Chapter 1

Strings of red and gold decorated the late-afternoon sky, splashing the dark mesas with light. Two meisters walked side by side, their clothes sand-speckled by the gentle wind: Eve Fannon,

one-star sword meister, and her classmate Death the Kid, son of the Shinigami.

"Hey Kid, how come so many of our missions bring us to deserts?" Liz called from her weapon form. "It's getting cold, and I haven't had anything to eat since lunch."

"Well, that's your own fault, isn't it?" Kid replied. "The rest of us had a nice healthy dinner at The Buttered Skull, to which we very kindly invited you."

"You know I had a good reason not to go with you guys! I was on the last episode of the third season of Gallows Girls, and you refused to wait for me to finish watching!"

"We had a reservation for 5:00!"

"You're the Grim Reaper's son! You can get in anywhere, anytime you want, just by showing an ID!"

"She has a point," Eve said. "Anyway, let's get going on this mission! Demonic sand turtles, huh? We can take 'em!"

"Hey sis, what sound do turtles make?" chirped Patty.

"I don't know, Patty, maybe a squawk?" said Liz.

Patty roared and spat. "Like this?"

"That…was definitely not a squawk," Eve said.

"Shut up, everyone!" Kid held up a finger. "I think I heard something."

After a moment of silence, Eve heard it too: a cacophonic rush of roaring and spitting, rumbling through the sand beneath their feet. "Patty, you're a genius!" she cried. "We found the kishin!"

"…For better or for worse," said Kid. "Eve, you'd better have Macy transform now."

"Right." Eve closed her eyes to better feel her sister's soul. She and Macy were twins and partners; meister and weapon, respectively. Macy was beautiful—two slender blue foils that slid out through her twin's palms when needed. In human form, she was nothing but a small bump on the back of Eve's neck. Macy had stopped growing in the womb, but not before her soul came into being right beside Eve's.

"Okay, we're ready!" Eve called to Kid as the ground trembled even harder beneath them. The sloped backs of enormous turtles, dozens of them, bubbled through the sand and surrounded the meisters. Then came their faces, eyes fiery red and teeth gnashing, followed by their legs, with foot-long claws as sharp as Death Scythes.

Beads of nervous sweat flew from Liz. "Uh, I really don't like this, you guys!" she yelled.

"Eve, use Ice Blade on the ones over there!" shouted Kid. "I'll take care of these guys!" He began to shoot.

"You hear that, Macy? Ice Blade!" Eve shouted over the roaring and spitting of their attackers. "Let's go!"

Razor-sharp blades of ice flew from Macy's two blades, piercing the turtles' giant shells. Their roaring grew to a guttural shriek, and they began to swarm, long, wet teeth bared, ready to attack.

"Uh, Kid? I think I just made them angrier!" Eve cried, slashing desperately at the three turtles closest to her.

"Same here. We need a new tactic!"

"Wind Blade!" Eve screamed, deciding in a panic to use her and Macy's newest skill. A formidable gust of wind hit the turtles head-on, buying her time to prepare her best technique, Fire Blade.

"Death Cannon!" shouted Kid, deadly soul force cascading over his assailants. Evil turtles were flying left and right, their red kishin souls hovering in the stiff desert air.

"Fire Blade!" Flames streamed from Macy, completely overtaking the army of turtles at last. "YES!" Eve cheered. "I got 'em, Kid!"

"Nice! We're doing well over here, too!" he called, coughing through the settling smoke.

"All in a day's work," said Eve as the meisters high-fived twice (for symmetry).

"You know, I never really liked the Ninja Turtles much anyway," Liz said.

"Ooh, I did! Michaelangelo was my favorite," said Patty.

"I liked Leonardo," said Eve. Macy's soul jittered happily in agreement.

"Guys…I have some bad news," Kid said as the ground began to rumble again. Eve turned to see a giant—giant—turtle shell rising from the scorched sand.

"Are you kidding me?!" Liz cried.

"He must be the alpha dog!" Eve said. "Kid, ready to resonate?"

"Yes."

"LET'S GO. SOUL RESONANCE!"

Macy's tiny soul quivered and grew with energy. Spark by spark, the twin souls morphed and danced in a heightened ecstasy of force. Eve shut her eyes and found Kid's soul, that bizarre and beautiful Shinigami wavelength.

"RESONANCE LINK!"

Recognition…connection…augmentation. They were ready. The love between their five souls rose in an electric harmony—Eve almost pitied the alpha turtle for having to fight them now.

Blades flew with deadly precision from Eve's hands. Kid's soul wavelength roared into the kishin's side. They were intense. They were unstoppable. They won.

"Giddyup!" Patty giggled, riding an imaginary horse as the team made their way back to Death City.

"Eve, how many souls did we get in all?" Kid asked.

"Sixty-one, but I took an extra so you can have a nice even number, don't worry."

He nodded in relief. "Thank you."

"Where to now?" said Liz. "I know you guys had that big fancy-schmancy dinner, but I'm still hungry for pizza."

"I could eat some pizza right now," Eve said.

"Yay! Pizza!" Patty squealed.

"Pizza it is," said Kid. "Eight equal slices, two for each of us."

Liz frowned. "Patty's going to want way more than two slices."

"Sixteen, then. But they'll be a lot smaller."

"No, Kid. We're getting a normal pizza. That means the same number of slices they would give to anyone else."

"All right, then I just won't sit with you."

"Fine."

"I won't pay for your asymmetrical pizza, either."

"F-fine."

Liz and Kid continued their bickering right until the group's arrival at Pizza Morgue. Eve didn't mind it—living with the likes of Black*Star, she'd actually come to enjoy a certain amount of noise and discomfort. She would have felt wrong without it. Macy was happy, too. Full of juicy kishin souls, she was bouncing and humming inside Eve like a giddy baby. God, Eve wished she could hug her.