"Wasssup? Wasssup? Waaasssszzzzup?" Lord Death asked as both meister and weapon entered the Death Room.
"Reporting in for duty," Maka stated happily with a smile, giving a small salute as she did. Her partner stood beside her, slouching as usual.
"So why'd you call us in?" Soul asked, staring lazily into the mirror that stood before them.
"I've got a special mission for you two. It's a tough one and I thought you two would be especially perfect for the job," he said, his voice light, chipper, and funny as always.
The partners listened attentively for their job description. He explained the mission thoroughly; another hunt for a kishin egg who was killing off innocent people and happily sent the two on their way.
"That's weird. Why would he call us in for just another regular mission? Wasn't anything special to me," Soul complained in his deep voice as he and Maka walked down the halls of the DWMA, towards the entrance.
"Well, I don't know… I think maybe he just wanted to warn us of its 'special powers'," Maka said optimistically.
"Yeah, but he didn't even tell us what the power was, so who really cares? What was even the point of mentioning it?" Soul asked nonchalantly, dragging his feet down the hallway.
"Maybe it's dangerous," Maka said with a scary edge in her voice, but it was more for the entertainment and not an actual scare. She stared at her partner with an evil, but playful smirk. Soul chuckled.
"Yeah, sure," he laughed, rolling his eyes as he did.
The two exited the school and waited for nighttime to roll around, since this particular kishin only hunted human souls when it was dark. Lord Death's words echoed in Maka's head;
Now remember, you won't be able to tell who the kishin egg is just by looking at them. It's said that it's face is able to take that of all different shapes and sizes, therefore making it very difficult to pinpoint the enemy.
"It changes faces… huh...,"Maka mumbled to herself as she and Soul sat in wait in the gloomy night in Death City. They watched the streets below as they stood atop a high building, giving them a clear view of their surroundings. Suddenly, a loud cry rang out.
"Dinner time," Soul smiled, slurping as he licked his lips.
"Let's go," Maka said in a serious tone while taking Soul's hand as he transformed and jumping down from the building towards the sound. Pounding her feet to the ground, Maka ran until she came upon a woman being cornered by a shadowy beast.
"Kishin, your killing days are over," she spoke bravely. The shadow turned, it eyes bright, glowering over her. "I'm going to take your soul," she said as she ran towards the creature who remained unmoved from its position.
She reached him and swung her scythe straight through him… only Maka didn't feel anything connect, almost like she has just hit air. She looked up and saw that the creature was no longer there, but only the frightened woman who lie underneath her, limp and… faceless. Maka's eyes widened as she looked about wildly for her enemy. Her eyes finally landed on it from behind. It stood in the shadows, simply starring at Maka.
"What the Hell…," Maka mumbled to herself as she prepared her scythe for another swing, but as the creature approached her and came out of the darkness it appeared as nothing more than a young girl with wild tears streaming down her face as she cried out loudly. Maka loosened her grip on Soul as she sucked in her breath.
If that's not… then where is…?
She asked herself as she looked about more, not noticing the girl continuing to approach Maka. At the last moment, she laid her eyes on the small girl once more, only her eyes weren't that of a child, they were that of a monster with a shadowy arm ready to swing at her. Maka quickly jumped away just as the girl swung and fell to the ground.
"Maybe this is that guy's power. Switching faces or something," Soul told her.
"Yeah, but… I can't tell who's who...," she said, frustrated. Suddenly, she felt an evil presence looming behind her. She turned just in time to meet the eyes of her attacker; it was the faceless woman who she had just seen lying dead on the ground. Without enough time to move, Maka was sent flying backwards, landing hard on the stone street of Death City.
"Maka! Are you ok?" Soul asked frantically. Maka grunted, wiping blood from a scrape on her face.
"Yeah… I'm fine," she said between breaths as she struggled to stand. She cleared her vision to find the only figure who stood before her was one that was strangely… familiar.
Out of the darkness came a girl who was a mirror image of Maka, only a wicked and misplaced smile was found on her lips.
"It's… it's me?" she questioned as the other Maka lunged towards her, it's fist blocked by the real Maka's swift movement of her scythe. She was taken aback by her clone's strength and was forced back a few steps before the other Maka was forced away by the block as well. Before Maka could regain her footing again, the other one countered quickly and stepped right up into Maka, looking herself square in the face. With stone-hard hands, she grabbed hold of Maka's neck and refused to let go. Choking, Maka's grip on Soul loosened until she completely let go of him as she felt all her strength leaving her body just as her air was. She could feel herself being slowly lifted off the ground. She was completely unable to fight back or remove it's hands.
"Get away from my meister!" Soul yelled as he transformed and tried to get the evil Maka off the real one, but for some reason, seemed to phase through it just as Maka had before and was thrown back by an unknown force. He was only able to watch in slow motion as his meister was pummeled into the ground and knocked unconscious.
"MAKAAA!"
