Chapter One
Robots and Basketball
"So! Another game, anybody? A one-on-one?" Black Star addressed the rest of us cheerfully, casually spinning the basketball on his finger.
We were lounging around outside, enjoying the sun, or in some cases, shade, near the basketball courts.
That is, 'we' being Kid, Crona, Black Star, Tsubaki, Maka, Liz, Patty and I. And Ragnarok, if you count him, which no one ever seemed to.
"You've beaten everyone already, Black Star." Kid took the time to look up from his book.
"Ha! No one can beat the Great Black Star! I bet you're all too scared to even try!" The would-be ninja shouted, his free hand on his waist.
"Sure, that's it. It couldn't be the fact that you've been playing for hours and you've yelled so much that no one'll play," Maka interjected. "Besides, we're all tired."
Something made me glance past Black Star, and in doing so, I noticed a tall man in a heavily stitched lab-coat, a large black screw protruding from the side of his head.
"It's Stein," I said aloud to the others.
Everyone turned toward the professor as he made his way across the basketball courts- toward us. When he reached the benches we were occupying he stopped, facing all of us.
"Hey Stein," I called to him.
"Hello, Soul. Now,-" he started, putting his fingers up to his screw.
"HI-YA!"
There was a shout from behind Professor Stein as none other than 'the Great' Black Star suddenly dropped from the air, only to be flung sideways by Stein's ready Soul Wavelength blast. As the young meister crashed to the ground, Black Star groaned. "I just... wanted to ask... if you'd shoot some hoops..."
Stein smiled down at Black Star, adjusting his screw as he did so. "I'm afraid I'll have to decline even though I could beat you easily." The teacher turned to the rest of us, putting his hands together with a smack. "Well, good news everyone. Instead of being lazy, everyone has to get up off their butts because a new assignment just came in. Crona, follow me, the rest of you, regroup in Lord Death's Room for briefing."
Maka knocked on the big door that was adorned with a skull and the plate that read 'Death Room'.
After a while, a voice emitted from behind the entryway. "Come in."
Maka pushed open the door, and I followed my meister through.
The Death Room. It was circular-shaped, the interior sky blue with white, ever-shifting clouds. In the back portion of the huge room, there was a vast assortment of crossed grave markers. These, the markers, had always fascinated me. In the front part of the room, there was a big mirror- and staring into that mirror was Lord Death.
"Hello, Lord Death!" Maka called.
"Hiya, Maka!" Lord Death turned, greeting her.
"We're here for the briefing," my meister continued. As she spoke, I looked around. Kid, Liz and Patty were already here, standing a little ways away from Lord Death's mirror.
"HI-YA!"
I whirled around just in time to see the door fall in with a crash, revealing a blue haired and proud looking Black Star. Lord Death sighed. "You can't do anything quietly, can you?"
Before Black Star could respond, Lord Death clapped his hands. "Alright! Now, we've sighted a mysterious robot that crash landed in the outskirts of Death City, apparently harboring these people."
As he talked, Lord Death's mirror's image twisted, churning until it showed a distinguishable picture. From what I could make out, it depicted a large green machine type thing lying in the middle of a sand dune. After a while, a few people climbed out. Four, by my count. The picture wasn't that great, but it looked like two of them were arguing with one another, while another one of the group was attempting to fix their machine.
"We need you to find out who they are and deal with them accordingly. Good luck!"
