A/N: Thanks to reviewers, followers and fav'ers! I will try and update this as much as possible, but exams are coming up. Hopefully a new chapter will be posted every five or so days.
This story isn't currently beta'd, so if you're interested in doing so then PLEASE tell me!
Disclaimer- I still don't own Soul Eater.
Chapter Two
In Shining Armour
Kishin eggs were becoming an increasingly annoying race. Usually, with the loss of their heart, and an insatiable hunger for human souls, they became stupider and less coordinated. There was only ever the very rare exception. But times have changed, and with the steady increase of homeless or weak humans, the eggs have become smarter in their hunting habits. Now they actively sought out overpopulated areas, preying on souls with no chance of fighting back. It meant they became stronger faster, and could get a large intake of power in very short amounts of time. With very little effort put in. Miesters could still take them out relatively efficiently, but they had to be much smarter about it.
Shibusen was trapped in a never ending arms race with their enemies. They were constantly getting slyer, more cunning, and had much more drive to succeed. Apparently, though none he'd encountered had the ability, Kid heard powerful witches could now use a magic called soul protect to hide in plain sight. They were developing, growing in power, and with their threats as well as the increase in demon eggs, Shibusen was under constant pressure to produce great miester and weapon pairs to fight.
Academy matters didn't particularly involve Kid, however. His father had said his focus should be on growing. But, as of recently, he'd personally taken it upon himself to find a weapon. As a reaper he didn't need to train them. Death Scythes were traditionally created by students, not the reaper themselves. But his own, taken from scratch and shaped according to his own specifications, would be of great benefit to him.
Every weapon that was suggested to him however would leave him completely unbalanced, and he knew he couldn't fight that way. It would be totally asymmetrical, which was definitely not happening. So Kid would have to find a way to get around that, find a weapon that would allow him to stay balanced on the left and right. As his father had said, it was at his age that humans were looking for partners. And no weapon in their right mind would pass up the chance to work with Lord Death's son.
Those were the two reasons he'd come to Brooklyn. Firstly, there was a group of kishin eggs ripe and ready to hatch in the area he'd been assigned for this mission. They would be taken out easily, and using his already high soul perception it wouldn't be too hard to find them. Kid really wanted to get them out if the way quickly, because the second reason he'd come to Brooklyn interested him far more.
His father had told him of the 'Devils of Brooklyn'. Apparently, they were a pair of weapons who were straying to the path of the kishin. They were probably young and homeless. Local authorities didn't have the power to incarcerate them, as most left weapons to Shibusen's jurisdiction. So he'd been asked to find them in his travels as well. And if need be, take their souls.
But after some research, eliminating the pair was the last thing on his mind. According to witnesses of their crimes, these two were identical in their weapon form; sisters who could transform into twin pistols. That little detail was certainly of interest to him. Granted, it could be false information. Identical weapons, even if they were siblings, were few and far between. But the idea of it was too tempting to pass up. Even if it did increase the amount of time he'd already be spending in Brooklyn's back alleys. To have survived so long in the in such a risky place, especially as young girls, they would have had to have been tactful and intelligent to a certain extent. He theorized that with a bit of work, they'd make fine Death Scythes, if their reputation was anything to go off.
In two days he'd eliminated four of his five targets. They were two star enemies by Shibusen ratings, but he'd taken them out with ease. Not a problem there. Mentally mapping out the network of back alleys had been of more help to him than his soul perception, surprisingly enough. The condensed amount of people in this area made it tricky to pick out the eggs.
But to his frustration, he was yet to encounter the Thompson Sisters. Even after walking through these streets looking exactly like one who would be a prime target for the girls. A shame, but he could devote his full attention to looking for them after the last egg was found.
And Kid was starting to close in. He had sensed a group of souls disappear in one of the more isolated networks of alleys, one hard to get to on foot. Probably a street gang or a drug trade, and the last kishin had dropped in to make a meal of them. That seemed to be the tactic of this new wave of Brooklyn eggs, find a weak group and take all the souls at one time. It was a destructive method, but one that made them easy to find if a miester was good enough.
Despite the inconvenience of using Beelzebub in the cramped network of streets, there was no quicker method into the alley than from above. Besides, it gave him a much needed breath of fresh air, a welcome change from the stale scent of drugs and body odour. As well as more diverse range of smells that Kid preferred not to think about. He hovered for a bit, enjoying the breeze on his face. Winter made it difficult for the homeless to survive, which made places like these a perfect area for a kishin to grab a snack. Still, this area got off pretty lucky in the grand scheme. He'd estimated that at least thirty were dead, which wasn't a great number, but it could have been much worse for five eggs on the loose.
Much to his annoyance, by the time he'd landed there was no kishin egg in sight. To have evaded him for this long, he could tell the last of his targets was smarter than the rest. So it shouldn't have been much of a surprise. Still, he wanted to kill it, find these far too elusive sisters, and get home before the disorder in these streets made him anymore uncomfortable than he already was. It was impossibly distracting, and interfered with his soul perception further than the streets already had.
His eyes fell closed as he focused in on the souls in the area, searching specifically for that last kishin egg. The strength of it made it an easy find even with the chaos around him. The disorder here was becoming increasingly difficult to ignore. A very annoying feature of this all consuming city. About three blocks away now, but no longer moving, he found the last of the five targets. Probably made its dinner takeaway, knowing it would be safer to eat away from the scene.
He moved onwards on foot towards its position. If he was lucky, he would be able to take it out before it had a chance to fight back. That was the method he'd used to take down two of the others, the rest of them putting up a bit more of a fight. Despite this, the more intelligent ones were also weaker, choosing to hide and pick the souls they would take carefully. Most kishin developed to either have intelligence or strength, sacrificing one for the other. Only very skilled eggs kept both in large amounts and those were the ones who ended up three star targets.
Kid's left hand wandered to his collar, where one of the more brutal and less intelligent had left a gash. It wasn't very deep fortunately, but that wouldn't have been the problem even if it was. The least the damn thing could have done would have been to slash the other side as well. Kid had come close to cutting the other shoulder himself, but fortunately Brooklyn's distractions carried some benefits. Thanks to his reaper body it had pretty much healed now, with only a faint red line left in its place. But it still irked him. This city was definitely not a place he planned on coming back to. If all went to plan, he'd be out of here tonight.
The thought that after he'd finished off the last of the Kishin he could finally devote his attention to those twin pistols gave him some comfort. They were the main reason he'd taken on this mission in the first place, after all. Pistols, huh? Yeah, he could work with that. The symmetry of having one in the left and right hand would work much better than a single scythe or blade. Or any of the other weapons his father had suggested for that matter. That is, if they weren't already past the point of no return and had started devouring human souls. Then, perfect symmetry or not, he'd have to kill them. It would be such a shame too.
He heard footsteps in front of him, which was quite startling. His soul perception was so focused on the Kishin soul, which was now moving slowly, he'd failed to notice two human souls right in front of him. 'That mistake could have been fatal.' He noted to himself, opening his eyes. 'And I miscalculated. Those souls are human, but they are also weapons.' He stopped, eyeing the girl walking towards him, a sneer on her face and a pistol in her grasp. 'Well girls, your timing is either impeccable or horrendous. I can't quite decide which.'
It was better for them to feel they had control of the situation. Their souls were a pure blue, nothing like the crimson red of a Kishin. So he could explore the possibility of making them his weapons. He knew it was a long shot, but definitely worth an attempt. So, he played along, letting her shove him against the wall, listened calmly to her threats.
The egg he'd been hunting earlier was heading back this way. It must have heard this girl, clearly the older sister, threatening him for cash. Watching her now, for the first time during the mission, he wondered if they would be too much. This girl was boisterous, rude, and off herself on some illegal substance. From her appearance, they looked perfect candidates to have already started hunting human souls. But they were far from it. The older one's soul was a very odd colour; he couldn't remember seeing one like it before. But it was no where near the blood red of an egg's soul. And as for the younger, who'd just poked his tongue out at him, her soul was as bright blue as any good hearted human.
He smiled to himself. They certainly had potential. The pistol was clearly capable of becoming a very powerful weapon in time, and if her sister was as identical as the reports had claimed, then the same applied. They could change, but the older would take a lot to convince. He could tell that much already. Most criminals had given him a wide berth in time he'd been here, not willing to take him on just from the look of him. But this girl, she was stubborn. She did not want to be beaten. Those were attributes that could help her if she was willing to come with him.
Their conversation, which was really just her spitting threats and himself trying to get a word in, went on until he finally had a chance to tell them who he was. "I'm a Shinigami," He started. "And I have come here to-" He felt a claw on his hip, having just enough time to roll his eyes and see the girl's horrified expression before being swept into the Kishin egg's grasp.
This one was ugly. Its hands and head were far too big for its body, which was scaled a deep green. The kishin egg was lizard like in appearance, with beady black eyes and large talons on three bony fingers. They were stained with blood, clearly from its recent kill. While holding him tightly in one hand, its barbed tail wound around to press against his stomach. With that information, as well as what he'd learnt from the others, he'd already had a pretty good idea of how it planned to fight. Grab with its hands, stab with tail. On top of that, it opened its mouth widely, a long tongue falling out to lick sloppily at its canines. Raised up like this, it was twice his size at least.
The girl, now behind him, screamed.
"You are truly disgusting." He said lowly. It grinned widely back at him. Clearly, in the loss of its heart, the kishin had no ability to speak anymore. He was glad of that. Nothing intelligent could have been learnt from it anyway. The monster hissed instead, the spike on its tail pressing against Kid's stomach.
Now it was time to move. Lifting his legs, he pushed down hard on the beast's lower lip, applying a wave of pressure against it. A loud crack bounced off the tight alley walls, the kishin howling in pain as its grip loosened. The bones in its jaw crunched together as they were pulled out of place. Using the now dislocated jaw for leverage, he kept holding down until its talons had relaxed completely. Pushing off, he had enough force to completely free himself, somersault once, and land just in front of the girl.
"What is that? What the fuck just happened?!" She screamed, stumbling backwards. Simply gaping wide eyed and clearly terrified, at the Kishin. "Mind your mouth." He grunted, leaping aside as its tail slammed into the concrete, where he'd been standing moments ago. It recovered too quickly. That wasn't good. He had hoped he'd bought himself some time. Vaguely, he could hear the sister currently in weapon form giggling. Between gasps for air she managed to choke out a few words. "L-look at it Sis!" More fits of laughter. "It's so stupid looking, it's dribbling all over the place!" She certainly was an odd one. But she was right. The dislocation meant the egg's mouth dangled open, thick globs of saliva dripping onto the street. "Patty!" The older choked, gawking at the pistol in her hand. "This isn't funny!"
The Kishin didn't seem to bother with them though. Its attention was focused on Kid. Tail still dug into the ground, it turned its whole body to take another stab at him. He slid backward, avoiding the swoop, but pieces of concrete flew in all directions. This could get messy. And that girl was just standing there. "Go. Get out of here." He turned and yelled, debris now separating them. "I'll find you both later."
She didn't hesitate. Sparing one last look at the Kishin, then at Kid, she sprinted away. All the way he could still here the youngest, Patty her name seemed to be, laughing at the top of her lungs.
Alright, now he could focus on the egg. It had gone down onto all fours, facing him once again. Tongue thrashing wildly in its open mouth, a low hiss in its throat. Pathetically attempting to try and back him into the corner, where most of the humans it would have faced surrendered to. Instead he ran straight towards it, jumping over a swing of its claws in the process, kicking up against its chin. The jaw was now its weak spot, used right he could end this quickly. A useful advantage, because those scales would have been tough to penetrate. Unfortunately, another swipe was more difficult to jump away from, and he was thrown back against the wall.
Groaning, Kid landed back on his feet, vision slightly blurred. The longer this fight went on, the better for the egg. So he had to end this quickly. There was something he could do for that to happen. He wasn't practiced at it, and it was risky. But all things going right, this would he over in one blow. If he didn't pull it off however, he'd be left wide open. There was no time left to consider. The kishin had abandoned sweeping attacks now, its arm raised, talons fully extended. Planning to end this in one blow too, it seemed. Kid grit his teeth, and closed his eyes.
The egg thrust its hand forward, slicing through the air. Its three fingers were closed so that its claws made one razor sharp point. The talons lurched forward with full force towards Kid. Hissing loudly, it hit nothing but the concrete, a whip of wind in place of where he'd been a moment ago. Gravel flew in all directions, along with a cloud of dust. There was only a beat in which the kishin could grunt in confusion before it felt the heel of a palm underneath his throat. And with a pulse, its body swirled into spiralling ribbons of green and black. There was barely enough time for a choked screech to escape its throat.
Kid panted. He'd only teleported a metre or two, but it was a skill he'd only learn recently. And one that took a lot of power to complete. Still, every time he used it he got better. Fighting enemies like this one proved good practice. That kishin was very tactful, but aside from its tough scales it had been very weak. Even more so than the others he'd faced. The ribbons evaporated into the air in front of him, a satisfying popping sound bouncing off the walls. Dissipating completely, all that was left of the kishin was a single glowing red soul.
"Collect." He murmured, raising his hand. The soul's shine dimmed briefly. It then sparked, bright white flames lapping at it. Gradually burning smaller, and eventually it had evaporated into thin air completely. That was it. The last kishin soul he'd had to retrieve on this mission. Kid sighed, clicking a kink in his neck. 'Now,' He thought. 'It's time to find those sisters.'
His eyes fell closed, and he cast out his soul perception.
A/N: Yeah. We'll be switching between POVs. You get some Kid this chapter! I'll be using a mix of both Japanese and English terminology (e.g Shibusen over DWMA, Miester over Technician), so I'm sorry if you get a bit confused. I'm just using the ones I feel comfortable writing with. Also, excuse the crappy writing in the fighting bit. I hate writing fight scenes, but I want to use this story as a chance to get better.
This story will end up being about nine chapters, but it could be longer if there's enough interest.
And remember, every time I get a review, Maka will punch Asura in the face. The more you guys like the story, the more I'll update!
