Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Eater. I do own the plot.
Intro image:
Maka is sitting on a tire swing with one hand wrapped around the rope. The other is holding a bubble wand to her lips, with colorful bubbles fluttering everywhere around her. She has her hair tied in one single side ponytail on her left side. The hair tie she used has a small pink carnation attached to it. She is wearing a pink t-shirt under a pair of overalls. She is wearing tan boots and the knees of the pants are muddy. She's grinning and there is also a small smudge of mud on her left cheek.
Chapter Four: Shipped in Bubble Wrap by the Shrink
Maka was standing at the start of the long hallway with her arms crossed over her chest and a stern glare on her features. Soul looked at her with a raised eyebrow, Tsubaki had her fingers laced together in a pleading gesture, and Black*Star had already charged too far ahead to catch sight of the small scene behind him. "Maka, please come with us," Tsubaki said gently, her tone almost starting to develop a bit of a whine to it. The young blonde glanced up at the large guillotines that made up the décor leading to the large doors at the long stretch ahead of them and then looked back at her.
"There is no way in Hell you are getting me to walk under those things; even if they aren't real, they look real enough and that's enough for me," She turned her head away, clearly pretending to be anywhere else. These three and their leader had to be serious disturbed to think this was tasteful decoration for a hallway. Family portraits, paintings be various artists or even those fabric scrolls that some people had with those cliché sayings on them were better decoration than a bunch of (possibly fake) guillotine blades hanging above by simple binds of rope.
"It's not that scary, really. These blades are kept in place with a special type of rope that is virtually indestructible," Tsubaki stated, trying her best to put the other's fears to rest. She received a snort and quizzical look from their young captive.
"Virtually indestructible? Not quite good enough for me, sorry," She said while turning on her heels completely and starting to march off. She waved backward at them with one hand. "I'll talk to you when you're done talking with your boss. Bye."
Soul scowled and walked up behind her. With a small smirk he picked Maka up and threw her over his shoulders. "Sorry but we can't really let you do that. Our boss wants to give you an explanation so that you'll stop bitching about everything. You wanted to know everything, right?" Soul asked calmly. Maka fell silent and looked at the back of his head curiously as he started walking. "Shinigami-Sama is the person to see about everything you need to know about what happened with your parents in the past. He's one of the only remaining Shibusen assassins still around who worked closely with them."
"At the risk of sounding stupid, what happened to the people that aren't here anymore?" Maka asked quietly. Both her companions could hear the slight tremor and concern in her voice.
"You don't want to know," He answered blankly. Maka blinked a few times and then sighed, letting herself go practically lip in Soul's arms. "Are you actually going to be calm?" He asked in slight surprise.
She snorted lightly. "Not by choice; your shoulder is pressed against my ribcage in a way that makes it hard to breath and talk," She barked out with another huff. He snickered, trying to fight back chuckles at the slight tension in her voice. She growled and started hitting his back with her clenched fists. "Stop laughing you stupid jerk!"
Soul ignored her since her fists didn't currently hurt that much. Tsubaki sighed lightly as she fell in step with him. "I really hope that Shinigami-Sama has heard from Kid and the others. They were supposed to call us but they never did," Tsubaki said worriedly, looking down at her feet.
"They were just supposed to distract her parents, right? I bet they just forgot," Soul said flatly. Maka blinked then snickered a bit herself. Soul glanced back over at her. "What are you laughing about now, pigtails?"
"You think that distracting my parents would be easy? Okay, if one of those other team mates of yours is a pretty young girl than maybe you could distract my Papa, but my Mama is not an idiot," Maka said proudly. Her eyes brightened up as she continued on. "Mama can tell when she'd being played, even if she's just met the person. She's extremely intelligent and can read people as easily as a book. Plus, my Mama isn't some frail little house wife that bakes cookies and milks for all the neighborhood kids; my Mama attends the gym daily as well as a karate class."
"So she's been keeping up with her special training basically?" The ebony haired woman squeaked in alarm, eyes bright with panic.
"I guess so. She probably anticipated that we may get caught again," Maka agreed calmly as they finally reached the doors. Soul very calmly flipped her off over his shoulder, causing her to land face first on the ground with a loud yelp. She sat up, rubbing her cheek, and scowled at him. "What the hell?"
"You may look tiny but you're actually pretty heavy. I think you may have actually sprained my shoulder," He said while rubbing the spot. He let out a small hiss of pain and leered at Maka. "Maybe you should spend less time in the library and more time on a treadmill."
Her eye started twitching and she let out a long growl. "You are so lucky I don't have a book in my hands right now because if I did, you would so be hating yourself right now," She warned darkly, shoving her finger in his face. He blinked and started at the offending digit with an air of skepticism. "I have a long memory, Mister Poor Dental Hygiene, and I will get my revenge on you. It may be soon or it may be months from now; either way, you shall pay for this." She then huffed at him and marched into Shinigami-Sama's office with her head high.
"You really shouldn't test her patience like that, Soul," Tsubaki sighed lightly. The white haired male responded by rolling his eyes.
"What does she mean by poor dental hygiene? These teeth are one hundred percent natural," He grumbled, seeming somewhat put-off by her statement. Tsubaki, realizing this was a losing battle for her no matter how she went about it, simply sighed and headed in with their other companions. After a moment of thought, Soul followed after her.
The room was all white with one figure standing in the center before Black*Star and Maka. He was wearing all black with a large skull-shaped mask over his face. However, it wasn't the kind of skull that was intended to terrify any and all onlookers; it seemed rather cartoon-ish and childish. Maka decided to keep her mouth shut and withhold all insults; she was still in a bit of pain from what happened when she mouthed off to the wrong person last. "Hello, everybody~! And you must be little Maka; you're just as cute as your mother when she was your age~!" The other greeted excitedly, his attention quickly turning to the young lady before him.
"Thank you very much for the compliment, sir," Maka said with a polite smile. He giggled and then turned his attention to the other three. 'Well he's certainly more cheerful than I expected the boss of an organization of assassins to be.' She thought blandly.
"How did the mission go, you three? Maka-Chan seems to be in one piece but appearances can be deceiving~!" He sing-songed eagerly. The green eyed girl had to bit her lip to keep from laughing down right at how her three kidnappers all flinched at his words.
"Black*Star punched her in gut when we first went to pick her up, Shinigami-Sama," Soul said flatly. The blue-haired male twitched and turned on his with watery green eyes.
"Soul, how could you? I thought what we had was special!" He wailed tragically. Shinigami-Sama made a small tsking noise and tapped his mask with one of his large hands.
"Ah, so Black*Star acted up again, eh? That's a shame; seems that since the double-punishment he received last time didn't work we'll have to try a quadruple-punishment instead," Shinigami-Sama mused to himself.
"I'm sorry, dude; I can't lie and run the risk of Tsubaki and I going down with you too," Soul grumbled, shoving his hands in his pocket. He flashed the other an annoyed look. "Besides, this is the thirty-fifth time you've punched someone we were supposed to help on a mission; it's getting to be kinda inconvenient."
Maka looked between the three people, specifically Black*Star. He seemed rather uneasy, actually losing his usual invincible bravado. She turned her attention to the thinking leader before her and carefully cleared her throat. "Um, Shinigami-Sama? Please don't be too hard on him," She said gently. Everyone turned their eyes to her, which made her blush and scowl a bit. "I mena, he's still a jerk for punching me but I… Well, I did kind of provoke him."
"Is this true?" Shinigami-Sama asked the three, turning his attention to them. All three nodded eagerly. "Well, then I guess I can be a little bit more lenient on you then. You'll be suspended frm taking any missions for the neck five days and, after that, I will be sending two of your superior operatives to monitor the success of the mission. If you don't learn to do something about that temper, Black*Star, you'll end up like the rest of your family. Am I understood?"
"Yes, Shinigami-Sama," Black*Star grumbled bitterly. He looked at the ground and scuffed his sneakers on the floor like a scolded child.
"Excellent. Now that you've reported on your success I'm just waiting for Kiddo and the girls to come by. You all are free to get settled in and relax; just make sure one of you shows Miss Albarn here back to her quarters. We wouldn't want her getting lost in this big place now," He mused happily. The four teens all bowed quickly (Maka following the others leads) before turning to leave.
"Nice going Black*Star; now we all have to suffer for you stupidity," Soul grumbled angrily. The other's cheeks flamed to life and he glared at him.
"How dare you speak blasphemy! If anyone should be blamed, it's the toddler over here!" He snapped, jerking his thumb toward Maka. She, in response, glared at him.
"What? I just saved your butt from serious punishment and this is how you repay me? Show some gratitude!" She snapped angrily.
"Ha! I am the Great Black*Star! I can handle anything on my own and, therefore, don't need help from anyone; least of all a puny little excuse of a girl like you!" He sneered.
"I'm so going to kick your ass when I get the chance," Maka said in a calm, factual tone of voice. She looked completely serious, too.
"Ah! Wait, Soul-Kun~! Can I speak with you in private for a moment?" Shinigami-Sama suddenly called, causing the male in question to twitch. He groaned, turned and headed back over while his friends left. Maka glanced back at him for a moment but quickly pursued her two tour guides. When the doors slide shut Shinigami-Sama lightly cleared his throat. "I'm sure you noticed that I put Miss Albarn in the room conjoined with yours, yes?"
"I had been planning to ask you about it later," Soul agreed calmly with a shrug. He let his body relax into a more natural (and, in his opinion, cooler) slouch.
"No one else has occupied that room since your brother, Wes-Kun, agreed to take over control of our base in California; partially because there's been no need and also because I didn't want to make you feel uncomfortable," Shinigami-Sama explained. Soul winced a bit at the mention of his brother but didn't indicate he wanted the other to stop speaking. "Maka Albarn is a rarity among us because of her breeding and potential; it's also the reason she's being hunted by Medusa and Arachne."
"You said she was being hunted because of a vendetta against her parents," Soul said in alarm. His head snapped up, ruby colored spheres fixated on the other male. Shinigami-Sama sighed, turned and took a few steps away from Soul. He stopped and seemed to think for a few minutes.
"Soul, do you remember ever hearing anything about an individual working here known as Professor Gorgon?" He asked calmly. The younger male felt verifying degrees of concern at the tone his boss was using as well as his dropping of suffixes. Shinigami-Sama typically came with only a handful of different settings; cheerful, outraged and thoughtful. He swallowed his fears, however, and decided it'd be best to continue up the conversation with his boss.
"I only know what I've heard from Professor Sid and Nurse Nygus," Soul stated cautiously. When Shinigami-Sama said nothing he took it as a hint to proceed with what little information he did possess. "They said she worked here, helping to develop a new medicine that could heal wounds faster. They say she came up with a chemical that could do so but seemed to have debilitating side effects on those it was used on. She claimed to have made the medicine; however, she was making a prototype of a chemical to create the perfect self-healing soldiers. She claimed that if soldiers and assassins could feel no pain physically, emotionally or mentally than war would be less of a hardship. She claimed that just a handful of her enhanced soldiers could wipe out an entire country in a matter of days, maybe even hours. They also said that she tested these drugs on her own child and caused the young boy to completely lose his senses and humanity."
"Hm. They told you quite a lot," He mused lightly, "aside from the points I will be making now. These things I am telling you now are in confidence; I can count on one hand how many of the people with this knowledge are still alive. You cannot tell this to any of your teammates under any circumstances and may not discuss with anyone else who may know what you shall be learning. This is of top security, understood?" When Soul answered with a nod Shinigami took a deep breath. "Our enemy, Medusa, was Professor Gorgon. She was once one of our top researchers and skilled assassins. She did, however, have a strange obsession with creating the perfect soldier and ended up manipulating her research team and taking advantages of the means at her disposal here to get her plans underway. I am not one hundred percent sure to this day why she was so unstable, or how she was able to get under the radar for so long; I assume she must be a sociopath or pathological liar. Anyway, what you've been told so far is also true; she did use her own son to experiment on and he did react as such. There was one other test subject, though; Maka Albarn.
When Maka Albarn was born, she was very sickly and weak. She was premature by a whole nine weeks and her lungs were not completely developed as such. She was operated one and kept on heavy medications throughout the first six months of her life, much to her parents' distress. This occurred in the time when Medusa had just finished her terrible chemical and started the testing process on her own son; she recommended that they give their young daughter an injection of her new healing medicine. They agreed because they felt it would help raise their daughter's chances of leading a normal life. It was shortly after this that Professor Franken Stein, a member of Medusa's team, realized exactly what she had actually done and reported to me. When things were revealed, the Albarn's took their daughter and fled. They've been on the run ever since, hoping that Maka living a normal life would help keep the side effects of the "black blood", as Medusa herself called it, dormant within her."
Soul stared at Shinigami-Sama for a long amount of time before he glared a bit at the other's back. "So, given those facts, why did you have us get her? It sounds like her parents did the right thing for her, given that they were trying to protect her from going completely bat-shit crazy," He barked out harshly. The older male looked at him over his shoulder.
"Medusa and Arachne plan to extort that madness growing deep within Maka Albarn. We, however, hope to keep her here and discover some way to remove the black blood from her system as well as hone her skills as an assassin if she would like. Luckily enough, it seems it's still dormant within her; she is in a right state of mind and she did not bleed black, correct?"
"No. She coughed up some blood after Black*Star punched her and it was as red as anyone else's blood," Soul said calmly. Shinigami-Sama nodded and looked ahead again. "So did you want me to find out if that's what she wants and get started on training her?"
"Yes. If she continues to not show symptoms of the black blood than I shall send her on your next mission with your team. If she does, I will have to withhold you from the mission to watch over her," He explained calmly. Soul opened his mouth to protest when the other held up a hand. "I will still, of course, pay you for the task of babysitting her. Did you have any other questions?"
"Yeah. Who are the other people who know? I just figured it'd be a good thing to know so I know who to turn to if this black blood stuff ever does respond in her," He said with a simple shrug. In all honesty, Soul wanted to know who he could try to pry some more information out of. He had an inkling that Shinigami-Sama was not telling him some key factor to this whole situation.
"Aside from the two of us there are four others that I am absolutely certain know because I myself told them; Professor Franken Stein, Professor Sid, Nurse Nygus, and Spirit Albarn," He answered. The albino behind he blinked a few times.
"Kami Albarn must know; Maka is her daughter, right?"
"I am not sure," Shinigami-Sama said in a tired tone of voice. Soul had never heard the other sound so completely drained, so very exhausted. "I told Spirit as soon as I found out but I think he may not have told Kami the whole truth. Kami is a woman known for holding grudges and Spirit knew this when he married her; he most likely didn't tell her for fear that her decisions may cause Maka's black blood to stir up. If Kami knew the truth, I assure you she would have hunted Medusa down and killed her with her own two hands by this point. Spirit may not have always been a smart man, but he was a loving husband and devoted father; he would give anything to protect his family."
"Understood. I'll see what I can do in regards to Maka, then," Soul said before turning and walking off. Once the doors shut Shinigami let out a long held sigh and shook his head. So many bad memories and so many bitter feelings were festering within him but he forced them away. He was going to have to put on his usual bright demeanor before his son returned; Kid was an observative young man who would notice the slightest of discomforts on his father's part.
'That's crazy but it kind of makes sense; no rookie with their hands on a taser could get it right on someone's eyeballs on the first try,' Soul thought to himself as he walked down the long corridor that would lead him to the hallway exit. His head was still slightly spinning but he tried to force it away; he could think about it more later. 'First, I need to talk to Maka about what she wants to do. After that, I need to see if I can track down this Professor Stein dude. I know Nygus and Sid would never spill the beans and I'm not exactly going to be one of Spirit Albarn's favorite people if he finds out who I really am; asking him about what happened to Maka would kind of be a huge tip of the hat too. Can't go blowing my cover or anything like that. Ugh, this is all so uncool.' He thought as he opened the doors to the hallway.
He was stunned to find Maka leaning against the opposite wall waiting for him.
"Aren't you supposed to be in your room?" He asked as he shut the doors behind himself. Maka blushed a bit and looked off to the side, her lips twisted in a slight pout.
"Tsubaki and Black*Star told me that it was chow time so I figured, since you weren't in your room, you were still talking with Shinigami-Sama," She said quickly. Soul tilted his head, confused at the slight embarrassment in her voice. "I didn't want you to miss out on food so I figured it be polite to wait for you. And… I kinda lost track of Tsubaki and Black*Star on the way to the mess hall…"
Soul snickered before bursting out into full blown laughter. "Are you serious? You must be really challenged when it comes to directions! Or were you just distracted by the bland wallpaper in the hallways?" He howled cheerfully. Maka responded by glaring, pushing off the wall, and marching off to the left. He snickered and chuckled at her again. "It's the other way." Maka froze in her tracks and he saw her fists twitch slightly. He straightened up quickly and cleared his throat to try and clear away the laughter. "Come on; I had wanted to talk to you anyway."
"What about?" She asked, turning on her heels and quickly returning to his side. He started walking at a casual pace, knowing that since her legs were a little shorter Maka would have a bit of difficulty keeping up. He'd picked up on it over the last few days they'd spent together.
"So you know this is what your parents used to do for a living now, but are you interested in it at all?" He asked with a small yawn. He hadn't been sleeping well the last few nights. In fact, his eating schedule was a little wiggy too. He was suddenly very eager to be eating and then getting to sleep in his own comfortable bed.
"I guess," Maka said with a calm shrug. He sent her a sideways look and found she was simply staring off into space. "I mean, it would certainly be nice to be able to defend myself better. Plus I'm interested to see if I have any skills simply because my parents were really good at all of this. Are you offering to teach me some moves, Soul?" She asked with a small smirk, her gaze shifting to catch his.
He smirked back and looked ahead again. "Are you offering to willingly wake up at the crack of dawn to start learning?"
"Sign me up," She hummed back lightly. Soul grinned as they entered the food hall; maybe working with Maka Albarn wasn't going to be as bad as he originally thought.
…
Soul had been wrong; he had been terribly, terribly wrong.
He was surprised when, what felt like mere moments into his sleep that evening he was awoken by a weight being pressed against his stomach. When he tried to turn and was halted from doing so by said weight, he opened his eyes a crack to see what it was. He was a bit surprised to see Maka Albarn seated atop him with a beatific smile on her face. She was wearing nothing but a spaghetti strap nightgown that reached her knees. It was a pale pink and had fake fur stitched along the collar and ends of the skirt in a pure white hue. Her hair was set free and trailing down her back like a golden curtain and her eyes held an enchanting, mirthful glow that made the deep emerald hues of her eyes pop even more.
For a moment, Soul wondered if he was actually having a wet dream of Maka Albarn.
"Good morning," Maka said in a delicate, sweet tone of voice. One of her hands slid up, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. Her smile widened and she let out a small giggle.
"Hi," He rasped out groggily. He rubbed lightly at one of his eyes, blinking again, before raising one eyebrow at her. "What are you doing here?" He asked with a small yawn.
"Keeping a promise I made to you earlier," She said mirthfully as she raised her other hand. In her grasp was a large, leather-bound edition of the dictionary. Her smile was suddenly less beautiful and more insane, the glint to her eyes less affectionate and more trigger happy.
That morning, Soul learned two things; Maka Albarn is a force to be reckoned with even without her black blood activated and that his voice can hit octaves previously thought impossible when a book is introduced to his head.
…
Tsubaki and Black*Star sat against the far wall of the training room opposite where Soul and Maka were getting started. Soul had decided to start out with basic hand-to-hand combat since he said Maka already had the sheer power of an enraged bull. That had earned him a book to the noggin but they did proceed to the lesson. "So what exactly do you think so far, Black*Star?" She asked casually.
Out of all the operatives working for Shibusen, Black*Star was the one with the most raw power backing him up. Although he claimed to be the perfect assassin, he was terrible at the concept of blending into the shadows and remaining hidden; Tsubaki, however, was his perfect counterpart since their weaknesses and strengths were the opposite. Although Tsubaki could slip and sneak throughout the shadows like a professional, she was not as physically skilled. She was much better when handling a traditional tool of the trade, such as a smoke bomb or kunai.
"She has some skill but nothing compared to the likes of me," He answered with a small smirk. There was a strange glint in his eyes, however, that caught the ebony haired woman's attention. That glint… Was Black*Star impressed with Maka? She glanced up just in time to watch the petite little blonde flip Soul on to his back using only her arms and her right hip. "She's beaten Soul three times in a row, which is good. But until she can defeat you, the second greatest figure here, than she won't even register on my radar." He said, crossing his arms, closing his eyes and turning his head away.
Tsubaki blinked then smiled warmly at him. "Is that so?" She giggled lightly. She perked up when she heard the door behind her open and turned. She was left breathless and horrified at the sight she was greeted with.
Kid, Liz and Patty stood there looking worn down to the wire. Liz' hair was in utter disarray under her usual cowboy hat, Kid's hair was sticking up and out in an asymmetrical fashion, and the tips of Patty's hair were curled inward a little bit. All three had heavy purple bags under their eyes, the actual eyeballs themselves being slightly pink around the pupils. Their clothes were messy; bearing stains that appeared to be any number of various causes.
The worst part, however, was Patty's face; there was no smile there. There wasn't her usual blissful grin or even one of her edge-of-sanity grins; her lips were pressed in a completely flat line. Add that up with Kid and Liz' appearances and there may as well have been a neon sign with the word "Trouble" flashing above the trio. "Oh, my word! What happened to you three?" She gasped worriedly, her hands coming up to cover her mouth.
This earned the attention of the other three individuals in the room whom had been off in their own worlds. Maka and Soul walked closer while Black*Star pointed and laughed. Patty turned her gaze to him, walked forward, and then kneed him right in his little dipper. He fell to the ground, hands between his knees, letting out these horribly delicate whimpers; a strange noise to hear from such a typically loud male. "Nice job; that's the first time I think I've heard him get so hushed," Maka complimented casually.
"Thanks," Patty said with a small smile. A wave of relief washed over Tsubaki until suddenly Patty pulled out a gun and pressed it to Maka's forehead. "Now say goodbye, sugar~!" She laughed, cocking the gun. Soul and Tsubaki both moved to attack while Maka…
Maka remained perfectly still, eyes locked with the bright blues of the other woman. They stood and suddenly, as if some secret code was being sent between them, the busty blonde dropped her gun, twirled it on her finger, and slipped it back into her holster. "For a kid who was raised away from her family business you sure have a lot of courage," She remarked in a mild tone of voice.
"My parents just say I'm too stubborn to accept when I'm in danger," Maka answered back with a shrug. Patty grinned and nodded while Liz stepped a bit closer, seeming interested in joining the conversation.
"Your parents are crazy; they've been driving us crazy these last view days," The darker blonde announced in an accusatory tone. Soul was on his toes again in a second; if Liz became too malcontent than Patty's violent side would come back out to play again. The two were always on the same wavelength and it made them deadly; while Liz could smooze and charm, Patty could use brute force and the like at the elder's command.
"Sorry about that," Maka said in that same patient tone. She let loose a nervous chuckle and rubbed the back of her head. "Mama and Papa have always been really over-protective and overbearing like that. If I could make it up to you sometime, after you get the chance to rest up and everything, I'd like to have the opportunity."
"Yeah, sure, whatever," Liz grumbled while turning to walk off. Kid and Patty followed wordlessly and Tsubaki was hot on their heels. They were down the hall in mere seconds.
"Wait, Liz, did you really have such a terrible run-in with the Albarn's?" She cried out, catching up to the other three when they halted. She would have collided with Liz if not for her fast, keen instincts. "I mean, I know it couldn't have been good but are they really still that skilled? That much of a force to be reckoned with?"
"This has been my least favorite mission by far," Liz started out with a harsh glare and tone to match "and wish I'd never agreed. No matter what we threw at them, the Albarn's were ready for it. I have never been so sleep-deprived, so paranoid and so completely terrified for my life. We were lucky, though, because we ran into another team Shinigami-Sama sent to take over the role of distraction. We were told to return immediately to have some recovery time before our next mission." The other's blue eyes hardened slightly. "And until we've all had our beauty rest, keep that damn girl away from us." She hissed out the last few words before they resumed their retreat.
Tsubaki watched them go then sighed sadly; it was strange to think one normal girl could cause such an uproar within Shibusen without even meaning to.
End
Notes~!:
So… Tired… I hope this chapter was good and that I explained everything with the black blood well enough. It was an idea that popped in my head as I started writing the scene where they first head in to see Shinigami-Sama and I decided to roll with it. Ain't ad-libbing just great? :D
Liz was probably a little OOC; it's just that she's sleep deprived. I promise to work on that in the following chapters. And remember what I said about trying to focus more on character relationship development? Hope you're all ready to see what I can do when I actually take the time to focus on all the various relationships I support. It's going to be tons of fun.
Getting ready to start school in like a week or two so updates may start to slow down when the semester starts. :T I am, however, only taking two classes so it shouldn't be too difficult to keep up.
Next Chapter:
To test her instinctive capacity, Maka is sent on her first mission with Soul, Black*Star and Tsubaki; her only issue is the outfit and that she has to pretend to be in love with Black*Star. Soul has a run-in with an old friend of his; he also learns things he didn't need to know about his older brother, Wesley. Arachne, Medusa and their respective groups make their first appearances as the villains of this story.
