The DSM
Chapter 24: Meisters of Weapon Descent, The Death Scythe Meister's New Technique?
Feet pounded against an invisible floor and breaths came out in short, ragged rasps. The sound of her own heartbeat rang in her ears. It felt like she had been running for hours but Dawn knew it had been mere seconds since she took off, away from the taunting voice of the kishin and away from the billowing red fog that swept across the seemingly non-existent ground at a leisurely pace. No matter how fast she ran and how slow it moved in comparison it was always nipping at her heels, psychological torture at it's finest.
"Just give up." Asura spoke to her like one would talk to a child. If she wasn't busy concerning herself with her own sanity, Dawn would have given thought to being offended at his tone. She didn't respond so he continued.
"The madness has already taken hold of your soul. There's no use trying to get away."
His taunts continued though they were trying to reach ears hearing nothing but the rhythmic pounding of her heart and feet. They were soon joined by panicked thoughts.
'There has to be a way to reverse this! I'm still thinking, I'm still self-aware, I'm still... me. I can't be completely lost to the madness yet.'
"Go after him Maka. Go get Soul." Blackstar urged with a small smile despite the circumstances.
Maka turned to Kid next, still a little unsure. She wanted to go get him back, of course, but she was cautious about leaving her friends to face the kishin alone.
Kid forced a smile too. "We'll be here waiting for you to come back."
Neither of their smiles reached the boy's eyes, however their reassuring words were enough to convince her it would be okay.
"Thanks guys."
No sooner had Maka pressed her forehead to Soul's and went to retrieve him then Kid sensed another presence enter the area. Focusing in on the new soul he noticed something odd. This new wavelength was erratic, discharging thicker wavelengths like solar flares off of the sun. Though each flare was met with another on the opposite side of the soul so it could remain relatively stable and, consequently, meant it was always... symmetrical. An unexpected pain shot up Kid's back as he hit rubble after being sent flying.
"Damn I let myself get distracted, I can't afford that in a fight of this level!"
In seconds he remembered something with a startling intensity.
"Please be careful Kid. I don't want to find out that you were killed simply because you were too busy focusing on the symmetry of something or lack there-of."
"Dawn... I hope she's alright."
He got up to continue firing as the thought bounced around in his head, gaining significance.
'I feel like I'm missing something... Dawn... Dawn... Dawn!"
"That was Dawn's soul!"
"What?" Blackstar paused only long enough to speak before jumping back at Asura, swinging for his face.
"I sense Dawn's soul, she's here somewhere!"
"But how did she get in here?"
"She must have gotten past the barrier somehow when we weakened it with our attacks."
Blackstar stopped beside Kid to say, "Well what are you waiting for? An invitation? Go find her!" then swung back for Asura.
"Besides," he continued when Kid was silent. "She'll want to have her chance to be a background actress in this performance too!"
Focusing in on her soul again, Kid was able to determine where she was and began heading towards her. Though one thing disturbed him. The madness seemed to be surrounding her soul at an alarming rate, looking like it was trying to swallow her. When he peered over the piece of rubble she had fallen behind he found it was just that. Dawn lay unconscious, limbs shaking and eyes roaming wildly behind closed eyelids.
Liz couldn't hide the fear in her voice if she tried. "What's happening to her?!"
"She's fighting the madness." Kid has to fight to keep his own voice steady.
' I can't go on like this much longer.'
As if her body was agreeing, Dawn's legs collapsed under her and Dawn fell to the ground, face first with no time to break her fall.
"For apparent non-existent ground it hurts like hell to hit." she groaned miserably while rubbing at her face.
Pulling her hand away she caught a glimpse of the red cloud just before she was completely surrounded by it. She could feel the last of her conscious wavelength slipping away. On instinct Dawn used the last of her controllable wavelength to charge her hands and brought them to her chest before releasing the charge, shocking herself like a defibrillator. The clouds around her were pushed back long enough for her to take off sprinting again.
'That was enough to push it back but I'll never free myself with that. This is not good!'
Suddenly, Dawn's shaking quickened before ending completely.
"Is she free?" Liz wondered aloud.
The symbol of the kishin starting etching itself on her forehead and Kid's stomach dropped. He didn't want to believe what he was seeing or feel as helpless as he felt in that moment. A purple light outlined her for a moment then faded, erasing the half finished kishin symbol with it. The smallest of grim smiles tugged at his lips at this revelation.
"Just hang on Dawn, keep fighting it."
Kid could almost hear the sarcastic remark she would have given in his head. 'Really? 'Cause you know, I thought I'd just embrace the madness and wreak havoc on the world. Seemed like a good idea to me.'
"Blackstar!"
"What is it?" he sounded annoyed, still taking swings at the kishin.
"I need you to hit Dawn with your wavelength."
"Wait.. what?!" everyone else other than Asura cried in unison with voices laced with shock.
"Her own wavelength was enough to push the kishin's back for a moment. Someone else's, especially someone with such a stubborn soul like yours-"
"Hey!" Blackstar cried indignately.
"-may be enough to force Asura to let go of the hold he has on her soul. Or at least give her the opening to get away."
"Ok."
"Seriously?"
To say Kid was stunned would be an understatement. He had been fully expecting Blackstar to object, demanding the spotlight be kept on himself.
"Yeah seriously. A star doesn't abandon his friends. Besides, I'll have plenty of time to kick the kishin's ass after I'm done saving Dawn!" he exclaimed proudly then waved a dismissive hand in Kid's direction. "You can be the distraction or something, not that I need one or anything bit it's in Dawn's best interest to have time to recover."
Not about to complain, Kid lept off to attack Asura once again. Blackstar knelt beside Dawn and place his hand on her stomach.
"Now how about you come back to the world of the conscious."
He shocked her but there was no change in her condition.
"Huh... that was weird."
He used it another time and still her condition remained the same.
"This is getting annoying."
Again.
Growling, his eye twitched as he set Tsubaki down. He told her to wait a moment before he grabbed Dawn's hand and placed her arm around his shoulders. Lifting her up as he stood fully, Blackstar set Dawn up against a particularly large piece of the upturned cement surrounding them, so she was as close to standing on her own as she could be.
"Blackstar what are you doing?"
The commotion drew Kid's attention back to the others in time to see Blackstar running at Dawn.
"Wait Blackst-"
"Blackstar big wave!"
Almost instantly Dawn's eyes snapped open and blood spurted from her mouth as she opened it to scream.
"Now that's better." Blackstar smirked triumphantly.
He took a few steps back to give Dawn time to get steady on her feet.
"Dammit Blackstar that hurt."
"What were you thinking?" Kid interjected.
"I was thinking," his response verged on a sassy attitude. "that I've already done this kind of thing and Dawn just needed a but of an extra push."
Walking back to Tsubaki he picked her up casually as she protested his previous action as well.
"But Blackstar that was Masamune! This is the kishin!"
"So what? This is me we're talking about! I'm going to take the kishin down anyway! So why not start by forcing his nasty wavelength out of Dawn's soul?"
"Oh yes, how silly of me to question it, sorry." Tsubaki sighed.
It became apparent that Asura got bored with the scene in front of him as he turned to where Soul and Maka lay.
"Now... die."
Kid and Blackstar left to block the blow with a speed that made Dawn's still recovering head spin. As a result she nearly fell back down onto her knees. Once the smoke cleared the two boys continued their assault on Asura, Dawn joining in as soon as she regained a proper centre of balance. Asura found himself constantly pelted by Kid's compressed wavelength bullets and the airborne 'slices' of Dawn's wavelength. Each followed by a blow from the enchanted sword.
"Dammit we're losing ground!"
Asura laughed sadistically, mocking them. With a single flick of his finger, he sent all three tumbling back into the nearest chunk of rubble.
"Losing ground? That would imply you gained some to begin with."
"You're right." Kid nearly growled in exasperation. "With the level of attack we're using we'd be hard pressed to even put a dent in you. So I guess we're just going to have to attack you even harder!"
Feet planted firmly, Kid stood up with Blackstar and Dawn following suit. When she looked over to Kid, Dawn noticed he seemed to be deep in thought, like he was having some sort of inner monologue.
"Pathetic." he whispered.
"Useless." A little louder.
He lowered his head. "I don't deserve to be his son."
However when he looked back up the conflicted and upset tone in his voice was replaced with a determined look in his eyes.
'That's the Kid I know.' Dawn found herself smiling despite the circumstances.
"Hear me now. Kishin Asura you die today. Dawn, Blackstar, back me up on this. I'm giving this next shot all I've got."
Before Dawn could agree Blackstar yelled.
"Hell no! I'm going to keep going at him and you can back me up when you're ready."
"Have it your way."
Without another word Kid started expanding his wavelength. He didn't get a chance to do much before Asura stabbed him through the chest. Blackstar and Dawn could only watch in horror as he fell face down on the ground.
"Kid!"
"Damn you!" Dawn yelled, swiping her arm in the air and sending another wave of her soul force at Asura with tears brimming her eyes.
"Tsk tsk stk."
Asura scolded her, flicking the wavelength away like it was nothing.
"Don't blame this on me. If he had been stronger that wouldn't have happened. Heck, if your precious Lord Death had been stronger than none of you would be in this situation in the first place. So if you want to blame anyone it should be him."
"Shut up!" Blackstar screamed, joining in. "You shouldn't be bothering to talk when you have to fight me!"
Immediately after Dawn sent a second attack to Asura, Kid's body started floating up to a standing position again. With her attention now drawn to Kid, she missed seeing Asura reflect her own attack back at her until...
"Dawn!"
Hearing Blackstar yell she turned in time to see herself engulfed in a familiar purple light. Her body was filled with the same prickly feeling one would get when their foot 'falls asleep'. The kishin laughed, mocking her further.
"See what I mean? You're a weakling! All of you are! Your body's been stunned by it's own wavelength!"
'I...I can't move...'
Panicking, she tried to take a step forward but was met with resistance. Her limbs simply wouldn't budge. She watched in awe as Kid's sanzu lines connected and Liz and Patty grew so large they required stands to support their weight. It was a blur as Kid shot Asura and Dawn knew her wavelength was taking it's course through her system and confusing her senses. The blast resulting from Kid's shot at Asura sent her flying back, tossing through the air for the seemingly millionth time that day. Dawn saw the blow coming but could do nothing in her temporarily paralysed state to stop it. The last thing she saw was Kid falling back down to the ground lifelessly.
Blinking her eyes open, the black slowly fading to the edges of her vision.
"Damn I need to stop that." Dawn growled.
"You can dodge this, but if you do your friend will die."
Whipping her head around to the voice she watched as Maka stood in front of a shot to protect Soul, arms wide open. Shock held her still while Maka attacked Asura by summoning multiple blades.
'Makes sense though since her dad is a weapon.'
But the tide soon turned against Maka when Asura woke her up. Her scream's snapped Dawn back into 'action mode' and she sprang up, taking Asura by surprise when she tackled him away from Maka. Getting up, Dawn stood in a protective stance in front of the scythe meister as she recovered.
"You've thrown the world into chaos, hurt my friends, and I have no idea if Lord Death is even alive or not! You could have killed him for all I know if I was just told he'd be fine out of mercy! I cannot forgive you for any of that!" She was screaming by the end.
Asura simply scoffed, only proving to heighten Dawn's new-found rage. Taking a deep breath to calm herself, Dawn turned to Maka.
"How do you feel about branching out from your usual scythe weapon?"
"What are you talking about Dawn?"
"Trust me, we need to do resonance link."
"Without weapons?"
"Like I said, trust me." Dawn grasped Maka's hand. "Oh and resist any urges you get okay? I can't tell you how it supposed to feel since I've never done it before."
"Done what?"
They began resonating souls even though Maka was completely lost.
"Changed to weapon form." Dawn smirked.
"What?! Don't be crazy! We're meisters!"
"Maka, fighting is not my strong suit but that's because my speciality as a death scythe meister is the study, knowledge and perception of souls. While I can't see them as well as you, I can feel them. And what I feel in my soul is that this can and will work."
Their resonance picked up until suddenly Dawn melted down into a purple light that molded itself into a double-bladed axe.
"Well would you look at that." she murmured.
Maka gawked at the weapon now in her hands.
"So, think you can handle something with a shorter blade?"
A smile crept over the scythe meister's face as she gripped the handle tight.
"Yeah, I can make do."
"Great now let's do this."
Maka needed no more incentive as she charged at Asura with renewed energy.
Author's Note: OMG IT'S 4 IN THE MORNING HERE! Do you see my dedication? I stayed up till I am about to fall asleep on the keyboard to type this thing out. I really need to get a laptop so I don't have to write it separately then type it all in one go.
GUYS I AM IN A STORY ON HERE OMG I COULD DIE HAPPY! So one of my best friends ever is Geneva38. She is writing a Soul Eater fanfiction called "Bloodlust-Meister Style" you can find it in my favourites. Anyway so in it I am a teacher/shovel meister crushing on Justin like I probably would if he was real, not going to lie. And yes you heard me right, a shovel meister. Perhaps I should explain...
Honestly I was just thinking one day. "If I was a meister in Soul Eater, what would my weapon be? It has to be something unique and unconventional but work none-the-less." Hence, I came up with a shovel and while being a random 'crack' idea it kind of stuck. And if you remember, my reviewing friend and the other best friend who got me into Soul Eater, Sydney? Yeah well she is my shovel.
It stuck so much that one day I went to school and a friend of mine, Ian, came up and said, "would this be your shovel Dana?" He showed me a picture of a shovel with a serrated blade. That's right, serrated. "Like a steak knife."-Geneva38 just now as she looks over my shoulder while I'm typing. At four in the morning. We were supposed to be asleep three hours ago. "Oops... what's this sleep you speak of?"
So sorry about the wait, hope it's worth it. And the next is definitely coming sooner. If Geneva had it her way, I'd finish the entire story tomorrow. She may have to settle for one more chapter. "I will be a slave driver." -Geneva38. Now she just commented that I should stop quoting her but whatever, it's funny.
GO READ ABOUT ME AND SYD KICKIN BUTT! Jk, but I do get together with Justin. *fangirls massively *
"Eventually."
*fangirls less but still alot *