Chapter four: Following the footsteps backwards. The beginning of the trio's partnership?
The team meet together the next morning for breakfast.
Maka joins them. "Do you mind if I join you?"
"Not at all." Matsuda responds.
"Thanks." Maka responds.
L and Light walk into the cafeteria and walk past the table the team and Maka are at.
Maka turns to them. "Hey L and Light you back already?" She greets them.
L and Light stop walking then turn to her.
"Yeah we just got back. We collected the kishin eggs but the witch didn't show up. We'll be doing another patrol tonight as well as visiting that place when we can for a few days to make sure she still isn't hanging around there." L explains.
"Ah. Well it's good that you guys were able to collect the kishin eggs at least." Maka says.
Light nods. "Yeah it is. Especially with a few being close to becoming kishins."
"That would have been horrible had it been left alone. Well good job." Maka says.
"Thanks. You and Soul keep doing a good job too." L responds.
"We will." Maka nods then the two notice the team so Maka explains. "They are from another world."
"Oh I see. Well good luck here." Light says.
"We should get something to eat." L says. "We will need to fuel up and rest before we head back to do the patrol since it'll be an all-night patrol if we want to have any chance at catching the witch. We need to be ready at full strength if we run into the witch."
"Right." Light says as he looks to L then nods. "Well see you guys." He says turning back to the group.
L and Light leave to get something to eat.
"Say Maka. Do you know how Mello, Near and Matt became a trio?" Halle asks turning back to Maka.
"Yeah. It's almost like a legend here because something like it never really happens in the way that it did for them." Maka nods as everyone at the table turns back to what they were doing which is talking. "You see they didn't become partners while at the DWMA. It was before they came here. It was quite a while ago. You see they actually grew up on the streets pretty much most of their lives and that's where they met when Mello was thirteen, Matt twelve and Near eleven..….." She begins to tell them the story.
Meanwhile…..
Mello, Near and Matt are riding on Mello's motorcycle as they travel to another mission. Mello is the driver with Near sitting right behind Mello then Matt right behind Near. All three of them can fit as they have found a way to squish in together without being too cramped.
Near has the map. "Next left." He tells Mello.
Mello takes the next left and they can see the city coming up in the distance. "Almost there." He says making Near look up from the map to see the city.
Near puts the map away while keeping one arm around Mello to keep himself from falling off as he puts the map into his pocket. He puts both arms around Mello again once that's done. "We'll take a look at the city map once there." He says.
Mello nods and speeds up a little.
They make it to the city but something doesn't seem right as very few are outside.
The few that are outside look scared walking around tensely as if the kishin himself is going to pop out from nothing and rip them apart.
Mello goes through the city a little. "The locals are scared of something." He points out the obvious as he finds a place to park his bike.
"It must be whatever is attacking this place." Near says.
Matt nods as they get off the bike once Mello parks it.
An elderly man comes running over to the three. "Are you from the DWMA?" He asks.
"You got that right." Matt says while Mello makes sure the bike is good then comes over.
"Oh thank the heavens!" The man says. "I am so glad you are here! There are these two beasts that are terrorizing this city."
"That's why we are here." Mello says. "Now what can you give us for information on what is terrorizing the city so we can get a better idea of what kind of enemy you have."
"They are these horrible beasts that look to have been human but they now look like they were experimented on turning them to some sort of human beast killing machines." The man explains.
"We are dealing with two kishin eggs then. Just as suspected." Near says. "This should be a piece of cake."
"Is there any specific location where these beasts might be?" Matt asks.
"They just appear here and there to attack the city." The man tells them.
"That's alright. We'll see what we can find." Mello says and the three begin their search for the kishins.
Later…..
"Why haven't they attacked?" Matt wonders as they have been searching for a while now but no sign of said Kishins with it getting close to mid-afternoon.
"Maybe they are thinking like a ghost. Strangers come in looking for them and they shy away for the first bit." Near theorizes.
"Perhaps." Mello says. "But let's keep looking a little longer. Then we will take a break and decide our plan of action."
Suddenly screams come from the direction they came from not long ago.
They rush over in that direction and find a bloody crime scene but no signs of the kishins.
No bodies were left, not even the souls.
"They were just here." Mello growls a little frustrated.
"Maybe we should try a stake out. They seem to be shying away from us and maybe in the darkness they might feel braver." Matt suggests.
"Right. We'll do a stakeout and find these kishins hopefully before anymore damage is done." Mello agrees as they walk away from the alley. He walks past another alley way then looks down it seeing a gang surrounding a guy and he gets a flashback of how he first met Matt and Near as another guy helps the guy being ganged up on.
Flashback:
Mello was much younger but not a little kid. He is thirteen and he is a wanderer who has won every fight he's been in….. Until one battle in one of the alley ways of a city.
The gang was heavily armed and had gotten Mello against a wall while being surrounded by the gang.
"This is where you lose." The gang leader says with a smirk.
Mello hates that he can't be armed with the shortage of money and the expensive prices of the black market that don't take him seriously.
"Hey!" A voice says and the gang looks as well as Mello. The new comer is a redhead holding a gun that doesn't look like any ordinary gun.
It is a gun that looks to be a grey, white and yellow pistol. It has angel wings on the back that look to be decoration, four crosses on either side of the barrel with the word Angel in between and four crosses on the handle that is the same as the ones on the barrel but there is a light grey skull between the crosses. The section just under and above the tip of the barrel is yellow while the very end of the barrel is black as well as slightly sticking out. The trigger isn't against the handle area instead in the middle of the gap for the trigger. Finally there is a dangle charm that is attached to the bottom of the gun by a short chain, the charm is a yellow cross. The only yellow on the gun is what is mentioned above.
The red head points the gun at the gang. "Leave him alone."
"Oh yeah you punk? What are you gonna do?" The gang leader snickers.
"I am challenging you to a battle." The red head says.
"Fine then. If I win you must do whatever I say. But if you win then we will leave." The gang leader accepts with confidence.
"Fine by me." The red head agrees.
The gang leader steps forward and the red head gets ready to fight.
"Your move is first." The red head says.
"Alright." The gang leader goes with a switch blade as a weapon. He charges at the red head and begins slashing at him who dodges each attack easily.
The red head grabs the gang leaders wrist keeping the switch blade from landing a hit on him. He points the gun at the gang leader but before he can fire the gang leader pulls out a bigger knife.
The gang leader slashes the bigger knife at the red head with an expectation that it would make the red head lean back to avoid being hit….. But he doesn't do that…. He lets it hit his side and it ends up seeming to go through him cutting him in half but there's no blood instead his insides seem to be just glowing mass that makes up his body as he smirks.
The red head, who had started to transform when hit by the knife to not be hurt or killed, throws the gun into the air and it glows as the red head glows then leaps into the air in a way that he is pretty much a glowing mass that seems to do a jump into the air.
What lands on the other side is a mostly albino boy who catches a gun that seems to have taken the place of the red head.
The gun is what looks to be a pistol but the colors are black, grey, red and a white skull. It has black and red demon wings on the back that look to be a decoration. There is black pentagrams that is four in total on the barrel with two on each side of the barrel and between the pentagrams there is the word Devil. The handle also holds four pentagrams with two on each side that is like the ones on the barrel but between them there is a white with black outlines skull instead of the word Devil. The trigger is black and almost seems to be a part of the ring of space for the trigger. He also has a dangle charm but his is a black with red insides pentagram.
The mostly albino boy, being shorter than the gang leader fires at the gang leaders back making the gang leader gasp in pain then fall forward.
The gang leader gets up and charges at the mostly albino boy who switches places with the red head who lands behind the gang leader, grabs the gun that is the mostly albino boy and fires a shot at the gang leaders head.
The gang leader manages to dodge and spins to slash at the red head.
The red head manages to switch with the mostly albino boy before the gang leader can turn much the mostly albino boy shoots at the gang leaders head this time hitting the target.
The gang leader falls forward and doesn't get up.
The mostly albino boy turns to the gang who is now realizing they have just gotten into trouble with two weapons that know how to fight with each other. "Take your boss and get your sorry asses out of here." He says looking very dangerous.
The gang gather their leader then scurry out of there like frightened mice.
After all the gang leader is much stronger than any of them could hope to be so when the weapons struck their gang leader down they became terrified.
The mostly albino lets his dangerous look drop then let's go of the red head to let him return to human form.
Mello has heard about people who can transform into weapons but he's never seen it happen.
The two turn to Mello.
"You alright?" The mostly albino boy asks.
Mello nods and the red head offers a hand but Mello gets up on his own. "Yeah thanks. You know I've never seen weapons like you guys before. I've only heard of them."
The red head smiles and lets his arm drop to his side. "Yeah well I guess it's not every day you see some kids turn into weapons like that."
"That's true." Mello agrees.
"How old are you?" The red head asks.
"I'm thirteen and my name is Mihael Keehl but you can call me Mello. What about you two?" Mello responds.
"Names Mail Jeevas but you can call me Matt. I'm twelve." The red head responds.
"And I'm Nate River but please call me Near. I'm eleven." The mostly albino boy also replies.
"Me and Near met on our travels and we decided to become a team especially since both of us have nowhere to go back to. You have a place to go home?" Matt asks.
"No. I'm a wanderer." Mello responds. "I have nowhere to go back to either."
"Then why not join us?" Near offers.
Mello nods with a smile. "Sure."
End of flashback.
Mello smiles a little as he remembers this.
"You ok?" Matt asks Mello as the gang leaves the two men alone.
Mello turns to him. "Yeah was just thinking of when we first all started traveling together."
Matt and Near smile.
"That was a good time. I'm really glad that we got to meet. Though I kind of wish that it was under better terms." Matt says.
"It is one part of our past that brought the three of us closer together. It is possible that if it was any different we may not be the team we are today." Near points out.
"Yeah that's good a point." Mello agrees. "It almost seems like a fairy tale now that I look back at it. Moving from place to place and leaving schools that the government paid for us to go in because of the we have to have schooling thing, if at least one of us didn't like it there or couldn't fit in even if it was because you two are weapons. Growing up on the streets. If we had to sleep on the streets in the rain we would do it together. If someone messed with one then they messed with all."
"Doing whatever we had to just to get by and survive." Near adds.
"Or that without knowing it we were doing a form of soul resonance even in our human form, that we can still do. We understand each other almost like we had surgery to get ourselves connected wirelessly. We pass each other strength when they need it in ways that others can't see unless they can see soul wavelengths. I don't understand how it happened but it did and man I am I glad it did." Matt says.
The other two nod in agreement.
"Well we need to find these kishins. So let's get ready to do our stakeout." Mello says.
So that night they did a stakeout.
Matt and Near in weapon form with Mello standing on the top of a lamp post, tall enough to overlook enough of the city, that has barely any place to stand on but Mello thanks the years of practice so he can do this.
Mello glances around waiting for the kishins to show themselves. "Come on. Give us something to work with." He says under his breath.
"There!" Near suddenly speaks and Mello turns in the direction of the side he's holding Near on.
Sure enough there is movement that is most obviously the kishins.
"Bingo." Mello says and jumps from roof to roof to quickly get to the kishins. "You two are going down!" He jumps towards the kishins and starts blasting them with gun fire.
The kishins back up with a small cry as they are hit by the bullets.
Mello lands on the ground and they are facing the kishins.
"Hey…. You guys doesn't it…" Matt starts.
"Yeah it does. It's similar by so much yet not the exact same" Near agrees.
"Our first fight as a trio." Mello finishes that.
Flash back:
Mello, Matt and Near have been traveling together for almost two years now.
If fights happen then Mello doesn't wield either Matt or Near as they do that themselves letting Mello fight the same way he always has.
It works for them all so far.
All three of them have learned a lot about each other and they have become closer as they continue to travel.
Then one night they were traveling through the city streets when two kishins appear in front of them.
"It's the one I've been looking for!" Matt and Near say together as they recognize each one of the kishins as the one that killed their family as well as destroyed their home towns.
"So these are the beasts or well kishins that started it all for you guys. The kishins that in two different towns helped you both make your first transformations." Mello observes.
"That's right." Near glances down slightly as his own little sister wielded him on his first transformation only to get killed. He feels guilty about that but he will get revenge and destroy the monster that caused her death along with the rest of his family's and so many others.
Matt puts a reassuring hand on Near's shoulder getting his attention. "We'll take them down and those that lost their lives because of these two can rest peacefully." He says.
Mello comes over and places an assuring hand on Near's other shoulder making him look to the blonde. "You can do it."
Near smiles and nods. "Let's do this!"
Mello steps back as this is a fight that the two have been searching for ever since the tragedy in their pasts…. The destruction of their homes... Their friends and family…. Everything they knew and cared for.
Near transforms and Matt gets ready to wield Near as the kishins charges.
The kishins are working together and they move in such a way to prove.
Matt would attack one but the other would attack making this just a fight for the two to survive even as they switch from one to the other it was no use as the kishins would move accordingly; making Matt and Near not really having a good enough opportunity to attack to take down the kishins.
Just one gun wasn't going to win this fight.
Mello fears he may just lose his friends lives in this fight and comes to a decision. "Matt! Near!" He calls to the two.
Matt glances to Mello then turns back to the kishin to avoid being attacked. "We're listening." He says then he switches places with Near to avoid being killed.
"What is it Mello?" Near asks as he also continues to try to stay alive.
Both are not being rude as Mello can tell since they are trying hard to not die at the moment.
"Both of you transform and let me wield you!" Mello tells them his idea.
"Will that even work?" Matt says as Near tries to look for an opening to strike since Matt is in weapon form now.
"We should try it." Mello says. "You saved my life and I owe you something. Let me help you guys with this fight like you did for me when we first met."
Matt switches places with Near. "Alright let's see what you got."
Mello nods and quickly moves towards Matt.
Matt throws Near up into the air and transforms just as Mello gets there so Mello catches Near who has stayed in weapon form as well as Matt who is now in weapon form.
"Let's do this." Near says.
"Right." Mello agrees and jumps back to avoid an attack. He points the two guns at the kishins and fires.
The kishins split apart and move to surround Mello.
Mello points one gun at each and fires making it impossible for the kishins to try to land any attacks.
"The tables have turned!" Matt says grinning.
Mello gets hits on the kishins then the kishins attack together.
Without thinking about it the trio do something instinctual.
"Let's go soul resonance!" They shout together.
Matt and Near transform into their soul resonance forms and Mello crouches on the ground only to jump into the air.
"Didn't know you could change weapon form." Mello says.
"Neither did I. This hasn't happened before. But this form feels much more powerful." Near says.
"I am in the same boat. It almost feels as if we've somehow mixed our souls to become one." Matt agrees.
"Well it started as instinctual and that's how we'll go about it." Mello says as the kishins leap up towards him. He points Near at one kishin, that happens to be the one that Near was hunting down, and prepares to fire. "Heaven's light." He says then the beam fires from Near but it misses and causes the kishin to go off course going back to the ground. He turns and points Matt at the other kishin. "Hell's fire." He says then the beam fires from Matt only to end up the same as how it did for Near.
The kishins are both on the ground and Mello lands on the ground so he is facing both of them.
He realizes he has his back to a wall. "Well here goes nothing." He crouches down bracing himself as he brings Matt and Near so they are side by side touching as they are right up against each other. "Harmony cannon."
The beams are fired then combine and head straight for the kishins.
"I knew it! You're students of the DWMA and are here to collect our souls!" One kishin says confusing the trio.
The kishins are goners before they know it.
The kishins leave kishin egg souls behind.
There is some destruction from the fight but there is no sign of anyone having been hurt except the kishins.
Mello stands back up. "Those must be their souls. I heard that weapons can eat souls but if they eat the wrong one then they could become evil."
"Do you think this kind of soul is safe to eat?" Matt asks.
"What would be the point of eating souls if it means running the risk of becoming evil? Besides, weapons eating souls sounds strange. I'm not sure about it." Near says.
Mello nods. "Well then we'll keep them in a bag till we figure out what to do with them."
"But what did that kishin say about being students at the DWMA?" Near questions. "Does that mean that there's actually a school where weapons can actually be accepted?"
"And to further question things." Matt adds. "What the heck is this new form? Soul resonance was it called? That is something I haven't heard of before. Also the new attacks including that combined one."
"Maybe we should find this DWMA and get some questions answered." Mello says as the two turn back to gun form. He tosses them slightly into the air and the two transform to human form.
End of flashback.
"Well guess this will be a little trip down to memory lane as we fight." Mello says getting ready to fight. He leaps into action by starting off dodging an attack from the kishins.
Back at the DWMA….
"Then they began searching for the DWMA continuously moving to find out what this DWMA place is. When they finally arrived it was the middle of the term and when they asked about the school as well as other questions they had then they were asked why they know such things. Mello said that Matt and Near are weapons and that they all fight together. He then pulled out the bag with the two kishin egg souls and showed it to Sid who was talking to them. They were explained what they needed to know and enrolled. They fought the Thompson sisters while they were on probation and I kind of think that seeing that they weren't the only ones as weapons who grew up on the streets helped with the sisters transformation from street punks to who they are now in the DWMA. The Thompson sisters are Lord Death's sons weapons. Mello, Near and Matt also got into a fight with Black star who felt threatened by them making pretty much a legend in the school. They won and since then it's been a war between them as Black star wants to keep winning against them. So far it's just been a mess of wins and loses between them but Back star is lucky that the trio won't use their ultimate attack." Maka finishes explaining.
"Wait!" Matsuda looks shocked and worried. "You mean harmony cannon isn't their most powerful attack?"
Maka shakes her head. "Nope. It isn't. They have attacks that are much much more powerful. It can even rival the power of the Death scythes." She explains. "I haven't seen it but from the few times they have used it is how we know it even exists. They can use one or the other or both together which is pretty much like the soul resonance form but different at the same time. If it's just Near then it is called Heavens grace. If it's just Matt then it is called Hells wrath. Together it is Final judgement. The wings you see on Matt and Near's weapon form actually are the keys to unlocking the power."
"The fact that there are attacks that they can use that's more powerful than Harmony cannon is scary enough." Matsuda shivers remembering when they saw the harmony cannon attack do its work.
"Well don't worry they don't use it often, heck it's rare for them to use it for more reasons than that is so powerful. You see that amount of power puts a lot of strain on their souls and when Final judgment is used it is so powerful that no matter who you are it will make you faint because your soul won't be able to handle it. It is after all super powerful. The Heavens grace and Hells wrath is enough strain on their own that Final judgment is something that makes you need to take time to recover for." Maka informs them.
"Well that makes sense because a human body can only handle so much." Aizawa says.
"Hey Maka do you know where in the house I left that movie we rented?" Soul comes over and asks.
"It's dead." Maka answers.
"Ok. Thanks anyways." Soul says then leaves.
"That's an interesting way to say I don't know." Ide says.
"If we don't know then we assume it's dead." Maka says casually.
"Oh." Ide nods softly.
"Did Mello, Matt and Near go out on another mission?" Gevanni asks.
"Oh yeah. They went to help a city with these attacks that have been going on. It's most likely a kishin or two trying to become actual kishins by wanting more power." Maka says.
"Being in the EAT class sure sounds like a lot of work." Rester says.
"Sometimes." Maka says with a smile. "But you get to help people and beat evil. Also we get to work to turn our weapons into death scythes! Though everyone strives for that. Just like how my mom turned my good for nothing papa into a death scythe."
"You're mom sounds amazing to be able to do that." Mogi says.
Maka smiles and nods. "Mhm. She is. I want to be like her."