Soul watched the girl speed down the street, her body shrinking before disappearing altogether. He lifted his chin and stared at the clouds floating lazily overhead. The sky looked so calm and peaceful. Why, then, did he feel so shaken up?
He pushed his hair back from his forehead and winced when his hand brushed over the welt on the back of his skull. It stung. His gaze fell, and he closed his eyes, lifting an eyebrow and pushing it against his skin, creating a crease above the bridge of his nose. Soul let the air he'd been holding in pass between his lips
"Well, that wasn't cool, at all," Soul muttered. He put his hands back in his pockets and slouched his shoulders, neck tilted back. His expression had relaxed and settled. But he couldn't shake the feeling of déjà vu that was creeping in.
"Oh well," he shrugged, brushing it off, "no sense in worrying about it. Anyway, I don't wanna be late to Black*Star's performance." With a grin, sharp teeth glinting white in the sunlight, Soul turned and kept walking down the quiet street.
When he finally arrived outside of the large metal gates that towered over him like ugly, decorative giants, Soul pushed one open letting himself in and peered around at the bustling crowd. Seems like all of Death City showed up, today, he thought to himself. He moved sluggishly, weaving through the multitudes of students, teachers, and simple onlookers. The leaderboard displayed over the concession stand flipped from one image to the next. As it transitioned to the matchups, a map connecting each pairing to their designated opponents trickled onto the screen. Soul skimmed over the names and pictures, taking note of the ones who had already taken their places in the next round. When Soul found Black*Star and Tsubaki's names, he saw that they had yet to compete but were scheduled to go next.
Good. Made it just in time. Soul smirked and shuffled up the staircase that led into the viewing stands. He turned his head to the right and spotted a seat seven rows up. He wasn't worried about the distance. A large screen that was playing the action in real time hovered over the arena, so no matter where you got stuck sitting, you could see what was going on.
Right then, the previous fight had just finished, and the meister and weapon partners were hobbling out of the arena. They must have been new students; he didn't recognize them. The announcer came on the sound system and began calling out the next pairings to fight.
"Meister Black*Star and his weapon partner, Tsubaki, will be sparing against meister Kilik Rung and his two-weapon partners, Fire, and Thunder!"
Soul sat back in the chair and made himself comfortable, slouching down and placing his hands behind his head at the base of his neck, his fingers knit together for support. "This'll be interesting," he said. His lips twitched up to form a smirk and his eyes watched the screen.
Black*Star bounded into the arena, leaving Tsubaki jogging to keep pace with him. Soul rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Here we go," he sighed.
"YAHOO! I AM THE AMAZING BLACK*STAR! I WILL TRANSCEND GOD! WHEN I'M DONE WITH YOU, YOU'LL NEVER WANT TO SHOW YOUR PATHETIC FACES AGAIN! BWAHAHAHAHA!" As he bellowed his usual self-introduction, Kilik and his partners walked casually into the arena, stopping short to watch the fool make an ass of himself. The cameras panned close to their faces and you could see them looking at each other, eyebrows raised in confusion.
Then the shot moved to Tsubaki who was trying her best to keep a smile on her face. Sometimes Soul felt bad for her having to put up with Black*Star's idiocy. But as far as partners go, they were perfect for each. Everyone could tell that. Her laid-back, quiet personality made it easy for her to accept and compromise with Black*Star's boisterous and hyperactive tendencies. And no matter what, even though they had only collected a single corrupt soul, they supported and trusted each other with their lives.
They're a pretty cool team, Soul mused.
A moment later and the starting bell rang. The fight was about to begin.
"Alright!" Black*Star yelled turning to his partner. He had a determined grin and his eyes were ablaze with anticipation. "Tsubaki, let's go!" He called to her, raising his arm towards her.
"Right!" She nodded. A flash of light engulfed her body as she transformed into a chain scythe and landed with rehearsed perfection in Black*Star's outstretched hand. They were formidable opponents, no question, but Black*Star had an issue with keeping his mouth shut and his focus on the target.
"Here we go, you two. Get ready." Kilik said. He looked down at the short twins standing next to him. They smiled at each other and jumped into the air; the flashes of light surrounding them engulfed Kilik's hands before revealing two identical gauntlets. "You're going down, Black*Star!" He called to the other boy who was standing, one foot in front of the other, chain scythe raised and positioned to strike at any moment, at the ready.
"Don't get your hopes up, kid. I'm the amazing Black*Star, and I'm gonna win this thing!"
"We'll see about that!"
Kicking off with his left foot, Kilik sped towards Black*Star with incredible force. Inches away, he yelled, "LIGHTNING FLASH!" His feet pushed off the ground and Kilik went up in the air, headed straight for Black*Star's head. The hand of his left arm sparked with yellow lightning, his arm springing forth to deliver the blow.
Thinking quickly Black*Star used Tsubaki's chain to block the attack. In a split second, almost too fast for the naked eye to follow, Black*Star trapped Pot of Thunder between the chain, twisting Kilik's hand causing him to cry out. Then Black*Star pulled him in close and sent him flying with a swift kick to his stomach.
"Ooof," Soul cringed, "that's gotta hurt."
Kilik smashed into the wall, leaving a huge hole in its foundation. He fell to the ground, propping himself up on Pot of Fire and with one knee bent. He was panting. Soul wasn't surprised; a kick like that would knock the wind out of anyone.
"Is that all you got?" Black*Star spat at him. He hadn't moved from his original spot at the start of the fight. It didn't even look like he was worried about the outcome.
Cocky moron, Soul thought, rolling his eyes.
Kilik's head shot up and he bared his teeth, grinding them together. Soul could almost hear the crunching in his head. The boy pushed off again, this time weaving in a haphazard line towards Black*Star.
"Hah! You're gonna have to do better than that if you wanna beat me!" Black*Star huffed. "ENHANCED SPEED!" He darted in and out of vision, moving so fast that even Kilik had a difficult time following his movements. "You can't catch me! I bet you can't even see me! Nope! Not there! Here I am! Gotcha! Now I'm here!" Black*Star taunted and laughed at his opponent, making a thick cloud of dust, concealing himself. "You're so small compared to a big guy like me! Better get ready, I'm gonna end this! Right here, right now!" He belted, finally stopping long enough to make a jump towards Kilik, aiming one of Tsubaki's scythes at him. "HAAAA!"
"Black*Star, look out!" Tsubaki's voice sprang from inside of her weapon form. Just as Black*Star's fist was about to contact with Kilik's chin, he noticed a grave oversight.
"Huh-? HYACK!" His body bent inward and hovered limply in the air. His expression looked agonized; eyes saucers, eyebrows knit together, nostrils flared, mouth agape, drool running down his chain, tongue caught between his clenched teeth.
"Black*Star!" Tsubaki cried, turning back into her human form and kneeling over his battered body.
He was curled around Kilik's arms, and when Kilik lowered his fists, he fell to the ground with a thud. The crowd cheered and roared, chanting for Kilik, Fire, and Thunder. They stood tall, Fire and Thunder having transformed back into their spritely bodies. Kilik's face was expressionless, but his stance was proud and strong.
The fight was over.
What the hell just happened? Soul wondered, furrowing his eyebrows and sitting forward in his chair. It looked like Black*Star was going to win a moment ago, so how did he lose? He looked at the screen for the playback.
Just as Black*Star's legs pushed off the ground for the final blow, the dust had begun to settle around them, and his scream alerted Kilik to his position. He crouched, lowering his center of gravity, and pounded his gauntlets together. They shot out sparks of lightning and hot flames, mixing together into a deadly vortex. When Black*Star was centimeters from his target, Kilik dug his heels into the dirt, found his opening, and thrust both his arms forward, stopping Black*Star in mid-air. The added force of Black*Star's speed made the physical impact that much more powerful.
Seeing this, Soul sighed and bent his head to the floor, slumping in his seat. The basic rule of assassination is to be silent, he groaned inwardly. As entertaining as it was to see "the Mighty Black*Star" hit the fan, Soul couldn't help but feel bad for his obnoxiously loud friend. Someday he'll get it, he hoped. You can't be a cool assassin if you announce your presence to your target. Idiot.
"Oh well," Soul breathed, his mood lifting. There was no use dwelling on it. He smirked and sat back in his chair, again lacing his fingers together and propping the back of his neck with his hands.
The scoreboard flashed across the massive screen, showing that Kilik and his partners were moving to the next round. Soul waited for them to announce the next competitors and widened his smirk, flashing his pointy teeth. Looks like this might be an entertaining show, after all.