Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Eater or Naruto.
Stein and Spirit stiffened as Asura's wavelength increased massively. Medusa laughed loudly as the madness began to settle within her. She grinned at the implications and turned to Stein.
"Do you feel that Stein. Asura is now awake!"
Stein growled and before anyone could stop him, he laid two palms on Medusa and forced Medusa's wavelength to compress within her body.
"Soul Bomb!"
Medusa screamed as she felt her wavelength forcibly compressed by Stein's before being released. The released energy tore Medusa apart and bits of her body flew everywhere. Spirit looked at Stein sadly as he panted in anger.
To Spirit's surprise, Stein collapsed onto the ground, clutching his head. Stein began to writhe in pain but slapped away Spirit when his partner tried to help.
"Leave me! Get to Asura's chamber now!" Stein roared as another round of pain lanced through his head. Spirit nodded and left Stein. Stein hissed as he tried to understand what was happening. He knew he had an inherent weakness to madness but it wasn't this bad before. He rolled around and felt the empty syringe in his pocket and immediately understood.
"That energy. It's inherently similar to Asura's wavelength," Stein realized in shock as he collapsed onto the ground. Another lance of pain wracked through his body, knocking him unconscious.
Everyone within Asura's chamber watched as the bag slowly took the shape of a man. He rose to his feet, stretching its newly resuscitated flesh. Everyone in the chamber were completely overwhelmed by the sheer power of its wavelength Asura was emitting. Not only was it powerful, it was inherently disgusting and fascinating as well. It reeked of madness, power, decay, and malice all combined into a thrumming hum they could feel within their bones, sending chills up their backs and raising the hairs on the back of their necks. It slowly stumbled about, stretching and adjusting its skin. It writhed and moaned as pieces of it skin squeaked and slapped about trying to retain a grip on his flesh. He slowly moved towards a cowering Eruka and knelt down by her, rubbing his eyes. Eruka could feel the intense wavelength Asura was giving off and it wrapped, covered, and suffocated her. He breath came out in small sobs as Asura slowly opened his blood red eyes to stare blearily at the frightened witch. Asura stared into Eruka's wide eyes and paused.
"GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!"
"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
Free and Kid stared in complete surprise at Asura.
"What the?" Free muttered.
"It's frightened of the witch?" Kid whispered, confused.
Asura soon stopped and Eruka's eyes rolled over as she slumped into unconsciousness. Behind Asura, Black Star slowly stood back up, his body wracking with pain from his desperate maneuver.
"Damnit, that's loud. I'm going to kill you Asura," Black Star growled. He looked down at Tsubaki and held her up with a resolute hand. "Tsubaki, Enchanted Sword Mode."
"Hai!"
Tattoos raced down his hands and face as Tsubaki's wavelength channeled through Black Star. He lunged at the Kishin and stabbed Asura with Tsubaki. To his utter shock, Tsubaki's blade rebounded off Asura's skin as if she had hit a piece of solid iron. Black Star quickly shook out of his surprise as he jumped back and channeled much of his wavelength into knee. He vanished and grabbed Asura's head before slamming his knee directly in the base of Asura's skull, discharging all of his wavelength.
"Grand Star Strike!"
A huge pulse of energy was blasted directly into Asura's brain, causing him to freeze and shudder. Black Star jumped off and thrust his sword at the base of Asura's skull hoping that he had softened Asura enough for Tsubaki's blade to pierce him. However a strand of Asura's skin stretched and flicked Black Star in the forehead, freezing him and leaving a faint imprint of an eye on his brow. Before Black Star could comprehend, an enormous burst of Asura's wavelength slammed into Black Star's brow sending him flying. He tumbled hard against the floor before lying motionless on the ground. Tsubaki jumped out of her weapon form and began to cradle Black Star's still body.
"Black Star!" Kid cried worriedly. He turned to Asura with angry eyes and raised his pistols. "Damn you!"
Shot after shot were fired from Kid's pistols, all of them landing on Asura. Yet to Asura, the shots were mere annoyances and he stretched part of his skin towards Kid. Kid looked at the skin in shock as it flicked him in the forehead before releasing another burst of wavelength at Kid's skull. Blood poured out of his mouth and nose before he slumped to the ground, knocked out.
Asura pulled on his skin and began to spin in circles, stretching out large portions of his skin and creating makeshift scarves. The scarves wrapped around his torso and his face, covering most of his body, leaving four ends waving into the air. Asura smirked and looked at Free with insane eyes.
"I'm naked!" Asura shrieked insanely. "That macho look is cool!"
Asura cackled as he used his scarves to propel himself straight into the ceiling and drill himself through the bedrock over the chamber.
"Was he talking about me?" Free muttered.
"Stop right there!"
Tsubaki turned to see Maka charging in. Before she could stop her, Maka jumped up and grabbed one of Asura's scarves. She slammed Soul's edge into the rock and grit her teeth, trying to hinder Asura from escaping to the surface. However it was all for naught as he continued to move, unabated by Maka's desperate attempt.
Up on the surface, Kirikou, Ox, and Kim were finishing up the evacuation of Death City. All of the civilian inhabitants were safely moved from Death City to a nearby bunker that was specially reinforced to withstand even the Shinigami's or Kishin's strongest attack. Kirikou sighed exhausted as he slumped to the ground. Fire and Thunder reverted back into their child forms and laid next to Kirikou's side. Kirikou chuckled as he patted their heads.
"You did good, you two," Kirikou whispered. He looked up at Ox and Harvar who were both leaning against a wall while Kim and Jacqueline were sitting on a nearby crate. He turned to Kim, the sensory one of their group.
"Can you sense anything wrong?" Kirikou asked. Kim shook her head.
"No. So far, everything is-," Kim started but froze. Her eyes widened and she looked down at her feet in alarm. Ox and Kirikou noticed her sudden shift in demeanor as everything about her screamed danger.
"What's going on?" Ox asked. Kim looked at them with disbelieving eyes.
"Asura's been freed!"
"IMPOSSIBLE!" Kirikou demanded.
Kim was about to respond but the ground beneath them began to shake wildly. The weapons morphed back into their weapon forms and jumped into their meisters hands. They watched as the ground cracked and split apart before exploding, sending huge chunks of pavement into the sky. The three meisters scattered to avoid the large rocks while Asura screeched past them and began to float in the air. The three meisters also cried in horror as they spotted Maka falling from the sky. They watched as Soul quickly transformed back into his human form and wrapped himself around Maka. The pair landed with a huge crash, crushing some crates. Soul grunted in pain but shook Maka as she had been knocked unconscious when Asura had burst to the surface.
"Oi, Maka!" Soul said worriedly. Maka stirred and slowly raised her hand at Asura.
"Must stop Asura," she whispered before blacking out. Kim hurried to her side and quickly examined Maka before turning to Soul.
"She's just knocked out," Kim said reassuringly. "We need to get out of here while we still have the chance."
Soul nodded but a lance of pain ran through his back. He bit back a roar of pain and turned to Kim.
"I can't move. It hurts too much," Soul hissed. Kim nodded.
"I'll come back for you with a stretcher," Kim muttered. "Just stay still."
Soul nodded and rested himself. However he could not help but shiver in fright when he looked at Asura. Another series of rumbling caught his attention as four dark strands of cloth ending with skulls burst out of the hole Asura had created. Asura watched impassively as the cloth wrapped around his arms and legs tightly. Rattling was heard as chains rocketed into the sky and bound tightly against Asura's torso. Asura easily snapped off the cloth bindings but he struggled against the chains as they began to glow an ethereal blue. To Asura's shock, the chains began to slowly drag him down. After several seconds struggling, he was able to snap the chains and free himself. He chuckled in amusement but his mirth stopped when he heard the familiar faint whooshing noise that still haunted the dreams of his long slumber. He turned to see the impassive mask of the Shinigami, staring at him. Asura's scarves opened to reveal his face as he stared into the mask of his former master.
"So you're here," Asura muttered. "Shinigami-sama."
"Hiya, how're you doing?" Shinigami asked, his usual mirth absent.
"Why do you have a ridiculous mask?" Asura asked.
"Well after I sealed you, I created a school for meisters in order to keep more Kishin from arising. My mask was really scary and it scared the children."
"And I'm guessing that's the reason for your funny way of speaking," Asura said.
Shinigami nodded. He pointed his flat hand at Asura.
"Sadly, I must seal you again. No hard feelings, okay?~" Shinigami sang grimly. He raised his flat hand high.
"Shinigami Chop!"
Shinigami's hand slammed into Asura, rocketing him to the ground. The ground shook at the impact as a dust cloud obscured Asura. Asura merely laid there for a moment before cackling madly. Shinigami looked at Asura as he stood back to his feet.
"Time for me to return the favor!"
Asura's four scarves flew towards the Shinigami. Shinigami watched them come close before creating a large shockwave around himself, ripping apart the scarves and shocked Asura, opening several large gashes in the Kishin. Black blood leaked out of the wounds before they closed. Asura smiled.
"I've forgotten this in the time I spent in that blackening sleep. Pain, fear, madness, uncertainty. These emotions. It makes me feel...ALIVE!"
Asura laughed wildly as he made two hand seals. Two large arrays appeared, creating an eye. The eyes released two huge beams of crimson energy that streaked towards the Shinigami. Shinigami grunted as he created two shields with his wavelength that stopped the beams from hitting him. The beams were held back before deflecting away from Shinigami, flying away but one landed in Death City and reduced the buildings into rubble.
"No!" Shinigami whispered in horror. He glared at Asura and charged at him with his hand raised for a powerful chop. He was stopped by a strong barrier and blasted away into a building by Asura's scarves. Shinigami grunted and pulled himself out of the building. Asura shrieked as he spotted an opening and crouched his legs.
"You won't escape!" Shinigami roared. "Soul Shield!"
A large glowing shield in the shape of Shinigami's mask appeared above Asura and slammed down on him. Asura grunted as the shield continued to bear down on him, forcing him onto his knees, then to the point he was prone on the ground. Shinigami glared as he continued to force Asura down with his shield while floating up into the sky. His eyes widened when he felt a surge of energy emanating from the Kishin. Asura cried out as he released the energy, dispelling the shield.
"This is no good. His power is rising rapidly. Without my Death Scythes around, he will soon be able to land a fatal blow on me," Shinigami thought. "I need to end this quickly."
"You won't stop me, Shinigami!" Asura shrieked. "Vajra!"
A bronze, dagger-like weapon emerged from Asura's mouth and he charged towards Shinigami, using his wavelength to increase the speed and power of his attack. Shinigami hastily erected a shield, stopping Asura. He grunted as he focused all of his energy into stopping Asura's attack. However it was not enough as after a few moments, the shield began to have cracks in it.
"I will escape, Shinigami!" Asura cried. Just as the shield cracked, a voice sounded out in the air.
"DYNAMIC ENTRY!"
Naruto slammed the flat of Miyako's sword form into Asura, sending him flying back to the ground. He turned over to Shinigami with a concerned look on his face.
"Sorry, we're late. Had to retrieve a certain weapon," Naruto explained. He tosse Spirit over to Shinigami who caught it easily. Shinigami swung Spirit about several times before hefting it over his shoulder.
"Spirit, are you ready?" Shinigami asked seriously.
"Of course Shinigami-sama!"
"Let's go!" Shinigami roared. "Kishin Hunter!"
A bright rainbow edge emerged from Spirit's blade. Naruto laughed darkly as he saw the angry expression on Shinigami's face.
"Finally serious after all these years?" Naruto asked. "Then let me help you."
Naruto made four quick hand seals and laid a palm on his chest.
"Seven Emperors Seal: KAI!"
Naruto's soul materialized around himself, creating a blue swirling orb over a hundred feat in diameter. However the chains around his soul began to glow a bright yellow as they faded away. The patterns on his soul began to swirl more and more rapidly as the Naruto's blue soul turned silvery white. His soul bulged once before rapidly expanding to the point it surrounded Death City. Naruto roared once more as he forced his soul to compress around himself, creating a silvery flame-like aura around himself. Naruto ripped off his eyepatch, revealing the Getsugan in its full glory. The Getsugan spun wildly as he ripped an opening in reality.
"Kinton: Vortex Vacuum!"
A vast amount of air around the opening was rapidly sucked within the dark opening, creating a vacuum. Naruto closed the rip in reality, causing the remaining air to close in around the vacuum. The collapsing air caused an enormous shock wave that blasted Asura several feet through solid bedrock.
"Kyaaagh! I never though you would be here Naruto and Miyako!" Asura cried out in shock and fear. He jumped away but was confronted by Shinigami who swung Spirit at Asura. Asura barely missed being split into two but received a large gash in his chest, spraying black blood all over Shinigami. Asura screeched in anger and pain as the deep wound began to slowly regenerate.
"You tricky bastard!" Asura screeched. Shinigami did not respond but began to emit a black aura around himself.
"Death Claws!"
Four arms created of black energy soared from Shinigami and grabbed Asura. Shinigami roared as he sent a pulse of energy through his arms.
"Eat this you swine!"
Black lightning shocked Asura badly, opening more gashes and further opening the wound on his chest. Asura wheezed as the Shinigami began to float closer to him, holding Spirit high.
"Now I'm going to finish what I should've done many years ago!" Shinigami rasped out as he swung his scythe.
Asura desperately made a shield around himself, stopping the attack briefly and sending him flying. Shinigami's eyes widened when he realized that he had inadvertently sent Asura soaring towards the borders of Death City. Asura screeched in relief and victory as he saw his goal in sight.
"Oh no you don't" Naruto roared. "Miyako!"
"Hai!"
Naruto's aura wrapped around Miyako's sword form, creating a large broadsword of silvery energy.
"Mirror's Edge!"
He swung it at Asura who twisted at the last moment. The sword sliced through Asura's right arm before blasting away Asura and his severed arm in different directions. Asura was sent flying back towards the Shinigami who raised his scythe, waiting for Asura to come towards him. Asura looked around desperately to see a group of young meisters running below him. He cackled in glee and sent a large red beam at the meisters below him.
Shinigami's eyes widened and he raced to intercept the beam. On the ground, Kim and Kirikou were helping Soul and Maka into stretchers when they felt a huge amount of energy rapidly approaching them. They looked up to see a large beam of energy bearing down at them, and froze in shock. Ox and Harvar saw them and Ox immediately sent a huge burst of electricity on the ground. The electricity Ox sent blasted all of his friends away. Before Harvar could react, Ox threw him away and braced himself to be incinerated by the blast.
"OOOOOOOOOX!" Harvar screamed as the beam was just upon his friend.
At the last moment, Shinigami appeared before Ox and raised his palm. An opening in his palm was created and absorbed the blast briefly before redirecting it away from Ox and his friends. Ox shuddered and fell to the ground as pure relief spread throughout his body. The Shinigami turned and gave Ox a brief thumbs up before charging at Asura. Ox breathed deeply as he tried to calm his nerves. However the air was knocked out of his lungs when Kim tackled him and hugged him tightly, while sobbing in relief into his chest. Harvar merely walked up to Ox and smacked his partner in the head.
"Baka."
Back with Asura, Asura panted as he avoided another swing from Naruto. He quickly fired two blasts at Naruto, only for both of them to miss. He desperately sent his scarves at Naruto in an effort to stave off the furious warrior. Naruto slapped away the scarves and made a one handed seal.
"Ninpou: Shadow Clone!"
Eight clones popped into existence and grabbed each of Asura's limbs and scarves, pulling Asura down to the ground and stretching him out. Naruto smirked as he held out a hand. A silvery orb appeared and began to spin rapidly, creating a whistling sound as it spun.
"Eat this Asura!" Naruto roared. "RASENGAN!"
Asura screeched as the orb ground into his abdomen, shredding through his skin and muscles as it forced Asura through the bedrock foundations of Death City. Naruto stared as Asura fell deep into the abyss. Naruto sighed and jumped down into the hole. He quickly stopped when he immediately realized where he had landed.
"No."
Asura screeched in laughter as he weakly opened the door that led to the room where Sakura was sealed. Naruto roared in frustration as he hurried after Asura. He kicked open the door to see that Asura had his hands on one of the keystones of the seal.
"I win Naruto-san! Miyako-san!"
Asura pulled Vajra out of his mouth and used it to destroy the keystone of the seal imprisoning Sakura.
"NOOOOOO!"
The destruction of the keystone led to a chain reaction as the other seals began to fail. Asura cackled as the barriers that were placed to keep Sakura trapped were shattered. Miyako jumped out of her weapon form and made several hand seals in conjunction with Naruto. As they finished the last hand seal, the last barrier sealing Sakura fell and Asura confidently strode to where Sakura was. Asura howled in victory as he raised Vajra to stab Sakura but was blocked by Shinigami's scythe. Asura stared in shock as Shinigami chopped him in the face, sending him flying into the side of the chamber. He turned to the disheveled and emaciated form of Sakura kneeling on the ground before turning to Naruto and Miyako.
"Is she alive?" Shinigami asked. Naruto shook his head.
"Yes and no. Her spirit still clings to this Earth as she has an enormous amount of Yin Chakra within her, making her a wraith. However the seal she was kept in had permanently drained her of most of her Yang chakra, preventing her from touching many inorganic items of the physical plane aside from her body yet she can now possess people," Naruto said hurriedly. "She will naturally try to possess the best host to keep alive."
"You don't mean-?" Shinigami asked in horror.
"Of course he does," Miyako snapped. "Asura."
Naruto and Miyako laid both of their palms on Sakura. Sakura's body exploded into green particles, leaving a sinister pink orb in its place. However to everyone's shock, the orb pulsed once and raced towards Asura. Asura shuddered as the orb slammed into him. He began to scream and cackle as Sakura's Yin began to anchor itself into her host. They watched as Asura twisted and writhed before screaming loudly as his head twisted unnaturally. The scarves around his face were torn apart, revealing his face. However instead on his head were not one but three faces. Naruto, Miyako, Shinigami, and Spirit were completely revolted at its appearance as on the right side was a face of a young Asura, his face twisted in an expression of utter giddiness mixed with absolute fear. Opposite of it was the face of a young Sakura, her face molded in one expressing pure hatred, grief, and lust. In the middle though was a face that was like a combination of an old twisted crone on the left side, while the right side of the face was of a tengu complete with a horn sprouting from it forehead. In the middle of its central face, an eye appeared, bloodshot and unblinking. All three faces began to laugh maniacally into the sky. Naruto screamed in rage and charged at Asura, intent on finishing him and Sakura once and for all. To Shinigami's and Miyako's surprise, Asura merely flicked his hand and Naruto was sent flying into the air. Naruto teleported behind Asura and stabbed him deeply with a kunai. Asura did not even flinch but instead let out an amused sigh.
"Dear, dear, Naruto-kun. Always so headstrong," Asura spoke. However his voice was melded with the higher alto voice of Sakura, sending chills down Shinigami's and Miyako's back. "It seems like your legendary luck has finally ran out."
Asura waved his hand again but Naruto anchored himself to the ground and sent out a pulse of chakra. Thin blue wires were seen briefly on the tips of Asura's hands before they vanish in air. Asura chuckled.
"Caught on to our trick, yes?" Asura whispered. "Well try this."
"Kishin Hunter!"
Asura looked down in shock at the rainbow blade that pierced his chest. He screeched wildly as he thrashed his scarves about, one of them smacking into the Shinigami's face. Shinigami skidded to the side and looked at the wound he made. Asura looked at the wound and laid a hand on it. Within a few seconds, the wound vanished to the Shinigami's confusion and anger. Spirit could only gap in surprise. Miyako and Naruto glared at Asura.
"I never thought this could happen," Naruto hissed.
"Explain," Shinigami demanded.
"Long story short, with Sakura's soul cohabiting with Asura's, he now has access to some of her powers. Not only that, Asura's wavelength have now been bolstered by the presence of a second soul amplifying it like a meister's weapon. He's also able to regenerate faster now," Naruto explained grimly. "However, with the increase in power, comes the increased weakness of soul based power attacks like your Kishin Hunter. It'll be tricky but this hybrid of Sakura and Asura can be beaten."
Shinigami grunted. "Agreed."
"Kyahahaha! As amusing as this is, I must say farewell!" Asura/Sakura cried. The Kishin shrieked as it burrowed its way out of the chamber and out into open sky. However, he/she was halted as black lightning and silvery arms wrapped itself around itself. Naruto and Shinigami rose from the hole that the Kishin had created, both of them preventing Kishin from leaving. Naruto grunted in exertion as he made a single hand seal. A hundred and forty four shadow clones popped into existence and they organized themselves into a circle. All of them pulled out brushes and began creating kanji onto the ground as fast as they could. When they finished, they slammed their palms into the kanji and pumped all of their chakra into the seal.
"Twelve Zodiac Clans! Twelve Generals of the Saintly Army! Heavenly Order Restraint: FUIN!"
From each of the kanji, a ghostly warrior appeared. All of them raised their hands and shot rope at the Kishin. The Kishin shrieked as the ropes pierced him/her and it began to thrash about. Naruto and Shinigami grunted in pain as they continued to restrict the Kishin as the seal was slowly closing around the Kishin. All of the ghostly warriors closed their fists and began to pull simultaneously, yanking the Kishin down to the ground. It looked around for an escape desperately and saw as a last batch of civilians were desperately running away from Death City. All three faces opened their mouths and gathered energy. When the energy reached a critical mass, the right face shot it at the group of civilians. Naruto saw the beam and his eye widened as he tracked its trajectory. He immediately released the jutsu and teleported in front of the beam. Without Naruto, the seal collapsed on itself. Shinigami roared as he attempted to drag Asura towards him but the remaining two faces blasted Shinigami. Shinigami was sent tumbling away while Naruto roared in pain as he allowed himself to be hit by Asura/Sakura's blast. The Kishin smirked as it surveyed its work and began to make hand seals for one last attack. He/She did not expect Naruto and Shinigami to recover so fast and was caught completely by surprise as they launched a furious counter attack.
"Reaper's Guillotine!"
"Moon Crater Strike!"
Naruto's and Shinigami's attacks slammed into Asura's/Sakura's torso, splitting it open and showering both with gore. It screeched and with the last vestiges of its energy, sent itself as far away from Death City as it could. Naruto landed on the ground gracefully while Miyako reverted back into her human form. Naruto took a deep breath and sighed as he stood back onto his feet. Beside him, Miyako held his hand and stood beside him.
"Don't worry Naruto-kun, we'll get her," Miyako whispered. Naruto nodded numbly and turned to Shinigami. Shinigami also sighed and looked at moon smiling crookedly down at them.
"The Kishin and the Monster free on the anniversary of Shibusen," Shinigami said softly. "Whoo, things will start to pick up. Eh? Naruto-san?"
"Yeah, they will. I only hope the new generation's ready for whatever will come our way," Naruto said softly.
Sup? Finally, the end of the arc. To clear up any confusion, the seal that imprisoned Sakura was divided into three parts. One is the main seal, that acted as the anchor for all the other seals that were put into place while preventing Sakura from moving. In addition, it is able to absorb any energy that comes in contact with the seal. The second is seal that split Sakura's chakra into Yin and Yang, using the Yang part to provide energy for the seals to function whilst the Yin was stored. The last part was the Yin destruction as it completely exposes Sakura's soul and would later tear it apart, finishing her. By the time that she was released, Sakura had lost all of her Yang chakra, making her a spirit. If Asura hadn't freed her, Sakura would have been killed within the decade.
BTW, as always, PLEASE REVIEW!
Peace! Oso1991