I got excited when I saw the two teams working together like this; Soul and Maka were in the heat of battle against Totomaru, while Black Star and Tsubaki were facing the girl named Lluvia on their corner. I gotta admit, Black Star does have a lot of potential, but he's got the little downside of self-absorption…

"All right, then," he shouted, "Soul Menace!" His right hand gained a powerful electrical charge that came from his soul wavelength as, using the impulse he took from using Tsubaki's chain-scythe as a slingshot, he flew toward Lluvia.
"My body's made of water, didn't you hear me?" said the blushing blue-haired girl.
"I DON'T CARE! I'M A GOD!" the blue-haired boy shouted as his hand went through her chest. To both of their surprises, the electrical charge sent by the Soul Menace made Lluvia's body return to a solid state and Black Star's hand, still holding on to her chest, electrocuted her into falling backward.

"Father, is that boy's soul wavelength powerful enough for him to continuously use that kind of attack on his shape-shifting rival?" my Kid asked, sitting in the chair behind me. He and Spirit were once again watching the match, and Spirit took the word this time.
"Well, Kiddo, the Soul Menace is already an attack that requires the user to output a lot of energy. Black Star's soul, if you notice, is extremely powerful and maybe even inflated by his ego. So, in any case, his fighting abilities and soul wavelength attacks would make him a fearsome fighter that doesn't really need a weapon!" he said.
"So why's he partnered with that girl?" Kid asked, referring to Tsubaki.
"I dunno, Kiddo, maybe they see something else in each other~!" I replied before turning back to the screen.

Maka and Soul were struggling to keep up with Totomaru, whose katana attacks were slashing the pigtailed meister's clothes. Totomaru was getting faster by the minute, which meant Soul and Maka had to finish this battle as soon as possible.
"Soul, I can't take it anymore!" said Maka in a rage. "This guy's really pissing me off!"
"Oh, and I just love having my meister being shredded to pieces while I'm in her hands," snapped Soul. "Let's get a move on, huh?"
"SOUL RESONANCE!" the team shouted in unison as their unity sounded like a psychedelic soul jam.
"Hm, well this makes the thing get better," Totomaru said, changing pose to get ready for the incoming horde of attacks from the scythe-wielding girl.

Maka was spinning her scythe to both attack and defend, while Sol was guarding himself with his sword and countering with flames. Finally the scythe broke through Totomaru's katana and opened a wound in his arm, but Totomaru wasn't about to give up; as soon as the sword broke, he engulfed his body in flames to hold Soul's blade, pull Maka, and punch her in the stomach. She landed several feet away from her enemy, who threw Soul away and jumped on top of her.
"Too bad we're gonna kill you, girlie…" he muttered as his finger ran up her exposed belly, which twitched due to the tickles. "We could just leave your blue-haired boyfriend and have fun by ourselves…"
"HE'S NOT MY BOYFRIEND!" Maka shouted as she thrust her knee into Sol's groin and pushed him off. "AND I'M NOT GONNA LEAVE MY PARTNER!"

In the meantime, Black Star was with Lluvia, and he had dropped Tsubaki in the attack. His Soul Menace attacks were blasting into the blue-haired girl, who was screaming underneath him. Finally, he stopped for a second and extended his hand.
"Tsubaki: Smoke Bomb Mode!" he shouted.
"Right!" said the busty black-haired girl as she transformed into a black sphere with a rather long fuse, and jumped into her meister's hand, who thrust her into their opponent's throat before jumping off. The smoke bomb exploded and splashed water all around Black Star, but neither Tsubaki nor Lluvia had returned to their human forms. As he looked around, he noticed the smoke from the smoke bomb still lingered in the air, mixed with water vapor into an opaque cloud. He instinctively ran toward the cloud, but couldn't go through the gases.

"Why can't he go through the cloud, Lord Death?" asked Spirit behind me.
"Well, Spirit-kun, you know how Tsubaki-chan and Lluvia-chan can enter gaseous form?" I started.
"Lluvia can turn into water vapor and that Tsubaki girl's Smoke Bomb mode makes her be temporarily smoke…" Death the Kid analyzed.
"Correct, sonny!" I praised. "So, technically, both girls are fighting in a gaseous molecular level!"
"WHAT!?" both Death Scythe and Death the Kid gaped in surprise and looked amazed at the screen, where Black Star was ramming himself into the cloud. Then Spirit added "So that's why Black Star can't enter the cloud…"
"But water vapor's still a conductor, right?" asked Kid, meditating. "Can't that boy just send his soul wavelength through the cloud to reach either his weapon or his opponent?"
"That's precisely what Black Star-kun's doing right now, Kiddo~!" I interrupted.

The electric shock actually reached both girls, and they separated the cloud into their respective human bodies, which fell unconscious to the ground. Ignoring Tsubaki completely, the last member of the Star Clan ran toward his opponent and knelt beside her.
"We're… gonna take… your soul…" said Black Star panting but with a self-satisfied smile. "Now…"
"Why d'you have to kill me?" interrupted Lluvia with tears in her eyes.
"Duh, you're on Shinigami's list," replied the spiky-haired boy, rolling his eyes.
"B-but… I…" Lluvia was stuttering and her cheeks were a deep shade of crimson.
"Shut up already! Your soul's MINE!" Black Star raised his hand to deal the finishing blow, but Lluvia, with all her effort, sat up and kissed him deeply.

Tsubaki, still on the floor and offended because her meister hadn't worried about her in the least during the battle, saw the pair kissing a few yards in front of her and gasped in surprise and full indignation as her eyes started filling up with tears. She rolled to turn her back on her meister; she obviously wasn't good enough for him and wasn't going to waste any more time with him. She turned into a smoke bomb and exploded to disappear from the scene; she reappeared in a nearby forest and, leaning on a tree, let out a sob and started to cry.

"NOOOOOOOOOO!" Soul shouted as, half-transformed, he stabbed Totomaru in the back. Surprised, his opponent turned around to look at the boy who felled him and disappeared, leaving his soul behind. Smirking, Soul helped Maka to her feet and grabbed the Kishin egg that was beside them.
"Thanks, Soul," Maka said with an honest smile. "That was harder than I expected…"
"Yeah, but we still beat him. Where are Black Star and Tsubaki?" Soul looked around until he saw the shirtless blue-haired boy kissing his opponent. "Aww, ain't that adorable?"
"What the hell?!" Maka's jaw dropped, flabbergasted. "What the—? Where the—? How the—?"
"Should we help him?" Soul suggested, chuckling.
"Nah, we got two others to—" Maka interrupted herself, for the ground beneath her began to shake. "Soul, eat that soul and get ready for a second one!"
"Roger that, Maka!" Soul Eater gulped down the Kishin Egg and, drooling for another, fully transformed back into a scythe.

Sol, a chubby man with green hair and a monocle, rose from the earth and attempted to grab Maka's legs, but the latter jumped and dodged his hands.
"Ooh, such a lovely girl I'm about to fight~!" said he as he dove back into the ground.
"Huh?" Maka looked around anxiously. "Oh, crap! He's a pervert!"

"I wanna learn that technique!" Death Scythe-kun shouted with a happy expression that vanished as soon as I gave him a Reaper Chop.
"Father," Kid called from behind me. "Is Black Star going to finish off Lluvia?"
"Dunno, Kiddo~! It looks like her love for Black Star is making her regret her actions, though!" I answered.
"So she does love him?" Spirit asked, recovering consciousness. "That's a bit of a surprise…"
"Oh, look! Black Star seems to have convinced Lluvia to help finish off Sol!" Kid stood up and pointed at the screen. True enough, a waterfall eroded through Sol and was slowly destroying him, but Maka and Soul were impatient and, through their Soul Resonance, sliced both Lluvia and Sol at the same time and not giving Black Star enough time to react.

"Phew! That takes care o' that!" Maka smiled while her white-haired partner swallowed both souls at the same time, making his cheeks bulge while the Kishin eggs were in his mouth; she turned to Black Star and noticed he had dropped to his knees, still staring at the spot where Lluvia was standing mere moments ago. "C'mon, Black Star, that wasn't gonna work…"
"Don't be mean to him, Maka; he just lost the only girl who'll ever love him!" Soul whispered into his meister's ear.
"And what about Tsubaki?" she whispered back with a smile.
"I… can't breathe…" Black Star muttered with a broken voice.
"That usually happens when you lose a loved one, Star-man," Soul chuckled, but Maka interrupted him.
"No… I can't breathe, either…" her eyes widened. "Soul… I think Aria's here!"
"You mean the wind guy?" the white-haired boy asked nervously as a hulking brute appeared behind him holding a relatively small figure on his shoulder. When Soul noticed Maka's frightened expression he muttered, "…and he's right behind me, huh?" He instinctively turned around to try and at least defend himself, but the giant slapped him aside with ease.
"Oh, crap…" Maka muttered while gasping for breath.
"TSUBAKI?!" Black Star shouted when he recognized the person Aria was holding on his shoulder.
"Black… Star…" the black-haired girl groaned from Aria's shoulder. "Go away…"
"What?" the blue-haired boy was befuddled at his weapon partner but turned to Aria. "WHAT'VE YOU DONE TO HER?!"
"Soul… Get back here…" Maka, breathless, extended her hand toward Soul, who returned to his feet and ran toward her until a gust pushed him back. "I… need… air…" she muttered before fainting to the ground.
"MAKA!" Soul yelled before partially transforming himself and rushing toward Aria again, but Aria moved away and shot airspaces at him. Dodging and slashing as much as he could, Soul managed to reach Aria and stabbed him in the chest.
"How sad that a weapon has to fight for its wielder… and here I thought you'd lose your power as well…" commented Aria as he opened his palms and placed them over Soul. Soul, who stabbed his enemy five more times, stopped when he realized his lungs were empty and a sphere of energy was quickly draining him.

I immediately shut off the screen, ignored Kid's protests, and told Spirit to follow me.
"What're you gonna do?" he asked.
"As you already saw, both teams are unable to fight anymore, Spirit," I answered gravely.
"So I'm gonna go and save the day, huh?" he implied quickly.
"Exactly. Have fun~!"

-

Spirit transformed both of his arms into scythe blades as he rushed out to meet Aria, who looked as if he was mourning both felled teams.
"Aria, your soul has to be taken!" he shouted.
"A tragic turn of events, if you ask me…" the hulking brute replied, turning to face the Death Scythe.

The difference in power was negligible, for Spirit's abilities matched Aria's in terms of power and speed. Aria kept teleporting to try and evade the red-haired man's attacks, but Spirit kept catching up with him and slashing. Black Star opened his eyes for and instant and, understanding the situation quickly, stood up and shouted "Soul Menace—nah, PLANET DESTRUCTION CANNON!" as soon as the giant appeared in front of him. After a swift palm strike, his hand sent out a powerful beam of electricity that emanated from his very soul and stunned Aria. Black Star immediately lost the little air that was in his lungs and, convulsing, he fainted; Spirit, taking advantage of the distraction the blue-haired meister had provided, transformed completely and, spinning, ran through Aria's body and left the Kishin egg exposed.

Death Scythe looked down at his daughter and her friends, and picked them up to take them to the hospital. This had been a test to prove the teams' ability to work together, and they blew it: Soul and Maka got three of the four souls, but Black Star and Tsubaki acquired none (Spirit absorbed the last soul). But all of them would have more chances to improve their teamwork—Spirit would have to talk to Sid into adding that into a future lesson...