Thanks for the reviews! I love hearing what you guys think. This took so long because I got RPG Maker and I was practicing with it
"Hey professor," Black Star said. "He said they were waiting up ahead? Weren't they in a hurry to get to the Kishin?" He followed closely behind his teacher as he questioned him, gripping the hilt of Tsubaki's sword form tightly.
Stein barely tilted his head in the boy's direction. "No, not all of them. You see, Medusa wants to avoid a melee situation. Such a situation would cause great losses and it would be an error on her part. As they want to resurrect the Kishin, the protector of the black blood is their top priority."
"Oh..s-so, they intend to...slow us down?" Asura asked quietly. It made sense, all they had to do was stop them from reaching Vajra in time. He spoke softly to himself as he thought, unaware of the others sudden silence. "...It makes sense, Vajra is their main priority therefore so is anything helping reach their goals. And if they manage to kill us, it just makes things easier for them. Our best bet would be to split up when they try to stop us..."
"That's not a bad idea kid, but not everyone here might be on the same level as our opponents. One must be careful against so many powerful foes." Stein stated, adding strategic planning to the list of this boy's abilities. Asura nodded in understanding, trying to ignore the eyes boring into his back.
Suddenly, Black Star stopped and said, "Hey...Do you hear that?" The others stopped as well, straining to hear what ever he heard. After a moment Asura heard it, the quiet tap, tap, tapping of feet against the floor. Asura felt his heart beat faster now, straining to see or sense the enemy from the shadowed part of the hall. He slowly shuffled to the back of the group.
"I'm hearing it..." Maka said softly. Oh good, he wasn't crazy.
Kid chimed in too, saying, "Yes...Footsteps."
"Heh, they should appear soon. I wonder who it is?" Now Black Star sounded excited by the prospect of a strong opponent.
"To come against all of their enemies from the start...they must be really strong." Stein said, and Asura felt the soul before he saw the person. "And someone who can defy this many people and fight back...to the end protect only one thing. Your life. Understand?"
"Yes!" The others chorused, determined looks on their faces.
Like a switch, all the fear he felt seemed to burn off into adrenaline and he slowly altered his stance so as to not alarm the others. Medusa liked to toy with her opponents after all, so she wouldn't be expecting a full on assult the moment she revealed herself. Though maybe he should hold back a bit...just to see what she had to say and to not frighten the other people with him.
The blonde woman with her bangs twisted under her chin stepped forward, face twisted into a taunting smirk. Her black body suit was sleeveless and stopped above her knees. "A strategy meeting under the enemy's nose? I heard everything you know."
"Ah? And here I thought you were a doctor of Shibusen." Stein replied dryly.
Medusa stared at him, her grin dropping into an unamused scowl. "...You don't know when to shut up, do you?" Then the grin was back. "Oh well, can we start now?" Then the woman began to chant, moving her arms as she built up power for her first attack. Stein only spared them a glance.
"Alright everyone, listen carefully. Do not precipitate anything, wait for an opening and go." He spoke quickly to them and Asura readied himself just like the others. He was glad to see his brother seemed to be okay with the situation thus far. "Stay calm. It's coming."
Thrusting her arms forward, Medusa shouted, "VECTOR ARROW!" Hundreds of black arrows erupted from around her, all flying towards the Shibusen team.
"Vector arrow," Stein began, though it seemed more to himself than to his students."A spell that attacks multiple enemies at once. But it's power seems to have increased since I last saw it." The kids took off, attempting to speed through the great barrage, and Asura was right behind them.
"Liz! If you're afraid, go to sleep!" Kid commanded his weapon.
"I don't want to die!" Black Star shouted, adding, "Tsubaki! Cursed sword mode!"
As the two boys approached, the witch increased the attack's power. "Impudent children must be punished!" She shouted. Despite her efforts Kid made it through, using his skateboard to deflect some of the attacks.
Once safely on the other side, he shouted, "Black Star! Maka! I'm going ahead!" Black Star simply cut his way through, or Tsubaki helped, and he too had passed quickly. Asura realized that he and Maka had been too slow.
With the other two gone, Medusa's focus was now on them and her eyes widened minutely as they landed on him. Then they narrowed and her vicious grin widened. "All vectors on Maka." And the arrows targeted the blonde girl. Asura could already tell neither of them would make it through, but he still had to do something. Without a second thought he'd run ahead of the girl, right in the path of the arrows. He felt the arrows tear through his arms and legs, then a loud clang as one scraped against the metal collar.
Maka had run into his back then and he had to grab her and jump back. "Ah! Are you okay?! Y-your throat..." Asura only nodded, his throat was bleeding, but only because the collar had ripped open the skin underneath. For once he was greatful for it, because otherwise the attack would have slit his throat open. It was then that he noticed a slight surge of power, and his fingers grazed over a damaged sealing rune. He knew he'd have to save that power for later.
"Ah...yeah. Listen, we weren't going to make that..." He trailed off, wincing as he moved his arm.
"Yeah...I...um, I'm sorry. I should have noticed...now you're hurt."
"It's alright, I've had worse..." The two were quiet for a while and Medusa prepared a second barrage. It took a split second for Asura to think. Getting the meisters and weapons through was top priority, because they were better equipped to fight the witches than himself, who was unarmed and powerless. He didn't like it, but he knew what to do. Taking Maka's free hand, he wrapped a part on his scarf around it and closed her hand. "...this time, stay close to me. I will get at least you through." The girl stared at him, dumbfounded, but she broke out of it the second she heard Medusa call out her next spell.
"VECTOR ARROW! Vectors on Asura!"
"Let's go." And Asura charged forward, Maka right behind him. As they reached the central point with the arrows closing in, he grasped the piece of scarf he'd had Maka hold, knowing she still held it tight as he could feel her weight pull on it. Slamming his heel down and using Maka's own momentum, he swung the girl up and over his back. He'd hoped she would understand to let go, but instead she held on intent on bringing him with her it seemed. Asura was glad that a vector arrow sliced through the cloth at the highest point of her arch and Maka went sailing safely over the witch.
Maka landed hard on her side, dropping Soul and rolling across the floor, the piece of scarf held tightly in her other hand. Her shoulder hurt and she groaned, face scrunched up in discomfort as she moved. She pushed herself up in time to see the arrows sinking into the older boy, a pained scream tearing through the air. It felt like the time she had faced the demon swordsman and Soul had leapt in front of her, she felt helpless. Another person was hurt now because of her, and this time, there was no telling if he would survive the wounds because the only one who could have helped him was fending off attacks himself.
She could only watch in horror as the spell dispersed and he toppled forward, blood dripping from the new wounds. Maka could feel tears pricking at the corner of her eyes, though her expression was a hollow, shell-shocked look of guilt. Soul transformed as well, staring back the way they came at the body of the boy he'd just met. It wasn't fair to him that his new friend -because he already considered him one as the boy was nothing but helpful to them- had to die like this. It made his blood boil and he'd wanted to ram a scythe-arm through the witch's chest, but one look at Maka had him by her side instead, pulling her up and to her feet. He didn't try to pry the ruined scarf piece from her hand.
Asura though was glad, even as he lay in a steadily growing pool of his own blood. He'd made sure that the last weapon and Meister made it through mostly unharmed. His hand twitched a bit as he tried to test his limits. A pained keening sound could be heard from the boy as he tried to lift himself from the slippery stone floor. Maka gasped in shock, watching him struggle.
It was most important since they were the ones best suited to fight the other witches. He wasn't likely to be much of a help weaponless, as much as he despised being useless he could admit that much. He would still try though, so now all he had to do was get through himself. The weapons and their techs had to make it through, it was for the best. Vajra could not be revived.
With that thought in mind, he pushed himself up until he was on his hands and knees trying to ignore his own blood pooling under him. The wounds were already healing now that one of the sealing runes were damaged so he would be fine. "Oh? Still kicking are you? I suppose I should have expected as much, considering you used to be one of the best. Isn't that right Asura?" The shinigami only growled in response and Medusa began her chant again.
He didn't let her finish this time, launching forward halfway through the chant. Her eyes widened as he swung at her, hand flat out like a spear. Instinctively the woman sidestepped, and Asura tumbled passed her. His shoulder slammed into the ground and he groaned at the pain. But he'd made it, so that's what counted, right? But now Medusa was furious, and she had another spell charging. Asura was sure he would have been skewered if not for Stein, who had used his weapon to fling the witch backwards.
"I'd think you'd know better than to turn your back on me Medusa." The man said, glancing over his shoulder at his student and Asura. "That was stupid you know, but you did good. Thank you for keeping her safe this time." The boy only nodded and turned his attention to the scythe meister, who had come to help him up.
"Oh my god! Are you okay?! I thought...you looked...I mean..." She struggled with the words for a moment, then bowed her head in shame and offered her hand. He took it, letting her pull him to his feet. Then he heard Soul's voice from the scythe.
"Holy fuck man! How are you alive?! She turned you into a fucking pincushion!" Asura only tilted his head in response, not entirely sure why the boy was freaking out. He'd survived and that was what mattered right?
"...we have to catch up with the others..." He said, brushing past them with a wince. One arm wrapped around his chest and the other around his abdomen, but he pushed forward. The Meister/weapon team behind him followed closely and soon took the lead. It was obvious they were intent on shielding him this time, but he would rather they run ahead to keep up with the others.
Eventually the wounds became more bearable and he was able to move faster. It was then that Maka asked, "...so, your name is Asura? Like the guy Kid mentioned?"
"More like I am him..." He corrected.
For a moment she said nothing, stunned by the response and probably trying to figure that out. "That would make you what? Over eight hundred years old?"
"Your point?"
"You don't look like you're that old."
"The perks of immortality. Or whatever sort regeneration I have." He stated dryly, voice dripping with sarcasm. Then, realizing his own tone, he apologized. "S-sorry...I just, um..." He ducked his head to hid the embarrassed blush on his face from slipping up. Maka only smiled.
"It's fine. But this must be really stressful though, I mean it is your old partner they're trying to revive. I can't imagine if it were Soul..." Maka trailed off glancing over her shoulder at him. Seeing the growing blood stain on his shirt and the red an his pale hands. "Do...do you want me to try and wrap those?"
Asura shook his head. "No time, the next one's up ahead. I'm sure I'll be fine though..." He explained this quickly, adding, "One of your friends are up there as well." Maka stared at him, unconvinced, but hearing one of her friends were ahead she quickened her pace.
"I think I should at least..."
"No...I will be fine. It's already healing...just hurts." He stated, wincing and pressing his arms tighter around his wounds. "You need to focus on the enemies, not on me. We can't let Vajra be revived...if he even sees me..." Trailing off, Asura bit his lip. But Maka understood enough, with Asura here, they definitely could not let his partner revive. And if he somehow did, they would have to protect him from the man.
"Okay, but you need to reach Kid, okay? He needs to know who you are and you need to tell him what you know about this Vajra guy. It could really be useful." She said, gently patting his arm after falling back to walk beside him. Asura nodded, hiding a grin behind his scarf.
As they rounded a corner, they saw Black Star, ready to confront the demon sword. Asura shifted nervously and prepared to run if he had to. Meanwhile Maka called out to her friend, "Wait! Black Star!"
"Huh? Oh, you're so slow, you need to be quicker." The boy said as he glanced over his shoulder at them. When he saw the older boy he just stared at him for a few minutes. "W-woah... You okay? That's a lot of blood." The shinigami only nodded.
Maka stared at their opponent and glanced back towards Asura. This wasn't good. She knew he had to get ahead, but Maka wasn't sure if she could get both herself and the injured boy passed unharmed. Though Asura claimed to be immortal, she was sure even his body had its limits and right now he didn't look too good. "I'll fight them." Maka announced.
"What?" Black Star asked, turning to look at her.
Tsubaki too argued, saying, "But Maka...professor Stein said it's Black Star who must take care of the demon sword..."
"Geez, spill the whole plan why don't you?" Soul yelled.
"Hey, don't get in the way of my superb entrance." Maka stepped forward Soul held out in front of the ninja, leveling the swordsman with a glare. "Hey lady, don't get ahead of your self. I will kill you." She didn't respond to him, and Asura shuffled forward to see if the girl was alright. Black Star laughed then. "Ahaha! Model student Maka disobeying a teacher's orders? What, you hit that rebellious stage?"
The girl turned her glare to him before she spoke, "Shut up Black Star. Things just got a lot more complicated, and you should really handle this now. See him?" She nodded to Asura who waved one bloodied hand in greeting. Black Star waved back with one eyebrow raised. "You need to get him to Kid. He might have important information about the Kishin that could help defeat him if he revives."
"...is he okay to keep going? What the hell happened?" The blue haired boy asked. Tsubaki's image shimmered on the blade and she nodded in agreement.
Soul's reflection appear and he answered, "Medusa skewered him is what happened! Fucking hell we thought he died!" The albino was furious at the witch for what happened, and he was mad at himself as well. Asura had decided to get them through instead of going alone, and being the one who's unarmed, they should have protected him.
The older boy sighed in frustration. He was still alive -not really well, but he'd survive- and that's what mattered. So he simply said, "I told you, I am fine. I am not dead yet."
Black Star eyed the older boy curiously and maybe a bit skeptically. But then he shrugged, eager to charge off into the next battle. "Fine then, I'll leave this scene to you, don't get beaten," he said. "If it becomes too dangerous, you just need to call me and I'll come back to your rescue."
Smirking, Maka replied, "I won't need to." Then she turned to Asura, who had shrunk back and tried to hide in his scarves. "Don't worry Asura. Black Star will keep you safe from now on." The ninja nodded.
The boy offered him a cheeky grin. "Ya ready then? We're just gonna run past." And without a warning the ninja reached over, grasping his hand tightly and taking off. Asura stumbled after the other at first, having not been prepared, and then stumbled again as the boy let him go, leaping over the demon swordsman and swinging at them. It was enough of a distraction for the shinigami to slip by as well and Black Star was quick to keep him from hitting the floor. If he collapsed, Asura would not be able to guarantee he'd get up again.
"Oh no, they got passed too...I can't let them get away." The new voice startled Asura and it took a moment to realize that it was the pink haired person. He glanced back at them to see their sword raised, but Maka was already on them using Soul to fling them back just like Stein had done with Medusa. The girl smiled at him and Soul's reflection grinned reassuringly before they launched into battle
He hoped they'd be alright, they seemed like good people. The kind of people Vajra was like before...no, he couldn't think about that. He wouldn't. No, he was going to meet his brother soon. Kid, the brother that didn't know he existed. He might wait on that little revelation since now was not exactly the time to have a family reunion.
Sid watched as his boss pace around, periodically staring at the walls of their temporary prison. He'd been watching the shade for a while and as it came closer to the hour mark when the spell would end, Shinigami's pacing increased. Knowing what he did now, the undead man could understand the shade's anxiety.
"So, Shinigami-sama," he began, catching the other's attention immediately. "Does Kid know about his brother?" For a long moment Shinigami stared at him. It made him worry if he'd been in the wrong to ask, but then the god shook his head.
"No, Kid doesn't know. I never saw any reason to tell him about a brother he would never get to know or even meet. And it's not exactly something that I like to talk about either." Sid nodded, he could see the logic behind that, and sure it made sense. But then he knew Kid would not be too happy to find out he'd been running around with the brother he never even knew existed.
"He's going to be furious you know. Kid I mean," The man tacked on the last part when Shinigami gave a curious stare. The shade nodded in understanding then and looked away. Then the silence settled over them again and it lasted for a solid five minutes before Shinigami said anything else.
"...I used to mistake Kid for Asura you know. When he was little I'd accidentally called him Asura before, but he doesn't remember that. And now that he's older, he still reminds me of his brother. They're a lot alike and yet so different. I do hope they get along and like each other." Shinigami said, talking slightly quieter than he had been.
"But I worry more about Asura. He's a very anxious and easily scared boy and his paranoia sometimes gets the best of him. One mistake and he might never speak to you again." The shade explained with a sigh. He added, "It makes things all the more difficult you know?"
"Can't say I do, but I guess I kind of get it." Sid stated. Then, deciding to change the subject, the man asked, "So...what were you planning to do with him once this whole mess was resolved? I doubt he would appreciate being kept under observation."
Shinigami shrugged. In all honesty he was just going to wing it and hope for the best, but it would do good to have a better plan than that. So after a moment of silence, he said, "That would be for the best though. It's been so long since I've seen him, I can't guarantee that he's alright. But I would give him more freedom. Let him wander around the school as he likes and do other things like that. And then he can go home once we know he'll be alright. I bet he'd like to be somewhere more familiar."
The shade only got a nod in response and quickly resumed his pacing. While the talk was a nice little distraction he still couldn't settle down. He was both excited and anxious to see Asura again, but also worried that the worst possible scenario would happen. He had no doubt that Vajra would simply take Asura again if he saw him. And Shinigami couldn't let that happen. Not again.
Next up: Asura meets his brother and everyone hallucinates.
