Disclaimer:
These characters are under copyright by Atsushi Ōkubo, Squar Enix, Yen Press, Shōnen,
Akatsuki Yamatoya. Madman Entertainment, Manga Entertainment, Funimation, and/or others. This is a work of fanfiction, for no monetary gain.
A/N:
A new chapter will be posted every week, on Thursday, until the story is complete. Different chapters are in the points of view (POV) of different characters. A POV change or time change within a chapter will be marked with "0 0 0". Reviews, favorites and follows are appreciated.
You might also like my Shingeki no Kyojin (Attack on Titan) stories, and my D. Gray-Man/Karneval story.
Chapter 1 – Ambush: Will Kid and Liz Survive?
"Liz!" Kid yelled in panic and pain, as his Weapon flew from his shattered left hand, into the brick wall of the alley. "Liz, answer me!" he cried desperately, as she shifted from Weapon to human form, but ominously lay still and horrifyingly quiet, instead of yelling at him and assuring him she was fine. If it had been the edged side of the katana and not the back of the blade, she'd almost certainly be dead, and half his hand would have been sliced off. Both thoughts were terrifying.
Kid lifted Patty in his right hand and fired repeatedly into the shadows he'd been attacked from, knowing it was useless, that his aim was off because his precious and essential symmetry was as broken as the bones in his left hand. Not that it matters. I can't fight what I can't see. How can he be using the shadows against me? I control all shadow. Why won't they reveal my enemy to me?
From the weapons he's using, my opponent must be Mifune, my target. But Black*Star swore he was honorable when he faced him, so why did he ambush me? I never anticipated an attack like this. Is he afraid of me, because as a Reaper, I'm more powerful than a mere Meister? I don't feel particularly powerful right now.
Kid fired into the shadow on the right, certain he'd be attacked from that side now, that his foe would expect him to be taken by surprise again, and go for his other weapon. He roared in pain and frustration, feeling the distinctive crunch and snap of breaking ribs as the katana lashed out and into his left side, unexpectedly striking from the left again.
He staggered, the hand holding Patty shaking, as he drew back from the shadows on his left, and began frantically backing out of the alley. One more hit like that and I'll be finished.
"Kid, you can't run away! What about Liz? You can't leave her there! Come on! We can take this guy!" Patty urged, obviously blissfully unaware of how severely wounded he already was.
Every breath was agony, but at least he was still breathing, and his mouth hadn't filled with the frothing blood indicative of a punctured lung, not yet, but it was only a matter of time, unless he ended this quickly. He could feel the broken, jagged ends of his ribs shifting and grinding against one another with every step. "I'm not running." I can't run. I can barely walk. I'm momentarily retreating. A strategic withdrawal, into the light, what there is of it.
The broken streetlights, which had only moments ago made him feel more at home, in the shadows, as much as they had frustrated him, now took on a more ominous significance. So the three lights weren't randomly extinguished; it was part of the trap. But he could have broken four, instead of two on this side of the street, and one on the other. It would have made it darker and Liz wouldn't let me break another one to even out… Liz! Damn it, you worthless piece of asymmetrical garbage, not now! Concentrate! You have to protect Patty and save Liz. And complete your mission. You've never failed a mission for your father before.
Kid vainly cast his Soul Detect into the alley once more. Still nothing! That Witch must be using a more powerful form of Soul Protect than any we've ever seen. It doesn't just disguise them as human, it makes them completely undetectable. Could such a young Witch as Angela be so powerful? But Liz… I still feel her soul, she's still alive, but her wound could well prove fatal. Left untreated, it will be. She needs to go to the Infirmary immediately! But how can… Beelzebub!
In a flash of inspiration, Kid summoned his flying skateboard and jumped onboard, cursing himself for his exuberance as knives of pain lanced him from his side and a red film momentarily clouded his vision. No time for that now! You can pass out later.
Kid forced the pain down, and darted into the alley, bending down and scooping up Liz's limp form, fighting a scream as her weight strained his injured side, as he turned a precise 180 degrees and then rocketed back out the mouth of the alley, firing randomly into the shadows as they flew, trying to keep his attacker at bay as his heart hammered.
The perfection of Liz's face had been obliterated, her nose shattered, her mouth smeared with blood, but worse, he knew she had severe internal injuries from the impact of the blade. He could hear Liz struggling to breathe, the sound a wet, rasping gurgle so faint that he was terrified he'd hear her stop. But then something lashed out and wrapped around his right ankle, tearing him off Beelzebub.
In a final act of desperation, he thrust Patty into the waistband of Liz's pants and tossed the sisters onto the board. "Take them to the DWMA, to the Infirmary, now!" he commanded Beelzebub, as he was dragged back into the alley. To his relief, by the light of the bleeding, grinning moon he saw the sisters rocket safely away.
Now to save myself. I still have my Shadow Control, if I can get it to work, and my Reaper Martial Arts. Kid reached for whatever was binding his ankle. Steel cable? You won't subdue me so easily!
But another sinuous lash wrapped around his right wrist, and a third around his left, yanking taut, making him cry out in pain and sparks of light flash before his eyes and his stomach heaved as the broken bones of his hand were ground together, even as his left ankle was ensnared as well and he was suspended, spread-eagle above the alley floor.
Belatedly he saw the source of the cables, as it emerged from the concealing shadows. Cables were protruding like tentacles from a grotesquely asymmetrical torso, additional ones waving wildly in the moonlight, a number of them grasping multiple katana. Kid stared in consternation at the metal monstrosity that had ensnared him. Not Mifune? A robot? But how…?
Then he heard a laugh, a familiar, chilling one, and a grinning human head emerged from the steel body, belatedly revealing its master's Soul Wavelength. Giriko! It's a golem! A steel golem!
"So, do you think our little act was convincing? Even if the DWMA didn't believe it was Mifune before, from the evidence we planted to lure you here, and our attacks, they will now, right? Maybe we'll leave behind a broken katana too, to add fuel to the fire." A tentacle lashed out, slamming the tip of one of the blades against the brick wall as another lashed out and snapped it in half. Then the first tentacle dropped the useless hilt beside the broken blade.
"There now. A nice final touch, don't you think? Everyone knows that sword-wielding marshmallow has a soft spot for children, so I let those two girls get away to tell everyone about the katana. Or one of the girls at least, since that other one probably won't live long enough to make it to the DWMA."
Liz! Please be alright!
"That will probably just fire them up all the more, her dying, right?" Giriko prodded, and then scowled. "What's the matter? Cat got your tongue? What a disappointment. I've heard so much about you, but it looks like the big fish I was sent after is nothing more than a minnow, after all," he taunted, as he leapt out of the golem.
Damn it! Why won't the shadows obey me? "You won't get away with this, you monster," Kid proclaimed, and then winced at how pathetic and cliché he sounded. But he'd never been thrown so off balance so early in a fight before, or rendered so helpless.
Giriko laughed, obviously infuriatingly entertained. "Did you like that little trick of my soul being hidden, and that other spell, preventing you from manipulating the shadows? There's no ally like a Witch, is there? Lucky for you, the boss wants you alive and as unharmed as possible.
"Of course, she wasn't very specific about how much damage I could do. She doesn't need to know how badly you were hurt in the battle, and how much was just for fun, right? After all, you're a Reaper. It takes a lot to kill one of you, doesn't it? Come on, you owe me for not being more of a challenge. Let's see how much damage I can do," the vicious, chainsaw wielding maniac taunted, as his boot lashed into Kid's already wounded side, the brutal chain slicing a bloody furrow.
To his abject humiliation, Kid screamed, as his blood sprayed across the left wall of the alley, creating a macabre, abstract painting of blood on brick, the sight of which made him more nauseous than the pain from his injury.
Giriko laughed, a wild, ecstatic sounding roar of delight. "That's it! Bleed for me and sing to me boy! It's time for me to play!"
0 0 0
"Black*Star, you idiot, I told you Maka would be even worse at football than she is at basketball," Soul scolded, as he carried her to the Infirmary.
Maka could feel her face burning bright red, but Soul had refused to put her down. "It's just a sprained ankle. I'm not dying," she argued, although secretly she felt warmth in her chest, knowing how worried Soul was about her, and how much of a gentleman he was being, even if he was being overprotective.
"I said I was sorry," Black*Star grumbled. "It's not my fault Maka wasn't able to tackle a God like me without getting hurt."
Tsubaki's scowl softened. "Wait, that's what happened? I thought you tackled Maka."
"What, are you kidding me? He's still breathing, right?" Soul scoffed.
Maka felt her blush darken.
"This never would have happened if Kid wasn't off on some stupid mission. I knew we shouldn't have tried to play boys against girls without Patty and Liz here," Black*Star complained.
"Yeah, no one's quite as tough as the Thompson sisters," Maka agreed wistfully. She wished she was stronger, like them.
Black*Star slammed open the door to the Infirmary. If anyone other than Nygus and Dr. Stein had been inside, they would have jumped at the loud intrusion.
"Maka, what happened?" Nygus asked solicitously, as Soul set Maka down on one of the two examination beds.
"She hurt her right ankle. We think it's sprained, but it could be broken," Soul answered for her.
"My tongue is fine, you know. I can speak for myself," Maka complained, folding her arms crossly.
Dr. Stein eased off her shoe. Maka could tell he was being surprisingly gentle, but she couldn't help wincing and fisting her hands.
"Watch it!" Soul snarled.
"Knock it off, Soul. He's being careful," Maka defended.
"I'm going to have to probe it and manipulate it with my fingers to test and see whether she needs an X-ray," Dr. Stein cautioned.
"Alright. Just try not to hurt her too much," Soul grumbled.
Just then the door flew open and Maka's father Spirit ran into the room. "Where's Maka? What's happened to my little angel?" he demanded, grabbing her into a tight hug.
Maka rolled her eyes. "Ow! Come on, Dad, quit it! Let Dr. Stein work," she complained.
"Oh Maka! You're so brave, so wonderful, just like your mother!" Spirit gushed.
"Well, then, shouldn't you be busy chasing after anyone in a skirt while my back is turned?" Maka snapped.
Spirit's jaw dropped and his face fell.
"Cheating on Maka's mom isn't cool. Not cool at all," Soul chastised.
"Hey, it's not like tha…" Spirit began, but he was cut off as Kid's skateboard flew into the room through the open door and abruptly stopped beside the empty bed, Liz draped limply over the hovering board, her face, hair and blouse bloody, and Patty in her gun form tucked into her pants.
As soon as the board stopped moving, Patty changed into human form. "Dr. Stein, help Liz! That sword guy hit her and she can't breathe right!"
Stein was already at Liz's side, carefully transferring her to the bed, Nygus rushing to aid him.
"Where's Kid? Is he alright?" Stein demanded, as he whipped out a stethoscope and tore open Liz's blouse and began listening to her chest.
To Maka's horror Patty's eyes welled with tears. "I don't know!" she wailed. "Beelzebub, now that you brought her here, will you listen to me again? Please take me back to Kid!" she demanded, hopping onboard.
"Patty, wait! We'll come too!" Maka cried.
"You can't! You're hurt! We'll go!" Black*Star insisted, hopping onto the back of the board and sheathing Tsubaki, who had transformed to Weapon mode for the trip.
"Black*Star, catch!" Nygus yelled, and Black*Star instinctively turned and caught the small mirror she tossed to him. "Lord Death can track you through it and your call will be clearer for the others listening."
He tucked the mirror into his shirt and Beelzebub rocketed away.
"No, wait!" Maka cried, but Soul held her back and then they were gone.
"There's no way we could have fit on Kid's skateboard too. I trust Black*Star, Tsubaki and Patty to save him," Soul explained.
"Nygus, quick, get the respirator! She's got a punctured lung. Hurry, we're losing her! Soul, get Maka out of here, I need to prep for surgery! Spirit, inform Lord Death his son's in trouble," Stein demanded.
0 0 0
Without another word Soul scooped up Maka and hurried from the room, following in Spirit's wake. Soul was unable to keep up with him, because of carrying Maka. He neared the Death Room and got into earshot mid-sentence.
"… do you mean, you can't sense his soul? He's part of your own soul. You told me that no matter where he was in the world, you could always sense him," Spirit argued from up ahead, just beyond the Guillotine Arches.
"I told you, I can't feel anything!" a voice roared, dark and terrifying.
Soul froze. That wasn't Lord Death or anyone else he'd ever heard, though something about it reminded him of the devil inside of him.
"Sir, calm down. Killing me won't help you find your son," Spirit rasped. He sounded as if he was choking.
Soul cautiously crept forwards, Maka wide-eyed, in his arms. He froze again as he saw Spirit dangling from Lord Death's hand, being held by the throat a good half meter above the floor, as a vortex of ebony shadow swirled around the Shinigami, seemingly emanating from him.
"You're right. I'm sorry, Spirit," the alien voice proclaimed, gradually changing, until Maka's dad's name was spoken in the usual playful lilting voice of Lord Death as he released Spirit.
"It's alright. Believe me, sir, I understand," Spirit assured him.
What the hell's going on?
Then Lord Death turned to face them and Soul froze again, his heart pounding. He'd never been afraid of Death before, but he'd never seen Death lose his temper and attack Spirit before either, or sound so monstrous.
"It's just Soul and Maka," Spirit said quickly, interposing himself between them and Lord Death. "You shouldn't be here, kids," he scolded, but there was more fear than censure in his voice.
"Relax, Spirit. I'm not about to hurt them. We have enough hurt children already," Lord Death soothed, thankfully again in his normal voice.
"Of course not, sir," Spirit agreed, the tension in his shoulders visibly relaxing.
"I'm already tracking Patty, Black*Star and Tsubaki's progress on my mirror. There's nothing faster than Beelzebub, but I've alerted every Meister and Weapon in the area to assist them in locating my son. I'm sure Kid's fine," Death soothed, but with an unsettling brittleness underlying his usual calm and patient voice.
Crap. He's lying, Soul realized, his heart starting to pound faster again.