Enter SHINO: The Witch with the Five-Fingered Blade
The battle to reawaken the Kishin had begun. Kid, Black*Star, Maka and their weapons had all managed to get passed Medusa leaving Stien and Spirit to handle the witch. The two seemed confident enough, however, it wasn't long until she had them trapped in a circle of her vector arrows- leaving them no escape rout. Medusa was now a cobra preparing to strike down her prey.
The enemies squared off, tying to predict the other's next move but soon, something broke through the silence. It was a noise a coming from down the hall that seemed to be getting louder and louder by the second.
"What is that sound?" Stien murmured, gripping Death Scythe tighter as he strained to make out the noise in the darkness. He could feel a soul approaching at an inhuman speed. He could not see what was moving down the hallway but soon it was right on top of them.
Medusa grinned wickedly, knowing exactly what was barreling through that void of shadows.
"I would move if I were you," the witch told them. "Vector plate!" She cried, throwing out her hand and casting an arrow launch pad just outside of the circle. The arrow pointed directly towards Stien and Spirit. Out of the darkness sprang a lithe, shadow-like figure clad in black and carrying a silver sword with an unusually wide, feather-shaped blade. In the blink of an eye, the figure leaped onto the vector plate Medusa had cast and shot through the air. The attacker sailed past Stien and Spirit, whom both managed to jump out of the path of its trajectory just in time. The shadow figure landed on the other side of the circle and didn't even look back before continuing to fly down the hallway.
"What was that?" Demanded Stien, his green eyes narrowing as he glared at Medusa.
"That, my dear Stien, was my trump card. Shino Gorgon, the witch with the five-fingered blade. She is my firstborn, the inheritor of my powers, and my greatest weapon. Poor little Crona is nothing compared to his sister. I'm afraid this will be one hard-learned lesson for your students."
Death Scythe's eyes widened in fear as he realized whom the witch would encounter first. "Maka!"
MAKA and SOUL vs SHINO
Maka and Soul circled Crona and his weapon, Ragnorok, trying to find an opening for an attack. The blonde meister had dismissed Black*Star a while ago, wanting to take on this challenge herself. It was turning out to be pretty difficult.
Before launching another attack against the skinny pinkette, something beyond the corridor caught her attention. Her senses perked up, alerting her to another dangerous presence- and this time she was certain it wasn't her sleazy papa about to pop out of the shadows.
"Soul, someone's coming," she told him, her voice laced with trepidation. "They're closing in on us fast."
Maka's eyes widened upon realizing what she was sensing.
"It's a witch!" She gasped, dodging one of Crona's heavy-handed strikes and turning to catch a glimpse of their new opponent. This witch didn't even bother with using her Soul Protect. Was she that confident in herself?
Coming upon the group, Shino came to an immediate stop. She said nothing about the scene before her, just stared at it in calm silence. It would have seemed almost comical if she weren't so disappointed. There was Crona, Ragnorok in hand, fighting a puny blonde girl who wielded a scythe that looked two times too big for her to handle.
Maka, Soul, and Crona just stared at her, not quite knowing how to handle this interruption.
The witch wore a simple black dress with long belled sleeves and a hood that came to a point in the front like a raven's beak. She was thin and lean with muscle, which boasted of years of physical training. Her long, navy hair flowed around her like a banner, those blunt cut bangs framing a pair of stern, pink eyes. Gripped in her hand was a blade that was five fingers wide at the base and shaped like a giant silver feather. Everything about this witch warned Maka that she was a clear force to be reckoned with.
"What the hell is she doing here?!" Ragnorok barked, breaking the awkward silence that hung over the group.
Shino did not respond. Instead, she spared a glance at her brother who was now consumed by the madness of the Black Blood. It seemed Medusa had turned the timid boy into a weapon after all.
"Crona…" she murmured, finally. Her voice was dark, the meaning of her words shrouded by her serious demeanor.
Fixing her gaze down the dark hallway once more, she charged forwards. Kicking up the side of one of the nearby pillars, she flipped over the top of the Maka and Crona. Landing behind them, she continued onwards, leaving Crona to his own devices.
The bulky Ragnorok nearly twisted his body all the way around to watch Shino fly away.
"What the hell! The bird-bitch just blew us off!" He snapped, thinking she'd at least lend them a hand. "Phttt… whatever, it's not like we needed her anyways." With that he turned back into his broadsword form.
"She's heading for the Kishin," Maka thought aloud, watching Shino disappear once more into the darkness.
"Black*Star and Kid will take care of her." Reassured Soul, getting Maka's head back in the game.
BLACK*STAR and KID vs SHINO
The assassin and the shinigami had already discovered Free's trick with the Witch Queen's eye and were well on their way to the vault holding the Kishin. Just then Black*Star stopped in his tracks.
"Do you hear that?" He asked.
Kid's yellow eyes narrowed, turning to look behind him. "Yes. What is that?"
Suddenly, out of the darkness, sprang a navy-haired girl in a black dress. She flipped over the top of them and landed in front of the corridor leading to the Kishin.
"Go no further," she told them, blocking their way.
"She's a witch." Kid stated. Without hesitation, he fired four rounds at her.
Shino raised her blade in front of her face, clasping one hand over the other, aligning it perfectly down the center of her nose. The four bullets Kid shot at her hit the sharp edge of the sword and split in to eight symmetrical halves. The bullet halves then sailed past her head in an even flight path, leaving her unscathed. The pink light that emanated from them lit up the stars in her eyes, and the speed of the bullets blew her navy hair back, causing it to fan out behind her.
Kid watched this in sheer amazement. His mouth fell open and his yellow eyes nearly popped out of his head as he watched this work of art in action.
"Perfect symmetry!" He cried, floored by what he had just seen. Two even streams of blood gushed from his nose as he stared at her, wide-eyed and flushed-faced, before passing out.
Shino's brow knit in confusion at the shinigami's reaction. 'What the heck was his problem?' she thought, not letting her guard down for a second.
Watching the scene before him, Black*Star let out an annoyed grunt. "Hey! Why are you staring at him when all eyes should be on me?!" He yelled, leaping in the air and aiming his foot at the witch's face.
Shino quickly sidestepped the crazy boy and attempted to roundhouse kick him once he landed, but he flipped out of her range quicker than lightening. By that time, Kid had recovered and was standing at the ready. Once again, the two boys found themselves exactly where they were a moment ago, squaring off with this mystery witch.
"Impressive," she finally spoke. "However, you'll never be able to stop them from reawakening the Kishin. I suggest you both sit this next round out."
"Ha! Thanks for the warning, but I guess you don't realize who you're talking to. I'm Black*Star, the one who will surpass god, and nothing is going to stop me!" He yelled out with great enthusiasm.
Shino's frown only deepened in reaction to the boy's ridiculousness.
"I suppose confidence is key," she patronized, and then spun her blade in several tight figure-eight patterns around her body before finishing in a strong fighting stance.
Black*Star ran at her and the two began to battle. After a moment of observation, Kid noticed two interesting things. One: the witch wasn't using any of her magic when fighting. Two: every move she made seemed to be an attempt to get past Black*Star, not kill him. If they had more time, he'd be interested in figuring out her intentions, but that wasn't the case. They had to stop Eruka and Free no matter what, and this witch was in their way.
"Liz, Patty, soul resonance, go!" he ordered. The blue aura of his soul began to shine around him as the three connected. "Execution Mode!"
Shino watched Kid out of the corner of her eye, as she fended off the exhausting barrage of attacks from Black*Star. She wanted to stop the shinigami from launching his attack, but the aqua-haired maniac kept her so busy that she couldn't.
Once he was ready, Kid yelled out to Black*Star warning him to get out of the way. The assassin quickly blocked one of Shino's attacks and then leapt out of the line of fire.
"Death Cannon!" Kid cried, aiming for the witch.
Two balls of blinding fire shot straight for Shino and she jumped out of the way, barely escaping them. However, the explosion sent her flying into the rubble, where she disappeared from the two miester's sight.
"Quick, we don't have much time." Kid told Black*Star as he stood.
The two used this opportunity to run after Eruka and Free.
KISHIN vs SHINO… and EVERYONE ELSE
When Shino was able to dig herself out of the rubble, she found that the shinigami and assassin had already gone. They were clever, but she wasn't going to let this little altercation get in her way. Running down the hall, she began to chant.
"Raven, Craven, Crow, Crowbaba... Raven, Craven, Crow, Crowbaba!"
With a snap of her fingers, two trundles of smoke shot out from her behind her, forming a pair of strange wings. The spell lifted her into the air and shot her forwards like a speeding bullet. With her Raven's Revenge, she would catch up in no time.
Meanwhile, Kid and Black*Star had already made it into the vault where Free and Eruka were. Kid was firing at Free, distracting him so Black Star could go after Eruka. The witch already filled the syringe with the Black Blood and was trying to shove it into the bag holding the Kishin. The assassin was almost upon her until her pet, Tadpole Jackson, attacked him from the shadows.
In that instant, Shino burst into the room. Kid turned his head to see the witch flying towards him, quite literally, at top speed. He raised his weapons to shoot her down but with her Raven's Revenge, she was too fast. He braced for impact but then was shocked to find her blow past him and slam into Free, sending the immortal flying backwards into the ground. Standing atop him, Shino's gaze then turned to Black*Star.
He had off the giant tadpole and now turned his attention to the Eruka, who was still trying to push the plunger down on the syringe. "Looks like your time is up! TAKE THIS!" He cried flipping through the air and raising his sword above his head.
"NOOOOOOO!" Shino screamed, jumping off of Free's chest and running up to stop Black Star. However, it was too late, he had already delivered his killing blow. All she could do was stare in abject horror.
"We won!" The assassin cried, pumping his fist in the air victoriously.
Everyone else stared on in shock as mass waves of madness began to fill the vault.
"We succeeded, Free." Eruka whispered in disbelief as the Black Blood was slowly sucked up by the Kishin.
The look in Kid's eyes was like he was witnessing the beginning of the apocalypse.
"This can't be happening." He breathed.
Shino fell to her knees in defeat, as she gazed up at the broken shrine. "What have you done?"
Black*Star looked around in utter confusion at everyone's reaction. "But we won didn't we?" He asked.
"Your desperation worked against us. What you actually cut was the shrine sealing the bag." Explained Kid.
"What?"
"Your sixth sense kicked in, taking over when you weren't expecting it. At the very end, you must have begun hallucinating."
Suddenly, Kid's explanation dawned on Black*Star.
"No that… that can't be. If we lost, then why's she so disappointed?" He asked pointing at the prostrate Shino.
"I was trying to stop the reawakening, you idiot!" She snapped.
Black*Star wanted to tell her she did a crappy job explaining that point, but the gravity of their current situation was too great to start mindlessly bickering.
Turning to the bag holding the Kishin, he saw the syringe sticking out of it, empty and unbroken. He hadn't stopped Eruka after all.
"We failed?" He asked, still in shock. He had been so sure they won.
Not wasting another moment, Kid raised his guns, firing round after round into the bag. He was determined not to let it get away. After the smoke cleared from the torrent of bullets, everyone was shocked to see that the bag was completely unscathed.
"That didn't even touch it," murmured Free in amazement.
Suddenly the bag began to move. The middle twisted and turned, stretching out until it began to form the shape of a man. The Kishin was putting its skin back on.
The group watched helplessly as Asura assumed a human-like form. He then slovenly made his way over to Eruka who was cowering in front of him, too terrified to move. Opening his soulless eyes and seeing the face of the trembling, fear-ridden, witch he screamed out in sheer terror.
"He's afraid of her?" Free questioned.
"That sound is so annoying," Black*Star, commented, holding his hands over his ears. Once Asura stopped screaming, the assassin ran at him. "Take this, you naked, perverted, freak!"
He then struck him with his Soul Menace. Asura turned to the boy completely unharmed and responded by merely touching him with a ribbon of his skin. The instant the Kishin touched him, his entire body convulsed and he coughed up blood before falling to the ground.
Kid ran after Asura next, firing at him with everything he had. The Kishin reached out with an extension of his skin and slapped Kid on the forehead. A Kishin eye appeared there for a split second before knocking Kid backwards into the pillar behind him.
While Asura was distracted with the shinigami, Shino ran up and thrust her feather blade into the Kishin's stomach, pushing her hand against the pommel to drive it in as deep as possible.
The monster slowly looked down at the wound, his body arching in a strange C-shape from impact. He made a strange groaning noise before lurching forwards, his body easily rejecting the sword, and throwing both it and Shino clear across the room. The witch coughed up blood, feeling as if all her insides had been cut to bits. The pain was too much and the last thing she saw before passing out was Asura burrowing through a hole in the ceiling and the skinny girl, Maka, chasing after it.
She had failed. All those years of preparing for this moment had come to nothing. What's more, she was in enemy territory with no means of escape.
She tried to hold out a bit longer, but soon she was enveloped in blackness.
AN: REVIEW FAVOR FOLLOW! Hello everyone! Welcome to my story, I hope you are enjoying it so far. Please let me know what you think :) Next up, Shino and Crona's interrogation and their new lives at Shibusen. Who will like them? Who will hate them? Will they make it a full day without being dissected?