Hello guys! How are you all? Personally, I'm a bit excited as I'm about here to deliver you all with a new fic which is a mix between the universes of Soul Eater and Kamen Rider Kiva.
To be perfectly honest, I'm not the one who came up with this idea in the first place. It was someone that contacted me on this website and that wish to stay anonymous and we spent a lot of time working on it and we've reached a point where we're both pretty happy with it.
One last thing, about my publication rhythm. I don't want to have a precise schedule as it would make it feel like a chore or something like that. Besides, I have a lot of chapters in advance, but I won't publish them all at once, I'll publish one when I've been finished with writing the last one. Just know that I'll try my best to post more a new chapter about every month, this will give me time to write the future chapter and work on some other things.
Anyway, I hope you'll like it so, Enjoy!
Chapter 1: Darkness Returns
Night had fallen on the city of London, England.
The streets were empty, lined up with buildings of all sizes with all the same kind of Victorian architecture, and with the moonlight, the place felt like it was straight out of a thriller movie where you could find yourself face to face with a serial killer. Besides that, it would have been a pretty normal getup if it wasn't for two things:
The first one was the moon, which was crescent-shaped...but was also smiling. Literally: the moon had a wide toothy grin with blood pouring out of its smile, a pointy nose, and two big eyes, looking down on the world as if it was laughing at it.
The second thing was that the streets wasn't as empty as they should be and the feeling that there might be a killer lurking around the corner wasn't that farfetched.
Two people were standing face to face, one standing on the roof of a house at the end of an alley, the other half crouching on the other side of said alley. The one on the roof was a girl who looked like she was about 14, a large scythe resting on her shoulder. She had taupe hair held in two pigtails and she was wearing a pair of white gloves and a black trench coat with a black chocker with a silver bat on it around her neck.
"Murderer 'Jack the Ripper'...I'm here for your soul." Announced the girl, the scythe making a slurping noise as she looked down with clear green eyes at who, or maybe what was once a human because the one named Jack the Ripper could hardly be called human anymore. His body was elongated with disproportionately long and skinny arms and legs with a profound pot-belly. His position, head close to the ground, was reminiscing of a predator about to pounce. His grey skin, white mask stitched to his face, and hands who were nothing more than long sharps blades added to his inhuman look, but he didn't seem bothered by it.
"Soul Eater…he's a human." The girl in the coat said lowly to someone, with the answer coming from…her scythe.
"Yup, Maka. And I'm a scythe." Was the sarcastic answer of the weapon in her hands, a face appearing from within the blade. "Normally with a human shape, but the form isn't what matters. It's the soul!"
As soon as the blade stated that, Jack leaped at the girl, claws at the ready, aiming to skewer the girl named Maka. But the sight of that horrible creature coming for her didn't make her flinch even a bit, as if she was used to this kind of thing.
"Let's go, Soul Eater!" Maka exclaimed as she began to swing her scythe around, handling it with great experience with the display. "This makes human soul N° 99!"
In an instant, she had jumped from her position on the roof and had sliced the monster clear in half, her scythe almost shining in the moonlight, with the moon itself looking like the death of that monster was the funniest thing it had ever seen.
The first thing one would expect when someone is cut in half like that by a scythe, it would be for blood to splatter all over the place, painting the surrounding walls in red as the organs fell around, scattering on the pavement. But it didn't happen.
Instead, Jack's body was completely consumed by black and disappeared in some kind of flash, leaving behind him a red orb with some dark red scales on it and a purple core in the center, which was promptly grabbed by an arm coming from within the scythe's blade itself, which began transforming into a human-looking boy.
This boy had white hair swept to the side that complemented his red eyes, with his currently open maw showcasing shark-like teeth. He was wearing a yellow and black jacket, a sweatband around his head with the name "'Soul Eater" on it, a pair of maroon pants and yellow and black sneakers.
With drool coming out of his mouth as he looked at the orb, Soul promptly devoured the soul in his hand, gulping it down in a few bites.
"Thanks for the meal." Soul said out loud, hands joined as if he prayed to thanks whatever God there was in this strange world for this soul.
"And finally, you got your 99th human soul!" Declared Maka, looking quite proud of herself and her partner.
"Yeah. There's just one left. If I can get my hand on one of those Witch Souls, I'll finally be able to become a Death Scythe!" The simple thought of it was enough to make Soul salivate once again, putting his hands in his pockets while closing his eyes. "Besides, my coolness would go up BIG TIME if I do!" When he said that, he failed to notice the slight uneasiness on Maka's face, who quickly tried to get her anxiousness under control.
"Hm, yeah…cool…" She muttered, shaking her head to calm herself. "Anyway, I have to report the situation to Shinigami-sama."
As she said that, she looked around, looking for something very specific. "Mirror...mirror…ah, there!" She walked up to a mirror that was attached to a wall, breathing on it to create some mist and writing on it with her finger. "Let's see…Shinigami-sama's mirror number is 42-42-564…"
She wrote that number on the mirror while Soul was walking to stand by her side as the number disappeared, ripples appearing on the mirror as the reflection disappeared, replaced by something else. "Ah! Hello, Shinigami-sama? This is Maka Albarn, Scythe Meister, and her partner, Soul Eater Evans."
"Oh! Maka-chan! How are you? What's up?" In the mirror was now showing a strange room, with crosses everywhere, like some sort of cemetery with someone standing in front of it all.
Normally, when someone think of the Death God, they imagine a gruesome being, clad in black, floating above the ground with a large jagged and sickly looking scythe in his skeleton hand. This version, however, looked like it was taken out of a cartoon. He was tall and black, yes, but he wore a 'robe' that made him look like he was a shadow sticking out of the ground, with a pointy 'hat' put on top of his head, or rather mask, looking like a skull with three perfect holes for eyes and nose, his mouth represented by three perfectly symmetrical spikes pointing down.
"We just collected our 99th soul. The only one left is the Witch." Maka informed to her 'boss'.
"Oh-ho! Nice work!" Praised Shinigami, rather impressed. "Maka-chan, you're really a fantastic Scythe Meister, just like your mother."
While Maka was blushing at the compliment, slightly embarrassed but proud, a man who was until now hiding behind Shinigami walked up to the mirror.
"She sure is. And I'm sure she'll become an even greater Meister than Maya was." The man who said that was none other than Shinigami's current Death Scythe and Maka's father, Spirit Albarn. He had medium length red hair, blue eyes and was wearing a black suit blazer, black dress slacks and olive button down shirt. He also wore a tie around his neck that was shaped like a cross, showing thanks to his open vest. He then looked at Soul, a scowl on his face. "That is, if her weapon is up to the task."
"What did you say?!"
Ignoring the seething Soul who was glaring at the Death Scythe, daring him to say anything else, Spirit turned to his daughter, trying to put a sweet smile on his face as she looked at him. "Hey, Maka..."
"H-Hey papa." Replied the daughter, cheeks flaring a little bit, but crossing her arms with a slight scowl. "Thanks for the compliment. Though, I wonder why she's not there with you if you have so much esteem for her."
"Er, c'mon now. Let's leave the family matters alone." Advised Shinigami not paying attention to Spirit who looked down, sadden by his daughter blunt coldness, though he couldn't find it in himself to blame her for it. "If you collect 99 Human Souls and 1 Witch Soul, you can become a Death Scythe…" Maka and Soul nodded, already pumped up, but Shinigami had something else to add. "However, there is another opportunity that you could grab."
"Huh? What do you mean?" Asked Soul, confused while Maka seemed to know where he was getting at…which scared her a bit.
"A few miles away from where you currently are situated, there's a little town bordered by a forest. In this forest reside someone many described as a witch. No one ever saw her face from up close, but many affirmed they saw her in the town almost every night. And according to the citizens, ever since she began to wander around town, every morning they would find someone dead in the middle of an alley. But those weren't your usual dead bodies: these bodies looked like they were made of some sort of glass."
"Fangire!" Suddenly gasped Maka, the three men looking at her in surprise, which made her panic. "I-I-I mean…I've read about them from the history books! They suck life force out of people and leave them all glass-like once they are done!"
"Exactly, Maka-chan!" Confirmed Shinigami, putting an end to Maka's small panic attack. "Which means that there is also a Fangire hiding somewhere near this town. Though to be honest, we think this witch is probably the Fangire in disguise."
"And what does this have to do with me becoming a Death Scythe ?" Asked Soul, an eyebrow raised as he stared at the mirror.
"Well, if I'm talking to you about it, it's because it has been proved, as you might not know, that a Fangire Soul can replace the Witch Soul in the process of making a weapon into a Death Scythe."
"I see." Said Soul in understanding. "You're sending us there to get rid of that Fangire and take his soul. But I thought that the Fangires made sure to stay out of sight ever since their old king was killed?"
"It's true and I have to say that I don't know why this one is attacking civilian directly in a town with the risk of being seen. But that is a question for later. Right now, you should head out. Good luck!"
With that, Shinigami hung up on the two who then began to walk toward their vehicle, their thoughts filled with the upcoming fight. However, while Soul looked ecstatic, Maka seemed quite stressed.
She was so deep in her thoughts that she didn't even see where she was going, to the point of ending up bumping into a bike.
"Ow!" She cried, nursing the tibia which had knocked into the exhaust pot.
"Hey! Wake up, Maka!" Scolded Soul, mounting the orange motorcycle which was his. "Come on, we have to go. Don't worry. Witch or Fangire, defeating it will make us the coolest team in the world!"
Maka nodded, still feeling a little down but trying to keep up, joining Soul on the bike, holding onto him as he turn the bike on and drove away, heading to their next location.
'I like your optimism, Soul. But this might not be as easy as you think.' Thought Maka as her partner drove the bike out of the town and to their next destination. 'After all, I, better than anyone else, know what they can do.'
Maka looked up, not at the moon, but at a small being, flying above the two as they left London - a pair of crimson eyes looking at the traveling duo, following them as out of sight as possible.
As she looked at the flying creature, she slowly began to doze off, remembering off the time when her whole life got turned upside down.
/- Flashback -/
In the middle of the night, the time when everyone was asleep under the light of the moon grinning at the sleeping citizens below.
Nothing moved, except in one house, known as the Albarn house.
In this neat little house in Death City, one beautiful woman who looked like she was barely in her late twenties, was still awake.
This woman wasn't just awake, she wasn't even wearing clothes meant for sleeping. In fact, she was literally on the leave, with a small bag in her hand - black hair hidden behind a black hoodie, as if she was trying to hide herself, which was probably the case.
She was heading to the door but she seemed pained by this action, as if she didn't want to leave. But with the feeling that, she had no choice, she had her mind set and internally readied herself. But...
"Mama?"
She could feel her heart shatter when she heard that sweet little voice coming from behind her.
The woman in the hoodie slowly turned her head and felt herself die a little when she saw the wide-eyed look in her daughter's eyes, standing behind the door that led to her room in yellow nightwear.
"Maka, what are you doing? You should be asleep."
"I heard noises." Timidly explained little Maka, looking up at her mother with big, olive eyes. "Why do you have a bag? Where are you going?"
Maya Albarn was known to be a strong-willed woman, with a resolve and a bravery that many considered to be unmatched. But right now, alone in front of her innocent little girl, she couldn't find it in herself to stay strong for a one second longer.
Putting her bag down, Maya walked up to her daughter, kneeling to be at her eye level. "Oh, Maka. Listen, mama has to leave. She can't stay here anymore."
"Why?! Is it because of me? You…You don't love me anymore?" Maka was on the verge of crying, her tears-filled eyes locked on her mother who couldn't imagine that her daughter could think about such things.
"No! Not at all, I love you with all my heart, honey. I'll always do!" Insisted Maya, taking her face into her hands. "It's just that…a past that I tried to escape from is catching up quickly and I can't stay here anymore…"
"Is it because of all those women papa keeps looking at?" Maka asked sadly, sniffing as she remembered seeing her father fawning over many ladies in the past few weeks.
"No. It was annoying, but it is not the reason." Admitted Maya, though unwilling to tell Maka everything now in order to protect her daughter from the truth of her existence. "I have to go, but this doesn't mean I don't like you anymore. You'll always be my little angel."
"I don't want you to leave!" Sobbed Maka, tears finally falling down her cheeks. "Me and papa be all alone without you!"
Maya simply held her daughter close in her arms, letting her sob on her shoulder as she tried to hold back her own tears, whispering soothing words to her. She felt positively awful at leaving her poor daughter and husband like this, but she had to leave before it was too late.
However, there was something she could leave behind.
Once Maka had calmed down enough, she held her a little away to look at her, brushing the remaining of her tears away.
"Trust me. From the bottom of my heart, I don't want to leave either of you two, but I have to. However, I have something to be sure you don't feel so alone in this world." Maka tilted her head as Maya smiled bitter-sweetly at her before looking up. "Kivat!"
"KIVAT IS HERE!" Suddenly shouted a voice just as youthful as Maka's.
A tiny bat-like creature came out of the shadows, flying up to Maya and a bewildered Maka, who looked at the creature with wide wet eyes. It was yellow with black and white wings, with a little green triangle between his red eyes. It hovered there, looking at Maya. "Yes, Maya-sama? Has the time finally arrive?" The clearly young creature questioned, before turning to the cowering Maka.
"Wha...What is this bat?!" Asked Maka quietly, confused but also amazed by this strange creature.
"This is Kivat the 3rd of the Kivat race and a good friend of mine. And now, he will also be yours." Explained Maya, her daughter looking even more confused from the answer. "As I said, as much as this pains me, I have to leave you and Dad. But Kivat here will look after you." The woman in black then turned to Kivat, who has gone back to looking at her. "Kivat, can I count on you ?"
The Kivat looked at Maya, his eyes slightly squinted as if he was asking her a question, one she visibly understood as she nodded her head, confirming whatever Kivat was thinking, to which he enthusiastically nodded in return.
"Of course, I'll take care of her!" The young Kivat boasted, gesturing to his non-existent chest. He then floated down to Maka, excitedly positioning himself in front of her face. "Hello, Maka, I'm your new best friend, Kivat the 3rd!"
The little girl looked at the bat creature, feeling the kindness and genuine friendliness radiating from him, which helped her feel a bit better. Maka then turned back to her mom, looking at her, still sad, but feeling a bit better.
"W-Will you come back?"
"I…I don't know. I'm going to try, but even if I can't, just remember that I'll never stop thinking of you and that I'll always be right here…" Maya then point at her daughter's heart with her finger. "…In your heart and soul." Maka nodded, feeling a bit more tears coming, snuggling against her mom's chest, hugging her like a lifeline as her mother returned the hug.
They stayed like this a bit more until Maya felt her daughter slumped a bit, showing that the little girl just fell asleep in her arms.
With steps as quiet as possible, Maya lifted her and carried her back to her room, putting her back in her bed. Tucking her in and kissing her daughter's forehead with a few tears running down her face.
"Keep an eye on her, okay, Kivat?"
"Don't worry, I'll stay by her side no matter what!" Swore the bat as he hung himself upside down on the bedhead. "Goodbye, my Queen."
"...Yes. Goodbye Kivat." Maya paused, looking at her daughter. "Goodbye, Maka." She then walked to the door, wiping her tears and failing to hear her daughter's last words before succumbing to sleep.
"Goodbye, mama..."
/- Flashback End -/
Ever since her mother left, she tried to ask her dad for an explanation, a reason, but he didn't say anything. She was sure he knew something and that is the reason why there was this tension between them : his obstinacy to say nothing. She didn't hate her dad, she liked him a lot, but she wanted to know what happened to her mother, why she had to leave, and Spirit refusing to tell her was the reason why there was this slight tension between them from time to time. However, this was not the moment to think of this as she had more important things to think of.
"Maka! HEY MAKA!"
Maka woke up with a jolt, blinking rapidly as she tried to process where she was before finally realizing that she was still on Soul's bike, which had stopped in a little town. She also realized that she was sleeping soundly on her partner's back, even drooling on him in the process.
"I…I'm sorry! Where are we?" She asked while wiping her mouth, trying to hide her embarrassment and failing miserably.
"You really fall asleep anywhere. Anyway, we reached the town where that Fangire is supposed to be hiding." Explained Soul, stretching his legs as he looked around. "We better go and ask the people if they saw that monster."
"Wait a second, Soul!" Stopped Maka, the scythe turning toward her. "Fangires have been hiding for so long people tend to think they simply got extinct. If they learned that they are still out there, they might freak out. We'd be better off asking them about the witch that's supposed to live around here."
Soul nodded, walking side by side with Maka as they began their little investigations, heading to a bar that was still opened despite the hour to gather information.
As they asked people about the witches and the attacks on the town, they learned a lot of pretty useful things: that witch was only seen at night, wearing clothes that people described as shameless (by the women) and sexy (by the men). Also, they learned that the people that got killed and changed into glass were all beautiful young woman, and not just citizens, but also a few tourists and passersby.
When they exited the local bar, they were discussing of a way to lure that monster out when they spotted something that caught their eyes. Something, or rather someone, was moving from roof to roof, a blur that, given the situation, could only be one thing.
"Do you think it's…"
"There's only one way to find out." Answered Maka before Soul could finish his question, both of them expertly climbing onto the roof, running after the blur. "Stop right there!"
"Huh?" Said the blur, a female judging by the voice, noticing that someone was running at her from behind, which made her come to a stop. "Who's there?"
When the person turned around, Soul's got a nosebleed while Maka felt pretty uncomfortable.
The female was in fact a young very alluring woman, with purple medium-length hair with two curled strands framing her face and yellow eyes. And when they saw her clothes, they understood why they were described as shameless and sexy by the inhabitants. Her large breasts were barely contained in a purple robe that showed the side of her breasts, stopping on the upper part of her thigh, along with long thigh high boots and long sleeves that hid her arms, but not her shoulders nor the small claws on her fingertips.
"Wow! For a Fangire, she sure is a sight for sore eyes." Commented Soul, trying to keep his cool as he wiped the blood that trickled down from his nose, much to Maka's annoyance.
"Now's not the time!"
"What do two children like you want with me?" Asked the woman, looking rather amused by their presence, which made Maka glare at her.
"We are students from the DWMA of Death City and we are here for your soul..." Answered Maka as Soul changed into his weapon form, Maka grabbing him without moving her eye away from the witch above them. "And with it, I'll create the greatest of Death Scythe in history!"
"And I'm Blair, nice to meet you! But what about the treaty? I thought you DWMA guys weren't supposed to attack witches on sight anymore?" Asked Blair, tilting her head to the side, not understanding why they would come all the way just for her.
"Maybe, but it also states that those who commit crimes that break the agreement between the Demon Races wouldn't be under the protection granted by the treaty anymore." Maka responded, readying herself. As for Blair, she was utterly confused.
"I'm sorry, but I don't see what kind of "crimes" I committed that could justify my execution like this?"
Maka answered this time with action instead of words, rushing at the woman and swinging her scythe at her, the purple haired beauty jumping out of the way, landing on a floating pumpkin.
"Don't go pretending you don't know what we're talking about!" Shouted Maka. "You're crimes end here, witch!"
"Well, looks like you won't listen to what I have to say. Very well." Sighed Blair as orange light gathered in her palm, taking the shape of a carved pumpkin.
"PUM-PUMPKIN, PUMPKIN: HALLOWEEN CANNON!"
Maka got barely enough time to understand that Blair was behind her before having to dodge the large pumpkin shaped mass of magic that almost crushed her into the paved street. However, as she had dodged a little randomly, she got her leg grabbed by the magic hat who then hurled her toward a building, the blonde Meister managing to land on the roof easily by using Soul to grab onto the ledge of the roof. This gave her a little bit of time to get her breath back in check.
However, if she tried to focus on the battle, she couldn't help but feel like something was off. In her head, a question kept tapping her mind:
Were they fighting the right person?
/- Death's Room -/
Spirit Albarn had just arrived at Death's Room, walking and stretching his arms lazily after a few hours spend at his favorite place, a cabaret club in Death City.
Well, favorite might be a bit of a stretch. He first began to go to this place after Maya left in a desperate effort to try and forget her departure, but no matter what he did, that never worked; he just couldn't get her out of his head. As he walked in, Death sighed at him, looking disappointed by his behavior, and even more given the situation.
"Sheesh! Your daughter is in trouble and you're out there having fun…"
At those words, a complete 180 occurred for Spirit attitude when he processed what Death was talking about, turning his apathy into worry in an instant.
"What!? What is happening to Maka!?"
"She's in a pinch fighting against that witch, that's what's happening." Answered Death simply, looking at his mirror who showed the ongoing fight, with Blair sitting on her pumpkin, assaulting Maka with a rain of magic pumpkin bullets, pulverizing the roof the blonde was previously standing on.
"WHAAAAAT!?" Seeing his daughter in such a tight spot gave Spirit a need to kill something, his body already transforming into a weapon. "Damn it! Hang on, Maka!"
"Hold it!" Death made his weapon stop with his hand, squarish and cartoonish just as he was, explaining why Spirit should stay put. "Sure if we step in we could handle a witch of that level with a single 'Death Chop'. But that's not really the problem, is it ? Being her father, you should understand." This made Spirit stop, his blades sinking back into his body. "Besides, I said witch, but there's a chance she might be something else: a Fangire to be more precise." This made Spirit blood ran cold as he realized what this meant.
"…Maka…"
"AAGH!"
While her father was worried for her, Maka was rolling down the roof, saving herself from the fall by planting Soul into the roof. She was breathing hard, eyes locked on the 'witch' they were fighting.
"First you attack me for no reason, and now you aren't even trying to fight back. What is your deal?" Asked Blair, jumping off her pumpkin and onto the roof as Maka climbed up, glaring at her as Soul was starting to feel annoyed at Maka's performance.
"Maka! What the hell is wrong with you? What's with this half-assed fighting?" Faced with her silence, he was really starting to get angry. "Maka! Get your head in the game! You're stronger than that."
"Tell me." Maka began, looking at their opponent, ignoring Soul. "Why did you target those humans?"
"Targeting? What are you talking about?" Asked Blair, tilting her head to the side.
"Don't play dumb!" Shouted Soul, fed up with Maka's weird behavior and Blair acting all innocent. "We're talking about the women you changed into glass!"
"Glass? What are you talking about?" At this accusation, Blair was completely lost, her face showing genuine confusion. "I only come here to have some fun or get food. I've never hurt anyone, I swear. Maybe a few women's pride when I charmed their men, but it is not a crime, isn't it ?"
Maka saw the genuine concern on her face, which only added to the confusion she already had concerning their opponent. Something wasn't adding up.
"...You wouldn't happen to be a Fangire, would you?" Following her question was a short silence, Blair looking at her with wide eyes before she began to puff her cheeks, trying to hold back something that she couldn't keep in.
"...AHAHAHAHAH!" Unable to hold it anymore, Blair began to laugh so hard that she was clutching her stomach, her guffawing bringing much confusion to the duo as they watch her roll on the ground before calming down a bit and getting back up on her two legs. "You think I'm a Fangire?! But I have nothing to do with those horrible monsters!"
"Wait…if you're not a Fangire, then who killed those women like that?"
As soon as Maka ask that question, she got her answer.
Two blood-red fangs of some sort appeared from behind Blair, sinking themselves into her neck, drawing a gasp from the woman whose whole body stiffened as she began to gasp for air; Maka and Soul watching in horror as the one they thought was their enemy slowly turned transparent and glass-like, as if these fangs were drinking her whole being away.
As her body fell to the ground, completely still and unmoving, it revealed a monstrous figure hiding behind her.
The culprit was what seemed to be some kind of anthropomorphic horse whose whole body was covered with some kind of blue glass-like scale with a matching short sword in hand. The red fangs disappeared back into him as he stood above what was left of the poor Blair, staring at the two with an unholy light comes from its eyes, causing Soul to sweat a bit while Maka's stress became visible, Soul feeling it in their connection.
"Hey, Maka, calm down, okay? We can take that guy out. It's just another fight." He said confidently as their opponent drew a black and blue sword out of nowhere.
"If you say so..."
Maka felt unusually uneasy, which made Soul slightly worry as they both rushed at the Horse Fangire. When they met, their weapon clashed, sparks flying as they fought, slashing and dodging like pros, the monster being much more agile than he looks.
Their fight stayed on the rooftops, the noise of swinging and parrying waking people up from the neighborhood as Maka and the Fangire shredded the roof they were currently on before moving to another one to properly continue the fight.
Jumping from house to house, trying to avoid damaging the inhabitants within the houses, Maka was starting to get the upper hand on the Fangire while managing to keep the monster at bay to prevent him from doing too much damage to the town
But it was this time that something unexpected changed everything.
Out of nowhere, Maka and Soul were suddenly hit by some kind of greenish energy blast, sending the both of them crashing down into an alley on the ground level, Maka letting go of her partner in the process. The Fangire looked at the two, visibly lost on what just happened, until he looked at where the blast was coming from, seeing a shadow hiding in the corner of a street, a pair of glasses shining on its face before he left, the Horse Fangire immediately understanding what this meant, smiling a true horse's smile.
In the alley, Maka got over the shock and surprise and walked back to Soul before trying to pick him up. Trying because...
"Huh?" After she got her hand on Soul, she tried to lift it but he was, strangely, much more heavier than he has ever been previously. So much so that he didn't even budge when Maka tried to lift him off the ground. "What…is happening?"
"Maka! Something is wrong !" Exclaimed Soul, not only because he saw that her partner couldn't lift him, but also because he felt that something had changed between them on a more spiritual level. "I-I don't know what that thing was but it definitely did something to us!"
"It's like…we aren't…synchronized anymore." Grunted Maka as she struggled and pulled before letting go of Soul who turn back into his human form. "It's like this thing cut our connection!"
As she said that, they heard an explosion and turned their head to see that the Fangire just came down from his perch, crushing Soul's bike under his feet, trapping them as he was standing in the exit of the alleyway, sword in hand. Maka frowned, sweating as she wondered how to get out of this mess as her partner jumped in front of her, changing his arm into a scythe blade.
"MY RIDE! You asshole! Stand back, Maka, I'm not going to let that freaky horse get away with what he did! That would be way to uncool of me!"
Maka could only stare as she watched her partner leaped towards the Fangire and fought the monster alone but what she felt wasn't that she felt powerless without her weapon and that she was condemned to simply watch him fight that creature all alone. In truth, she was having an internal struggle, looking at a roof where she saw a small bat she knew pretty well looking down at her, as if waiting for her to take a decision that she knew would have a huge impact on her entire future.
She knew Soul was someone she could trust. She could trust him with her life at any time but this was something that was on a completely different level…
"GAH!"
Not used to fight by himself, Soul was far from strong enough to fight against this kind of opponent, which meant that the Horse Fangire was basically toying with him, like right now as he just slashed him across the chest, blood spurting out of the wound and giving the monster the opportunity to land a kick, hitting the wound and sending the weapon to the back of the alley, crying in pain at the combined pain from the gash and the strong kick he received on it. "You bastard!"
Maka was cornered. She knew it as she saw the Fangire slowly approaching. She looked at her wounded friend whose eyes were glued on the monster, probably wondering what his partner was thinking of doing next.
Weaponless, Maka knew that there was only one way to get out of this situation, one she didn't wanted Soul to see, but if she wanted to save him, she had no choice. So she jumped in front of Soul, taking her partner by surprise as well as the Fangire who stopped its assault for now, wondering what she was doing.
"Maka! What are you waiting for? To be killed? Get out of the way before - !"
"KIVAT!"
"Ki-what?"
"Kivat is here!"
Hearing the new voice, Soul looked up to see a hand-sized black and yellow bat flying to Maka, its red eyes meeting Soul's, the two looking at each other without saying a word, with Kivat breaking the gaze by looking at Maka. "Are you sure about this? I heard people that began to wake up, Soul might be the only one to learn of your secret, but he won't be the only one who will see you."
"It's either that or we die. Please lend me your strength, Kivat!"
"Alright, if that's what you want. Let's go, Kiva!" Maka then grabbed Kivat in one hand, holding it next to her other hand, the bat opening his little mouth and calling out:
"GABU!"
As Kivat's fangs pierced the skin of Maka's hand, black, red, and yellow stained glass markings appeared on her hands before traveling up her arms up to her face. As she did that, silver chains wrapped around the blonde's waist, forming a large red belt with multiple glass whistles and what looked like a perch on the front. There was a blue one in the shape of a wolf, a green one that looked like it had a fish shape, a purple one in the shape of a fist, and one a white and red colored one shaped like a bat.
"Henshin!"
Maka held Kivat in front of her and put it on the perch of her newly appeared belt, hanging upside down like…well, a bat.
As she did, some kind of soundwave came out of Kivat and covered her entire being in some sort of clear energy like a cocoon. After a few seconds, the crystal-like cocoon change shaped and shattered like glass, revealing Maka in a form that left Soul agape in shock.
Maka was now clad in a full black bodysuit: the torso armor looked like a silver vest with a high collar and a blood-red chest plate that mimicked muscles, with her shoulder armor resembling that of folded bat wings that were held to the armor by thin chains. Below, she now donned on red armored gloves and her wrists sported silver arm bands while her right leg was covered with a silver iron boot that reached her knee and was wrapped tightly with chains, as if it was to hold something back while the left leg was unarmored except for a silver bracelet around the ankle. Her head was also covered with a black helmet with the visor shaped like a pair of yellow bat wings edged in red, in-between the top points of the wings was a red ornament resembling a bat's head with the mouth guard itself silver framed by black fangs.
"Maka...?"
The girl simply looked at her partner over her shoulder, glad that her eyes were hidden by the helmet or he would have seen the pain in them, before returning her gaze back to her fight, the Horse Fangire now growling at the one in front of him.
After a few seconds, they both ran at each other, Maka's arm lifted behind her as she ran toward her target. Soul could only stare, half-amazed, half-confused at the level strength and skill Maka was showing in this new form, as if she did this all her life.
Both enemies defended themselves, but despite Maka's best effort to keep the fight in the alley, the Horse Fangire grabbing her leg and throwing her out of it and into the main street had thrown a wrench into her plans.
Light shone through windows as people looked at the street, in fear as the two creatures fought together, wreaking havoc on the street as they did. Soul walked up to the corner of the alley to continue watching the fight, just in time to see Maka dodging a slash by hanging herself upside down on a sign, still managing to defend herself against the Fangire from that position, landing a hit strong enough to send the Horse Fangire crashing into a nearby wall.
As she got down, Maka grabbed one of the glass whistles on her waist, the bat one to be specific, before putting it into Kivat's mouth.
"WAKE UP!"
The bat's announcement followed by the blow of the whistle and the sound it produced was followed by a change that only added to Soul's confusion.
The moon, until now a grinning crescent, was now devoid of any emotion; mouth, eyes and nose gone as the night sky become a dark red void without a single star, just a few ominous clouds here and there.
Maka then lifted her right leg as Kivat left his perch to bite the chains off her leg, the gray part opening, revealing blood red wings as well as three green sphere, two on her shinbone and the last one on her foot with a yellow line connecting them. Then, with a single impulsion on her left leg, Maka jumped high into the sky as the Horse Fangire came out of the rubble he had been buried under, at first confused as to where his opponent was, before finally feeling something above him, lifting his head to see Maka, upside down in front of the moon, her yellow eyes shining as she flipped and shot straight at him with her right leg aimed at the monster.
"Darkness Moon Break!"
When she reached him, she slammed hard into his torso, crushing it against the ground, the ground breaking all around the impact point, forming a crater in the shape of a bat-like symbol . As for the monster, it suddenly began to harden, becoming a multicolored statue of stained glass, then the three green orb on her leg shone, starting from the higher one and when the light reached the foot, the monster shattered under Maka's foot, which was quickly sealed again behind chains and armor after the killing blow was dealt, the monster leaving behind him a floating glass like orb hovering in the middle of the crater.
Maka was simply standing there, looking down at where the Fangire once was, barely noticing the flash of a camera immortalizing this moment. When she looked up, she was met by Soul's wide eyes, still bleeding and dumbfounded by what he just saw.
Suddenly, Maka was hit with a realization: Soul, her Weapon partner, her best friend, and the one that basically filled in as her brother in life, has seen her as what she truly was; the damned creature she could become had been shown to the world.
Despite feeling her heart break and her eyes filling with tears, Maka couldn't move, stuck on the spot, eyes locked into Soul's shocked ones, forgetting about the other people looking at her from their home. She knew at that moment that her life would never be the same anymore, as the world now knew:
Kiva, the one known to be responsible for the eradication of five entire races, one of the most dangerous beings this world has ever known in its history, has returned from the darkness.
Chapter 1 done! I hope you liked it. I just want to add something: this is going to mainly follow the canon of Soul Eater with a few twists I hope you'll like but I'll let you discover them in due time. See you next time!