"Ready, Soul?"

These were the words Maka Albarn had spoken a hundred times, probably more, to her best friend and weapon partner, Soul Eater Evans. They had been in so many fights, so many battles, that the question- and its answer- seemed second-nature to both meister and weapon. With both teens glaring at the massive Kishin that stood in the darkening street, just a hundred feet in front of them, Soul changed into his weapon form, landing in Maka's white-gloved hands. As she gripped the handle of the scythe tightly (but not too tightly, or else Soul would complain again), a smile broke out on Maka's face.

This was the fun part.

With a shout, she ran toward the Kishin, her boots making a thunk with each step that hit the cobblestone street. As she advanced, the Kishin did the same, with a mighty roar that would have made the hairs on the arms of a normal girl stand on end with fear. The thing was huge, with gray-white skin that held the pallor of death in every pore, sharp teeth that dripped with saliva as it seemed to size up how it would like Maka cooked. Its eyes were an endless black that seemed to stare into Maka's soul- but she knew that wasn't possible. Even its claws were huge. Most were bigger than Maka was tall.

Maka cursed under her breath. With claws that big, it would be hard to get in under them and hit a vital part on the Kishin, killing it and providing a meal for Soul. As the Kishin began to swing at the meister, Maka found herself being forced backwards simply to avoid being sliced in half by the claws.

"I can't get close to it!" she yelled to Soul. They had been taught that communication with their partner was key in winning battles. Soul cursed under his breath. The only opening he could see was under the Kishin's arms, and even that would be difficult to get to. But all they could do was try.

"Try to get under its arms!" Soul yelled back to her. His eyes were on the Kishin's gleaming claws. "But watch out for the-"

"I know about the damn claws!" she yelled at him. They were her priority. If she could slice them off where they connected to the hands, the threat would be eliminated and she could easily kill it. Now, how to approach… the rooftops. She looked up as she dodged a blow from the Kishin and saw that if she could get to the rooftop, she would have an advantage and could perform a simple downward slash, taking off all the claws on one hand in a single slice. She leapt to dodge another slash and dove into an alley, falling into a flawless forward roll and coming up on her feet. Not stopping for an instant, she ran to and leapt onto the fire escape on the side of a building. Running onto the roof, she immediately made her way to the edge overlooking the section of street the Kishin was in. Eyeing its claws as it searched the alley for them, she tightened her grip on Soul and leapt off the roof toward the Kishin.

The Kishin looked at them and raised its hand.

Everything went wrong.

Soul clattered to the ground, spinning away from his meister's grip as she fell to the ground. Blood slowly stained the front of her jacket as she lay gasping on the cobblestones. The Kishin had hit her.

"MAKA!" Soul shouted, changing back to his human form. Every muscle in his body tensed as he watched her still form on the ground, as he saw the blood spreading across her body and making the front of her jacket damp. He had an internal panic attack as he ran to her side. Looking up at the Kishin, he saw it raise its claws again for the final strike. The final hit that would end Maka. With an anguished cry, he grabbed her and pulled her out of the way just as the Kishin's claws came down. Sparks flew as its claws made contact with the cobblestones, barely missing the pair. He picked her up and began to run with her, but another claw came down in his path, forcing him to stop on a dime and turn. He began to run in the opposite direction, only to have to dodge another claw. He was stuck. He dropped to his knees to avoid a claw slashing over his head and held Maka close to his body. This was it… this was the end for both of them. He watched as the Kishin's claws rose above them, gleaming in the moonlight, one claw stained with Maka's blood. Soul's heart thumped in his chest, pounding in his ears as he shielded Maka with his body. Squeezing his eyes shut, he waited for the pain to take over- for the final strike.

But it never came.

Soul heard a loud roar and opened his eyes, looking up to where the Kishin was supposed to be. He shifted his weight, still holding Maka close, and his eyes found the Kishin- stumbling back down the street, barely dodging a silver explosion of light next to its head. Its black eyes gleamed silver for just a moment, reflecting the light, then dimmed and turned back to their angry, vortex-like black. Soul jumped a bit as he heard another quiet twang off to his right, and looked up as another silver explosion forced the Kishin back another step. With a pounding heart and beads of sweat on his forehead, Soul looked into the alley to his right.

A teenage girl stood there. She was small and thin, her white shirt a bit ripped and dirty, but because she was shrouded in shadow, that was all that stood out. She stood her ground against the Kishin, firing again and again at it with a simple wooden bow. Each arrow she fired, however, Soul noticed was glowing silver at its tip. As she pulled back the bow, Soul's eyes went to the Kishin. After a split second, an arrow exploded right in its face, and it stumbled back into the long set of stairs the girl had backed it into. Stunned by her accuracy, Soul looked back at the girl, only to find her eyes already locked on his.

"Hide her somewhere safe," she said, voice surprisingly calm considering the position she was in, "and then get back over here. This bow isn't going to kill that thing by itself, I need a real weapon. Hurry!" Soul was shocked out of his stupor at her shout and nodded, scrambling up and running behind a building with Maka in his arms. He took off his jacket and laid it under her head as a pillow, then laid her down on the ground gently. Staring at her, he slowly reached up and stroked her cheek with his thumb- but only for a moment. Another boom from an arrow reminded him about the girl needing his help, so he kissed Maka's hand and ran off, back to the girl in the alley.

She had gained ground against the Kishin, still firing at it- but she was running out of arrows. He was surprised to see that she had gained any ground at all- and slightly jealous, but he pushed that out of his mind and ran to her.

"What do you need me to do?" he yelled over the explosions and the Kishin's frustrated roaring. The girl, still silhouetted by the street lanterns, looked over at him.

"Change into a weapon," she said. "I need a real weapon, or all three of us are probably going to die."

Soul raised a brow, looking confused as the girl shot another arrow at the Kishin. "But we've never even met before tonight," he argued. The Kishin slashed at them again, and both Soul and the girl leapt back to avoid its claws. The girl fired another arrow- she had only two more now- and it stumbled back. Soul panted, trying to finish his sentence. "Our soul wavelengths won't match-"

"Just trust me!" she suddenly shouted at him, sounding frustrated. "It'll be fine, and we don't have time to argue!" Groaning, Soul complied and transformed into a scythe, spinning in the air as he usually did when he transformed. The girl caught him, gripping him tightly, and Soul was shocked to find that nothing at all happened with their soul wavelengths to push them apart and keep them from defeating the Kishin.

Suddenly, Soul felt a rush of energy, similar to the feeling he got when Maka channeled her soul wavelength through him to strengthen them both. It was hot, but not burning- it was energizing. The feeling made him want to fight. To slice through the skin and bone of the Kishin roaring before them, to watch its carcass crash to the ground, and to consume the soul inside.

He was hungry.

The girl leapt forward, swing Soul around expertly. She ran to its leg, somehow managing to get underneath its claws, although Maka had been unable to do so. With a couple of deft leaps, she made it to the Kishin's hip bone, which jutted out from its side at an odd angle, providing a strangely shaped but convenient foothold for her. With just two slashes of the weapon, five claws fell to the ground, hitting the cobblestones with a strange clank. The Kishin roared in pain as its claws were sliced off, and the girl jumped again to avoid the other set of claws, this time landing on the Kishin's bony elbow. Before it could knock her off, she leapt to its shoulder. As Soul watched, he realized that she was in the perfect position to make a kill shot.

And that was exactly what she did.

With a yell from the girl, Soul's blade was sliced across the Kishin's neck, opening up a wide, red smile in the gray skin. She jumped off of its shoulder as the Kishin disintegrated, leaving only a black and red soul behind, which floated about four feet off the ground. Landing on her feet, she dove into a roll to soften the blow, coming up again on her feet and holding Soul behind her with one hand. Standing slowly, she turned to face the soul left behind by the Kishin.

"Go for it," she told Soul, tossing the scythe into the air. In a flash of white-blue light, he landed on the cobblestones, now human, and stood. But instead of going to the Kishin soul, he turned and ran to Maka's side. Kneeling next to her, he brushed her bangs out of her face gently, sighing when he saw that it was cut up.

'Maka's not gonna take this lightly,' he thought to himself, knowing how she got about finishing a job herself, without help. But she was hurt, and he wasn't going to take any of her excuses. He heard a small thud on his right, and he looked over to see the girl coming to kneel next to him, pulling her brown leather bag in front of her. Glancing at her left hand, he saw that she was holding the Kishin soul out to him.

"Eat up," she said. "You need your strength, and I can hear your stomach growling." He frowned, looking down at his stomach. He was pretty hungry… He took the soul from her hand and gulped it down, chewing contentedly. Souls… always his favorite meal. He swallowed, wiping off his chin, and turned his attention back to Maka. The girl was pulling first aid supplies out of her bag, the streetlight shining on her, and as Soul pulled Maka's head into his lap, he finally got a good look at the girl.

She had dark blonde hair that went down to the middle of her back in soft waves. Her skin was smooth and soft-looking. Her eyes were a deep green, and they might have had a little bit of brown in them, but Soul couldn't tell because she wasn't looking at him. She wore a tattered white t-shirt with a black tank top underneath- he could see the strap on her shoulder- and a black, faded, well-worn leather jacket over the shirt. She also had on ripped blue jeans that were clearly torn from many battles over time. Her jeans were tucked into black combat boots that went to her ankles- good for running. A quiver rested on her back, with one arrow left inside. She slung her bow over her back and rummaged through the contents of her bag, pulling out bandages and anti-infection cream.

"Move her shirt," she said, pulling scissors from her bag and cutting the bandages to the right size. Soul watched for a moment before turning back to Maka. He gently moved her bloodstained shirt aside, revealing the wound. It wasn't deep, but it was long, stretching horizontally across her abdomen. The skin around the cut was covered with blood, and Soul figured that she had blacked out from the pain and the loss of blood. The girl moved him over and began tending to Maka, spreading the cream on the bandages and wrapping them around her waist. Soul held Maka's hand, willing her to be alright. He didn't even realize he was biting his lip until he tasted blood and realized his sharp teeth had cut into his flesh.

Finally, the girl packed up her leftover medical supplies, putting the strap of the bag over her shoulder. "There. That should hold for a little while… But I'm not exactly a medical professional, so we have to take her to the hospital. Is there one near here?" She finally met his eyes, and he saw something in them. Something he couldn't discern, but it was there. He broke his gaze and nodded, lifting Maka gently in his arms.

"Few blocks down that way," he said, nodding down the street to indicate where it was. She nodded, loading her bow with another arrow and leading the way in case another Kishin attacked.

From behind, Soul watched her skeptically. She was careful with her steps, but confident at the same time. Why had she just shown up in the middle of the fight like that? And right when he needed help the most… Had she known? Or had she just been a passerby, willing to risk her life to help them? There had to be something up with her, but now wasn't the time for intense questions like that. He had to take care of Maka first.

"So what's your name?" he asked her, shifting Maka so she didn't roll out of his arms. Death, she was heavier than she looked…

"Lexi," she said, glancing down an alley. "Yours?"

"Soul…" he watched her body language. Her shoulders seemed to be constantly tensed, and he wondered why. "And this is my meister, Maka… Are you a meister too?"

"Umm…" she hesitated some, then cleared her throat. "Yeah, I am." She flashed a smile back at him, hoping he hadn't noticed her hesitation- but he had. His eyes narrowed, but he said nothing as they reached the hospital and went inside.


Slooooooowly rewriting The Soul Master. And eventually A New Enemy. I split the first chapter right about in half, and this rewrite was still longer than it, so… Guess I had a lot of work to do! Thanks to Horsekid109 for asking me to do this- I'm very glad I did. See you next chapter!