hey! it's paddy, back again with a Soul Eater fanfic, lately i've been obsessed with these guys so i guess it's only logical that i write about it, right? anywho, this is another 2 chapter story. Cuz i don't really want you guys to, you know, have 6000 some words in one chapter. It should at least be spread out, yeh? anywho, please enjoy the story [:
Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Eater.
The streets we're soaked with people. It was an odd expression, he knew, but it was accurate. There was screaming, the high pitched symbol of fear. Soul wove through the streets, avoiding the onslaught of people going in the opposite direction.
"Damn it, move," he screamed, shoving his way through the crowd. He didn't have the time to work his way through the streets. He needed to get to the dome. Now. He was pushed and kicked but Soul pressed through, fighting. He refused to turn back. He couldn't. She couldn't...
He felt a burning sensation in his eyes but he ignored it. He couldn't afford tears. The crowds suddenly begun to thin and he felt a glimmer of hope. He pulled out his phone and dialled again. He hoped she would pick up.
She didn't.
He swore colourfully before running faster than before, forcing himself through the people.
But he knew. He knew that he shouldn't ever let her out of his sight. It should never had happened. It wasn't worth this. It would never be worth this.
There had been a convention for all meisters in the Nevada region. Hell, it was basically for anyone that could make it. All the great meisters, worldwide, had been invited. They'd never expected...
As Soul rounded the corner, he was assaulted with a wave of ash. He covered his eyes, holding in his breath, desperate for cover. He crouched, throwing himself to the ground and shielding his face. The ash slapped him, burning the visible skin. This continued for a while and Soul was beginning to struggle. He had kept his head down and had been holding his breath but it couldn't last forever. Soul took a breath into his sleeve, half breath, half ash. This continued for a while before Soul risked a glance up. He didn't feel the pain of the windy ash and he knew that he needed to get moving again.
When Soul looked properly, the streets were covered in ash; debris littered the empty roads. He noticed a couple of people getting up as well. Two humans. Normal people. Yet, the couple and Soul shared the same eyes. Eyes of fear.
Soul remembered his reason for being there. Maka. She was at the convention. She was there when the...
When the bomb hit.
The scene on the television was burned into his mind. A woman, standing outside the dome, discussing the convention, and then the giant bomb that flew into the huge dome, plunging right through the structure. Soul had been both devastated and disgusted. And it had taken him 2 seconds, not even, to run out of his apartment and race towards the dome.
Soul ran towards the dome now, crimson eyes wide at the site. It was on fire. It was bright and flaming, unyielding and uncaring towards the people inside. It had gotten as bad as catching the building nearby on fire. The buildings beside it were being put out by firefighters and that was working for those buildings. The dome, however, stood, still burning, seemingly unaffected by the water.
He ran towards the dome and noticed some people standing there as well. Tsubaki stood, face streaked with tears, her hands clenched in desperation. Soul moved towards her and put a hand on her shoulder as a way to comfort her. She looked down at him and gave a small smile before sobbing outright and grabbing on to him. He patted her back awkwardly, knowing that he would cry if he could.
It was a tempting notion; letting out all his emotions in an effort of grievance, but he hadn't given up. Not yet.
Tsubaki pulled away after a while, dark eyes red from crying. "I'm sorry, Soul."
"Don't be," he said roughly, rubbing her back, "We have a right to be worried. Black*Star...he's going to become a God, remember? He can't-can't not become that. It'll happen."
Tsubaki nodded and gave Soul a quick hug again. "Maka will be okay, Soul, she'll make it. She's practically indestructible."
Soul said nothing, not trusting his voice. Tsubaki's sentiments were nice, but they weren't altogether true. Maka wasn't indestructible. She was fragile, even though she'd Maka-chop him if he said it aloud.
"Soul! Tsubaki!" the two of them glanced over and saw Liz and Patti running towards them. The sisters gave Tsubaki and Soul huge hugs, their eyes also watery. "Thank Shinigami-sama that you're both alive."
"Is there any news? Survivors?"
"So far, they've found 10 meisters. None of them were Maka or Black*Star," they added, causing Soul's and Tsubaki's faces to fall. "Apparently, they were able to get Ox and Kim out. Kim had a few burns but Ox got it really bad. It was because he used his body to protect her from burning debris, or so the rumour goes."
"That sounds like Ox," said Soul knowingly, "He protected Kim with his life. It's the cool thing to do."
The three girls nodded and turned to face the burning dome. "I want to be in their so badly," whispered Liz, hands intertwined with her sister's, "Kid's in there right now. It's not fair."
"Kid is a Death God, Liz, he'll be fine."
"I hope so, Soul, because I don't know what I'd do without him here."
Soul gave the Thompson sisters another hug before staring at the blaze. It was hard to sit there and know that there was a possibility Maka was in deep trouble. He wanted her with him, safe and sound and warm and absolutely alive. And he wanted... he wanted to...
There was suddenly a shouting that could be heard. "GET BACK! GET AWAY! IT'S GONNA FALL! RUN!"
The four weapons, without a second to spare, began running in the opposite direction, legs rushing them forward. Soul spared one glance behind him and saw a disaster. The dome, the huge Death City Dome, was crumbling. It just began to collapse in on itself, destroying the strong structure that used to stand. Huge ash clouds billowed from the dome, encasing the entire building and beginning to fill the streets.
"Move to the car," cried Soul, the group rushing towards the nearest vehicle. The moment they reached the metal automobile, the ash cloud engulfed them, swallowing the 4 of them as it had Soul just minutes before.
Minute after minute passed by and the small group wondered if they were going to live. Soul vowed to himself that he'd survive. He had to make sure Maka was alive. He had to...
The world went from brown to gray to black.
His last thought was of his partner's smile.
:SOUL:EATER:
"Hey, kid, kid wake up." Soul felt someone shaking him and groaned, as the movements hurt him. He tried to sit up and breathe but he coughed out ashy dust, him mouth deathly dry. "Have some water, kid, you'll need it," said a man that Soul suspected was a fire fighter. Soul felt a water bottle being put into his hand and he took a drink from it. He then used it to wash out his mouth, spitting the residue on the ground.
Looking around now, the street was almost unrecognizable. The ash cloud had been able to coat almost everything in sight. What was more unbelievable was that the windows of local shops had all been broken into pieces; cars had been seemingly crushed and flipped over. It was insanity.
Soul noticed his three friends all unconscious as well, but they were slowly coming to. The young weapon sighed with relief but then that relief was shattered by a scream.
"NO!"
Soul swivelled and got to his feet to see a girl sobbing over the body of a young man. She was a weapon, that much was clear, but the body... It was her meister's, Soul realized numbly, this girl's meister was dead.
The thought was like a slap in the face and, all at once, Soul was running towards the remains of the dome. There were fire fighters starting to reline it and, once Soul got too close, they held him back. "Kid, this is a dangerous place. Get out of here."
"My meister's in there," he shouted, struggling against the arms that kept him away.
"No can do, kid. This is dangerous."
"I fight monsters on a daily basis. This is nothing. Now let me through."
"We can't do that."
"You have to let me through! My meister-"
"Let us look for survivors. That's what we're here for."
"But-"
"Soul!" Soul snapped back and stared at the speaker. Tsubaki. "They're right. We can't go crazy right now."
"But-"
"I said no, Soul. They'll handle it. They'll get her out."
"And what if they don't, Tsubaki? What if she's dead already? Or worse, what if she's sitting there, injured, under piles of rubble, and I can't get her out? What if-"
"SOUL! Leave it alone!" Tsubaki grabbed him by his shoulders, shaking the boy, "Don't give up like that. You can't. If you do then...then Black*Star..." her eyes shone as tears filled them up again, "You're the only guy here. Aren't you supposed to be the cool one?" Soul's eyes widened and he just nodded. "You can't just do this to us. To Maka."
"You're right. I'm sorry. I was being uncool."
"Yes, you were."
"So how are we supposed to get to them? The dome is huge. And all the meisters…" The area around the crumbled dome was littered with weapons whose meisters had attended the convention. Many of them were crying. Others were fighting with the firefighters, trying to get into what was left of the DCD. Others still sat on the ground, eyes unseeing the disaster before them. "There has to be some way to get to them."
"There isn't," said Liz, standing up from the ground. Soul took her hand to help her and she muttered a 'thank you', "What's worse, Shinigami-sama wasn't attending. He was welcoming a legendary meister from France and was meeting her at the airport. He could have potentially protected them and now…"
"Liz, those 'what ifs' aren't going to help us. Tsubaki's right, we need to wait and let the firefighters handle it. What ifs mean that we've already given up and, between you and me, I'm not ready to believe that my meister didn't make it, are you?"
Liz shook her head and tried a smile, "It's so awful," she said after a moment, "Who would do this?"
"The witches? It wouldn't be the first time." Soul face darkened considerably and the air was filled with tension. It was cut soon after as the cry of the firefighters were heard and many of them rush to one side of the broken building. Soul recognized someone appear from the huge mix of metal and cement as Kilik Rung. Thunder and Fire could be seen running up to their meister, tears in their eyes. It was a touching sight. Kilik was badly injured. He had an obvious concussion and a gash across his leg that made it hard to walk. Still, he crouched and hugged his weapons close to him, reassuring them of his presence.
The meister that came out next was not in such good shape. In fact, the nameless girl was being carried out by a firefighter who was shaking his head sadly. Another girl, presumably the first one's weapon, pushed her way to her meister, crying loudly. Soul's hope plummeted. Sure, Kilik made it out. But that didn't mean Maka would.
There was a period where the firefighters were only bringing out dead meisters. It was within that period where there were probably the most torn sounds; the sounds of agony and loss echoing in the streets of Death City. It almost hurt Soul to see these weapons. They were alone again, without their partner. He couldn't begin to imagine…
"KID!" Soul's eyes widened as the young Shinigami stumbled out of the wreckage, his clothes torn and bloody. His head was speckled red and he had cuts from head to toe. When he saw Liz and Patti he smiled. It was weak, but enough to give them comfort. The Thompson sisters ran to their meister, embracing him in their hugs. Soul and Tsubaki joined the trio where hugs and reassurances were exchanged.
"We're so glad you're okay, Kid," said Patti, wiping away tears and clinging to his arm, "Big Sis was ready to go beat up the firefighters to look for you."
Kid looked at Liz oddly who just waved her hands back and forth in an attempt to convey that Patti's recollection of the events were incorrect, "We were worried about you," she smiled a soft smile, "We're so happy you're safe."
"So am I, Liz," he said, pulling her in for another hug.
"Um, Kid?" Soul decided that he had to have his fears assuaged now. "I know that we're happy that you survived, but what exactly happened? I know there was a bomb, but how did a group full of meisters not have any protection?"
"You've got a good point but it's somewhat hard to explain. We weren't expecting the bomb at all. In fact, the convention was strictly invitation only and, since all the meisters in the region are registered and tracked, we knew who they were. It was a mistake on our part for planning. Father was the main support system. When he went to the airport to pick up a foreign meister, he left the convention for exactly an hour. The bombers knew this and took the opportunity to attack us, wounding and killing able bodied meisters. I can only suspect that the witches aim was to kill enough of us to leave the human souls vulnerable and so on." Kid took a deep breath and stared at the bodies that lay around the dome. Some alive, but most were dead.
"What about Maka! And Black*Star?"
Kid gave a short sad laugh, "The moment the bomb hit, they jumped into action. They were leading people to exits, guiding foreign meisters to the doors and so on. I tried to help them but Maka insisted I get the other meisters out first; the younger ones. That's when the first level collapsed," he took a breath before continuing, "At some point, the beams that supported the DCD weakened and fell over the remainder of the people. The people near the exits were crushed and burned within seconds. The others are under huge beams, half dead. There was nothing I could do. I remember Black*Star rushing me forward and insisting that I 'get going' and such but I refused to leave. He knocked me out and probably threw me into the small air pocket in the dome. Everything else crumbled around us and I was unconscious until a meister, probably a 14 year old, fairly new, woke me up. He was young and I think he got out."
"So you don't know what happened…?"
"No, I'm so sorry. Everything was buried. I don't even t- I'm sorry."
"It's not your fault, Kid, don't be sorry," said Tsubaki miserable, sinking to the ground. "It wasn't..."
Soul crouched and rubbed Tsubaki's back in an effort to calm her down. "You said it yourself, Tsubaki. We can't afford to give up. Not yet."
"We found another one!" cried one of the firemen but the voice heard next shocked the small group, catching their attention.
"What do you mean another one? You can't possibly have forgotten about me, could you?"
"Wait a- I know that voice!" Tsubaki swivelled to face the broken structure where a young boy stood. He was standing very proudly on top of the broken pieces with, what looked like, a very lumpy back pack.
"I mean, come on! I'm not just any old person. I'm BLACK*STAR, the biggest star that's ever been born. One of these days I'm going to be such a huge star that you won't dare forget my name."
"Black*Star!" cried Tsubaki, running towards the wreckage, "Black*Star!"
"Oh, hey, Tsubaki," his voice was calm and nonchalant as he jumped off the scrap metal and landed on the concrete with a light tap, "Miss me already? I was only gone for a couple of hours."
"You idiot!" she cried, pulling him into a bone crushing hug. He just patted her back as a way of comforting her. His other hand was being used to support the backpack looking item behind him. As the small group came closer, however, they noticed that the backpack was not a backpack at all. In fact, it was Maka, bloodied and bruised.
"Maka!" Black*Star eased Maka to the floor, gently, delicately, and Soul took her into his arms. "Maka, you in there?"
She gave no response of having heard him.
"Maka, listen to me, we've got to get Doctor Stein to fix you up but until then, you're gonna have to stay awake, alright?"
"She was awake when I found her," said Black*Star looking down at his friend, "I tried to keep her talking to me but then I think some spare rubble must have hit her head. I had to pick her up at that point and I used my Soul Wavelength to get out of the DCD. It sure is trashed bad…"
Soul stared at her nervously, watching her chest rise and fall as a slow but sure sign of life. It was almost unrecognizable in comparison to everything else around him and Soul felt his senses heighten for her. "Maybe if I just…" Soul closed his eyes and leaned over her, in an attempt to keep her close to him. It wasn't totally physical either. His goal was to press their souls together. With any luck, Soul hoped he'd be able to resonate with her and drag her out of the pain that threatened to consume her.
well, i'm done this chapter
feel free to tell me what you think. it really helps clear your mind and up my self-esteem
thanks and may the wizard gods be with you
(ps, didja here about Starkid? they're coming to the T.O. So excited )
Please R&R
