.four.
Dr. Stein leaned against the wall of the large underground sparring room, smoking a cigarette. His sharp eyes, alight with interest, never strayed from the action played out before him. The soft whoosh as he exhaled a stream of smoke was lost amid the loud crashes, thuds, and screeches ringing from the makeshift battlefield. A hand absently reached up to twist the screw in his head.
"Enjoying the show, Stein?" A tall woman with rich, dark skin and dreadlocked hair pulled up in a ponytail vaulted easily over the barrier separating the sparring ring from the warm-up and observation area. Baggy military-issue pants hanging from her hips and heavy bandages wound around her face, chest, and arms served only to accentuate her lithe beauty. Ignoring the sounds of the fierce fight still raging behind her, the woman strode toward the doctor, not so much as twitching when a large rock hurtled past her head and shattered on the ground a few feet in front of her.
"Immensely," Stein said in response to her question. "Taking a break, Nygus?"
The woman shrugged, leaning against the wall beside him. "I'm not the one in training," she drawled, following his gaze. Both were silent for a few moments as they watched a particularly intense moment on the sparring field. BOOM. The floor shook, and dust sprinkled down from the ceiling.
"What do you think?" Nygus asked.
Stein blew a smoke skull and watched it dissipate before deigning to reply. "They've improved at an incredible rate. I knew the meister was holding back when we first fought, but I still would've given her a good ten years of training before she could pose a real threat to me. Now, I'd say she could reach that level in three, maybe even two."
Nygus raised an eyebrow. "She held back against you?"
Stein snorted. "Not one of the moves she demonstrated in that fight would have been enough to take down a witch," he told Nygus. "And she didn't once aim a fatal blow at me. Her goal was to disable me, not to kill me."
"And the weapon?"
The doctor's eyes glinted. "I find his progress fascinating. I'm not sure that there is another person who could imitate that style of fighting." His hands twitched involuntarily. "I would love to test it further."
"They join the main student body in two days," Nygus observed.
"Yes…" Stein's thin lips twisted up into a smile that made the hairs on the back of Nygus' neck stand on end. In the two months that had passed since Lord Death's pronouncement, the doctor had taken very little part in the training of the DWMA's new students, contenting himself with observation, but Nygus had the distinct feeling that this would change dramatically in two days.
The dark-skinned woman sighed and shoved herself away from the wall. "I'd better go bail out Justin; he's starting to look a bit worse for the wear."
Black*Star lounged in his seat, tilting the chair back until it balanced on its hind legs. He propped his feet on the desk, crossing his ankles, and folded his hands behind his head. He had strategically chosen to sit in the place where the sunlight pouring through the classroom's window would show him to his best advantage, highlighting his brilliant blue hair and emphasizing every line of his godlike physique. He knew that the eyes of every other student in the classroom were upon him, reveling in his awesomeness, but he studiously ignored them.
"What's taking him so long?" Black*Star whined to the girl sitting beside him, staring at the ceiling. "A big guy like me shouldn't have to waste time waiting for some dumb teacher."
A small smile lit the soft features of Black*Star's neighbor. Tall and curvaceous, with a long ponytail of raven-colored hair, Tsubaki, a shadow weapon, was as beautiful as she was dangerous. "I'm sure Dr. Stein will be here soon," Tsubaki assured her meister gently.
"He better be, or I'm gonna ditch," Black*Star grumped. Tsubaki laughed lightly, hoping he was kidding, though the voice of experience told her it was not so.
Black*Star was the first to hear the noise issuing from the hallway. His head perked a little as he angled his ears to catch the sound slightly better, but he gave no other indication of having heard anything. It was a few moments before the noise became audible to the other members of his class. When the students picked up on the rattling of wheels racing across linoleum, they began to mutter among themselves. "Oh, this again," sighed one, slightly louder than the others. The comment was received by several commiserating nods.
All eyes trained on the doorway as the sound of wheels grew louder, signaling their imminent arrival. At any moment Dr. Stein would come hurtling through the door on his swivel chair, only to have the chair trip over the threshold and fall to the ground. They were used to his dramatic entrances by now; they awaited his arrival with bored disinterest.
However, jaded as they were to bizarre events, all were astonished when, not Stein, but a complete stranger blasted through the doorway at breakneck speed. Just before crashing into the threshold, the stranger thrust his body back in his chair, tilting it crazily onto its back wheels, then lunged forward, slamming the front wheels onto the floor and lifting the back wheels to clear the raised bar of metal. Somehow, he managed to regain his stability, but the wheeled chair skidded wildly across the classroom. The stranger jammed a foot into the ground, bringing himself to an abrupt halt at the dead center of the room, back to the students. He spun himself around with lightning speed to face them, flashing a shark-toothed smirk at the rows and rows of stunned faces.
"Hey. I'm Soul Eater, your new classmate."
A chorus of quickly muffled gasps filled the air as the students got a good look at the self-proclaimed Soul Eater. The boy sat in a modified wheelchair, one leg a mere stump around which his gray jeans had been neatly pinned. His wild hair was snow white, and his blood red eyes sparkled in dark amusement as they stared. Scraps of metal were embedded in the skin on the right side of his face, and more glinted on the parts of his neck and right hand visible underneath his high-collared, black leather jacket. An exotic amulet hung from a black thong around his neck.
Black*Star sat up and glowered at this new guy. Just who did he think he was, making a scene like that and drawing attention away from the godly Black*Star? The ninja opened his mouth to yell out a challenge, but he was interrupted by the renewed sound of wheels racing down the hallway outside the classroom. Eyes dragged themselves away from Soul Eater with reluctance and fixed on the doorway. Moments later, Stein appeared on his rolling chair. He promptly crashed into the threshold; his chair tipped, and the mad doctor spilled onto the ground.
Soul Eater eyed the fallen Stein and raised an eyebrow. "That…was really pathetic," he commented to no one in particular.
Only a few of the most observant students noticed when another person slipped through the open door. Black*Star gave her a cursory glance, taking in her dull blond pigtails, very short skirt, and combat boots, before turning his attention back on the white-haired interloper.
The girl spoke, and the rest of the class finally noticed her presence. "Soul wins," she said drily to Stein.
Making no effort to rise from where he lay sprawled on the floor, Stein lazily waved a hand in the air. "I suppose that will teach me to race someone who uses a wheelchair. Now, why don't you go ahead and introduce yourself to everyone?"
Maka glanced up to find thirty-two pairs of eyes focusing on her. She didn't flinch from the calculating looks but squared her shoulders and announced firmly, "I'm Maka, scythe technician. Soul's my partner." She gestured to the boy at whom Black*Star was still scowling. "We're in your class from now on." A few people nodded hesitantly, and a handful mumbled greetings. Unperturbed by the lackluster welcome, Maka claimed an empty seat in the front row. Soul Eater took his place beside her. Parking his wheelchair in the aisle, he stood on his single leg, grabbed his chair, and easily slid into it. The other students watched his movements with an almost morbid fascination.
The new students had chosen to sit right below Black*Star, giving him an unobstructed view of them. He spent the entirety of Stein's class staring intensely down at Soul Eater's head, not hearing a word of the lesson (not that this was an unusual occurrence). The white-haired weapon shifted in his seat a few times as though he could feel the ninja's eyes burning into his back. That's right, squirm, Black*Star thought at the new kid. I'll deal with you soon.
When the bell rang, marking the end of class, Maka and Soul Eater were among the first out the door. Black*Star sprang out of his seat and raced after them. "Black*Star!" called Tsubaki anxiously, struggling to keep up with him. Black*Star burst into the crowded hallway and began to shoulder his way through the throng of students. Tsubaki followed, pausing briefly to apologize to the bruised people left in her meister's wake.
Black*Star found his quarry in front of the school where they, like many of the other students, were taking advantage of the fair weather to eat their lunches outside. They sat side by side on the topmost of the steps leading up to the entrance of the DWMA, with Soul Eater's wheelchair parked just behind them. The meister, Maka, picked at her food, apparently more interested in the book perched on her lap than in her lunch or her partner. Soul Eater, by contrast, wolfed down his food voraciously, his sole focus on satiating his monstrous appetite. Neither seemed to notice that they were the object of a great deal of attention, ignoring both the stares and whispers thrown in their direction.
Neither patience nor subtlety had ever counted themselves among Black*Star's strengths. "Hey, you!" the ninja bellowed the moment he caught sight of his nemesis. "New kid! Soul Eater! I want to fight you!"
Instantly, Black*Star commanded the attention of all present. His fellow students were used to his demands for random fights, but all were curious to see how the weapon in the wheelchair would react. "B-Black*Star…" Tsubaki protested weakly. "It's his first day of school…surely…."
Black*Star ignored his weapon partner, crossing his arms and glaring at Soul Eater, who had yet to turn around. "No one steals my spotlight and lives to get away with it!" the ninja yelled. "I'm going to thrash you for everyone to see!"
The white-haired weapon popped his last bite of lunch into his mouth, chewed thoughtfully, swallowed, and languidly lifted himself into his wheelchair. Unhurriedly, he wheeled around to face Black*Star. The watching students held their breath. "You want a fight?" the scythe repeated. "All right. Sounds cool."
There was a mad scramble as people hastily cleared a large space around the shadow technician and the scythe weapon. Black*Star grinned and held out an open hand. "Tsubaki. Ninja sword mode!"
"Right," Tsubaki said immediately. She still sounded worried, but she obeyed her meister without hesitation, transforming into a short blade of Japanese design. Her hilt settled gently into Black*Star's outstretched palm.
"Are you ready to go down?" Black*Star asked. "Really, you should be honored that a big guy like me is even bothering with small fry like you. I'm the one who's going to beat the gods! You don't stand a chance!"
Soul Eater waited patiently for the tirade to end, a slight eye roll at the conclusion of the speech his only reaction. "Whenever you're ready," he drawled.
Black*Star frowned. "What about your meister?"
Soul Eater blinked, genuinely surprised. "Huh? You mean Maka?" He craned his head to look over his shoulder. Maka still sat on the school steps, absorbed in her book. She had not moved when the rest of the students had cleared the area in anticipation of the fight. "Yo, Maka!" the scythe called. "Wanna join us?"
The meister closed her eyes in irritation and shut her book with a sharp snap. "I'm not getting into a brawl on the first day of school," she told her weapon coldly.
Soul Eater shrugged. "Thought not." Maka glared at him, stood, and walked away. The ring of students watching the confrontation quickly parted before her, and she disappeared into the school. Soul Eater turned back to Black*Star. "Looks like you're only getting me," he said.
In a rare moment of inner conflict, Black*Star paused before leaping into action. He hadn't expected the weapon to fight him alone. Even the belligerent ninja had a bit of a problem taking on a guy in a wheelchair. Maybe the new kid had never heard of Black*Star…? No, that was absurd. Obviously he was insane, or just plain stupid. Black*Star would take him out in seconds! Soul Eater never would have stood a chance against the might of Black*Star, but at least with his meister, it would have been a sort of fair fight. Alone, though, the guy was defenseless!
But then…the new kid was the one who had suggested this. If he got creamed, it was his fault. It wasn't like Black*Star was going to hurt him…badly, at any rate. And in the end, did it really matter how quickly it was over? The result would be the same either way: utter humiliation for the cocky bastard, and victory for Black*Star! The ninja perked up considerably.
Black*Star? Tsubaki asked anxiously, only able to sense a little bit of what was running through her meister's mind.
"It's okay, Tsubaki," Black*Star said in a low voice. Raising his voice, he shouted, "Let's do this!"
Soul grinned crookedly, revealing his jagged teeth. "Bring it on," he murmured as Black*Star charged.
Maka, whose return to the scene had passed unnoticed, crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes as she watched Black*Star pound across the pavement toward her partner. Behind her, Dr. Stein idly adjusted his glasses on his nose.
"HYAAAAAAH!" shouted Black*Star, leaping forward to slash down at his opponent. Soul Eater watched him with impassive ruby eyes—and suddenly wasn't there.
Soul Eater kicked off the ground a split second before Black*Star reached him, sending the wheelchair careening backwards. Black*Star landed heavily, but his shock at missing lasted barely a second before he was off, chasing down his enemy. Soul Eater slammed down his heel and threw both of his specially designed brakes. The wheelchair stopped instantly. Black*Star, unprepared for the abrupt halt, skidded but still attempted to dive into his next attack. There was a flash of light as Soul Eater's right arm transformed into a long, black and red scythe blade. He parried Black*Star's unbalanced swipe with ease, knocking Tsubaki right out of the ninja's hands. Immediately, Black*Star executed a set of perfect back flips, snatching his weapon out of the air before she could hit the ground. He looked back toward his enemy just in time to see Soul Eater slam his wheelchair into his side. Caught completely off guard, Black*Star flew backward and landed ungracefully on his butt.
Growling in rage, Black*Star sprang back up with surprising speed and snapped, "Tsubaki! Chain scythe mode!" A white glow enveloped the short blade in his hand, and a moment later, a pair of small scythes connected by a chain had replaced it. Black*Star charged Soul Eater once more, kusarigama raised. The white-haired weapon raised a scythe blade arm in preparation to block, but instead of aiming for the weapon, Black*Star threw one of the scythes of the kusarigama at one of Soul Eater's wheels. Too late, Soul Eater realized Black*Star's intent and tried to swerve out of the way, but the movement only served to entangle Tsubaki's chain in the wheel's spokes, bringing Soul Eater to a jarring halt.
With a fierce grin of triumph, Black*Star launched himself at his now immobilized opponent. Soul Eater scowled and threw his weight to the side of his wheelchair, tipping it over. Black*Star missed his intended target by hairsbreadth and found himself staring at the underside of the wheelchair. Soul Eater, holding himself barely an inch off the ground with one arm, shoved off roughly. The wheelchair righted itself. Black*Star dodged a moment too late; one wheel crushed his foot mercilessly. Black*Star howled and tore away, hopping on his good foot while holding the bruised appendage tenderly.
Black*Star! cried Tsubaki in warning. The ninja yanked himself back, barely escaping a sweep from Soul Eater's blade.
"Smoke bomb!" Black*Star ground out. The flash of light accompanying Tsubaki's transformation was lost as she transformed into a cloud of smoke that obscured everything in the immediate vicinity. Black*Star stumbled out of the billowing smoke and tried to regain his grip on a battle that was quickly going downhill.
"Chain scythe mode," Black*Star ordered Tsubaki tersely. The smoke wound itself into a narrow stream that shaped itself into the chain scythe and settled into Black*Star's hands. The shadow technician glared at Soul Eater, who met the glower serenely. "Don't get too confident, loser!" Black*Star yelled. "A few lousy tricks won't be enough to help you beat a god like me!"
"Yeah, yeah," Soul Eater replied, bored. Loosing a battle cry, Black*Star stormed forward. Soul Eater shifted, reading his scythe blade. Metal met metal with a thunderous crash; the battle recommenced.
Black*Star was incredibly strong and fast. His recklessness as a fighter often made him difficult to predict, and with the combination of Tsubaki's numerous weapon forms and his own skill in hand-to-hand combat, he had an incredibly versatile array of moves. Although his tendency to brag loudly and incessantly about himself was a major weakness that had severely crippled his efforts to collect pre-kishin souls, he was widely acknowledged as one of the DWMA's top student fighters, and few could equal him in one-on-one combat.
But Black*Star had never encountered an opponent like Soul Eater before. The scythe weapon had adapted his natural speed and agility to suit an incredible fighting style centered on his wheelchair. Adaptations to the chair's design allowed Soul Eater to start, stop, and turn with ease. His perfect sense of balance allowed him to tilt his wheelchair in any direction to dodge and even attack without upending himself. Although he lacked Black*Star's sheer muscle mass, there was strength hidden in his slim frame, and he had honed his control over his weapon form so well that he could summon blades from any part of his body as rapidly as a thought could cross the mind. He had modified standard kicks and punches to work from a sitting position that were almost as powerful as attacks executed from the usual combat stances.
"I can't believe it," murmured a student standing near Maka as Soul Eater pressed down on the arms of his wheelchair to lift his body and strike at Black*Star with a lightning-fast kick.
"What is not to believe?" countered a cool, precise voice. "Can't you tell? Our new classmate is a Death Scythe."Astonished exclamations met this announcement. Maka spared a brief glance for the speaker. Gleaming gold eyes caught her own. They belonged to a tall, pale boy impeccably dressed in an elegant black suit. His jet-black hair, neatly trimmed, was interrupted by three horizontal white lines that curved around the left side of his head. "Am I correct?" the boy asked Maka. She nodded curtly and returned her gaze to the fight.
Black*Star, frustrated in his attempts to hit Soul Eater directly, once more aimed for the scythe's wheels. Soul Eater fended off the first few attacks, but Black*Star managed to snare the left wheel with a clever feint. Certain of victory, he bore down on his enemy, this time careful to prevent Soul Eater from tilting his wheelchair or otherwise evading. "You're about to go down under the mighty Black*Star!" the ninja shouted, grinning fiercely.
That was when Soul Eater stood.
The was one infinite second in which one could see his muscles coiling, starting down at his single foot and spreading up through his calf and thigh, then his abdomen and back.
And then he pushed off the ground.
And tackled Black*Star.
Colliding with the ninja in midair.
The two hit the ground with an impressive crash. Soul Eater grabbed Black*Star by the front of his shirt, flipped him over, and slammed his back into the cement once again. He jabbed the stump of his right leg into Black*Star's chest to pin him down and transformed his left arm into a scythe blade, which he leveled at the ninja's throat.
"I win," Soul Eater declared.
Black*Star let his head fall with a hard thump.
Tsubaki quickly returned to her human form. Her instincts urged her to run straight to her meister's side, but first she grabbed Soul Eater's wheelchair and brought it back to him. The scythe nodded to her as he lifted himself back into his seat. Tsubaki knelt beside Black*Star, hovering over him uncertainly. The ninja looked past her unseeingly. I…lost, he thought uncomprehendingly. I…lost…?
"Hey."
Both Black*Star and Tsubaki looked up. Soul Eater leaned forward in his wheelchair, one hand extended towards Black*Star. The ninja stared at the hand. "You're pretty good," Soul Eater told Black*Star. "If you had taken me seriously, things might have turned out differently."
If you had taken me seriously…
"Y…eah…" Black*Star said slowly. A look of dawning revelation illuminated his face. "Yeah…Yeah! I was going easy on you!" His face split into a wide grin. He grabbed Soul Eater's hand enthusiastically and sprang to his feet. "I let you win!"
Soul Eater blinked. "That's not what I…"
Ignoring him, Black*Star clapped him on the shoulder, laughing loudly. "I like you, Soul Eater! But next time we fight, I won't let you off so easily! Next time, I'll unleash the real might of Black*Star! Ahahahahaha!"
Soul Eater's lips twitched with amusement. "It's just Soul."
Black*Star's grin, if possible, grew wider. "Hey, Soul, you up for basketball after school?"
Soul smirked. "Only if you're ready to get crushed again."
"HA! AS IF!"
Author's Note: This looked sooooooo much better in my head than it does on pa—screen. Feel free to mock me. Go on, flame me. I dare you.
~ Shenzuul
