"What are you doing, you pipsqueak? Swing me already!"

"I, uhh…ah, ahh, AAAAAHHHHHH!"

"Stop screaming and toss me at her!"

"I, I, I—"

"You're dead meat, you hear me?! Why don't you come a little closer so I can bash your head—"

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

SWISH!

CLANG!

WHOOSH!

BAM!

THUD!

"Yeeeaah, that's more like it!"

"I..I..what do I do?"

Within one of the many desolate alleyways of Death City, a young teen was left a complete quivering mess. Their pitch black outfit draped into the scenery, leaving a frazzled flair of whitish-pink hair shaking around in the dark like the remnants of a ghostly apparition. Their lowered voice spouted an intense string of distraught queries while their eyes trembled wildly. The shallow glint of their sword was lost in the dark as its wielder struggled to keep a firm grip. All the while, a muscular girl lay limp on the ground right in front them, having just been beaten up to a pulp.

It was a close fight. If it was anyone else, Eva could've gotten out of this altercation free of injury like she normally would. Unfortunately, it wasn't an ordinary person she was dealing with.

"What am I gonna do?" Crona pulled the ends of their hair in panic. "Mother said to lay low. This isn't laying low at all! How am I supposed to deal with this?!"

"Haha, why're you acting like the world's ending?"

Suddenly, a strange, almost humanoid blot of black spewed from the sword's blade and began roughly playing around with Crona's face. The cackling laughter of the being known as Ragnarok had the same intensity of a circus clown's whip.

"We took her down like it was nothing. Come on, we haven't even diced her up yet! Smile you dumb nerd, smile!"

"Nnnnngh, stop pulling on my cheek!"

"Well aren't we being irritatingly noisy here."

The cold voice of a cruel serpent slithered its way into the alley. Crona elicited a tiny squeak and frantically shoved Ragnarok, both the sword and the being attached to it, back into their frail body. The two disappeared into the seams of their robe as if Crona themself was a living black hole.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Crona quickly blurted out. "I bumped into her and she was really scary and she chased me down here and she kept hitting me and I was so scared and I didn't know what to do!"

"Quiet," the hooded woman named Medusa sternly ordered, shutting up Crona's blabbering mouth in an instant. She sauntered over to Eva's unmoving form and crouched down with a face of disgust. "I saw it all. To think something I created was useless enough to get attacked by some random little girl."

Crona gulped. "I'm sorry, mother."

Their apology completely evaded Medusa who had decided to shift her attention to examining the body of their accidental victim. She was a witch after all, and she wasn't just going to leave free bounty behind. She gently lifted up Eva's left arm and squinted her already narrowed eyes. A faint but noticeable cut blemished the musclehead's shoulder. Tiny shrouds of black fissures floated around its opening.

Medusa's mouth twisted into a V-shaped grin. "I see you managed to land a scratch on her. I guess you're not as useless as you look."

Like she was above even chuckling, her grin distorted further. "We're expecting some guests soon. This could help brighten things up."


DEATH CITY, USA


There was a bit of a pattern going on whenever they arrived in a new world. They'd stroll around aimlessly, wind up running into a random Heartless attack, and then end up discovering their new temporary allies through their assistance. Indeed, it looked like the same thing was happening when a pair of boys jumped in during their latest enemy encounter. However, they weren't expecting the meeting to end up so…one sided.

Once the main attraction to the Heartless plunderings, the Keybearer and his crew were left sidelined and away from the action. Their bodies stood still and stiff and they looked on with confusion. Before they had even known it, two boys, one with wild pale blue hair styled to the shape of a ragged star, and one with a prim and proper form that clashed against his half skunked hair, had taken total control of the fight and completely cast them aside. It was a wonder if they were even aware the four were there with how intensely the two were arguing with each other alongside their kicks and swings.

"Hey, find your own Lesshearts!" The wild looking boy screeched while he swung around his chained kusarigama.

"We got here exactly 3.33 seconds ahead of you," the gothic prep responded in between blows from his twin pistols. "How about you be the one to go?"

With most of the Heartless wiped clean, the duo soon began fighting over the sorry scraps who were left defenseless from their concentrated might. Finally, with one single Shadow left, they rushed forward with a simultaneous hit. As their weapons landed and the monster met its end, the boys came crashing right into each other. They writhed on to the ground and dropped their weapons to make way for their pained faces.

"What's the big idea?!" The toned star kid shouted. His voice was almost more booming than Loudred's. "We got here first!"

"Did you even hear me?" The other one sneered. "3.33 seconds. 3.33 seconds."

Their animosity fueled their recovery. The two boys got up and marched up face-to-face, poking and prodding one another in a fight of dominance alongside their shouting match. And if these two weren't enough, they apparently weren't even alone. Their weapons that were left abandoned on the ground had suddenly begun to glow and morph. The kusarigama was now a tall and meek teenage girl in ninja-like garb, and the pistols had become a pair of blond fraternal twins, one tall and one short, donning cowgirl hats.

"Black Star," the ninja girl worriedly rushed to her partner's side. "Please, stop. We can work this out."

"Kid," the taller of the twins grumbled as she tried to drag her own teammate away from the insult-off. "Will you just let it go? Come on! Patty, help me out here!"

"Oooh, what's that?"

After spending the battle looking on in silence, Cody, Al, and Loudred jumped at the sight of the shorter twin excitedly snatching Mokona into her arms.

"Da'aw, this thing's adorable," she chirped giddily while she squished the rabbit around like a stuffed animal.

"Heeheehee, that tickles. I don't consent to this," Mokona stated sweetly.

The commotion continued reigning on with the amounts of yells and inappropriately timed giggles increasing by the second. Cody and the Pokemon could only look at one another, unsure if any one of them should step in. Or at the very least, get this strange girl to let go of their friend. The scene had grown so chaotic, no one was alert enough to catch the one Heartless, a jittery mummy called the Wight Night, getting ready to make a sneak attack. One final pair had come in to knock it down while everyone was distracted.

With its claws just inches away from striking, a girl with blond pigtails and a swooping longcoat landed her foot smack on to its head. She jumped off and allowed it to stumble drunkenly before she finished it off with a swing of her enormous scythe.

"That was close," the girl nodded to herself. Or rather to her partner who, like the girls earlier, morphed out of his scythe form and into the body of an albino punk.

The punk quickly turned his attention to the remains of the Heartless he had just slain; the black specks of soot that formed a vague shape of a heart. He opened his mouth wide and chomped down on his game, only for the dying essense to phase out of him and into the sky.

He clicked his tongue, both in frustration and contemplation. "Well they're definitely not souls. The heck are these things?"

"Hey!" The rowdy boy pulled the newcomer into the argument against his will. "We got here first!"

"Two's already a crowd," the calmer of the two boys narrowed his eyes.

The punkish boy blinked. "What? That thing would've sliced you guys up if we didn't take it down."

Whether he wanted to or not, the scythe kid had now joined the fray in their deafening shouting match. The three boys continued to make accusatory comments to one another, the two girls continued to fruitlessly break things up, the one girl continued to threaten to tear Mokona apart through her unwanted hugs, and the rest of our heroes continued to remain quiet and perplexed over the situation.

Do we…? Cody kept thinking to himself. Do we stop them?

His eyes kept mulling over the irksome scene until they finally hit the one other silent standby. The pigtailed girl had locked her eyes on Cody, having noticed him and his friends much sooner than most of her other peers. She exchanged a wry smile and made an apologetic half-bow.

Seeing as how she was the only one of sound mind enough to bring the peace back, the girl took in a deep breath, stepped up to the crowd, and with her right arm stretched up in the air…

"Maka…Chop!"

…She made a clean vertical cut atop her partner's head using the side of her hand and knocked him down to the dirt of the ground. The message was clear to everyone. It was time to shut the heck up.

"If you two paid attention for once," she scolded the last two boys standing. She had both the voice of a leader and of someone who had to deal with enough crap on the regular. "You'd know neither of you got here first." She gestured over to Cody and company who were still standing stunned. "Start apologizing."

The two boys, and the girls who had attempted to stop them, looked over to the gang, and their faces whitened in embarrassment. They had been so caught up in their own problems, this was the first time any one of them had laid eyes on the four.

The preppy looking boy coughed, spewing out both spit and sweat. "Our apologies. We got distracted. Uh…"

"Cody," he responded, still weary and uncertain about the eccentric group. "And they're Loudred and Alakazam…" The two made slow and awkward waves. "And, uh, your friend over there is smothering Mokona to death."

"Hahahahahaha, I can see the light!" The girl's squeezing and cooing had escalated to the point that the poor creature was stretching outwardly within her embrace.

"So so so so CUTE!" The blonde menace squealed. "I could just cuddle you all da—" Her twin sister angrily pulled her away, and Mokona flopped mercifully to the ground like a deflated balloon.

"It's nice to meet you all," the pigtailed girl said with a strained smile, very certain they were already off to an awful start. "I'm Maka. The twins are Liz and Patty…"

"'Sup."

"Hey-ho!"

"...She's Tsubaki..."

"Sorry about the commotion."

"...And these three bozos…"

Maka glared back over to the trio who had found their new distraction through the punk boy's agonizing attempts to get back on his feet. The wild looking one kept shouting motivational quotes like an overbearing coach while the prep bent down curiously to get a better look at his friend's struggle. Neither were actually helping him.

"...Are Soul, Black Star, and Kid."

"Did you really have to hit that hard?" Soul grunted angrily, having finally lifted himself back up. "Like hell I was as bad as them."

"Yeah you were!" Black Star pointed accusingly. "You stole my kill!"

"We settled it already. We stole all of their kills," Kid responded flatly.

"They get a little carried away sometimes," Tsubaki spoke with a kind voice, but still had the look of someone begging for forgiveness. "Please don't hold it against them."

"If you don't, I will," Liz butted in, having already lost her patience with the three over the matter.

"Now, now," Maka calmed the taller girl down. "It's over and done with. I think it might be a good time for us to take a break and report in." She turned back to Cody and company. "You coming?"

Huh? His already frozen body stiffened further. Cody's eyes slowly drifted towards his friends, hoping they'd have a better assessment of the situation than he did. Unfortunately, it seemed the two Pokemon had the exact same plan, having shifted their gazes towards him within the same rhythm. Without moving another muscle, their stone cold stares gave off a collective shrug. As rowdy as they were, they seemed like perfectly fine folks. If anything, their overeagerness to fight Heartless could make their job a lot easier.

"Uh, yeah, sure," Cody finally gave in.

"Alright," Maka turned back again and began inspecting the area. She peered around, driving the Keyblade Gang's confusion and curiosity further. Finally, her eyes locked on to a lone storefront across the road. She skipped on over to the woefully neglected window display, laid a finger on the filthy glass, and began to recite. "42-42-564 Whenever you want to knock on Death's door."

Cody bated his breath in anticipation. The glass pane began vibrating like a pool of waves. Something was coming.

"...Hellooo? Who might this be?"

A voice? A rather sing-songy one too. Even sage-like.

"Sir, this is Maka Albarn," she responded promptly. "Soul and I and a couple of other students wanted to report in with updated Heartless counts."

"Oh, yes, yes," the voice said in high spirits. "Well if it's a whole group with you, why not make that report in person?"

Suddenly, a puff of smoke erupted from next to the window pane. What was once a simple shop entrance had now transformed into a more intricate and flamboyant design. The new door boasted architecture that was much too bold and cartoonish for its gothic origins. To place a cherry on top, a crude stylized skull endorned the header, making the entire thing feel like the entrance to a cheesy carnival attraction. When the door clicked open on its own, it revealed an empty void just beyond alongside a strange air of uncertainty. Cody couldn't place his finger on it, but something about the other side felt off. Not quite sinister, but bizarre and foreboding.

Maka and the others casually walked right in without a second thought. Meanwhile, Cody, Loudred, Al, and Mokona all gave each other another round of reluctant glances. It wasn't just Cody. All of them had felt weird warning signs when the door creaked open. Did they make a mistake agreeing to follow? What exactly was beyond there?

"I bet if we walk in, we'll come out dead," Mokona hacked out light coughs in between his dreadfully gleeful response. His voice was still feeling the effects of Patty's soul crushing might.

"D-don't joke about that," Al scolded him.

Loudred turned to Cody. "Should we?"

Do we have a choice?

Well, they did. They could just leave, but that'd be rude.

The four made their way in, each bracing themselves for the worst. With every step they took, that feeling of dread and discomfort just kept creeping in. They held their breaths, preparing themselves for whatever damnation was up ahead. What was so ominous up ahead that they could feel its daunting essence even before the door?

A single lurch past the door frame brought them into a strange new place. Crosses covered the endless desert grounds and the bright blue sky above them was imbued with the strange clashing of windows that connected to nothing. And all the while, that anxious feeling the four had did not relent. In fact, they now had the sense that they had reached the nest of something grim and beyond comprehension.

"My my, this is quite a crowd," the sing-songy voice from earlier said.

"Lord Death!" A few of the Death City kids greeted him back.

…Wait.

That sing-songy voice came from…

…From the hulking figure that rivaled a skyscraper…

…Draped in black with a massive skull mask shielding its face…

…"Lord Death".

They were in the face of death itself.

Cody and the others could feel all color drain from their faces. This was a mistake. This was a huge mistake.

"You're all here to report on your updated patrol numbers, yes? How about we start with you two?" He pointed his almost comically blocky hand down to Maka and Soul.

Against her own sense of promptness, Maka's head slumped to the side with her eyes lowered to the floor. "Well…"

"Yeah, uh," Soul scratched the back of his head. "Sorry. We got, like, 20."

"Ha!" Black Star's voice rang high and mighty across the wearily tried to shush him up but to no avail. "I could've taken out that much in my sleep."

"Yeah, well, who asked you?!" Soul shouted back. "These things are weird. Can't swallow 'em up or anything. We just need some more time to figure them out, that's all." He looked bitterly away from the rest.

"I'm sorry," Maka sighed as she took an apologetic bow. "This is my fault. We'll catch up."

"There's no need to fret," Lord Death responded kindly. "This assignment is a group effort. Taking down any at all is a great help." He looked towards the others. "Anyone else?"

"A perfectly symmetrical 88," Death the Kid went next, nodding with a slight self satisfactory grin.

Both Maka and Soul reacted to the number in shock; Maka with a defeated gag and Soul with a crackling cough.

"That's what happens when we're two-in-one," Patty hummed boastfully. Her sister, Liz, didn't even bother hiding the cockiness of their accomplishment.

"Oh yeah?!" Black Star rudely stomped his way into the trio's face, looking to personally clash against his friends' triumph. "Well, we got over 200!"

"Black Star," Tsubaki sighed. "Half of those were another student's escaped science project, not Heartless."

"100 then! Got that goal post, hook, line, and sinker!" The booming youth began throwing his arms around in celebration.

"Actually, you need to take down 500 for the credit to count."

"Wh-since when?! It was 100 just yesterday!"

"There are a lot more Heartless in town than I originally anticipated, so I thought it was necessary to rescale."

While the actual manifestation of death continued chatting casually with the other world residents, Cody, eyes still wide open in fright, quietly leaned towards companions and whispered, "We gotta get out of here."

The other three rigorously nodded their heads in agreement. They looked just as scared stiff as their pal was.

"There's a lot of them here," Al pointed out. "Think we can sneak out?"

"That door we walked through is still here," Loudred said, trying his damndest to keep his volume in check for once.

"Tip toe, tip toe," Mokona sang softly, already way ahead of the other three and starting on his way out.

Bracing himself with one bottomless breath, Cody carefully turned around to leave, and…

"And what about you four?"

Huh?!

He should've just ran and fled, but his faulty instincts forced him to turn back. The moment he did, he was sure that was it for him. The lord of death was right in front of him, his gargantuan form bent over to show off his massive skull in Cody's immediate direction. The cartoonish features had warped into an eerie and judgemental scowl.

He could practically feel his heart leap out of him. Alongside a blood curdling scream, Cody summoned out his Keyblade. The way he shook and fidgeted, it was all for show. If the massive shinigami planned on actually reaping him, he wouldn't have had a chance against it. It almost made the retaliating stances Maka and the others jumped into look silly. Soul, Tsubaki, and the twins had shifted into their weapon forms at lightning speed while their wielders were roaring and ready to pounce at Cody in a moment's notice. Cody's own teammates were barely even prepared for a throwdown as they were left weighing their choices between helping out their friend or possibly meeting their ends right then and there. Had an actual fight broke out, it probably wouldn't have ended well for our heroes. Luckily, that wasn't Lord Death's goal at all.

"There, there, simmer down everyone." The skull mask's features had softened back to its original innocuous state as Lord Death straightened back up. He continued observing the frightened boy down below, but his goofy voice gave off a much more lax attitude in spite of the foreboding atmosphere that naturally exuded out of him. "Just as I expected. The moment I laid eyes on you, I knew you had to be a Keybearer."

!

Cody lowered the key, his attention now turning towards his friends as they all collectively tried to gauge this new twist. This wasn't the first time they had met a world denizen who was already in the know—this "honor" went to that annoying Mephisto fellow—but this was the literal god of death. There was a good chance he knew more than even they did.

"A Keybearer?" Maka scrunched her face. She carefully lifted Soul up ever so slightly on the off chance that things would sour.

"Ah, yes," Death clapped his foam board hands excitedly. "They've been so inactive, we haven't covered them in our curriculum in ages."

The next thing anyone knew, the motley crew of teens and creatures were tossed into the air, yelping in fright. They plopped down onto desk chairs that had seemingly manifested out of nowhere, and the students who had taken the forms of weapons were forced back into their human states upon impact. Lord Death, meanwhile, had pulled down a theater sized projection screen from God knows where, and whipped out a handy pointer like the good school principal he was.

"Ahem," he cleared his throat. "Where shall we begin?" He waved the pointer around in a flashy manner before tapping it sharp onto the screen. Intricately crafted diagrams of the Keyblade itself were prompted on. "The Keyblade is…"

If you asked Cody what exactly Death covered in this impromptu lesson, he probably couldn't tell you. After having been lectured time and time again by Leon and, well, wielding it, he wasn't here to have information he already knew regurgitated right back at him. There was something nipping at him though. As Death continued switching slide-to-slide, he couldn't help but wonder what exactly was this power that was gifted to him. He was seeing all these hyper detailed illustrations and documents flashing by right in front of him. Where did they come from? If someone as ubiquitous as Death had all this knowledge on the ready, there'd have to be more than what he already knew.

"And here are the Keybearers…"

His eyes widened. The presentation flashed over to an illustration of not one but an entire group of Keyblade wielders.

Who?

"Their duties are to keep peace and normalcy between each world. They make sure that everything is where it should be. You can consider them 'zone cops' if you will."

The projector clicked off.

"Did you all take notes? This is a special lecture, so none of this will appear on a quiz. I hope you were all able to learn something new today. Now then…

"...To the Keybearer and associates, please take your leave. Now."

Cody blinked and shook his head at the sudden shift. "Wait, what?"

The desk seats he and his friends had been situated on were poofed straight out of existence, forcing the four to land flat on their asses.

"Hey, what was that for?" Al remarked angrily.

"Yeah, if you know all that, then you have to know we've got a good reason for being here," Loudred added.

"While that is true, that doesn't mean your services are wanted," Lord Death continued to speak with a polite and dignified tone, but it was clear he wanted to shuffle them off as quickly as possible. "Keybearers protect peace in theory, but I've seen enough of their antics to know they only bring misfortune. We appreciate your offer, but you won't be needed here."

"Won't be needed?" Cody was flabbergasted. "Your town's overrun by Heartless, right? More than you predicted? I can take them out for you."

"Hearts are similar to souls, no? My students should suffice in that case."

They were seriously taking his job?!

Lord Death had begun politely gesturing nudges towards the exit. Left aghast and a bit offended, the Keyblade Crew could only long amongst one another in shock. At this point, what was there for them to even do? It was the embodiment of death itself shooing them out. They weren't going to just not leave. They trudged out of the realm in a silent single file without a clue of how to move on from this.

With the four newcomers vacated, the DWMA students were left to mull over their sudden class session. "Are you sure that was the right decision, sir?" Maka carefully craned her head upward. She and the others had the same sentiment. "They didn't seem like bad people."

"Oh, I'm sure they weren't. The nature of the Keyblade means they couldn't have been by nature. But, you know." The god raised his hands in a shrug. "Better safe than sorry."

"That's a lame excuse," Soul muttered.

He and Maka looked at one another with knowing looks. When the Heartless suddenly arrived one day, the school tried its best to play it off as normal. They had lesson plans forcefully crammed into the syllabus, and when the call came, the staff were practically begging the student body to assist in exterminating them. There was something much larger at play here, and they were going to need this so-called Keybearer to help.

"Well," Maka turned back to face Death and offered a polite bow with the others following suit. "We're going to head back out now."

"Yeah, those No-Heart things aren't gonna kill themselves," Black Star belted out excitedly.

"Very well," their headmaster replied. "Do report back whenever you have the time. And be sure to stay safe."

The living weapons and their meisters exited in quick succession, and soon, Lord Death was left with no one else but his own thoughts. He wasn't stupid. He saw the look on Maka and Soul's faces. They were surely rendezvousing with those outsiders right this second. But still, he knew there was nothing that could sway them.

The Keybearers were the chosen warriors of light, yet suddenly one day, they had seemingly died off from their own undoing. So obsessed with the light that darkness had come through. He knew these tales all too well. Personally, he always felt they were an arrogant bunch. Who's to say one was a stronger arbiter of light than anyone else? Forget light; they were chosen warriors of self righteousness. He remembered their fall from grace and the calamity that came with it. When he met the new generations that sprouted after, he could only look at them in pity. Bound by their titles, they were living tyke bombs, ready to contradict their own ideals for the sake of "light".

Cody was the first Keybearer he had seen in almost an entire human lifetime. He may have seemed harmless at a glance, but who knew what kind of worthless "hero" lay underneath. This is why his academy existed. His world didn't need any outsiders for protection. All the countless pupils his institution trained would do the deed just fine. They could fix this all in no time, and the lad can be passed off to wherever like he was never here at all.

After all, the Keyblade invited nothing but trouble. He could only hope his students would figure it out sooner than later.


"So, uh," Loudred was the first to break the silence after the four had wordlessly exited Death's domain. "Do we just leave?"

"Of course not," Al and Cody responded in sync.

"We've still gotta look for signs of the king."

"And I'm not just gonna let…Death itself stop me in my tracks." He tried to sound proud and commanding, but everyone could feel his shivers at the very thought of it all.

"If he finds out we're still here, do you think he'll throw us in hell?" Mokona sounded way too proud of himself over that observation.

"Damn, you really aren't from around here."

"I don't blame you for thinking that way, but he's not a bad guy."

The four looked over in surprise. Despite positioning themselves almost as Death's lapdogs back there, Maka, Soul, and the rest had followed them with no ill will intact.

"I've gotta apologize for how my father treated you back there," Death the Kid said, coughing and eyes looking to the side like he was almost embarrassed at his dad's behavior. "He can be old fashioned sometimes. Albeit, that was a lot harsher than he normally is."

"Awww," Patty had suddenly jumped beside the group. Cody reflexively slung out his Keyblade, and Mokona, still traumatized by the girl's lethal hugs, was sent into a panic. "You look too derpy to be bad people." She crouched down and began poking the Keyblade without a care in the world. Mokona, meanwhile, sent silent prayers for her to stay away from him. "So this is the key thingy, huh?"

"Hey, hey," Cody quickly pulled it away before she could accidentally hurt herself. "Don't just go touching it like that."

"So," Liz had taken a cue from her sister and walked over to eye the thing. "This is like a 'weapon-weapon', right? Not like us?"

"Thankfully no," Al replied. "Already got too many loudmouths in this group. Don't need another."

"Uh huh…"

Liz stepped away and continued gleaning over it in curiosity. And the others in her group did as well. None of them had ever heard of this thing before, and suddenly they were plopped down with the knowledge that this thing was some kind of ultimate world saving weapon. No one could blame them all for looking at it with cautious awe.

"Uuuuurrrrghh, what's with all this standing around?!" Black Star erupted, flailing his arms around. "We've got Heartlessers to take down! Let's go!"

Finishing off his exclamation with the tenacity of a siren, the rowdy boy leaped hurdles towards the distance, leaving everyone else to gag from the dust clouds he left behind.

"B-black Star, wait up!" Tsubaki was the first to run after him. Followed by Death the Kid who made antagonizing remarks claiming he'd be the one to take the rest of the Heartless down. And lastly by the twins who really had no choice but to tag along. In the end, the Keyblade crew was left taken aback yet again by their energy, and Soul and Maka were the only ones left to keep them company.

"They, uh, sure are into this," Cody blinked.

"They've got no choice," Soul let out a gruff snicker.

"The school's been offering extra credit to students who help with clearing out the Heartless," Maka explained. "And, well, save for Tsubaki, they're all borderline flunking."

"Uh huh."

"And what about you two?" Loudred was eager to strike up a friendly conversation.

"Soul's grades could be better, but we're good," Maka giggled, earning an annoyed grunt from her partner.

"She and I were both wondering about those things." Soul and Maka switched over to serious expressions. "They say they're basically the same as souls, but they clearly aren't. They just all popped up one day, and there's something fishy about it."

"The faculty's been really snippy about telling anyone what or why these things are here," Maka added. "That little lecture back there was the first useful bit of info we've heard."

"So unlike your friends, you two are actually serious about getting rid of them all," Al concluded.

The two nodded with determined eyes. "You guys seem like our only real key to figuring things out," said Soul.

After being told off by Death himself, the faith the two of them had was a welcome change. Maka and Soul were welcomed into the team without any hesitation. With both parties still uncertain of what lay ahead in this world, they continued trekking through the spiraling streets of Death City without any clue of the impending doom that a certain witch was already setting in motion right under their eyes.


I didn't bother rereading or rewatching a single bit of Soul Eater, and it probably shows.