Soul Gazer

Episode 2

The princess and the pea,

Enter the wielder of the thief wipe.

A sound soul.

Duels within a sound mind

And a sound body.

Legend tells of the great Grim Reaper, the lord of the departed, the God of Life… as well as Death. He and his comrades known as the Eight Powerful Warriors were the keepers of all things innocent and orderly in the world.

Probably the most skilled and talented of the Eight was the dark weapon wielder, Asura and his weapon partner Vajra. Yet as time went on, the Eight began to realize how fragile Asura's soul really was, though they said nothing. Eventually, Asura himself began to realize this and tried with all his might to make himself and his weapon stronger.

He began to take the souls of humans and giving them to Vajra in his sleep. Vajra became suspicious as he noticed his growing vulnerability to madness, as well as Asura's, but when he confronted him about it, Asura betrayed him and swallowed his weapon form whole. Enraged by his weapon disloyalty, Asura went into a rampage. The Eight tried to stop him, but he ended up killing three of them and wounding the rest. Finally Lord Death had to step in. though the battle was long and hard, Death became victorious over Asura, and locked him in a sack made of his own skin. For 800 yrs Asura remained in this sack made of skin, until a foolish Witch set him free once again. Fortunally, during those centuries' Lord Death opened the DWMA, an Academy for those who opposed Asura and the demons he created known as Kishins. One of the occupants of this school was Maka Albarn, the first star scythe Mister, who led a team of Misters and Weapons too victory over the King of Kishins. However before he was defeated, Asura vowed that one day he would have a successor and the world would be in gulfed in madness once again… that was twenty years ago. What about now?

Lord Death: LET'S FIND OUT!

She was never worried. She has never been truly worried up until that day.

"Wesley! Gordon!"

She called for her brother and cousin from the porch only to hear nothing but the hens in the yard and the gentle crow of a raven upon the roof of the barn. It's been hours since they said they would go play in the barn, and it was getting dark. Their mother would be home soon. What if something had happened to them? Her hands began to shake, she knew she had to go in there and look for them, but an invisible force had stopped her, a force that could only be described as one thing… fear.

The girl continued to stare at the barn; she had only taken a step when she saw a car pull up. She tried to come up with a story to tell her mother until she noticed that car was unfamiliar to her, it was much more… refined. It certainly looked more advanced than her mother's car. The front door opened and out stepped a beautiful young woman with a fancy, purple, jumpsuit that was at such a length the girl had only seen in the weird magazines her brother owned, and kept hidden. By this time the sun had already went down, and the grinning moon was starting to rise. Yet, the woman's hazel-nut hair, that was cut to shoulder length, still shined with great luminosity.

"Hello," the woman said cheerfully, "are you Jessie Clark?"

"Y-yes." The girl quivered. The woman merely smiled.

"Then I have a favor to ask of you."

The girl looked at the woman in fear, but she merely just smiled.

Meanwhile

Gordon didn't know how it started; all he knew was that he couldn't stop. They didn't know it, but he betrayed his whole family just with that first time. And though it pained him every day, it brought him a sense of joy every time. Just to see the red liquid explode out of them like candy out of a piñata. It came to the point where the pain of guilt stopped and pleasure of committing it increased. And now, now he felt nothing at all. After this his family would know, and he would be free to do whatever he wants, just as soon as he disposes of this last annoying insect he was forced to call family. And now his opportunity had arrived; he knew his cousin would have no reason not to follow him to the barn, no reason not to give complete trust; oh, how he would pay for it. Now, with his little cousin pined to the ground, Gordon would have the chance to shed the mask he wore for his family, and show the face of the man he really is, the person he always wanted to be. The face of the killer… the monster inside.

"…Gordon…," his cousin gasped, blood stained his face with injuries from resistance, Gordon merely smiled.

"Don't worry Wesley; we'll see each other next summer. Until then, let's go down the lake, Ill race you…" It was at this point that Gordon grabbed the butcher knife that lay next to him, but just as he was about to raise it…

Knock, Knock, Knock.

The door of the barn went. Gordon looked up from his soon to be victim.

Knock, Knock, Knock.

The door sounded again. Gordon looked down at his bloody cousin before getting to his feet and whispering:

"Now you keep quiet cousin."

Wesley just lay there, petrified in fear as Gordon walked towards the barn door. Gordon knew who it was by the first knock, when he opened the door he saw his littler cousin standing a few feet away, trembling. Gordon smiled, the more the merrier.

"Hello Jessie! Would you like to come in? I and Wesley are having so much fun!"

Jessie didn't say anything, she just stood there shacking.

"Come on Jessie! It's cold out here; it's warm in the barn!"

He smiled at her but she still said nothing.

"Are you scared of something Jessie? It is pretty dark out here. Why don't you come inside with us? If we're together, we will be safe… from fear."

A grin dripping in madness smoothed its way across Gordon's face. The raven upon the barn began to crow more furiously. Jessie backed away as he came toward her, gripping the knife behind his back.

"Don't worry, Jessie. Once the fear is gone, we will be happy! We can play by the lake and over by the docks all we want, and no one will stop us! NO ONE!"

Gordon's hand came out from behind his back. The knife gleamed in the moon light as it loomed over his cousin; who, for some reason, could not seem to move. She ended up tripping and landing on the ground. Now, with her unable to run, Gordon took this time to whisper his last words to her…

"Let me take away your fear… Jessie." He poised his hand to strike as the raven screeches were at their peak.

Whhhhapam!

Both Gordon and Jessie gasped, for around Gordon's wrists was a black, leather/steal, triple whip, that came from behind and left his arm numb at first; before blood began dripping from the wrists. He released the knife, letting it fall harmlessly to the ground, but the grip of the whip did not cease. Instead, it began to pull on Gordon's arm, making him arch his back to the point of agony. It was only when he fell to the ground did the whip let go of his wrist, only to be wrapped around his waist and thrown to a nearby tree. The sound of steps coming towards him snapped Gordon out of the pain long enough to look up at his attacker. Right in front of him was probably the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. She had the face of an angel; a hazelnut haired, cup D, brown eyed, scamp dressing angel. Her bangs curled in a perfect curve to match the perfect curves all around her body. In her hands was a long, black, whip with a diamond encrusted handle, and the end still wrapped around his waist. His surprises soon turn to anger, as he raised himself up, ready to fight.

"You bitch!"

The whip, seeming to take a life of its own, let go of Gordon's waist and positioned itself to strike at the woman's command. "You should have stayed down, and then at least this would have been quick."

She charged at the boy with the Kishin soul, but he dodged the attack just before the head of the whip could scar his face. With a skip of his feet, he grabbed the knife off the ground and proceeded towards Jessie. With a screech Jessie covered her eyes, if she had kept her eyes open for another second; she would have witnessed the whip land in front of Gordon and punch him, as if it were a hand. Gordon landed on his back as the whip came back around and grabbed him by the torso. The woman slammed him against the barn door, the raven fluttered a bit from the vibrations, but settled back upon the barn roof. After the impact, he started to cough up blood, yet still he managed to get up. Finally he heaved…

"I-I know who you are! Y-you're with the academy! Y-y-y-you're here to kill me!"

The brunette looked despicably disappointed at him.

"I thought you would have known a bit more about me. Oh well, I guess I can't be the center of attention all the time." She chuckled but stopped as she noticed the boy chuckle with her. Her face became serious as Gordon shape began to change. The knife that was in his hand began to morph all around his body, pretty soon his fingers had inhumanly long claws where nails use to be. His mouth stretched into a wide grin complete with monster like teeth. It was at this point that Gordon's chuckle turned more into a psychotic laugh. It wasn't awhile before he calmed down enough to speck. The raven continued to screech with glee.

"I don't care who you are! You are just another human to me! Someone's always trying to take away what I want! Well, right now all I want to do is play with my cousins, and no one is going to stand in my way, especially some whore from grade school!"

While all of this was being said the young woman's expression did not change, she just kept staring at the boy, as if thousands of year's worth of anger and hatred were targeted toward this one human she was staring in the face. Jessie, on the other hand, was petrified. It was at that point that Gordon said the words Jessie was unfamiliar with, but the woman knew all too well.

"Now, GIVE ME YOUR SOUL!"

At that the boy jumped in the air, aiming his claws towards them. The woman grabbed Jessie by the waist and pulled her away from the attack, she then used her Whip to lunge herself and her captive on to the roof of the barn. The raven flew to a near tree as Gordon emedently charged for them, claws open and hungry for blood. The woman slashed the whip against the roof before throwing the end toward the monster; it wrapped its self around his neck and held him high above the barn. The boy thrashed back and forth, unknowingly tightening the whip around him, blood poured down his neck as he fought for air. The woman closed her eyes in disgust, a part of her wanted to have pity for the boy, a part of her wanted to stop, but another part of her, a stronger part, knew what must be done. Jessie however, had no part inside her, and was already spilling multiple amounts of tears and sobs.

"STOP!" she cried, pulling on the woman's arm. "PLEASE STOP! PLEASE STOP HURTING MY COUSIN!"

The woman looked at her with pity, one look in her eyes and Jessie could tell that what she was doing was tearing her apart. There was a silence between them that was only matched by the screaming of the boy and the sounds of the night. Finally, the woman looked down at the whip in her hand.

"You heard her Scylar." She said quietly, "drop him."

At that moment the majority of the struggling stopped, as if the whip had heard her, Gordon was dropped. It was only a few seconds, but to the two females on the roof it could have been hours. Finally, there was a thud, Jessie looked down in horror, and the woman just stood there, her hair glowing in the moon light. The raven's sounds stopped.

Later

After awhile, news of what was happening reached all corners of the small town; it wasn't before long that the police and ambulance arrived as well as Jessie and Wesley's mother who was currently holding Jessie for dear life. Gordon's body was covered with a blanket while Wesley was being pulled into the ambulance. A man with a police uniform and badge was talking rather harshly with the woman from before.

"So this is what Death intends to do? Take the lives of children?"

"This boy has been on Lord Deaths list for the better part of two years." The woman answered. "The academy's mission is to rid the world of evil were ever it is purged, whether if it was the life of a child or that of a 90 year old man, students must do what is necessary to protect the innocent."

"Innocent? INNOCENT!?" The police man pointed toward the ambulance, "That boy was innocent! And what about her?" he pointed to Jessie who still was in shock. "She will never forget what has happened here tonight! Because of your influence, you have scared her for life!"

The woman was silent so the man continued.

"If it wasn't for you she could have been spared this! Since when does your academy allow children to be put in danger?"

There was silence again, and then the woman spoke.

"I had no choice. I needed to lead the Kishen away from that boy. If I didn't they both could have died."

Silence again. The man shock with frustration, but couldn't find any words to say to the female in front of him. The silence was broken when the sound of footsteps came from behind the brunette.

"Nicole."

She turned around to see a tall, slender male wearing a black leather jacket over a blue shirt, his jeans torn. His hair was greasy, and black and it hang in his face. His bluish/green eyes were warm and mysterious, and his smile was to die for.

"We are ready to leave."

She nodded.

"Thank you, Scylar."

Nicole turned back to the police officer.

"If you have any further complaints you can take it up with the academy consultants," she turned to leave.

"Wait!"

Nicole looked at him sternly and he fell silent again. She once again turned to leave, as she did she got a strange feeling, a feeling she had had before. As she was walking she glanced behind her. Of course. The officer was now staring, red faced, at her rear.

'Pervert.' She thought to herself. A Nicole opened the door to her car and proceeded to drive away with Scylar riding shotgun. The raven sitting on the tree took flight and disappeared into the night. They weren't 5 miles away before the whip began an attempt at small talk.

"So, seen any good movies?"

"…"

"I saw how that cop looked at you, his voice sounded angry, but in the end, his eyes gave him away."

"…"

"The guy's probably a single man in his forties living with his mother," he chuckled, "the creep."

"…"

"You hate me right now, don't you?"

Nicole sighed. "Scylar, it's not you I hate, it's just…"

"Just my weapon form."

Silence. She spoke first.

"Scylar, please don't put that on me."

"You said that the whole thing could have been easy," he watched the other cars as they passed by. "But you lied, with a weapon like me; there would have been no easy way to kill him. face it, your father thought this thru, with me as your partner, there would be no easy way to take a soul, and that would make it all the harder for you to…"

"QUIET!"

The car took a particularly sharp turn, and silence fell over the car once again, both parties had no expressions on their face, but more than enough in their minds. After some time, Nicole spoke.

"Scylar, you know me better than anyone, even my own father. You know that I'm not going to give up my freedom, no matter what. No matter what, I will make you a Death scythe, I promise."

He looked at her for a second then smiled.

'Whatever, you'll feel better in the morning.' He turned his attention back to the window.

"Hey," he turned back to her when she spoke, her eyes not leaving the road. "Did you hear that rumor? It's all over the academy, about the witches?"

The next day.

It was a normal day at Death Weapon Mister Academy, with boys and girls all hurrying to their classes, some however stayed behind in the halls to chat about various things: resent missions, celebrity gossip, movies, TV, internet, and whether or not Lord Death is allowing witches to attend the school now.

"I can't believe it! We have been fighting witches since the beginning! Why is Lord Death allowing this?"

"It's kind of weird though. I mean, there are as many girls here as there are boys, anyone of them could be a witch."

"I heard about this guy in my class, who dated this girl, who had this friend, who face booked this guy, who was going out with a witch who went to our school."

"Really? That so cool!"

"I heard somewhere that a witch uses to even work here, as a nurse!"

"Wow. That must have been creepy."

"There was once this Witch that even lived here!"

"No. It was two!"

The only students, who didn't seem to be participating in the gossip, were a certain blond haired, Boy Scout who was ease dropping on the millions of conversations, and a miniature Yeti who was reading a manga, not paying any attention to the people around her, until the boy spoke to her.

"I use to think that these kinds of talks were exciting. Now they're kind of childish, don't you think?"

"I Think they are childish too, that's why I reading about Sailor Moon."

"Did you just… rhyme?"

"Rhyming, it's true, that what I do."

"OK, why rhyme?"

"Rhyming is cool. Rhyming is key. Rhyming is why I have to study for period #3!"

"Oh, that's right, we have writing 3rd period… wait! Why are you reading a foreign comic book then?"

"The word is manga, as I recall." She shifted in her seat. "And I find it much funnier then boring study hall."

"You're hopeless." The boy stated as the girl continued.

"Besides we have no reason to talk of such completers, we already know a witch by the name of…"

"HI!" a cheery voice ringed in the classroom and ran up to the boy and girl. It belonged to a pinkish/purple haired girl with thick pigtails that stick out at all ends. She wore a white school shirt with a pink skirt and a black belt, and around her shoulder was a pink bag with a purple beetle on the front. She grabbed the boy by the neck a started bear hugging him. "Hi Zeus!" she glared at the white haired weapon. "Rizzo." She snickered.

"…Demeter." Rizzo finished with a frown. Demeter stared lovingly at Zeus as she practically strangled him in her arms.

"Zeus, I was wondering if you wanted to come with me on my first mission as a student. I have to go to a haunted house and its ssssooooo scary, I don't want to go by myself!"

"You realize that If Zeus goes without me, he's going to get himself killed." Rizzo stated, her eyes not leavening the manga. Zeus glanced an ugly look at her.

Demeter turned to Rizzo, obvisely annoyed. "Big talk, coming from 4th grader."

The white haired girl merely shrugged. "At least I don't have the chest of one."

At that, Demeter tried to pounce on Rizzo with Zeus holding her back. Rizzo jumped out of her seat, ready for anything.

"It's not even 1st period and your already in a fight."

The two girls turned around as Zeus lost his footing, and landed on the ground with a thud. Nicole and Scylar stood there behind them looking over the younger students. Unlike her previous, all too revealing outfit; today Nicole wore cotton, navy skirt with a white shirt similar to the one Demeter was wearing, only where Demeter's covered her whole chest, Nicole's showed off her "girls" to the point that Zeus got a nose bleed and fell back to the ground. Demeter holds a confused look on her face, though in reality she was this and irritated. 'No one can make Zeus like that other than me!' Rizzo was beside these thoughts. She completely ignored Zeus's perverted mind and Demeter's angry scowl. Instead, she fixed her eyes on Nicole who looked at her for a second before returning her eyes to Zeus. Scylar, seeing all of this, spoke first.

"We heard you two caught a witch the other day."

"Yeah we did!" Zeus burst with pride.

"But then, you let her get away." Nicole finished.

His pride vanished; Rizzo kept staring as Nicole continued.

"We just came by to remind you to be more careful."

"Oh, Yeah." Zeus said confused.

Nicole motioned Scylar that they were leavening but not before looking at Demeter.

"You shouldn't be wearing something like that; it's for girls with bigger bust. Try the normal uniform." Demeter covered her chest as her face grew a dark red. Zeus looked after they puzzled.

"What was that about?"

Rizzo stared at the door where Nicole left, a blank expression on her face.

Meanwhile in the hall…

"Well that was completely pointless." Scylar muttered as he and Nicole headed for the older classes. "Now we're going to be late, why did we stop to talk to them? Their two grades lower than us."

"I just wanted to see them, that guy's weapon had taken 99 Kishen souls before they went after that witch."

Scylar stared at her for a moment before smiling.

"Oh, I see. You want to size up the completion." He chuckled.

"Just one more. That's all we need, and then I can face a witch." Nicole said to herself before the speakers were heard.

"Will Nicole pit and Scylar john please report to the Death room? That is all."

"Well, what do you think HE wants?" Scylar asked. Nicole didn't answer.

Later, in the Death room…

"Hey! And how have you two been?"

The bouncy character waved at them as they entered the Death room.

"Good morning Lord Death! How are you?" Nicole said cheerfully with Scylar at her heals.

"Oh, just fine!" Death answered in his usual pitched voice. "I heard you managed to collect another Kishen soul the other day! That makes 98; one more and your weapon will be eligible to become one of my own, personal, Death Scythes!"

"Yes we are both very excited, aren't we Scylar."

He nodded but did not answer.

"Well, I'm sure that this is the time you get it right. As I remember correctly, you often put human souls in danger because of your ruthlessness." A voice sounded behind them. They turned around to see a huge Jamaican, blue man wearing a basket ball uniform. "How many times have I seen you walk through these doors after being so close to your goal, only to see your souls confiscated because of some danger you put people thru?" Sid, the zombie, walked up upon the steps towards Death and the other two. "Even in life, I was never that irresponsible. By the way lord Death, we got a call from Mira Loma, California. Something about suing for the death of a love one as well as property damages."

"Is that so?" Lord Death said as he stared down Scylar and Nicole, who at this moment were as scared as hell.

"You wouldn't have anything to do with this would you? After all you just came back from Mira Loma, California, didn't you?" he started at Nicole, who began to back away towards Scylar, who blushed at first when she pressed her back against him. Then, taking advantage of the situation he wrapped his arms around her, while taking in her scent.

"REAPER…" Lord Death said in a booming voice. "CHOP!"

Nicole ducked as Scylar got the full force of the chop, landing several feet away from her and the (as the Japanese refer him) Shinigami.

"You ok?" Nicole asked him.

Scylar raised himself from the ground. "I saw my entire life before my eyes..."

She helped him stand before Lord Death addressed them again. "You better get your act together before your deadline. You don't have much time, Nicole."

She looked at him with a face full of sorrow before a shot of determination flickered in her eyes. "Sir, I beg of you, gives me another chance to prove myself. I swear, I will not disappoint."

There was a silence, at which Death and Nicole stared at each other, wrapped in an unspoken conversation. "Fine." He said "If you are able to catch this last soul successfully, without bringing any danger to innocent humans, then I will allow you to be one step closer to your goal."

She smiled. "Thank you, sir." She and Scylar turned to leave, while Sid walked further towards Lord Death. Death waited until the woman and her whip had left before addressing the zombie. "You had something else you wanted to talk to me about?"

"Yes." Sid lowered his gaze. "It has happened again."

"Same place?"

"Yes."

"Hm…" the Dean of the academy was lost in thought until Sid interrupted.

"Uh… sir?"

"Hm?" the Death god agnoleged.

"Are we… to do something about it?" again, It was awhile before Lord Death answered.

"There are only so many times we can ignore, how much evil is beyond the yore. So much more than before, has the balance of things been tore. But all we can do is fight till we sore, only this and nothing more."

"Sir?" a confused Sid asked. "Did you just… rhyme?"

"You know what?" Lord Death exclaimed, completely ignoring the zombie. "Why don't you get those kids back in here, and while you're at it, make me a sandwich. I skipped breakfast."

Later…

The day was cloudy. You could hardly tell night from day. In the large city of Baltimore, Maryland, on the corner of a small suburban street, stood a small brick house with three windows and a door. The red brick that held the house was clean of mold or decay, for this house belonged to no particular person… alive.

A few miles away stood a tall building decorated in holy relics. It was a church no doubt; a large church that held a large clock tower that was covered with stain glass windows on every wall. Cars passed by the holy sanctuary in indifference, and some in fear. One car however, pulled over to the side of the street. The car was beautiful and more refined then other's that passed by. The woman who stepped out left young men staring on the other side of the street.

"So." She said, as her partner closed the car door behind him. "This is where they had all been found?"

Scylar nodded. "Yes, two weeks ago thirty people went missing, they were all found in cemetery of this church… dead but not buried."

"Creepy." Nicole stated as she looked around the chapel. She turned the corner to see the very edge of the grave yard. Scylar followed her as she made her way to the back of the church. Several stones lay molded to the ground, some that stood right up and others that were more or less to the side. The grass under their feet was wet with dew. The whole place looked more like a garden then a cemetery.

They heard flapping in the distance and hid behind a particularly large tomb stone as the sound grew louder and louder. Suddenly, Scylar spotted something in the sky. It looked like a large, black, bird at first. But then, the two saw that it was a man; a man attached to two black feather wings. Only when it drew closer did Nicole notice that the man was far too young to be a man at all. He was a boy, a child; or teenager at least. He landed a few yards away from them, his face covered by his large, dark wings. A horrifying sight lay before them as his wings spread out and his form was reviled to them. He wore expensive cloths that were covered in dirt, his hair hung in his face as he and the duo looked at what he was holding. There, in his arms, were four to five bare, dead, bodies. Nicole couldn't tell if they were male or female, adults or children, all that was certain was that they had been beaten beyond recognition.

"… who?" Scylar started to whisper to himself more than his partner. "…Who could have done this?"

"I don't know." Nicole answered, her eyes fixed on the winged man. As if she could have seen this man before.

"Come on." She ordered suddenly as they carefully made their way towards the man bird. They safely reached a near tree that was close enough to hear what the boy was saying. He murmured a few words that Nicole could not decipher, before he looked to the sky and his whispers became chants.

"Tis some visitor I mutter," he said in a voice that was familiar to Nicole, but she could not grasp. He lowered his head slightly. "Tapping at your chamber door;" his eyes fell upon his victims. "Only this," he whispered as if to comfort them. "…nothing more."

The two partners were bewildered at the boy's words. No doubt he was overflowing with madness. How deep it was; Nicole wanted to find out.

"Ah," he said a hint of understanding in his voice. "Distinctly I remember, it was in the bleak December,
and each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor." He looked to the sky as his voice became louder. "Eagerly I wished the morrow; vainly I had sought to borrow from my books surcease of sorrow, sorrow for the lost…"

He gasped suddenly. The partners were clueless as to what had made him react this way until they heard a second flapping, quicker than the first. Then, out of nowhere, a black bird landed on a tomb stone a few feet away from the winged boy. He stared at the bird in fear and anticipation. Nicole now recognized the boy. She couldn't believe it, it wasn't possible, yet there he was holding broken bodies right in front of her. She had to hold her mouth from the chances of being discovered. Every drop of her will power was needed to keep herself quiet. Skylar was the next to notice, he was equally surprised, but could not contain himself as Nicole had done. Instead he uttered one word before turning into a whip and settling himself into Nicole's hands.

"…Gordon?"

Meanwhile.

He hated this show…

"Fighting evil by moonlight, Winning love by daylight,"

He REALLY hated this show…

"Never running from a real fight, she is the one named Sailor Moon!"

Every day, after school, while Ms. Albarn was off with Soul Eater; completing missions he and Rizzo had no hope of surviving, his partner would run off to her room and return with some particular season of this god awful anime with the blandest characters he had ever had the misfortune of viewing.

"She will never turn her back on a friends, she is always there to defend,"

Whenever they were not on a mission, or at school, or working at their separate summer jobs, or wrapped in random conversation, Rizzo would be watching, reading, or dreaming about this Japanese crap from hell.

"She is the one on whom we can depend, She is the one named Sailor... Sailor Venus! Sailor Mercury!"

What did she see in this show? Was it the talking cats? No, she hates cats, even Ms. Albarn's cat would bring out the worst in her animal taste.

"Sailor Mars! Sailor Jupiter!"

Was it the mysterious love interest? God he hoped not. Was it the bug eyed girls in sexy sailor outfits that somehow helped them defeat evil? How did that even work? Did they seduce the monsters with their outfits? That's the lamest way to die! Those are the lamest monsters that are defeated by their own hormones!

"With secret powers all so new to her, she is the one named Sailor Moon."

And that song! That stupid, stupid song! It didn't even sound right in Japanese! It's a stupid show with stupid characters and an even stupider plot! This was a con! A HUGE CON!

"Fighting evil by moon-"

"STOP!" Zeus yelled out in frustration. Rizzo ceased her dancing and singing as the song on the TV continued. "I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!"

She glared at him. "We agreed that you can have the laptop at any time if I could have the TV at any time."

"Yeah," he retorted. "But I never agreed to the shopping, the protests at DVD stores, or the cosplay!"

suddenly the door opened reveling a middle aged woman with deep green eyes, blonde hair in ponytails that reached down to her back, and a long, black, trench coat that covered a white shirt and a blue skirt. Though Maka Albarn did not have the same young look in her eyes as she did twenty years ago, she still had that spark that made her soul strong. She had a smile on her face as she walk in on the two teenagers with a pizza box in her hands.

"Zeus! Rizzo!" she sang cheerfully. "Good news! I stopped by the Knights Pizza Place and got you some stuffed crust pepperoni pizza to celebrate all your hard work!" she stopped suddenly, surveying the scenes that lay in front of her. Her smile disappears.

"Ok." She's sighs. "What are you two fighting about now?"

"She's watching a stupid show and won't let me do my homework."

"OH, you always pull out that one!" she yelled.

"Rizzo." Ms. Albarn said calmly

"Yes?"

"Did YOU finish your homework?"

There was silence before Rizzo pouted in saying, "No."

Meanwhile, in the cemetery.

"…Gordon?"

The word barely escaped from Scylar's lips before he turned to his weapon form as the reaction of Nicole clutching his arm tightly. She stared at the boy who was oblivious to her gaze; who she had thought to be dead by her hand, was now alive and looking frightfully at the raven that was perched on a tomb stone close by. Nicole studied him more closely; she could now see that the boy was not as 'alive' as she previously thought. He was a shell of his former self; you could see bone in places where flesh should have been. Was he a zombie? No, Sid was a zombie, and although Nicole had never met him when he was alive, she had been told that his life and life after were pretty much the same. This however was different; she knew that whatever was inside Gordon, whatever was making him stir was not the soul she had taken. Several seconds passed but it felt hours. Finally Gordon, starring still frightfully at the bird, spoke in a voice no louder than a whisper.

"Sir or Madam, truly your forgiveness I implore; But the fact is I was napping, and so gently you came rapping, And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door, That I scarce was sure I heard you."

Silence, nor the boy or the raven spoke. Nicole gripped tighter to Scylar's handle, waiting for the opportunity to act. After a moment the boy spoke again, this time louder than before.

"Surely that is something at my window lattice; Let me see then, what thereat is, and this mystery explore!
Let my heart be still a moment and this mystery explore; Tis the wind and nothing more!"

Silence again. With every passing moment Gordon's face seemed to become more and more strained, as if some invisible person was yelling at him; but there was only the raven. Gordon spoke again an octave louder.

"Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou art sure no craven. Ghastly grim and ancient raven wandering from the nightly shore! Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night's plutonian shore!"

And at that, something happened that made Nicole's blood run cold; something that could not have happened in a world such as ours, but here it did.

Quoth the raven, "Nevermore."

Gordon let out a loud shriek that quickly turned into a maniacal laugh. He raised his head and faced the sky as drops of rain began to pore, wetting his pale face. His laugh grew louder as his face began to change into a large black beak that matched the now crowing ravens. Nicole couldn't take it anymore. She made herself known by revealing her whip from behind the tree and striking it towards the raven. The bird flew slightly in the air but never retreated from the scene. Gordon stopped laughing but his smile never faded, he seemed happy to see Nicole; but she could hardly return the feeling. She repeatedly strikes at the bird who avoided the attacks with ease. Her eyes began to dart in all directions. Scylar was scared for his partner. Never before has madness resulted in this change of her behavior. She became obsessed with catching the bird rather than the murderer.

"Nicole? NICOLE!"

Gordon began to chant nonsense again.

"Much I marvel this ungainly fowl to hear discourse so plainly, Though its answer little meaning - little relevancy bore; For we cannot help agreeing that no living human being Ever yet was blessed with seeing bird above his chamber door. Bird or beast above the sculptured bust above his chamber door, with such name as Nevermore!"

Nicole took more shots at the bird, though her efforts were futile. The seventh time however, the bird retaliated, and flew towards the struggling girl. He flew right threw her and into her soul that blackened at contact.

"NICOLE!" Skylar shrieked in terror as his partner was engulfed in black feathers. Gordon's talk merely continued.

"Other friends have flown before. On the morrow he will leave me, as my hopes have flown before."

Meanwhile, inside the soul of the poorly taken Nicole, a lovely woman in a purple jumpsuit and hazel hair stood alone in a long hallway. The only other being that was seen in the hall was a small black bird on the opposite side of the woman. The two creatures made no eye contact with each other; instead the woman began to speak.

"Nevermore. what it utters is its only stock and store, Caught from some unhappy master whom unmerciful disaster Followed fast and followed faster till his songs one burden bore." She chanted this but unlike the boy made no change of expression.

The raven began to glow a bright gold as its shape began to change; its body grew larger, It feathers became flatten and long as they seemed to merge together. Before long, a girl, a bit smaller then Nicole stood before her in a long black cloak that covered her face. The brunette could see blonde locks under the hood, but nothing more. She spoke again.

"Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou, art sure no craven. Ghastly grim and ancient raven wandering from the nightly shore. Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night's plutonian shore."

Quoth the raven, "Nevermore."

"Wretch!" the woman retorted. "Thy God hath lent thee. By these angels he has sent thee Respite. Respite and nepenthe from thy memories. Quaff, oh quaff this kind of name, and forget this lost Nevermore! Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night's plutonian shore!"

Quoth the raven, "Never-nevermore."

"We cannot help agreeing that no living human being ever yet was blessed with seeing bird above his chamber door Bird or beast above the sculptured bust above his chamber door, with such name as Nevermore." Nicole pressed on.

The girl under the clock said nothing but was obviously shaken by the woman who demanded her name.

"Prophet!" the woman shrieked "thing of evil! Prophet still, if bird or devil! Whether tempter sent, or whether tempest tossed thee here ashore, Desolate yet all undaunted, on this desert land enchanted! On this home by horror haunted! Tell me truly, I implore!"

Quoth the raven, "Nevermore!"

The brunette sighed. A silence fell the room before clocked girl finally spoke.

"An anthem," she said "For the queenliest dead that ever died so young. A dirge for her the doubly dead in that she died so young."

Silence as the girl in black continued.

"For her, the fair and debonair, that now so lowly lies, the life upon her yellow hair but not within her eyes the life still there, upon her hair-the death upon her eyes! Avaunt! Tonight my heart is light. No dirge will I upraise, but waft the angel on her flight with a paean of old days! Let no bell toll! Lest her sweet soul, amid its hallowed mirth, Should catch the note, as it doth float up from the damned Earth. To friends above, from fiends below, the indignant ghost is riven. From Hell unto a high estate far up within the Heaven. From grief and groan to a golden throne beside the King of Heaven. Tell me, is she the name you implore?"

Quoth Nicole, "Nevermore."

Minutes passed before the raven flew out of Nicole, crowing in fright and excitement. Said woman was snapped back into reality as a surprised Gordon shook furiously.

"Good to have you back." Scylar called triumphantly.

"Good to be back." She answered with a smile.

"Wretches!" Gordon cried towards them, as the raven flew away, and abanded him. "Ye loved her for her wealth and hated her for her pride, and when she fell in feeble health, ye blessed her that she died! How shall the ritual, then, be read? the requiem how be sung By you, by yours, the evil eye, by yours, the slanderous tongue That did to death the innocence that died, and died so young?"

He said no more. Nicole stationed the whip in her hand and flung the head towards the undead killer. The whip once again separated down the middle and resembled a hand that lunged towards Gordon with open fingers. It went inside the winged mans torso and pulled out a raven, much like the one that had flown away from the scene just awhile ago. He fell dead, as the raven twist and turned, trying to break free from the whips grasp. Scylar's grip tightens as the bird suffocated under his hand. Eventually, the raven went limp, and a second later, a scarlet soul was left in its place.

Scylar's human form had returned, as he took the soul in hand, and claimed what was his. Nicole did not take her eyes off of Gordon's body whose fell amongst the victims that he had claimed that very night. She could not stop thinking of the girl who had appeared before her soul and if her real, true, name was that of Nevermore. She knew it wasn't true, for as she had stated before: 'we cannot help agreeing that no living human being ever yet was blessed with seeing bird above his chamber door. Bird or beast above the sculptured bust above his chamber door, with such name as Nevermore.'

The next day

"Ok, I get it; my love for Sailor Moon is getting in the way of your sanity."

"That's right." Zeus replied, thinking that last night's ordeal might have gotten the point across.

"And, you would like for me to cut back on the watching of old anime." Rizzo said barely looking at him.

"Well, yeah, sure." He explained. "That would be nice."

She paused for a moment "Ok." She walked ahead of him a bit.

He jogged to catch up with her. "R-really?"

"Yeah." She answered. "Ever since Toonami came back, I can get all the old anime I could get in a week."

It was a Thursday morning at the DWMA. The halls were hardly lively at 7:56am, and the first star E.A.T students knew that if they didn't arrive for class at exactly 8:00, they would face the wrath of the gods; Zeus and Rizzo knew this as well, yet they marched as quickly as they could straight to the second star E.A.T class, where two, lifeless, older students sat, keeping to themselves.

"Knock knock." Zeus's voice sang as he and Rizzo walked over to the two heaps of flesh that had yet to acknowledge their existence. Ever since the events of yesterday, Skylar and Nicole had barely talked at all; to neither anyone nor each other. The only conversation they had was last night before dinner:

"So you don't think that Nevermore was its real name?" Skylar asked after he sat hot coffee down for the two of them on the coffee table. Their living room was huge for their house was huge; it was the best home money can buy, second only to the Death mansion. Nicole took the drink in hand without looking away from her, state of the art, touch pad computer.

"No." she answered simply.

"Yeah, I didn't think so either. For awhile, I thought that was all it could say, but I suppose I was wrong."

She looked at him before returning her gaze to the internet. Of course he had heard her conversation with it. That was what being partners was all about: understanding ones soul. Though most meisters would be pleased with this, Nicole felt slight discomfort. Scylar saw this and stayed silent for the rest of the evening, they both did. And now, the silence continued as the Boy Scout and yeti waited for an answer. Finally, Nicole looked up from the book she was reading and began to stare down the one star partner.

"Why are you two here?" She asked.

"We just wanted to see how you were doing." Rizzo answered a smile on her face. "Word is you went on a mission for Lord Death himself."

"Don't we all?" She retorted, but Rizzo continued to smile.

"Of course." The white haired one sang. "But it's rare for someone to get a mission directly from Lord Death, you must be honored."

Nicole just stared at her.

"Well," Skylar started. "We got the soul and everything, but it was strange."

"Strange how?" Zeus couldn't help but ask.

"Well, for one, It seemed like target was possessed or something of that matter." Skylar said. "No, more like its body was possessed, but when we took it it like any other evil soul. I'm not sure how to explain it."

"Well," Demeter interjected, startling everyone with her presence. "The important thing is that you got the soul and the safety of world is now a little bit more balanced! Yay, world peace!" everyone gave off a sweat drop.

"Uh, how long have you been here?" Rizzo asked.

"Oh, Professor Death told me to come find you; something about too many students on the left of his class and not enough on the right."

At that Zeus and Rizzo ran out of the room at top speed, but not before Rizzo could say to Nicole:

"Hope you do well, senpii!"

"Senpii?" she questioned after they left. "What the hell was that suppose to mean?"

"I don't know some anime crap." Skylar murmured as he turned back to the black board; Nicole did the same with her poem book that she had been fixated on since that morning, she had read online about Edgar Allan Poe and the various poems he had written, one of them read:

'Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing,
Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before;
But the silence was unbroken, and the darkness gave no token,
And the only word there spoken was the whispered word…'

Nicole's eyes widened. "Lenore."

She was breed for evil, yet she continues to fight for good. Her partners don't understand her, and all her parents do is fight. What is an out of place witch to do? And how will a nasty goblin stand in her way?

Next time on Soul Gazer:

An academy born witch.

How short are you? Tell me.