Author's Notes: Please pardon my writing style. Usually I go straight to the point, and leave out the details. Thus there will not be any nice character introductions. Sorry~!
But still, hope you'll enjoy it~!
Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Eater.
Setting: The battle for BREW on the island. Events that happened there will be changed though.
Trading Places
Chapter ONE of the Wish
"I will take something important, in exchange for granting a wish." - Yuko Ichihara
5 minutes had passed. Dr. Stein and Marie-sensei had yet to return.
Something had to be done.
With Kirikou, Ox and Kim covering their backs, the trio headed into the raging magnetic field. They pressed forward despite the strong repulsion the field exerted, and finally broke through into the core.
"Stein-hakase! Marie-sensei!"
The girl in lead rushed forward, twin ponytails flapping against the wind. The other two boys followed suit.
"You… disobeyed my orders…" The Professor reprimanded them weakly and leveled them with a half-hearted glare. "Maka, Black Star, Kid."
"What happened?" The adolescent dressed in monochrome, Death the Kid, spoke up.
"… I'll explain later," Dr. Stein huffed as Marie gently supported him up. "For now, our top priority is to retrieve BREW."
"YOOHOO! Leave it to me, the almighty one!" The boy with teal-colored hair, Black Star, declared with brimming alacrity and dashed off.
"… Come on, Maka. We'll have to keep up with him," Soul stated in his scythe-form.
"Yes," The scythe-meister tightened her grip around the weapon. She was about to take chase when Kid stopped her.
She frowned, not wanting to fall behind the teal-haired assassin. "...What are you doing?"
"Look."
Two members of Arachnophobia were leaving the temple in which BREW resided. Mosquito and Mifune. In Mosquito's left hand was a peculiar metal box.
"They got BREW!" Maka hissed.
The short elder tipped his head up with a sidelong glance. "Mifune, deal with them. I have to return BREW to Arachne-sama immediately."
"Hmph."
Before Mifune could make a move, a loud war-cry rang through the air and Black Star landed before him.
"Let's settle this," The teal-haired punk took his stance.
"…" The blasé bodyguard drew his sword.
Leaving the enemy to Black Star, the other two meisters turned their attention back to Mosquito.
"He's leaving with BREW! We have to stop him!" Maka cried out in panic as she watched the retreating figure.
"No, don't go after him. That's a fraud."
The blond-haired girl turned towards the Professor with a questioning look. "Huh?"
"Someone must have deceived them into thinking that is the real BREW… BREW should still be in the temple. Hurry, go retrieve it…"
"Wait! Look over there!" Marie pointed, directing their attention towards the sky.
Three of the Mizune sisters were skedaddling from the temple in the opposite direction. An exact replica of the cube Mosquito held dangled from the middle of the witches.
"That's the genuine BREW!" Stein gritted his teeth. "Kid, you retrieve BREW. Maka, back him up."
"Yes, hakase."
Beelzebub was summoned from Kid's palm in a sparkle of dark energy and the Shinigami deftly leapt onto it. He powered up the hovering implement and took off after the fleeing witches. Cool air slapped against his pallid features as he sped through the vast expanse of the field-simulated sky.
"Look, Kid! There's a wolfie chasing us!" Patti, the younger of the Thompson sisters, laughed.
Kid craned his neck down and saw Free, the immortal werewolf, sprinting after him on the ground. His hands were clasped together and he began to chant…
"Wolf, wolves, wolf, wolves… "
"Kid, watch out from below!" Liz warned him. Liz was the elder sister. Both sisters were currently in the form of handguns in the Shinigami's hands.
A giant icicle pierced through the undergrowth into the sky, almost throwing the Shinigami off balance as he careened to a side.
"Damn werewolf…" he muttered, regaining his balance and took off after the witches once more.
"You're not going anywhere! Wolf, wolves…"
"Kid, leave him to me!" Maka yelled and crashed through the vegetation, landing a kick on the werewolf's back.
Kid had no time for thanks. With rising urgency at the sight of the witches' shadows disappearing at a distance, he hastily maneuvered the skateboard, revved up the power and tore through the sky in hot pursuit.
The Mizune sisters must have sensed his closing presence, for two of the witches decided to leave a trail of tadpole bombs in their wake.
"Such a vile, disgusting manner of offence," Death the Kid spat out in distaste, skillfully avoiding the haphazardly scattered bombs with graceful turns.
He quickly caught up with the witches.
"Tornado flip!"
He nimbly leapt off the skateboard. With a powerful swing of his leg, he launched the skateboard sharply spinning in a wide arc.
"Chi!" The witches squeaked out in pain as the skateboard crashed into their sides, hurtling them into a distance.
"There's BREW!" Liz exclaimed.
Apparently, the witch holding BREW had lost its grip on the metal box, and it was left falling in mid-air.
The skateboard completed a full circle and reverted back to its owner. Kid landed perfectly on the implement, regaining control over it. He revved up the power once more and headed towards the falling cube, which he plucked out of the sky.
"BREW retrieval, complete," he announced to nobody in particular and turned his attention back to the battle beneath him.
Black Star was engaged in fierce combat with his adversary. In the tangle of punches and slashes, came showers of blood. But Kid held faith in Black Star's abilities. They were playing on equal grounds after all.
He scanned the dense vegetation from his aerial view for the female meister…
"Maka!" His eyes widened in alarm as he took in the scene before him.
The blond-haired meister had been cornered against the temple's wall. Blood dribbled down in little rivulets from her forehead, and bruises ran rampant on her skin. Her right leg was bent at an awkward angle. And Soul was nowhere to be seen. The meister had been disarmed.
"Maka!" Kid cried out once more and swiveled his skateboard in her direction.
He had to help her!
He saw the werewolf lash out, smashing the meister into the concrete wall. Blood was coughed out before the girl tumbled forward and landed sprawled out on the ground.
Could he reach her in time? They were still so far away…!
He saw Free raise a large icicle, its sharpened end pointed towards the fallen meister.
Where was Soul? What was he doing? Someone stop the werewolf! Someone, anyone!
He supercharged the skateboard, accelerating it over its limit. Cold sweat started to break out from the sides of his head.
He… He had to save her…!
"Kid! We'll never make it in time!" Liz cried out. He could hear the trepidation and pain laced in her trembling voice.
"I… I WILL!"
Despite his bold words, Death the Kid knew the agonizing truth.
It was impossible.
Liz and Patti's shots would not be strong enough to stop him from such a distance.
She was too far away.
There was too little time.
Too little time…
The werewolf slashed.
And everything slowed down before the moment of impact.
In a second, Maka's head would be separated from her body.
In a second, she would be gone.
She would be dead.
Death the Kid watched with rising horror as the icicle slowly closed in on her throat as the second neared its finish.
He willed himself to move faster, but his legs and strength had been dragged down into a ponderous state, as time had in the moment.
Was this… the end of Maka?
And he, a Shinigami, a friend, could only watch her die at the sidelines.
That was where he had always stood to his chagrin.
At the sidelines.
He was nothing more than an assurance in the heat of the battle.
An onlooker.
Utterly helpless. Utterly useless.
Trapped in a cul-de-sac.
Just watching people fall.
Watching his friends fall.
But what could he do?
Nothing.
Nothing.
And so,
He wished.
He wished, that he could be there, protecting her.
He desperately wished so.
He truly wanted to.
And the queer little cube in his arms, decided to grant him his wish...
A flash.
Where was he?
In the darkness.
He could see the light…
Kid opened his eyes with a start.
There he stood before Free, palms pressed against the icicle, restraining it from advancing further.
What happened?
"That was fast," the werewolf commented, pulling the icicle away from Kid's grasp. "I thought I had knocked you out for good."
W-What?
He had been riding Beelzebub towards Maka just a moment ago.
There was a flash.
And now this.
He felt someone tugging at the back of his pants.
"Soul…"
He turned around and was startled to find Maka sprawled out on the ground in a bloody mess.
She raised her head.
Kid felt a strange sensation flash through him like an electrical shock as Maka leveled his gaze with hers. He saw her deep emerald eyes, brimming with courage and tenacity despite her battered body.
"Transform into a Scythe."
Kid blinked.
"Huh?" He blurted out as Maka lifted herself from the ground. He was rather surprised by his own voice. How informal, coarse and different it was now…
"Don't give me that look," Maka glared at him with burning ferocity. "I'm the meister. I decide. We're going to try Witch Hunter again. Transform now, Soul."
… Soul?
"But…"
"Soul!"
Kid gritted his teeth. He did not understand what was happening.
But yet in this convoluted turmoil, he could understand two things.
Through some way or another, he was currently in Soul's position, and he had to protect Maka.
"What are you waiting for, Soul!?"
"Uh… Maka…"
"What is it? Hurry up already!"
Under Maka's cruel death glare, Kid was rather ambivalent about voicing out the burning question in his head… but he just had to.
"H-How do you transform into a weapon…?" He drawled out meekly, knowing the ignominy that awaited him.
Maka's jaw dropped.
Free, who had been watching the little farce play out before him, laughed huskily.
"Seems like your friend had his head hit pretty hard," The werewolf grinned and gave a thumbs-up. "It was me who did it after all! Ha! Ha! Must have underestimated my strength."
"Soul! This is no time to be joking around!" Maka yelled and Kid saw with terror that she seemed to be considering executing a Maka Chop as her death glare skyrocketed with intensity.
"B-But I really don't know how to!" He cried out with a pleading look etched out on his face. It was the plain truth after all…
"…" Maka stared at him, speechless. Her erupting temper seemed to subside in the instant she caught the truth in his words. Kid diverted his eyes away from hers. He felt so ashamed of himself. He felt so… useless.
"I would have sat down and continued watching you two, but sorry, I have a job to finish," Free sighed and readied himself for another slash.
Kid felt terrible. Guilt crawled into the weaknesses in his heart and he felt his depression slowly kick in. He had wanted to protect Maka. He did stop the killing blow, but now what? Didn't he wish for the opportunity to protect his teammate? He had wished the situation upon himself.
He turned to Maka, she seemed upset.
"I'm sorry, Soul… If I had acted faster, you wouldn't be in the state you are now…"
It then dawned upon Kid that he had just led Maka to the conclusion that he was suffering from memory loss. And she was blaming herself.
"…Maka …It's not your fault." Words had forsaken him in the moment of awkwardness.
How useless he was.
A pig! A scum! Totally utterly useless! Disgusting! He didn't deserve to be born into this world!
Yet somehow, even without Liz and Patti by his side, a second voice broke through his crooked chain of thoughts.
What are you doing!?
WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?
HE'S GOING TO HURT MAKA!
PROTECT HER!
And thus he broke out of the portcullis barring his mind from clarity.
He drew back on his resolve. Yes, he had to protect Maka, regardless of how useless he was. If he was here, he could still protect her. He could.
He clenched up his fists and took up the Stance of 'Crime'.
Free's eyes widened and he let out a choked sound that seemed to sound vaguely like laughter.
"W-What? You're going fight me with your fists now are you? Ha! Ha! And what's with that strange pose? Ha! Ha! Ha!"
"Soul, what are you doing?"
"Stay back, Maka. I'll finish him."
"B-But Soul…"
Kid lunged forward, lashing out with his foot.
Free dodged it easily. Kid noted that his combat abilities had vitiated along with his suppleness in this body. He may not have any hope of winning an immortal, but still… He would keep trying.
Even if all hope was lost, he would keep trying. It was his duty to protect.
And he would protect Maka.
Just as Kid was about to lash out with his other leg, a crackle was heard and a burst of lighting engulfed the werewolf.
"Check out the power of The Lightning King!"
"Maka! Soul! Are you two alright?"
Kid landed and directed his gaze to the source of the voices.
Two figures emerged from the dense undergrowth and he felt a surge of relief upon seeing them.
"Ox! Kirik-"
BA-DHUMP!
Suddenly, a wave of nausea crashed down onto the Shinigami. His vision blurred before him and he felt his strength forsake him.
He could hear someone calling out to him.
But it was faint. Barely a whisper…
"Soul!"
He was falling…
… Into the darkness…
Author's Notes:
So, how did that go? To be honest, I think I suck terribly at 'action-scenes'. But ah, well. I apologize for the lack of humor... Don't worry, there will be some in the next chapter!
And I like to develop relationships slowly. That's why there isn't much KidxMaka here yet.
About Kid's sudden depression, I know there wasn't anything to do with symmetry there, but I just get the feeling that he's just a guy with low self-esteem. That's why he tries to make everything perfect to make up for that.
Please review and tell me how you feel. I'll try to adjust to your requests, if any.
Thanks for reading!
~Cyan