Author's Note: Hello! Here is some random twoshot that came to mind while watching an episode of FMA (2003). I wanted to go back to the old FMA episodes and see Fullmetal vs Flame again, and when Hughes unveiled the giant picture of his daughter…PRICELESS XD! But then I was randomly thinking of Fullmetal Alchemist and Soul Eater at the same time and it hit me about how Spirit really loves Maka, then the idea of Hughes and Spirit talking to each other about their daughters in embarrassing concepts came randomly to me afterwards and…VOILA! This twoshot was born! I also went through the SE+FMA crossover section of the website and found a lack in oneshots and twoshots. Nearly all of the fanfics in that section were multiple chapters and long stories, so I thought that the section also needed a random oneshot/twoshot or two to balance out the mix.
By the way, the canon story of Fullmetal Alchemist is set in the early 1900's, but Soul Eater is set in modern times, so I have had to make some adjustments to time in this twoshot. This adjustment being: Instead of the world of alchemy being on the other side of the gate from Earth and both worlds being in early 1900's, the world of alchemy (Amestris and its neighbouring nations) are on Earth (as a small continent). Amestris and its neighbours however, stayed isolated from the rest of the world for a long time. No one went overseas and no tourists came to them to acknowledge that there were countries besides Amestris and its neighbours (ie. Xing, Drachma etc.), so in isolation, the countries that were in the world of alchemy during the FMA cannon (that in this story are on Earth) didn't keep up at all with modern government and technology, and ran in the style of technology from the early 1900's, but the time is in modern times, and the other countries in the world are far ahead in technology than Amestris, Xing and the rest of the FMA countries. Being cut off from the rest of the world, the FMA countries were the only ones who used alchemy (and Alkahestry for the Xingese), but over time the FMA countries opened up, while still keeping their early 1900's technology, and they started to travel and get to know other countries. So (*cough*HOPEFULLY*cough*) that should clear up the time setting problem without causing a time paradox. Pretty random.
How many times did I say 'random' and 'randomly'? Mehh... WHO CARES?!
Btw, the first parts/chapter will be Roy and Maes being escorted to the Death Room, so it will be a bit lengthy, which is why it is a twoshot. I originally planned to make it a oneshot, but the little 'build up' to the negotiation was a lot longer than an initial oneshot before I even got to the good bits, so I decided to make it a twoshot instead. So in the next chapter the humour and Hughes+Spirit friendship actually start to kick in.
Yes. This is decently lengthy twoshot.
Enjoy :)
Up the stairs to the DWMA walked two adult figures in blue military uniforms. The sun was laughing, its hot breath heating the backs of their necks and its light shining off the fine chains of their beautifully made silver pocket watches. Their black military boots made thumping footsteps on the long steps as they neared the top. One of the figures was a man who had short, black hair that drooped down and wore a pair of white gloves (that had transmutation circles etched on them) on his hands. His eyes were a dark grey and were squinting in the sun. The other figure was a man who had black, spiked hair that was slightly slicked back and to the side. He wore a pair of rectangular glasses in front of his hazel eyes. He had what appeared to be the start of a beard (or just small facial hair) on his chin. The two men were still walking to the top of the steps leading to the Academy main entrance.
"It sure is hot!" the spectacled man, whose name was Maes Hughes, wiped a bit of sweat off his forehead.
"At least it's not raining" the gloved man, called Roy Mustang, replied. "We'd be soaked thoroughly and my gloves wouldn't be able to ignite any flames to warm and dry us off."
"So, what do you think they do here?" Hughes asked, turning to Roy. "At this place we're heading to. They called it the DWMA didn't they?"
"Yes." Roy answered. "DWMA stands for 'Death Weapon Meister Academy'. It was founded by the Grim Reaper, Death himself, in order to prevent another demon called a Kishin from being born. The academy trains teenage students who are weapons; people who can turn into weapons and meisters; people who can wield weapons. The students are taught how to fight against Kishin eggs; people who are evil and have become inhuman by straying off the path of humanity and eating countless human souls. Meisters and weapons partner up in order to kill these kishin eggs. A meister can make their weapon partner into a powerful weapon called a Death Scythe; a personal weapon of Death himself, if the weapon eats 99 kishin egg souls and 1 witch's soul."
"Eating souls?" Hughes repeated. "That sounds really awkward. And people turning into weapons?! That sounds impossible! Not to mention also weird and frea– wait… did you just say that this academy was founded by the GRIM REAPER?!"
"Yes." Roy answered blankly. "So?"
"So?!" Hughes freaked out, and they only had a few steps to go until they got to the top. "Grim reapers are death gods! They escort people's souls to the afterlife! If we screw up at this, Death could rip our souls right out of our bodies without breaking a sweat! He could take the souls of my gorgeous wife and adorable daughter! Reapers are really scary and they feel like death and they don't show mercy and–" he completely stopped and froze on the spot as he and Roy stood at the top of the stairs and eyed the person waiting for them in front of the DWMA main entrance with the utmost curiosity.
The person that was waiting for them was a boy who looked to be about fifteen. He wore a black formal suit with a white dress shirt underneath. The black suit had white dashes going down the front of the suit top and shoulder seams and the boy wore a neck pin/brooch shaped like a cartoonish skull in place of a tie. What was most curious about him though, was his physical appearance, not what he wore. The boy was lean. He had pale skin and his eyes were two-toned gold. His hair was jet black and it had his most distinguishing features– 3 bleach white stripes that were only on the left side of his head, stopping exactly halfway in between the left side of his head and the right.
Roy walked up to the peculiar boy and greeted him.
"Hello." He greeted. "I'm Colonel Roy Mustang, from the State Military of Amestris. We're here for negotiations with Lord Death."
"We were expecting you." The boy stated, his face holding a plain expression. "I'm here to escort you."
Roy shook the boy's hand.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Roy Mustang." The boy said "My name is Death the Kid". He then turned to look at Hughes. "And who is your companion?"
Roy also turned to look at Hughes, who was still frozen still at the top of the steps in his weird-looking position with an 'eh?' expression on his face.
"Oh! That's Lieutenant Colonel Maes Hughes." Roy replied. "The Fuhrer, King Bradley, sent Hughes and I here in his place." Hughes finally snapped out of his curious stare, moved out of his silly position and hurried over next to Roy.
"Yeah." Hughes said casually. "My name's Maes Hughes." He shook Kid's hand, and as soon as the boy's pale hand touched his, the Lieutenant Colonel started to feel creeped out and shivers went up his spine.
The boy's hand felt like cold death.
"I'm Death the Kid." Kid introduced himself to Hughes. The raven-haired boy raised an eyebrow as Hughes stepped back a little and shivered slightly after Kid had let go of his hand.
"Oh." Kid said bluntly, realizing why Hughes looked a bit freaked. "Sorry about that." He turned around to face the Academy and gestured for Roy and Maes to follow him. The two Amestrians followed Kid through the seemingly empty corridors of the school.
"Hey, I got a question for ya." said Hughes when they walked past the entrance to a classroom for the umpteenth time. "Why is no one here?"
"People are here." Kid answered. "They're just in class that's all."
"Interesting." Roy said. "It's hard to imagine that people here teach children how to fight monsters that could kill ordinary adults."
"Thing is though," Kid put in. "We're not ordinary children. We're weapons and meisters. I'm a one-star meister."
"One-star?" Roy repeated. "So you're not that good?"
"Oh no, I'm quite good." was Kid's reply. "I don't like bragging or anything, but I'm actually one of the top three student meisters currently at this academy, the best student meister currently here would have to me one of my friends, Black Star. His ego is big, but when it comes to fighting, he can beat practically any one of us here if he focuses."
"Then why are you ranked as a one-star if you're one of the top 3?" Roy asked. "That sounds like a low rank."
"It's because in this academy, there are two different types of classes –the Normally Overcome Target –or NOT class and the Especially Advanced Talent –or EAT class." Kid explained. "90 per cent of the students at this academy are in the NOT class, which focuses on teaching how to fight, but the NOT class never goes out and actually does any actual fighting against kishin eggs, the EAT class does the actual fighting. The students of the EAT class go out on missions to hunt down kishin eggs. I'm a member of the EAT class and I've been on quite dangerous missions with my weapon partners, who are twin pistols. One of my hardest was a runaway train in the Sahara desert, where an enemy was after a magic tool. In the EAT class there are three ranks of meisters –One star, two star and three star. All of the EAT class meisters, including myself, are one stars. A meister usually only becomes a two star when they make their weapon partner a Death Scythe, or if they become very skilled and they gain the rank of two star when they graduate. Very rarely does an EAT student become a two-star outside of these circumstances. The only three star meisters known are DWMA teachers, such as Sid Barrett and also Franken Stein, who is the most skilled meister to ever graduate from the DWMA. Stein teaches the only EAT class in the school –Class Crescent Moon. There's only one EAT class because only 10 per cent of the students make it up and there are several NOT classes because there are lots more NOT students."
"Very interesting." Roy said.
Roy, Kid and Hughes were walking down a corridor when they came to a huge board on the wall that had lots of tags lined on it in rows. Some of the tags were marked 'In Progress' and 'Completed', while others weren't marked at all. Hughes stared up at the huge board with starry eyes (namely because he thought it would be a good spot to hang a giant picture of his daughter Elicia).
"That's the mission board." Kid said; noticing Hughes was staring at it. "It's where meisters and weapons from the EAT class go to pick missions. When they pick one, they take it to the reception. But if it's a mission that requires extra briefing or is rated quite difficult, they will need to get special permission to undertake it." The three walked past the mission board and down to the end of the corridor where there was a set of tall double doors. Kid pushed open both doors (obviously for symmetry reasons) and stepped into the big hallway behind it. Hughes and Roy followed behind him, and Roy shut the doors behind them. The two Amestrians were surprised by the appearance of the hallway that they were in.
The floor of the hallway was made up of creamy-white bricks and the floor outside the hallway appeared to be a sandy, dirt-looking substance. What was most peculiar about the hallway was that there were no solid walls or ceiling, and that in place of said walls and ceiling was a long line of…
Guillotines.
Huge, oddly-coloured, guillotines.
Roy completely hid his nerves about the guillotine gates he was under by putting an index finger to his chin and looking up at them with a comment of "The architecture is certainly… interesting."
Hughes, meanwhile, was shivering and holding onto Kid's shoulders with shaking hands.
"Those guillotines aren't going to fall on us are they?!" he asked with a panicked expression.
Kid sighed.
"No." he replied. "No they're not."
Roy and Kid walked on, but Hughes stood frozen, his legs refused to take him any further. The raven-haired boy and man both looked back at Hughes, and before Maes knew it, Kid's vice-like grip was on his arm as fast as lightning and the boy was nearly dragging the Lieutenant Colonel along (Hughes' clothes weren't dragging on the ground or anything, of course. He was just standing up and Kid was pulling him along.).
Hughes than started to walk himself, thus stopping the dragging and Kid slowed down, so they were both walking, but Kid's grip was still on Hughes' arm. Hughes took the time to think.
'Man, Kid is strong.' He thought. 'His grip is strong, really vice-like. A hell of a lot stronger grip than you would expect from someone of his age and lean physique. Most people would think his grip was very loose, seeing as how his hands are not very thick, and they would expect his actual gripping strength, if they ever witnessed it, to be that of a strong adult. I wonder how his grip is so strong; he doesn't look like he's very athletic. He looks like someone who would spend a lot of time inside writing or something like that. For someone with his lean frame, he's got the strongest grip I've ever seen. No, for someone his entire age he's got the strongest grip I've ever seen! The only person I think could match that strength is Edward Elric, and not the grip of Ed's normal arm, the grip of his automail arm! Kid's grip is astonishingly strong...almost…superhuman…'
Hughes used his free hand to try and pry Kid's hand off his arm, but Kid's grip was too strong for him. Though, that wasn't the only reason Hughes stopped trying to free his arm from the boy's grip. The moment Hughes touched Kid's hand, a small feeling of cold death ran through him, it was the same feeling he got when he shook Kid's hand at the Academy main entrance. It was a small feeling, but it was enough to send shivers up the Lieutenant Colonel's spine. Hughes pulled his hand back off Kid's quickly. Kid and Roy both looked at him.
"Man! What on Earth is up with you?!" Hughes asked with a mix of curiosity and astonishment and also a small bit of panic. "I mean, your skin is sickeningly pale, you're eyes are two-toned and golden coloured, you've got an unbelievably strong vice-like grip and your touches feel like cold death! No offense or anything, but it's kinda freaky!"
"Oh. Right." Kid looked down at the floor, already knowing how Hughes would react.
"Hmm." Roy hummed. "I noticed that too. I don't want to offend you, but I think there's something you might want to tell us."
Kid removed his hand off Hughes' arm and sighed.
"Will you promise not to freak or anything?" Kid asked seriously. "Especially you Maes? Judging from what you were saying near the top of the steps."
Roy nodded and Hughes followed suit.
"Well," Kid began, he then sighed. "Where do I even begin? I'll just have to cut to it, since we can't waste too much time, seeing as how you're here to negotiate with my father."
Roy and Hughes both stared at Kid.
Things began to add up in both of the Amestrians' heads.
"W…Wait a minute." Hughes began, with a freaked expression on his face. "You just said that Roy and I were here to negotiate with your father." He then thought of something and began to laugh in relief. "Ha ha ha! Ah phew! Maybe we misheard something back at Command, and we're actually here to negotiate with one of the higher up staff, who is your father! Ah ha! Oh man! I thought at first that we were here to negotiate with the headmaster, who's the grim reaper himself, but since you talked about us negotiating with your father, we're actually here to negotiate with one of the other staff! Phew! I thought we were gonna be negotiating with the headmaster!"
"You are negotiating with the headmaster."
Hughes' smile was immediately wiped off his face and Roy stood their blinking. The Lieutenant Colonel's expression was changed from relieved immediately to shock and fear, then it changed again, this time to confusion.
"What?" Hughes raised an eyebrow, confused, Roy was also. "But I thought you said we were negotiating with your father?!"
"You are."
Hughes' face paled with fear.
"N…No way!" he exclaimed, his eyes wide with shock. "But that means… the headmaster is your father!"
"Yes." Kid answered, his eye twitching in irritation at just how long it took Hughes to figure it out.
"B-b-but the headmaster is..." Hughes was freaking out. He backed away from Kid by a step and pointed at the unusual boy. "You! You're the grim reaper's SON!"
"Congratulations for finally connecting A and B." Kid said sarcastically. He then stated plainly the truth in its most utter form. "Yes. I'm Death's son. I'm not human. I'm a grim reaper like my father."
"So that's why you're skin's pale, eyes are two-toned yellow and you're grip is superhuman." Roy was glad to jump to conclusions.
Kid nodded. He then turned to Hughes, who was shaking scared behind Roy.
"Oh yes, and by the way." Kid said to the shaking Maes. "My father is not how you think he is, and we grim reapers aren't ruthless, menacing, shadow-like beings who take people's lives merely because of our own opinions, though we could easily pluck your soul right out of your body, but we don't do that at all unless we're reaping someone who's already dead in order to let them pass on. My father and I exist to bring balance, order and peace into this world."
Hughes' calmed down a bit and Roy knew that Kid had heard Maes' mini rant about his idea of grim reapers at the top of the Academy steps.
"Peace and order?" Hughes asked, confused. "But I thought grim reapers were–"
"You're thinking of stereotypical death gods from old folklore." Kid said. "Trust me; my father is not the sort of reaper you're thinking of."
"Then what's he like?" Hughes asked.
"Oh, you'll see." Kid answered. "We're here now: The Death Room."
The young reaper walked out the end of the guillotine hallway and into the Death Room, with Roy and Hughes following behind.
When Roy and Hughes saw the Death Room, they could not believe what they were seeing.
It was a room that had a round platform on it. The 'sky' of the room seemed to go on forever, like the land around the platform, which had lots of irregular, black crosses on it. On the platform there was a tall mirror. The Death Room itself, it seemed, did not fit its somewhat dark name at all.
Kid walked up onto the platform, while Roy followed behind with no doubts and Hughes followed reluctantly.
"Father, the two military officers from Amestris are here." Kid said. Death nodded to his son in response. Roy and Hughes stopped following Kid from behind and got onto the platform with the young reaper, standing next to him. Hughes was able hide his surprise towards what the reaper looked like, as was Roy.
"Well done Kiddo~!" Death chimed. "Nice job! Now, you should be getting back to class. I'm sure good old Stein wouldn't want you missing out on too much of the lesson!"
"Yeah. If I don't hurry, I might walk in and end up just barely dodging a flying scalpel if I'm not careful. " Kid replied. "Bye father." He exited the Death Room. He stopped briefly before his eye twitched (at the sight of minute asymmetry) but the thought of being late (even though Stein knew he was escorting the military officers) to Stein's class gave him the motive to start walking off again. Soon the younger reaper was out of the room.
'No way.' Hughes thought. 'This is the grim reaper, Death himself? I thought he'd be pretty scary. Maybe he just got used to being around us humans all the time and changed in order to make people more comfortable when being near him? Yeah, that's it!'
Next to Death was a man with red hair and blue eyes who was dressed in a dark green suit with a cross-shaped tie of the same colour.
"Well," Lord Death said. "Would we like to get introductions started?"
Roy nodded and turned to look at Hughes, as if giving cue for him to introduce himself.
"Well," Lord Death said, deciding to start things off. "As you already know, I'm the grim reaper, Death, and the founder, as well as headmaster, of this Academy: The DWMA." He brought out one of his thick, white hands and gestured to the red-haired man next to him. "This is Spirit Albarn, he's the current Death Scythe stationed here in North America and is also my main Death Scythe." The red-haired man, now known as Spirit, gave a quick wave, well, it was more like he held his hand up like he was waving, but didn't move his hand from side-to-side, basically a 'wave' without properly waving. "And you met my son before, Death the Kid. He was the one who brought you here. I assumed though that he already introduced himself to you earlier."
Roy nodded and cleared his throat. "Well, we're from the State Military of Amestris. The leader of the Military, Fuhrer King Bradley, couldn't come. So he sent us in his place. I'm Colonel Roy Mustang. I'm not only a Colonel, but I'm also a State Alchemist, the Flame Alchemist."
"I'm Lieutenant Colonel Maes Hughes." Hughes introduced. "I head the investigations division in the State Military."
"Well, we might as well get things started." Lord Death said.
The negotiations went on for a while.
IN CLASS CRESCENT MOON
Death the Kid walked into the room only (thank God/Truth/Death/Insert-whatever-you-call-God-here/ Insert-a-random-other-word-here-if-you're-Atheist) to miss a flying scalpel by a centimetre.
The whole class's attention was brought to the young reaper.
"Don't stare or you'll all drop dead of small pox." Stein said randomly.
Everyone stared.
Awkward silence.
Then they heard a fit of laughter.
Black Star. (Well, what else sounds like the combination of an insane kookaburra and a hyena with a head cold?)
LOL XD. Spirit and Hughes finally get down to good old babyphoto business next chappie! :D
Bai! See ya for chapter 2!