The Soul of a Hero

Chapter 3

This time the character is someone that is quite different. I'm going with Okubo's point that there aren't that many African descent characters in manga and adding my own. And you'll see where that goes here. This might be a bit shorter because of the backstories of the characters involved, but I think it would be a good third for the team. So on with the show.

(No POV)

As the young woman walked on towards Accra, she drank from the canteen she had gotten in one of the towns. The girl was wearing a western style skirt and a sailor uniform top under the cloak she was wearing to keep the heat at bay and cover he clothes. Her uniform wasn't unusual given it was from the DWMA, but some were giving her strange looks.

But that wasn't what was important to her. Right now, she had to find someone important to her. Her weapon partner, Kpinga Adofo. She kept walking until she finally reached the city.

She was exhausted but she couldn't stop now. She followed her perception and could still sense her old friend and partner. Currently living in a house for middle income people of the city. She saw his soul inside and knocked on the door.

The person to answer the door was who she was certain her old partner. His black hair was a bit shorter and not styled, but the wiry and agile build was the same. "Kpinga! It's good to see you." She uttered out first.

There was just one problem. Her old partner was looking at her funny when she said that. "Dad!? There's someone here who's asking for you!" the person she thought was Kpinga said. Shocking the girl and making her grey eyes go wide.

That is when another man steps into the entryway. And this one looks more like her partner. But much older and his hair no longer had the golden tips from when he joined the DWMA and wanted to make a change to how he looked.

Confirmed by what he said next. "Johari?!" the man asks with some tears coming to his eyes. This is too much for the exhausted girl and she passes out in the entry to the house. Caught by the strong arms of who was apparently her partner's son.

When Johari comes to, she is lying on a couch in the house. "Welcome back. It's been a long time my old friend." Johari hears beside her. Sitting in a chair is the person she had been searching for. Walking across the plains for weeks to find her partner and friend.

"What….. happened? How? Why are so much older than me?!" Johari says while trying to sit up. Only to get lightheaded again. "Calm down young lady. You're going to hurt yourself." A soothing voice says with a gentle hand on her shoulder.

Johari looks up and sees a sharp eyed woman with a slight baby bump and a smile directed down at her. Kpinga chuckles before introducing his wife, Naki. His old partner looks between the two before again asking what had happened.

This time and interrupt came from Kpinga's son. Asking who she was. "Johari. Johari Bayana. Kpinga, what's going on? What happened after Star arrived and broke most of us out?" the girl questioned with a slightly panicked look.

Her old partner sighed before saying, "when you helped Star break me and the other weapons out, I pointed him to the two girls who had been taken earlier. I don't know the full details; but given what I'd overheard through the winds in the lab, the witches were planning something big and dangerous. Something Star likely interrupted."

Kpinga explained that whatever it was had blasted them to this world. Where things were much different compared to what they knew. "Quirks are the powers here. Though they are quite strange and random. To be sure. I found that out a bit of the hard way one of the first days after I'd awoken here."

The man told his story of how after the blast he awoken in Ghana and saw a family of strange people. Or rather strange looking people. And then got caught up in a villain attack. Helping who he could before being injured.

"That was actually how we met. In the aftermath of the attack, I was volunteering to help him and others." Naki said with a smile. She had later helped him find a job at the hospital and something blossomed between them. With Kpinga telling her everything eventually. "Honestly compared to some of the strange or crazy quirks in our world, his ability to turn into a weapon isn't too unusual."

Johari still seemed confused. Asking how long ago he had been dropped in this world. "It's been…. A little over twenty five years. I've gotten kinda used to my life here." Johari looked closer at Kpinga's soul and could tell something was off. So, she broached the question to her old friend.

"Can you still transform into a weapon?" Kpinga looked down and slightly sad at this. "No unfortunately. Something the witches did to me. I can't….. This is the best I can do." Kpinga says before turning his hand into a blade. And that looked like it was straining him.

Johari was wide eyed, but that quickly morphed into rage. Saying she'd get back at the witches that crippled him. "You can't do it alone, and you're much better at tracking. That was what we were best at in the academy. You could track a soul for miles, while I could hear the changes and voices on the wind."

The girl disliked what he said, but she couldn't deny it. "Well you might not be able to change anymore dad…. But I can." Kpinga's son said with his head cocked to the side. This makes Johari's eyes shoot open and asks if it was really true.

The boy just smirked before changing into his weapon form. He was a throwing blade just like his father, but of a slightly different form. A mambele knife. He had formed in his father's hand.

Kpinga then showed that his son operated similar to himself. Throwing the boy in the room and he could change direction according to the meister's wavelength and intent. "Mawuli is a little different from me in that he has some other abilities that I don't. But they aren't safe to show indoors."

Naki is the one to catch her son's weapon form and tell the boy to change back. Doing so and still having the same smirk on his face. Johari hums before asking if her old partner minded her staying with them for a time. The married couple share a look and silently agree to let the young meister stay.

Johari started to get accustomed to the world, but still found things like quirks odd. Especially when she took a look with her soul perception. And saw the odd forms of many of the souls.

Let alone the strange version of heroes that were a part of this world. Though she did appreciate their dedication to protecting lives rather than taking them all the time. Contrary to what the DWMA did. But she could also see that quite a few of them were inefficient on how they went about fighting monsters or other quirked beings.

"I wonder how many of these villains would be judged by Lord Death?" Johari thought aloud one day while helping with shopping. Naki hummed and said she wouldn't know. "You've actually talked with him yourself. I haven't. But from what you and Kpinga have told me, I don't think he'd judge them all as needing to die. Just maybe the ones who kill without reason."

The meister nodded while wondering if she could even get in contact with the Death Room. She had tried a few times, but it often came back as static. Though that wasn't the only thing Johari was contemplating and considering on the walk back.

While Johari had little trouble adapting to a more restrained training, there were other issues. Namely that she and Mawuli were having issues syncing up. More than once the girl cut herself or was hurt trying to hold the boy's weapon form.

Mawuli meanwhile always felt weird when Johari tried to hold or wield him. It wasn't the same kind of feeling when he first learned about his abilities. And it was nothing like when his father or mother would hold him.

"I don't get it. I thought it would be similar to when we resonated. But it feels completely different." Johari said to Kpinga after a session. The older man hummed a bit before saying that it might be the issue. "You're used to me, and we were tracking/hunting team. My son though…. You know what it might be better to show you."

Kpinga calls Mawuli and they head outside of the city. Once they were a decent distance from prying eyes, Kpinga told his son he could go all out here. This gets a big smile on Mawuli's face as he transforms and it is practically reflected on his weapon form.

"As you know, we both could change into throwing blades. And we can both change with the direction and be pulled back with a thread attached to our meister. However, our special powers are where we differ." Kpinga demonstrated this when he threw the mambele as hard as he could.

At first it seemed no different from what Johari was used to with Kpinga. That was until the blade impacted on a tree. It didn't just slice through the tree, but destroyed a sizable portion of it.

Kpinga then directed the blade upwards before directing his son to spin in place for a while. When he would do this, it would send out waves of wind that would let him hear things for long distances around him. Making him a perfect partner for Johari's soul perception.

But for his son, instead of wind that carried sound the wind he created seemed to launch blades from it. Making Johari's eye's widen at the destruction involved. And when Kpinga called his son back, he threw the knife again. And instead of one knife flying through the air, there seemed to be five knives flying toward the targeted bushes. Clearing them away with a blast of wind.

"Ohhh….kay… Didn't see that coming. So he's got more destructive potential compared to your more subdued or tracking based powers?" Johari questioned after shaking off the shock. Kpinga nodded and explained that their essence of manipulating the wind was the same.

"But our function is clearly different. And you have to learn how to wield that. If you want Mawuli to be your new partner." Johari opens her mouth to initially agree. But then she closes it and seems to be thinking the matter over more.

She turns her back toward her old partner and his son before saying she needed to think things over. Mawuli though seemed indignant about why she didn't want to work with him. "What's there to think about?! Do you-"

"Easy son. This is a bit of a shift from what we were originally doing at the Academy. Aside from us being trackers, Johari wasn't that interested in the general mission of the meisters. She preferred just tracking targets and observing people. Just give her time." Kpinga said to placate his son.

With Johari though she was a bit conflicted on what to do. Before she had been a tracker and observer for the DWMA. Working and training with the DWMA's Central Intelligence Agency, and the head Sid Barrett.

'While I knew I'd need to kill eventually, I didn't want to destroy or break anything along the way.' Johari though while sitting on a bench. She was currently doing one of her favorite things; people watching.

She always just like watching people going about their lives and day to day events. Sometimes getting a chuckle at the failings and goofy actions of some. Like a woman getting the wrong gift for her girlfriend and trying to apologize to her.

Or a man carrying multiple boxes and using his foot to try and hold a door open for a bunch of people. Even just a kid happily eating a snack with his parents brought a smile to Johari's face. 'These are the things I wanted to protect. And I didn't want to risk destroying their lives with my powers. Which might happen if I use Mawuli.'

Johari mulls over things in her mind a bit more before hearing the screams of people down the street. A villain was rushing toward her, riding a wave of earth beneath himself. While he was making the wave he was stealing whatever he could grab with earthen hands.

But it was causing more effects like shaking the buildings. Making a few of them crumble and start to collapse. Including one about to drop on the child and his parents. Johari grits her teeth before using her soul to enhance herself.

She blasted forward and grabbed the child and his mother. Aided by the father pushing his family away from the falling debris. Johari got them away from the other falling buildings, while the father was partially crushed by the debris.

Some of the others around had been hurt or killed thanks to the earth moving villain. The friendly man used his own body to protect and older woman and her granddaughter. While the woman who made a minor fool of herself had an arm crushed after saving her girlfriend.

After seeing the destruction around her caused by a quirk and hearing the laughter of the villain as he continued on, Johari was shocked and enraged. But not enough to miss that some needed help. Using the power from her soul, she lifted up part of the debris trapping the man so his family could pull him out.

He would likely lose a limb, but he was alive. Some heroes went after him, but they were quickly distracted by the man making other buildings collapse, so the heroes had to focus on rescues or protecting people.

After helping the first civilian, Johari went about helping however she could around the damaged city. Using the power of her soul to lift away debris and get out those who were trapped. As well as finding people who were trapped under debris.

This confused quite a few heroes, but they weren't complaining about the extra help. With Naki quickly directing the medical response members and the heroes to treat the injured. But by the end of the day, many people had lost their lives. And even more on the outskirts of the city lost their homes and families.

As Johari looked on into one of the tents and could see the number of body bags, she tightened her fist. Kpinga put a hand on her shoulder to try and comfort his former partner. He mentioned that he'd seen this a few times in the quarter century he lived in this world.

"Some of this is what we fought as members of the DWMA. But here they didn't have anyone keeping an eye on those who would be dangerous. And they don't always have an efficient or effective way to stop them." Kpinga says sadly. Remembering Naki's brother who supported the two as they grew older and closer. But was killed by a different villain.

Johari sighs before saying, "so it falls to those who can or are able to take them down. And to make sure they can't do this again." Kpinga nods while noting that he heard the man gloating about all the destruction he caused and lives he'd taken during his flight from the city. This just infuriated Johari more and helped to harden her resolve.

She catches Mawuli as he is helping move items around the refugee camp. "Hey what are you…" Mawuli starts with before his eyes widen. He can see the angry determination in her eyes. And can guess what she's going to say next.

He nods and then changes into his weapon form. It smarts a bit when Johari holds the blade in her hand, but nothing compared to what happened when they initially tried to work together. She took a breath and worked to resonate with her new partner.

It took a few more seconds, but she could properly put her power into the weapon. And Mawuli could amplify her own powers. Letting Johari's soul perception track the villain as well as when she worked with his father.

The villain was hiding in some ruins two miles out of Accra. And from what her perception could tell, he was laughing and enjoying all of the spoils he took from the city. Angering Johari and Mawuli as he could pick up on a bit of this as well.

Johari takes a breath before asking if Mawuli was ready. "Yeah. Since dad told me about what I could do, I'd been thinking I could be a hero with it. But I needed someone else to do just that. And while you weren't what I was expecting, I'm glad my first real partner is you."

The meister smiles a bit before saying he was more like his father than he may know. "That was really similar to what he said to me when we first teamed up. Let's do this." Johari then starts off out of the city and towards the villain she was tracking.

It took her about two hours of jogging and running to get to her destination, but she wasn't tired thanks to resonating all the while with Mawuli. When they got closer to the ruined buildings, she could hear the villain laughing. Boasting about how he ripped up the city.

"Just like I did to this old place. That was fun when I brought that big wave of rock on top of this little town." Johari's eyes are wide before gritting her teeth in anger. Mawuli then informs her that this guy had evaded authorities for over a decade.

Noting that, "he always does the same thing. Causes destruction elsewhere with his power and uses it to get away. He doesn't burrow, but I think a report on his power said that he could only move normal dirt. He uses that to rip up asphalt and get more dirt to manipulate."

Johari agrees before taking a closer look at his soul. She couldn't see memories or intents, but she picked up on something odd. 'No going underground. Never digging again? Wait…. Is he claustrophobic?' the meister thinks before commenting that it was ironic.

But it is then that she notices him lashing out at a sound nearby. Creating a fist of earth that crushes an aardvark. "Twitchy and slightly paranoid. Good thing I was trained as a stealth agent." Johari says with a smirk and flash of her grey eyes.

The villain thinks that there is something else out there as the pair make their way towards his hideout. So, he uses his dirt to make a group of hands to defend himself. These get cut down though as Johari chucked Muwali into the ruined building. And the boy uses his wind manipulation to create extra knives as he flies by.

This occurs twice more with the villain barely registering some of what was happening around him. Johari meanwhile was reciting the assassin's rules in her head while working toward the criminal. Even though she'd only usually used the first two.

'Assassin's rule #1: Blend into the shadows. Control your breathing. And wait for your target to let his guard down. Assassin's rule #2: Tune in to your targets. Predict his thoughts and actions.' Johari was following these two perfectly as she was messing with the villain and making more dirt fall from the hands he created.

He didn't even notice that there was a lot of loose dirt piling up around him. He finally noticed when the dirt reached his knees. And he started to freak out a bit. 'Now!' Johari signaled to Muwali after tossing him again.

But this time it wasn't to break the tendrils. Instead, Muwali used his wind to pick up the loose dirt and drop it all on top of the villain. Not actually burying him but making the illusion that he was being buried.

The villain screamed and the blasted all of the dirt off of and away from him for quite a distance. Johari lets out one last silent calming breath before reciting the last rule in her mind. 'Assassin's rule #3: Strike your target before he notices you.'

She then bolts from behind some crumbled foundation and is on the villain before he can even react. Cleaving the villain in half with one of the more sickle like sections of the mambele. After putting more of her wavelength into it to make it grow a bit.

Before the villain's body hits the ground, it reformats and turns into the soul. Muwali turns back into a human before picking up the soul. He hummed before trying something his father had mentioned a weapon doing before. He opened his mouth and ate the soul itself.

"Huh. Thought that was just going to be the last Death Scythe's thing. Guess you're doing too?" Johari asks before calling the authorities on where the stolen items were. Muwali just shrugs and said he was curious. "It doesn't have a taste…. But it does have a nice texture going down."

Johari shrugs before saying they needed to head back. They avoid the police and authorities by using Johari's soul perception. And when they make it home, both parents are glad to see that they are okay. And Muwali happily reports that they collected their first soul.

About two weeks later, Johari comes across the hero reports from Japan. And the statements of the sidekick that Izuku saved. She hums a moment before testing out trying to contact the Death Room. And eventually getting a signal.

When she reports to Lord Death, Kpinga is happy to see the god as well. Though all are shocked at how old the former student of the academy was. Let alone that he had a son that could turn into a weapon.

"Very interesting Mr. Adofo. I looked up the person you two described, and that man was indeed on my list. Truly a despicable person." Lord Death said before filling in some of the details. About Jon Star and Guan Ming also being in that world. And them training a new meister that could wield a pair of weapons.

While also talking about the details of Eldora and Melissa on I Island. "So he did get to those girls. Good. I didn't want what happened to me to happen to them." Kpinga says before explaining that he couldn't transform anymore.

Hearing this, and what happened to a few other weapons makes Lord Death furious at a few people. One of them being himself. He stands before bowing to Kpinga and apologizing. "If we had only sent agents in sooner. You and the others might have"-

"I don't blame you. I may be a bit cynical about it, but it isn't your fault. The fault lies in the witches and their wish to sow chaos." Kpinga says. He then notes that he was happy now. With his wife, son, and another child on the way. "My battle and spy days are done. It might be best to leave it to my son and others."

Lord Death nods before thanking the retired weapon. He thinks for a moment before suggesting that Johari and Muwali should go to Japan. "It's where Jon and Ming are as well as their own meister student and the weapons of Henry and Chimamire. And there may be two more there before long."

The two younger members share a look before Muwali asked his parents if they were okay with it. "This is more up to you son. You have to choose." Kpinga says with a nod. Naki agrees and wants to hear what Muwali thinks.

Muwali looks up to the ceiling and smiles. "This is the chance to do what I'm supposed to as a weapon. And to have a team to work with sound really fun. So, I'm in." Johari smiles before thanking her new partner.

The two go to pack while Kpinga explains a few other things to Lord Death. "So you were dropped into that world over 20 years ago? Then we probably wouldn't have put out a signal or received one at that time. Let alone not been searching for it. I'm so sorry."

Kpinga shakes his head before repeating that it was fine. But he did worry about others from their old world that could be warped to this world at different times and places. "Who knows how many are out there. I was one of a few that got caught up in the blast. There could be dozens of other meisters and weapons out there."

"I agree. Hopefully Star can trust his student with more responsibilities soon. He could then go searching for the others that might have been lost." Lord Death says with a hum. Kpinga agrees and hopes that the successor to the War God is as good of a detective as he is a warrior.

This gets a few chuckles from those talking. Naki though questions if they could trust this War God. "For the most part yes. He might not be comfortable with or around my old partner. But he'll deal with it and get the job done." Kpinga jokes as the signal starts to fade.

Lord Death has a minor request for the former weapon since he was retired. "If you still have the ability to listen to the winds and voices with your soul, could you try and find anyone close to your area that might be weapon or meister?"

Kpinga thinks on it for a bit but asks Lord Death if he could have more time. The Reaper agrees as the window fades out. Naki turns to the room they leant Johari. She called the woman over to ask for some help with something.

When it was time for dinner, that Kpinga cooked, the two men in the house were surprised by Johari's new look. Gone were her long thick braids. Her hair was much shorter, barely coming to her shoulders. And it was looked like she had thought about coloring it at the tips but stopped.

"Figured… a new partner. A new look. What do you think?" (If you need an image to compare to, think about how Kilik looks in the Lust chapter of the Book of Eibon) Johari says with a blush. Both say she looks good before saying it was time to eat.

A few days later, the two were ready to head for Japan. And to hopefully meet up with Jon D. Star and the other meisters. Especially after Melissa and El were planning to go to Japan as well. With Melissa rationalizing that they could only do so much to train and learn at I Island.

"So that is what to expect in the coming days. We're hoping you could help with working out the kinks in their teamwork and capabilities." Lord Death said to Jon a few days before the meisters and weapons were set to arrive.

And you could just see the annoyance etched all over the warrior's face. At least until he covered it by his hand. "Two more meisters and weapons. I'm not exactly in the best place to receive or really work on training them sir. Ming and I are barely making ends meet since we can't get DWMA support."

"I understand. But luckily the new weapon and meister have some funds from their families to help with necessities. That and Melissa isn't planning to stay with you but with her uncle." This eases some of Jon's worry, but he has to cut the call with Lord Death short.

Ming was talking with Izuku over the phone and the boy was in a bit of trouble. "Yeah, uh…. A couple of heroes saw me kill a target and now they're after me! I gotta call you back!" Izuku said before hanging up.

Ming relays this to Jon and he grunts before saying they need to get him. His partner nods before transforming into her guandao form. "Hold on kid. We're on our way." Jon thinks aloud before flying in the direction he could see his soul wavelength.

But he's more unsettled by a strange new soul heading towards Izuku and the other misshapen hero souls. The soul mostly looked human. Completely normal for the most part. But there was something odd about it. It seemed to have at least seven other souls around it.

So that's a bit of the introduction of the main team of weapons and meisters. As well as their teacher and what they'll have to do on their missions from the DWMA. Next chapter though will be a bit more of a battle one. Please review!