Disclaimer: Check first chapter ^.~
---=====---
It took just a few hours for the duo to reach the abandoned village on the desert that surrounded Death City. It was more like a tiny city than an actual village, but it wasn't the weirdest.
The surely more striking feature was all the buildings made out of bones. Creepy, but not enough to scare the brave pair. They stood on the entrance for a while before Soul broke the silent.
"We are supposed to wait here?" He asked, discontent with the heat.
"I guess…" Maka answered. Shinigami-sama only told them to "wait for Stein there", not actually mentioning where was "where". "I think we could take a look ourselves." The girl though out loud, noticing the light of Soul transforming into a scythe. Silently, the two teenagers entered the city.
Her footsteps were the only sound besides the blowing wind. She glanced at every of the houses and business, all of them in a decadent state of ruins. All those skulls staring at her sent a chill through her body, also noticing the slight shaking of her hands and legs. Soul noticed that, but didn't comment. Even for him that place was scary, even on the bright sun of nearly noon.
"Oi, Maka, can't you sense any souls?" Soul asked, thinking that would be enough to let them go back home. He wasn't on the mood to stay there for too long.
The technician shut her eyes, focusing. "No… and yes?" She spoke, more to herself than to her partner.
"What do you mean by that?" He asked, completely confused. What the hell kind of answer was that?!
"I mean… I don't feel any souls, but I can feel a presence in here, but it's dull and hard to see. I can't explain…" She said, trying to find words to describe the feeling. Intuition? Not quite enough.
She suddenly turned, startled, but then confused with her own senses. Had she really heard a step? No, it could only be her imagination. Right? The teenager wasn't sure of herself anymore.
"Maka, what's up with you?!" Soul asked, now annoyed with the ponytailed girl.
She ignored him, focusing on the shadows from where the sound should have come. That feeling was growing inside her like madness. All that was left to do was to check it out.
Walking determined toward the dark street and turned the corner just to find there was no one there. Curiosity blurred her thoughts, and the girl had an odd feeling of being Alice following the White Rabbit. It couldn't end well, but she couldn't help but going further.
The girl then could have sworn she saw one of the skeletons of the wall move away, and with a gasp she raced after it. On the other corner, she only had time to catch the sight of a bony feet escaping on the end of the street. For a dead, it was pretty quick…
Soul tried to make her stop, but she wouldn't listen. It was now a crazy race after a probably imaginary enemy. It was just insane.
Make kept going, following the disappearing clues, making her best to ignore Soul's shouted complains.
Finally, she stopped, facing a dead end. Shoot. Where was that darn-?
"MAKA!" Soul's shout finally got into her, his voice echoing on the shadowed alley. "What?" She asked calmly, trying to catch her breath after racing on the blazing sun.
"What do you mean 'what'?!! Stopping acting so recklessly, for God's sake!" He scolded her, while she tried to figure out what was wrong. She was sure to have seen that --
She twisted again, her eyes still adjusting to the dark shadows of the alley. The dark made the air cooler, refreshing her sweating skin. Her emerald eyes sank on the darkness, trying to find the said figure.
Then, the shock: among all those bones and skeletons, pearly blue eyes shone pale in the dark background, making her and the scythe gasp. From the wall, a figure emerged. Not a bony, skinny skeleton she had been thinking. No, it was a regular person, with flesh and skin over the bones, though she couldn't tell much of the stranger.
"Who are you? Tell me your name!" Make yelled, taking a defensive stance. The being had a soul response, but it was very weak and dull, hard to see through.
It walked slowly to the middle of the straight alley, walking to a more sunlit patch. With one gloved hand, it covered the bone white face, removing what seemed to be the skull. Actually, it was a mask.
Pushing a veil and a long, worn out cape along with it, the figure revealed itself as a woman. A high, beautiful woman. Her hair was long and curly, hitting nearly her waist. The color could be guesses as a dark honey. Her skin was tanned and fair, though it had a dusty and dirty look. Her pale blue eyes seemed to glow by themselves in a dull light. Her face was mature but young, having a determined, adventurous look, though it emanated a rather wise aura. Her body was slim and curved, most of it shown though her worn out clothes. The woman was wearing a sleeveless shirt, showing the smooth skin of her chest, adorned with a golden fleur de lis pendant. Part of her belly was also exposed, and around it there was a tribal tattoo of a dragon coiled around it. Some sort of white fabric was tied around her waist over the faded jeans. She was using a pair of heavy bulky boots, and Maka wondered how she managed to run so quick with so much weight on her feet.
The woman looked at the young technician with half lid empty eyes, giving them a skeptical look while she studied the girl from top to bottom.
"Hmpf… I thought they would send someone more… scary?" The woman spoke, her voice was soft yet it carried a tune of disbelief. It irritated the duo, and Maka frowned at the enemy.
"Answer me!" She shouted to the other, but received only the ironic giggle of the strange woman as an answer. Maybe they should have waited for Stein…
The female then sighed, placing one hand on her slim waist, the other messing the curls on the back of her head. "Okay then, stop yelling so much…" She said, looking at her with bored eyes. "Alright, if you want to attack me, do it at once." She said boldly, and Maka noticed her shivering had grown. Something about that woman scared her to her soul.
"Calm down, Maka…" Soul whispered, trying to sooth the distressed partner. The woman did had a creepy look, though she was so plain and ordinary.
The woman sighted as the ponytailed girl didn't move. "Looks like I'll have to start,huh?" She asked, stretching the back and arms. Then, she was gone. Just like that.
Maka couldn't make out where she was, but then, she felt that dulled soul behind her.
There was no time to move or to block the attack.
One of those heavy boots met her face, and she was blown away a few yards with the impact. The pain took a few seconds to finally come, but when it did, the girl could stop the grunt and the twisted expression.
"Maka! Are you alright?!" Soul's voice sounded disturbed and rather hysterical, probably stunned with the other's speed as well. "…Yeah." She answered weakly, getting up again.
This time she saw the other coming, the blue eyes pale and scary coming close in a flash.
The girl tried to block the multiple flashing attacks, but one sneaked through her guard. It was the other's knee on her ribs, the stinging pain wasn't enough to dull her reflexes. Quickly she swung Soul's blade on the other's waist, seeing the blood spill from the cut. The other shown no sign of pain, though, and Maka was pushed to the side like a doll by the woman's leg.
The meister couldn't believe she had really hurt the enemy, but when looking again, the only traces of the wound was the blood stains on the sliced fabric, but the injury itself was vanished. Like it had never happened.
"No, it can't be…" Soul mumbled.
"I saw, I did cut her! How--" She tried to think what had just happened when the other cut her sentence.
"Why the possibility of healing isn't on your list?" She asked, skeptical.
Maka let it sink for a second. So fast… Was that even possible? The other smiled from her confused expression.
"I've never seen such healing since…" She thought out loud, memories of that fight against the werewolf on London flooding her mind. Could it be quicker than the man's?
"… An immortal? I'm not one actually. I'm… Oh, hell, I'm just part immortal!" The strange woman spoke, talking to herself.
Maka didn't understand a thing, neither did Soul. Just what was going on in this town?!
Suddenly, the woman lost her focus on the teenager, and the girl saw a way to escape. But it would only work if she was faster than the other, which she wasn't. But she had to try…
Sneaking off the other, she got back on her feet in a flash and raced to the main street. It looked so close, yet so far away…
The ponytailed meister tripped on something, but she only noticed it was on the woman's boots when she was already on the ground, the scythe slipping through her fingers. It landed a few yards away, but she couldn't reach.
"Just where are you going?" The woman asked ironically, the heavy boot landing heavily on the girl's back. She crossed the arms over the knee, looking to the fallen girl.
"Let me go!" Maka shouted, trying to sound strong, but failing horribly. Her throat was dry, and her voice trembled on her speech. The other laughed on her attempt. It was hard to breath with so much weight over her chest.
"Leave her!" Soul's voice yelled at the other, and both females saw him crouched as he shifted back to his human form. This time the woman tilted her head at Maka, her face soft and… caring?
"That's quite a catch you have as a partner, hmm?" She commented, making both teenagers blush. Such a comment in such situation…!
Yet, it wasn't what changed the whole scenery. Maka sensed the presence of another two souls. Such a perfect moment for those two to appear!
In a snap, the attention to the two students was caught by the image of Stein bursting into the alley with Marie-sensei in her hammer form. They hesitated a few second on the entrance. Stein frowned in anger, the woman smiled evilly.
On the blink of an eye, Stein sent a blow on the woman's face, but it was blocked by her arms. The crack of bones breaking sounded loud on the straight alley, but it didn't last long. In a few seconds, the woman had healed the wounded arms and cracked the new joints.
"Stein! Marie! It's been quite some time, huh?" She greeted the pair, and Maka noticed a glow coming from her belly. It was the tattoo, shifting on her skin and jumping off her body, glowing strongly as it took a new form.
Once the glow was gone, her belly tattoo was gone, but now the woman held on her hands a huge double scythe, the huge silver blades shinning dimly and deadly. One pointed to the right and the other to the left, with some cuts and details. Her green eyes widened. The woman was a technician?! …And half immortal? How come?!!
"Are you guys okay?" Marie-sensei's voice asked to them, and her thoughts were shattered.
"Ah… Yeah." She mumbled, still static with the enemy.
"Sure." Soul replied as well, and Maka jumped to see he had moved right beside her without even noticing. Still, she stared at the woman ahead a bit more, trying to understand.
"Maka, Soul, go away from here. That's an order." Stein said, his voice hard and demanding.
"Who is she, Doctor?" The meister managed to ask with a weak voice.
"Doesn't matter now, just go!" He said, now sounding angry. Maka glanced at the professor. She had never seen him so angry or focused. His soul looked afraid, but why? He was the strongest technician of Shibusen. What would he be afraid of?
"Still a coward, Stein-kun? I was hoping to see you with a bit more courage…!" The woman teased him, and the scythe chuckled on a rough, dark maleish voice. It sent chills across Maka's trembling body, and she felt Soul flinch at the sound.
A face appeared on the scythe's biggest blade. It was a man. He had a skin as tanned as the meister, but his hair was short and pitch black. His eyes, though, were bright purple, and the pupils were thin vertical lines, giving him the spookiest look.
"I never thought I'd see Marie paired with Stein." The weapon commented, looking calm, casual with his technician.
"Neither did I, Markku. Neither did I… God, Marie, look where you ended up… So sad!" the woman teased further more. And her weapon chuckled again, his face disappearing from the blade.
"Shut up, Hannah…" Marie said with an angry tone. So that was the woman's name? Hannah? So simple, seemed o fit her perfectly, though.
"Hmpf!" It was the only answer of the woman, closing her eyes in an ironic expression. Using the moment, Stein sprang to the unprotected tech. Or so he though.
The scythe moved in a flash, one of the blades blocking Stein's blow. A fist came quickly to the doctor's face, but it was also blocked.
With that, a flashing fight started, and the only one that seemed to take casual damages was Stein. Hannah kept a cool expression, only a small smile to break the totally serious face. Her blades came deadly close to Stein's body, barely cutting an arm off or piercing through his chest.
Both Maka and Soul felt their hearts race as they watched the fight from afar, as if they were the ones fighting there.
"I told you guys to go!" Stein scolded them, but they just couldn't move. Almost like all those impossible movements were holding them still, thrilled with the action. Soul tried to figure out how her weapon simply sprung from that tattoo, as he seemed to be a regular weapon just like him. Maka stared at the dulled souls from both the partners. She had never seen such compatibility.
Crimson and emerald eyes stared at both the weapon and technician's impossible control and synch. Stein was about to send his wavelength on the woman when she avoided the attack and pressed her own palm on the man's forehead.
As if he had been shot, his head flinched to the touch, a few blue sparks flying on the air among the woman's palm and his head. Then, he simply fell on the ground, immobile and still. Maka gasped. How could Stein lose?!!
The woman simply stood there, the stitched man's eyes staring angrily at her. She relaxed the huge scythe on her shoulder while holding it with her arm.
"Don't look at me like that, you just wasn't quick enough." She said, and the weapon shifted to the human form. The man was just a few inches higher than her, and wore clothes just as worn out as the technician. He wore an old pair of jeans, held by a studded belt. He wore a flat green jacket with some random logo. A red jacket was tied around his waist, dusty and dirty.
Resting his hands inside the jeans' pockets, he looked down at the defeated pair.
"Our team remains unbeaten." He said holding a hand to the partner, which was smacked by the woman's hand. Her pearly blue eyes then shifted to the younger couple that flinched to the stare.
Hannah shaked her head, and walked toward the two teenagers, Markku following her closely.
Maka shivered from fear of what they could do to them, and Soul shifted to a defensive stance, the girl safely behind him. The older pairing passed past them casually, leaving them with just a glance. The two mysterious partners disappeared behind the corner without a word.
Maka snapped out of the shock quicker, hearing Stein's grunts as he tried to get up. The doctor felt completely stiff from the finishing blow, the remaining of her paralyzing wavelength still not allowing him many movements. Marie had been affected too, but her soul wavelength seemed fine.
The ponytailed girl quickly went to help the older pair, leaving a static Soul behind while he tried to grasp what just happened.
"Dr. Stein! Marie-sensei! Are you two okay?" She asked, worried for the teachers.
"Yeah… It was just a paralyzing blow, nothing much. No harm done." He said, trying to ignore the minor cuts that the scythe had managed to make on him.
"What happened? I-I… What's wrong with her sou-- And what was that weapon ability to-- How did she manage to heal so-- I can't…." The questions rushed off, and she couldn't understand herself. The confused girl felt foolish.
"Calm down a bit Maka. It's nothing to worry about, let's just report to Shinigami-sama." He said, trying to find the little pocket mirror and finally landing it on the ground before stretching the still joints. The effects were running off quickly, and he was glad about that.
Calmly, he sat on the ground, Maka worrying about Marie-sensei, who had just returned to her human form. They tried to calm each other down, failing completely, and the doctor wrote down the numbers.
42 – 42- 564
The image on the glass vibrated before lighting up.
"Shinigami-sama?"
"Helo, hello, good job~! So, Stein-kun! How did the recognition mission went~?" The God asked with his normal playful voice.
"Looks like you'll be having a visit soon…" He said, looking away at the two hysterical females.
"Huh?"
"It's her, sir. She is back."
"You mean she?"
"Yes, sir."
"Hmm… I see. Well, then, return as soon as possible, I want to hear the details!" The Reaper spoke, and the image disappeared, lasting only Sten's tired face reflected on the glass. The doctor sighed, and took off one of his cigarettes, lighting it up and breathing in. It soothed a bit of his nerves, but not the enough.
He got up, and stretched his back before blowing off the smoke.
"Let's go everyone. Shinigami-sama wants to talk to us." He announced, earning everyone's attention.
---=====---
Updated quickly because the epilogue is just too small XDD and Oh my gawd, Hannah and Markku are officially into the story!! From now on, we'll have lots of FUN! 8D