in her hand. With a flick of her wrist the scythe retracted, folding in on itself until it was only a slim, flat blade. She reached behind to slip it back in the waistband of her jeans, wincing as the movement pulled at her wounds, breaking open the half formed scabs. She ignored the hot liquid that seeped into her shirt in favor of walking to the nearest warehouse.

All of the buildings here were old and rickety, made of a cedar that once shone a beautiful, lustrous red. Now the washed out planks of wood hung like stale rags off the structures, drooping under their own weight. She flipped the top of the lighter back, admiring the pale bluish flame that wavered in the wind. Bringing the lighter forward, Maka held it to the edge of a nearby rotting sideboard.

It caught instantly. The flame smoldered at the tip for a moment before racing across the plank and jumping to the adjacent pieces that made up the warehouse. It licked up the sides and soon the whole building was consumed. She stood back to watch as the fire spread out, greedily devouring all the other buildings within its reach. All of Trull Brook was constructed with the ancient cedar so in a short matter of time the entire town was engulfed in the raging inferno.

She walked past the blazing edifices, the cold crumpled body now gathering warmth in the street, the sweltering sidewalks and the melting lampposts, out of the city and into the humid night where smoke bellowing in rolling waves behind her and the forgotten town of Trull Brook collapsed in itself, its distant memories blowing away as black ash in the howling wind.

At the edge of Death City, past Shibusen High School and the urban houses that framed the streets sat a tall black building, secluded from the rest of the city's bustling and urgency. It had a gothic style exterior, gargoyles staring down forebodingly from the high roof. The big front doors were made of dark wood and the decorative knocker and doorknobs matched the styling of the rest of the building. A long walkway led to the front and tinted windows that never revealed the light from within added to the mysterious charm it gave off. It was square shaped with a hollowed out center that held a patio and basketball court as well a small hot tub that was shoved to the far side. Only the trained eye could detect the absolute symmetry of the structure. It was thick and sturdy, each wide hallway named to its according position on the compass.

In the West Wing two figures sat in an office, their desk pushed into the lower left corner of the room.

Tsubaki looked at her cell phone worriedly for the umpteenth time that evening. Black Star huffed in annoyance as his partner's attention slowly waned from his awesome self.

"Nakatsukasa!"

She looked up, startled. "Yes, Black Star?"

He leaned forward in his chair, squinting suspiciously at her. She sunk down in her own seat, bowing her head. "You're doing it again."

"I know. I'm just worried about Maka. She's all alone out there."

He frowned at the thought. "She'll be fine. I may not be there to protect her but she can do okay on her own."

She glanced up at him and smiled timidly, touched that he was making an effort to comfort her. Black Star tried to hold onto his unruffled superiority but whenever she smiled like that it didn't seem to matter so much. He smirked reluctantly. They both looked up when the side door flew open. A windswept trio walked in, jumping inside the office before the strong breeze slammed the door shut.

Kid glowered out the window, ruffling his hair back into a balanced arrangement. Liz ran her hands through her own tangled locks and Patti bounced over to Tsubaki's side of the desk.

"We got him!" Patti announced.

"And it's about time," Liz interjected, "That damn case was driving me insane."

"You guys worked really hard at this one." Tsubaki smiled as Liz ducked under the paperwork that Patti waved around. "It only took you a few weeks to get him. And he had a million dollar bounty, too."

"HA!" Black Star yelled, standing up and overturning his chair. "As a god it would have taken me a mere second to hunt that Kishin!"

"Black Star!" Tsubaki admonished while Kid rolled his eyes, "Don't use bad words!"

Sometimes his partner's sensitivity astounded him. "Kishin? Oh, come on," he said to her frown, "it's not that bad! And I wasn't even the one to make that word up. That was all Sou –"

He cut off abruptly and the room grew heavy with tense silence. In a rare show of humility he winced, shutting his mouth and lowering his head. The young officers exchanged glances, their moods souring.

Tsubaki spoke first, her soft voice barely raised above the howling wind outside.

"She hasn't been the same since…"

"…since the incident," Kid finished for her. They all looked up to where he leaned against the oak paneling of the walls. "It's been really hard on her."

"It's been hard on all of us!" Black Star snapped.

"I know it has," Tsubaki soothed, walking over to sit his chair upright, "but to lose your partner…like that…"

"It would be terrible. I can't even imagine." Liz's somber voice quieted them again. Patti tilted her head to the side, nudging the chair her sister sat in with the tip of her foot from her perch in front of Tsubaki's computer. Liz's mouth quirked slightly and she swatted at Patti's shoe.

"She blames herself for it, you know." Kid dropped his bags in the opposite corner of the room, settling into one of the chairs he shared with the Thompson sisters and rested his sore feet up on their desk. "She's never going to forgive herself for what happened."

"But it wasn't her fault!"

"And you think you can convince her of that? She a stubborn person, Tsubaki, almost to a default" Black Star could be heard in the background muttering 'always to a default' but Kid talked over him, "We were taught anything could happen on the job. Being one of Death's Officers is a dangerous and uncertain occupation. People die in this line of duty. Everyone knows that. But when it's your own partner, right in front of you, it's different."

Black Star flopped back into his chair and spoke up tersely. "He's right."

The rest of the team stared at him, affronted with the somewhat humbling admission that followed. "Even someone as big as me would have a hard time handling that. I don't even know how a person who's as small as Maka is dealing with it."

Tsubaki patted his shoulder and took a seat on the arm of his chair. "I just hope she gets back soon. She should be here by now."

"Already?" Liz asked, confused. "She just started two days ago. And this guy had a two million dollar bounty. He's done some nasty shit in his past."

Tsubaki wrinkled her nose at the cuss word but chose to overlook it. "She said she got him."

Kid opened his mouth to speak but the moment he did the side door blew open again. Black Star piped up as the wind rushed over them, disturbing all the loose papers in the office. "Speak of the devil."

"Maka!" Tsubaki sounded relieved. "You're finally – Oh my gosh! What happened?"

She hauled the door shut behind her. "What do you mean?"

"Your shirt! You…you're covered in blood, Maka!"

She glanced down at herself. Her voice was clipped and disinterested. "It's nothing."

"I dunno, Maka. You don't look so good." Liz nodded, agreeing with her sister's concern. "Maybe you could have Stein look at that."

She walked over to her desk at the bottom right corner of the room, ignoring the dust that collected on the second empty chair as she always did. Black Star stood up and marched in her direction.

"I see what this is. You're trying to upstage me, aren't you?" She didn't bother to look up as he came closer. "And now you think you can ignore a star like me?" When she still did not respond he raised his voice, a pulsing anger bubbling up inside his chest. "You don't have to act so tough, you know! You're not the only one that misses him!"

She froze, jerking her head up as the rest of the room held their breath. Fire sparked in her eyes and she yelled right back.

"You don't know what it's like, Black Star, so don't pretend you do! You don't have to live everyday with the knowledge that you've killed your own partner!"

"That's bullshit! There's nothing you could have done. Nothing! Soul made his decision."

"The only reason he had to make that decision was because I screwed up! Me! It was my fault, so don't act like he made some noble choice by stepping in front of that sword!"

Kid and Patti stepped in, prying them apart. Maka shook off Patti's hands and Black Star stormed out of the room and down the hall. She glared after him.

Tsubaki, Kid and his partners stood uncertainly as Maka sat simmering at her desk. Tsubaki approached her, waving off the questioning eyes of her friends. They left the room quietly, going in the same direction Black Star had gone, out the door and to the South Hall that housed their living quarters. Tsubaki waited patiently for Maka to calm down, standing off to the side in silence.

She finally released the hard grip she had on the arms of her chair, gazing up at the tall woman before her. Tsubaki twiddled her thumbs and scrunched her shoulders apologetically.

"He's not the most articulate person I know."

Maka allowed a small smile at her words but it did not reach her eyes. She felt completely exhausted. All she wanted to do was finish her paperwork and crawl into her bed where she could block out the rest of the world. She had been trying her hardest not to think of him. Black Star's reminder had created another huge hole in her already bleeding heart. The pain was overwhelming. She didn't know how much more heartbreak she could handle.

"It's the only way he knows how to show that he cares. Black Star worries about you. We all do."

"You shouldn't. I'm fine."

Tsubaki sighed, watching sadly as Maka withdrew further. She wished she could help her somehow. "He was right, though. It wasn't your fault."

"Yeah," Maka said mockingly, "we're Death Officers. We hunt bad guys and save the world one nutjob at a time. We're trained professionals who eliminate evil and save the innocent. I've heard it all before. It doesn't change the fact that I was the one who fucked up our last mission together. Soul died trying to save me from my own mistake. You guys can pretend otherwise but I know that it's true."

"But, Maka, that battle with Chrona –"

"I hesitated. I hesitated and it cost him his life. He died from a blow that was meant for me."

Her eyes traveled to the picture frame that lay face down on her desk. It had been a gift from Tsubaki. A snapshot from years ago, taken after one of their most grueling missions. They were on the back of Soul's motorcycle, his face surly, hers smiling brightly, both of them bruised, bloodied and exhausted. Her arms were around Soul's neck and his were crossed defiantly over his chest. It had been one of the happiest times in her life. But Soul Evans was never coming back.

"Come on, Maka," Tsubaki's voice pulled her back to the present, "I'll finish your paperwork for you. Let's go see Stein."

She nodded, too tired to argue, and stood up; following her out the second door and they walked together down the hallway to the North Side infirmaries.

"Maka. Back so soon?" The bright synthetic lights glinted off his round glasses.

"He was an easy target."

"I see." He looked at the blood that stained her shirt. "What happened?"

She explained the battle with cold detachment and Tsubaki bit her lip in worry as she told about the extra chains Giriko had hidden.

"I had to pull them out in order to defeat him."

"Alright, let's have a look."

Maka sat on the stainless steel surgery table as Tsubaki helped her pull the shredded shirt off her shoulders. Tsubaki covered her mouth with a hand in order to smother the gasp that collected in her throat at the sight of Maka's torn up back and sides. Stein studied them grimly, prodding at the deep scrapes gently.

"He got you pretty good. This is going to hurt."

"Just do it."

Tsubaki fought the urge to shake her head. Maka hadn't complained even once when the doctor had been stitching her skin back together or when he applied the salve that she knew stung on open wounds. She led Maka back to the room despite her insistence that she could do it on her own.

Only when Maka was sitting on her bed, cleaned up for the night with pajamas on did Tsubaki feel comfortable leaving.

"I'm okay, Tsubaki. You shouldn't worry so much."

"I can't help it. Goodnight, Maka."

"'Night."

Maka settled back onto her mattress the moment her door clicked shut. She closed her eyes against the burning pain that came from her ruined skin and from somewhere deep inside her chest. She tried not to think too hard about how empty and cold her sheets felt without Soul's warmth in between them. She ignored the extra space in her bed where his body had once been. She had to get used to that now; Soul was never coming back to her. And she had no one to blame but herself.

"God damn it! Why won't these guys just die?"

"I've got this, sis! Let me at them! Let me at them!"

"YAHOO! Bow down to your god, bitches! You're all mine! HAHAHAHAHA!"

"Their asymmetry is appalling. Let's get this over with already."

"Black Star! You're going the wrong way!"

Maka ducked, pigtails flying, as a punch flew over her head, turning around to grab the fist before throwing her weight forward and hauling the biker over her shoulder. She grimaced as one of her stitches popped open. That ass. He was going to pay for that.

She was forced to drop down again when another gang member sailed over her head. "Hey!" she yelled at Black Star. "Watch where you're throwing!"

"You guys," Tsubaki cautioned as Maka delivered a vicious kick to the biker's face, "Remember we're not here to kill them. Stein said we were just to bring them in."

"They're asking for it," Liz said, smashing two more skinny felons together.

"Yeah!" Patti agreed, tripping them as they tried to scramble up, "You're asking for this!"

Everyone looked up as a grating metallic creak sounded through the city's center square. The Death Team groaned in exasperation and the street gang gaped as the massive statue in the middle of the fountain fell face forward into the pavement. A blue haired boy sat loftily on its back, staring down his nose at the others who looked up at him from the ground.

"Now listen well, you dipshits! I am where I should be. Above you all! Fear the wrath of the great Black Star! You all will perish under me and my awe-inspiring greatness! Mwahaha!"

Kid smacked his face into his palm. "Terrible," he muttered, "just terrible. He's not even aligned right…"

The fight broke out again as the gangbangers started to attack. Maka narrowed her eyes as a tall one with a grey hoody and maroon hat facing backwards barreled toward her. He yelled and bounced up and down, limbs flailing and mouth spitting insanities.

"Do you know who controls this town?" He spat, circling her with awkwardly raised fists.

"Maybe I would if you talked more and spit less."

He snarled and screwed up his eyes that were, to her dismay, outlined in heavy eyeliner.

"It's the Moderatsy, that's who! And don't you forget it. You people can't just waltz in here again like you own the place. You can't best us twice! This is our city. You won't beat us again!"

She furrowed her eyebrows and scoffed at him. "I couldn't care less about that if I tried."

With a battle cry and thundering sloppy footsteps he charged at her. She stepped to the side at the last minute, tipping her booted foot up and anchoring her heel so that his feet tangled and he face planted with a hard smack. She cleaned the scuffs off her shoe with the back of his shirt. She leaned down, assessing the damage. His nose looked better broken anyway. She cocked her head to the side, perplexed when she saw dark bruises and scrapes peeking out from under his shirt.

Using the toe of her boot she flipped him over on his back. He whimpered and squinted in the light. She frowned when she saw the outline of previous punch marks on his face.

"Ma-ka!" Said a singsong voice, "You got him?"

"Yeah," she replied, trying to rub away that blood that was oozing past her open stitch and into her jacket. "He's the last of them."

Patti skipped over and grabbed the gang member by the leg, dragging him to the fountain where the rest of his crew lay in a trembling heap under Kid and Liz's watchful gaze. Black Star strolled up with his hands behind his head followed by Tsubaki who was retying her ponytail.

"That was no fun," Patti pouted, stepping on the hand of a pimply boy who reached for the pile of disarmed weapons. He squeaked as she pulled out a gun. "I didn't even get to use my pistol!"

"These guys were pretty pathetic. The high school kids in training could have handled them."

Patti holstered her weapon and nodded at Kid. Maka spoke up.

"That's because someone got to them before we did."

"What?"

The rest of her teammates looked at her in disbelief. They surveyed the mobsters taking in the old injuries for the first time.

"But who?" Liz asked. "Who else would come down here to deal with them? The academy wouldn't send any kids without notifying us and all the police squadrons have to stay within city limits. Plus we're the only Death Officers around. Who else is left?"

Everybody shrugged at her before turning back to the huddling mass of criminals.

"You!" Maka barked pointing at the man she had beat earlier. He fiddled nervous with the multitude of studs that speared through his ears as the rest of the group gravitated away from him. Her dark green eyes met frightened purpled ringed ones. "You said someone people were here before; that they beat you already. Who were they?"

When he didn't answer she pulled out her blade from the belt that fastened around her skirt and held it under his chin.

"I don't know who he was!"

"He?" Black Star stepped forward. "Just one guys kicked all your asses?"

The man looked ready to argue but when Maka pressed the sharp edge closer he refrained.

"Yeah. Just one guy," he said grudgingly. "Tall with spooky teeth and 'real pale hair. But the worst thing was his eyes. Looked like the fuckin' devil incarnate. He came and beat the shit out of us." The gangster shivered at the memory. "We didn't even stand a chance. He got to some of the other gangs too. Took out that big mob boss, Asura." The team looked up at each other in surprise, recognizing the name. "Killed him like it was nothin'. And I also heard –"

"For fuck's sake, we don't want the whole damn story!" Liz growled, "Just tell us the name!"

Maka tightened her grip on the cold metal of her scythe, a pit forming at the base of her stomach. Warning bells were going off in her head and she was starting to feel sick.

"They call him the Soul Eater."

A/N: Sorry for the lack of Soul. Really, it kills me. A few things to straighten out before I leave you be (I promise not all my author's notes will be this annoying)….

1st – I was sad to kill Giriko. He's awesome. And I know he's OOC but whatever.

2nd – If you find similarities to the series it 'cause I took more than one line from there.

3rd – Review or I shall send the Saw after you.