A/N: Hey everyone! Yea, I know it's been a long time since I've submitted the first chapter, but come on! Actually I have nothing to complain about since I've been lazy and not uploaded, and I'm not even sure how many people have been reading this story… so yea. Anyway, since I didn't know enough about fanfiction format to write an A/N last chapter, I'll include that here, so this A/N will be a bit longer than my usual ones(not that you have anything to compare to, since this is my first story on fanfiction). The whole 'cool colors=good soul thing I made up on the spot there in the last chapter. And after I thought about the fact that Giriko has a purple soul wavelength, that doesn't really fit… but I ask you to bear with it for now, because I will probably end up using it later. And by the way, this story takes place in an AU where the Asura was defeated, but ran away and went into hiding instead of being killed by Maka. Oh and there is a TINY bit of SoulxMaka in this chapter if you squint real hard. But you know what I think you deserve after reading such a long author's note? THE ACTUAL CHAPTER! So without further adieu…
The next day started pretty normally for just about everyone. Soul showed up and acted cool as usual, Maka sat in her seat and read her book, waiting for class to start. Black*Star was, same as always, reciting one of his speeches on the center pinnacle of the DWMA. Kid, however…
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40 minutes earlier (6:14)-Death Mansion
"Ugh…" Kidd said as he slowly sat up in his bed. He felt terrible. He was in the middle of rubbing the sleep out of his eyes and trying (and failing) not to gag, when he realized something 'What did I say just now?' He thought, 'Ugh? I never "Ugh." It's such an asymmetrical word. The U is ok; the g is almost symmetrical if you write it a certain way, but the h, it's completely wrong! What if I shout it, so all of the letters are capital? No, the H would be right, but then the G would be completely off! I'm a failure for even thinking such an asymmetrical…'
Kidd didn't have time to finish his thought, for at that moment he leaned over the side of his bed and retched.
Hearing the disgusting sound emanating from his room, Liz and Patty rushed in to see what was going on. Liz took one look at the vomit on the floor and was horrified.
"Kid, that's disgusting!" Liz shouted. Patty just stared at the puddle and began to laugh.
"Liz… Patty," Kidd moaned, "I think we will be taking the day off."
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And so, Kidd was unable to attend school that day. Chrona was sitting next to Maka, thinking about who knows what. Nobody dared ask, because whoever took the chance usually ended up depressed for the rest of the class. It was at this time, 6:54 AM that two boys walked up to the entrance of Shibusen academy.
"Alright, this is it," one of them said. "Today is the day we join the DWMA."
"Finally," The other said with an air of impatience. "I've been waiting for something interesting!"
The first boy began to walk towards the building. He turned his head and said "You seem excited today."
The other boy ran to catch up. "Of course I am!" he yelled. "I've been waiting for this for a long time!"
"Well then hurry up and come inside!" the first boy said with a grin. The other boy sprinted past, leaving the first to run after him, yelling all the while.
It was some 45 minutes later when the first boy found and caught up to the second.
"Dammit Tserubii, don't do that," the first boy panted. "Now we're lost, and late to sign up."
"Oh come on Navy, don't be so upset," Tserubii chided, without the slightest sign of exhaustion. "With your sense of direction, we would've gotten lost anyway! He he he!" Tserubii began to lean back, and almost lost his balance on the ledge he was sitting on. He managed to right himself, and by then his laughing had subsided.
"Ha!" Navy barked out a laugh. "Serves you right for insulting my directional skills." 'Although,' he thought sourly, 'he's probably right.' They continued to wander about for the next 10 minutes, until they came to a hallway lined with identical doors. It was a lot longer than a hallway had any right to be. The pair walked slowly down it for the next few minutes, when all of a sudden they heard a bell, and then all the doors opened simultaneously, and students began filing out of classrooms and filling the hallway.
Navy and Tserubii felt overwhelmed. They had no idea where to go, and currents of people pushing them in one direction or another was certainly not helping. Suddenly, a hand grasped each of their arms and began pulling them along. They looked up to see a muscular boy with a star tattoo on his arm, and spiky blue hair. Following close to him was a worried looking girl that wore a long tan robe tied with a belt, and had long black hair tied up into a ponytail.
Navy scowled and wrenched his arm free, Tserubii doing the same, but more with a curious look than a scowl.
"What are you doing?" questioned Navy, who's look could be described as a combination of pissed and curious.
"You're new here, right?" the blue haired kid asked. His voice was unnecessarily loud, even for these crowded and noisy hallways.
"Umm…" Navy said, not knowing what to respond, seeing as he and Tserubii weren't enrolled yet.
Tserubii cut in, "yes, we are. Can you show us around?"
"Come with me!" the blue haired kid responded, and then ran off. The girl flashed them a nervous smile, and motioned them to follow her, and then walked off at a brisk pace.
Navy and Tserubii followed behind for awhile, until they found themselves in front of the academy, on one side of the cobblestone circle that dominated the ground. The blue haired kid was on the other side, and the girl was in the entrance with a teacher. The teacher had on a white lab coat, a stitched undershirt, and gray pants. He was sitting backwards on a rolling chair, but strangest of all was that he had a large screw in the side of his head, which he was turning, ever so slowly. Navy heard a sharp click, and he stopped turning the screw and looked up
'When did he get there?' Navy and Tserubii thought, but turned back to the blue haired kid as he started yelling, presumably at them, to listen up.
"I AM BLACK*STAR!" he shouted to the heavens. "IT IS MY DUTY TO TEST THOSE WHO WISH TO ENTER THE ACADEMY, FOR I AM THE GREATEST BEING WHO EVER LIVED! I WILL NOT NEED A WEAPON TO FIGHT YOU, BUT YOU MAY USE YOURS, BECAUSE YOU ARE LIKE INSECTS IN MY PRESENCE! YAHOO!"
Navy and Tserubii looked first at each other, and then at the girl and teacher, who were rolling their eyes.
"GO!" Black*Star shouted.
Navy and Tserubii looked back to Black*Star, and saw that he was running at them full speed with his fist cocked back.
Navy held out his hands as if to hold something that wasn't there. "Tserubii!" he shouted.
Tserubii nodded. "Right!" he yelled, and a glow began to appear around him, as his white soul form darted toward Navy's outstretched hands.
"YAHOO!" Black*Star screamed, as his fist launched forward straight into Navy's chest. Navy flew backward and into the ground, creating a huge dust cloud. Tserubii changed back into his human form and dashed into it. "HA!" Black*Star laughed. "What a weakling! He couldn't even survive that! And that wasn't even my big wave attack!" There was a brief period of silence, and then Black*Star raised his voice again. "Hey Stein, why aren't you declaring me the winner?"
"Because you haven't won yet!" Came the shout from within the veil of dust. It had begun to settle, and when it did Navy was on his feet holding a two handed, single bladed battle axe with a deep red handle, a black pommel, and a blade that was shaped like a trapezoid, and colored grey except for around the edges, where it seemed to shine silver. The blade was connected to the handle in two places, creating a rectangle of empty space between those points. The tip of the handle by the axe blade had a spearhead on the end. Navy's left hand was gripping the handle close to the center, but farther away from the axe blade than towards it. His right hand gripped the handle in the area of space created by the connection of the axe blade to the handle.
"Byata!" Navy shouted. "Arrogant is what you are, and I will ensure that will be your downfall today!"
"Ha!" Black*Star barked out a laugh. "You're a fool if you think you can beat me! I, the great-Oof!" He flew backward but flipped out of the fall and righted himself quickly, hands raised in an X-block. Navy was standing ready with the pommel of the axe out in front of him and pointed down slightly. The axe head was positioned by the right side of his head. "You will pay for interrupting my speech!" Black star growled, and launched himself at Navy and Tserubii, intent on delivering another blow like the first.
"Does he think he can get us with that twice in a row?" Tserubii scoffed. Navy brought Tserubii's blade down to his hip and dropped his handle behind him, letting go with his left hand. It was like he was holding a sheathed sword on his right side. They knew they had but one chance. Say what you want about his personality, Black*Star was powerful, and they didn't feel like getting hit by another punch of his anytime soon.
The instant before Black*Star planted his foot to deliver the blow, Navy dropped to one knee and spun to his left, tripping Black*Star and causing him to fall flat on his face and skid a few feet. As Navy came up to full height, he spun and pulled Tserubii's blade out in front of him and grabbed the handle with his left hand, so that the spear head was pointing at Black*Star, about a foot away from his nose.
"Reverse reaping circle." Navy stated.
"You're gonna need more than that if you expect to beat me!" Black*Star smirked. And with that he disappeared in a smoke cloud.
"The hell…" Navy muttered, looking around.
"There!" Tserubii yelled. "On the roof spike!" Navy whirled around, just in time to block a downward cut from both blades of a chain scythe. He leaped backward and mirrored his grip, so he was holding Tserubii just below the axe blade with his left hand, and his right hand gripped near the pommel. Tserubii's axe head was pointed down and slightly out in front of Navy, and his pommel was by Navy's head
Black*Star brought his hands up to chest level, and positioned them so that Tsubaki's blades were in an 'L' shape, pointing off to Black*Star's left. "You should consider this an honor!" he said. "I've deemed you worthy of being defeated by me AND Tsubaki!" He rushed forward and cut with both of Tsubaki's blades from his left shoulder to his right hip. Navy maneuvered Tserubii to block, and right at the point of contact, slid to the right and spun to his left, bringing Tserubii around behind him while sliding his left hand back towards his right, like a baseball bat grip, and brought him down over his right shoulder, right into Black*Star's back. "GAH!" the assassin shouted as he flew forward and into the ground and bounced, creating a sizable distance. "You'll pay for that!" and got ready to rush again.
"Wait, Black*Star!" whispered Tsubaki. "I've been watching the battle. They haven't attacked on their own yet. They always wait for you to go first."
"Well, if they haven't done it yet, they're doing it now!" Black*Star said. Sure enough, Navy was rushing forward holding Tserubii the same way he had at the beginning of the battle, with his right hand by the axe head, slightly behind him. Black*Star readied himself and pulled Tsubaki's chain tight in front of him, just as Navy delivered a downward cut which Tsubaki's chain blocked very well. They were now in a contest of pure strength.
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Soul was standing alone in the hallway when he noticed some students heading towards the front balcony, including Maka. He stopped her and asked, "Hey, what's going on? Where's everybody going?"
Maka gave a small sigh, but the smile she wore never left her face. "Black*Star's just 'testing' another new student. This one seems a bit stronger then the ones we've gotten lately though. I can sense his soul from the classroom."
"Huh," Soul huffed. "Might as well go see what the big deal is about." He walked alongside his meister and wondered who could be at the front of the building. He knew Black*Star, and Black*Star wouldn't ever go easy on anyone, especially the new kids. This guy 'or girl' he thought to himself, had to be a pretty good fighter to last this long. He and Maka went to one of the higher balconies, whereas most people went directly to the one on the classroom floor. Soul went to the edge and looked down and was genuinely surprised. 'That couldn't be the guy from last night, could it?'
"Whoa!" Maka said, grabbing Soul's attention. "Their souls are really strong, especially for newcomers. The meister's soul is actually really small, but it's also really condensed. Kind of unassuming when you first sense it, but if you concentrate on it, it has a lot of power and spirit. The weapon's soul is almost the exact opposite. It's extremely large, with about the same amount of power as the meisters, and it seems sort of stretched out."
"Yea thanks for the lecture Maka," Soul groaned. "Now be quiet and watch the battle." Maka wanted to Maka chop him right there, but she had left her book in the classroom. She stewed for a second, but then decided to let it go. She wanted to watch too.
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"Navy, this guy is strong," Tserubii warned. "Honestly, I don't think we can beat him this way."
"I wasn't planning on it." Navy muttered with a smile, before sliding Tserubii towards Black*Star and hooking the Tsubaki's chain under the blade. He then pulled Tserubii toward him, so that Black*Star flew forward, and then Navy thrust Tserubii back at him, attempting to strike him with the spear head. Right as Navy began the thrust, however, Black*Star looked up and smirked. He flipped clear over Tserubii and Navy, which resulted in Tsubaki's chain catching on Tserubii's blade and flipping Navy onto his back when he didn't let go.
Black*Star didn't waste any time, and as soon as he landed, he whirled around and whipped Tsubaki at Navy.
'This weapon can change forms?' Navy thought while dodging Tsubaki and swinging at Black*Star as he passed and retrieved Tsubaki, a bit surprised that they were now going against a giant shuriken instead of a chain scythe. 'Well, I haven't seen that before; let's see how this new development turns out.'
"Tsubaki, ninja sword mode," Black*Star said to his partner.
"Right," Tsubaki said back determinedly. Tsubaki began to glow a yellow color and changed into her ninja sword form, and Black*Star lunged forward.
"Ha!" Black*Star barked as he began making rapid, unrelenting slashes at Navy's midsection. "I've found your weakness! Your weapon is large and powerful, but slow. I have the advantage with Tsubaki here!"
"Dammit Navy, he's right," Tserubii said. "We can't block his attacks much longer, and we don't have the time to pull off soul resonance. We could try spirit rush, but.."
Navy chimed in at this. "It seem like that's the only option left to us now. Let's do it. Go for wind."
Tserubii gave a great yell from his weapon form, "Spirit Rush! Wind!" Tserubii started to move extremely fast his movements beginning to flit in and out of vision, but Black*Star could tell that his strikes were much weaker. Navy warded Black*Star off, and stood at the ready once again. "I'm burnt out," Tserubii panted. "I don't have enough energy for soul resonance or another spirit rush."
"That's fine," Navy said back. "We'll just have to beat them with strategy. We can't let him rush in like that again. We might not be able to block him in time."
Tseeubii showed his face in the blade and smirked. "Then we'll have to make him play our game. Keep on the attack, and don't let up. Ever."
"Alright," Navy agreed. "Let's show him what we've got!" They refocused their attention to the battlefield… and sweatdropped. There was no one there. The teacher with the screw was still there, and the crowd was still there, but the girl was gone, and he couldn't see Black*Star anywhere. 'Ah, she must've been his weapon,' Navy thought.
Suddenly Black*Star landed on the other side of the battlefield, with his arms crossed, and no weapon. "What are you waiting for?" he called. "Too scared to go on? To come face me?"
"His weapon's gone!" Tserubii said, surprised. "Now's our chance!"
"Hold on, Tserubii," Navy said. "Ninja swords are easily concealable. He could very likely still have his weapon. That said, we'll have to attack first either way, because we have to keep him at a favorable distance. And I'm not about to let him sit over there and taunt us like that any longer. Let's go!" Navy rushed forward with Tserubii's axe blade behind him and to his right, and they promptly found themselves bound in chains.
"Trap Star," Black*Star smiled. "Now you're all tied up, and I can do whatever I want. I think I'll honor you by letting you be defeated by my signature move!" He stepped back and put both his hands slightly behind him and to his right. "BLACK*STAR BIG WAVE!" he yelled, and drove left elbow and right fist into Navy's abdomen. Navy lurched forward… and grinned.
"Gotcha," Navy whispered. The chains collapsed around him, and he quickly grabbed Tserubii and struck Black*Star on his left collarbone. Black*Star crumpled to the ground, and Navy smirked, coughed up some blood, and then fainted himself. Tsubaki and Tserubii had changed back into their human forms, but Tsubaki was lying on the ground unconscious. Tserubii wobbled over to where Navy and Black*Star were passed out, and there he collapsed from exhaustion.
Nygus ran out onto the battlefield and examined the students. "They'll be fine," she stated. "But The weapon needs at least one full day of bed rest, and the meister needs to be treated for minor internal bleeding. Tsubaki took temporary damage to her soul, but she'll be fine when she wakes up. Black*Star has a small fracture on his collarbone. So he might need a neck brace. I'll have to take a closer look at that. Other than that, both Black*Star and the other meister have some minor cuts and bruises, but those will heal up pretty easily."
And so Navy, Black*Star, Tserubii and Tsubaki were taken to the infirmary to be treated. As they were being wheeled there, the students that were gathered on various balconies filed back to their classrooms and the faculty members were busy corralling the students and teaching their classes, going through files, supervising things, and other important jobs that helped manage the DWMA. As the four sleeping students were wheeled past Soul and Maka, Soul got a better look at the two newcomers.
The meister had dark brown hair that went down to the bottom of his ears. He was somewhat pale skinned, and it didn't look like he had much muscle. He wore a grey T-shirt with a maroon hoodie. He also wore blue jeans, a brown belt, and white sneakers, and a silver cross necklace.
The weapon had black hair that was really short on the sides and back, but a little longer on the top and spiked up a little. His skin was a little darker, and he looked a bit more muscular than the meister. He wore a black short sleeved T-shirt, blue jeans, a white belt, and black sneakers. He also had on a peculiar looking necklace. It had six separate gems: a red one, a yellow one, a dark blue one, a light blue one, a green one, and a grey one.
"Hey Maka," Souls voice rang out for the first time since he had started watching the battle. "I think I've seen that meister before."
"Really?" Maka asked, intrigued. "Where?"
"I think I saw him when I was walking home last night…" Soul said absentmindedly. He was talking half to his partner, half to himself. "I just remember seeing him though. He didn't say much, he just helped me get home."
"That's weird," Maka replied. "Why did he come here?"
"I don't know," Soul said. "Whatever he came here for, he's a good fighter. Most new kids can't even last two minutes with Black*Star, and he lasted a lot longer than that, and he even tied with him. Not bad for a rookie." Maka let out a little laugh. "What's so funny?" Soul asked.
"I've just never pictured you saying the word rookie." Maka said smiling. "It's just weird, that's all." Soul simply shrugged and continued to class with his partner. Today would be boring without any friends to talk to 'since Maka's always reading that dumb book,' he thought. But at least he had a lot to think about.
Well I certainly think that was a good second chapter! Okay, first off, sorry if the whole Tsubaki Tserubii thing got a bit confusing. I named that character a long time ago, and I can't think of calling him anything else. Second, Tserubii's axe blade is the asymmetrical trapezoid, the one that looks like a boot. The pointy part is pointing towards the middle, and the flat edge goes towards the spearhead. I also don't know why I put a * between Black and Star, or spell Kidds name with two 'd's. And with that in mind, message me if you have any more questions. And also review! I know you hear this from every single author, but it's true. No reviews=lack of inspiration from readers=me taking waaay to long to update. Thanks! Keep Grinning! (trying out a cheesy catchphrase)