A sound soul dwells within a sound mind and a sound body.
A dark, crooked alleyway stretched out into the night. Sounds of scraping metal slithered along the stone walls. Rapid, frantic footsteps were being followed by a slower, heavier gait. A rumbling stirred the alley, rattling the pipes that lined the sides and matched its winding path.
One figure broke through the darkness, a young canine woman. The denim jacket she wore over her yellow dress had two gashes running along the back. She was out of breath, but otherwise unharmed. Another figure emerged shortly after, drudging from the shadows to reveal a warped and elongated form. The body of a feline man seemed to be the template for this monstrosity, but with many distortions. His fingers were rusty blades, and patches of fur were spread out amongst horribly burned skin that covered his body. He wore a striped shirt and a black hat.
The woman he'd been pursuing screamed as she witnessed him emerge. She ran down the street that the alleyway opened into. The man moved to follow before something entered the edge of his vision. He turned to see a pair of hedgehogs, one blue and one black, standing in the middle of the street looking at him.
The blue hedgehog's hair had six tufts that arched downward. His muzzle was a pale peach shade that would match his arms were they exposed. He wore a white collared shirt without a tie, black pants and white gloves. A long cloak that resembled a tight fitting suit jacket in its upper half was draped over him. The cuffs of his undershirt covered the ends of his cloak's sleeves. Red shoes lined with a white strap and a square gold buckled stood out from the rest of his outfit.
The other hedgehog had a more tan colored muzzle than his companion. The rest of his body was covered in black fur with a tuft of white fur on his chest. Red streaks on his arms and legs were hidden beneath his clothes. Quills that pointed upward formed his hair, aside from the tufts in the middle of his head, which pointed downward. Each tuft was lined with red at the top. One streak of redness arched from the center of his forehead back into his hair. and the corners of his eyes were lined with red as well. He wore a black leather jacket, white gloves, jeans and stood in harsh looking boots.
"When I heard a cougar was causing trouble downtown, I didn't think they'd be a guy if you catch my drift," The blue hedgehog started with a smirk. The cougar's face scrunched into a sneer, but his expression didn't indicate any comprehension. "Looks like we found our mark, Shadow,"
"Yeah, he's a weapon, and I don't have to see his soul to tell that it's corrupted," Shadow glared up at the so-called weapon in front of him. "Freddie the Cougar, your spree of violence ends here. Your soul is mine!" Shadow's body began to glow and change shape. He leapt into the air before finishing his transformation. The light enveloped his body fully and his form began to elongate into a polearm. Sonic caught his friend midair and twirled him around as the light faded. A black, curved blade with a red streak emerged from one end.
"Let's go Shadow," declared Sonic as he held his scythe partner at the ready.
Freddy barreled toward Sonic with bladed claws swiping through the air. Sonic spun his large scythe with ease, batting away the strikes with rapid parries. The two continued down the street while fighting, with Freddy attempting heavier, lunging blows that failed to trump Sonic's quick movements. The heavy attacks were causing the monster to crash into the abandoned buildings nearby. Large chunks of debris began to spill onto the ground.
An overhead attack from Freddy came next, with both of his arms crashing into the concrete below. Sonic leapt backward to avoid the slabs from the floor that were tossed into the air. Freddy jumped soon after to try and catch his foe retreating. His claw frantically stretched outward, elongating his arm and opening up his stance. Jagged blades sailed through the air, ultimately coming up short. Sonic saw an opportunity and responded by moving his scythe to catch Freddy's inner arm at the end of its swipe. With all of the monster's weight rolling forward, Sonic didn't need much additional force to cleave off the limb.
Freddy shrieked in pain as blood poured from his newly shortened arm. He stumbled backward a few steps and his whole body began to weaken. Neck stretching up toward the sky, his bloodshot gaze sat fixated on his attacker. What was left of the cougar's arms fell loosely to each side. The claws of his remaining hand were long enough to scrape the ground. One final, drawn out roar emerged from Freddy's throat before he lunged forward with all his strength.
Sonic ducked, then leapt into the air when he was halfway past his opponent. He lined Shadow's blade perpendicular to Freddie, and it crashed into his torso while following Sonic's ascent. Freddie hacked and hurled as the sharp edge split his skin and tore part way through his body, lifting him upward. Sonic let out a yell of exertion as he pulled Shadow forward and broke Freddie clean in two. The monster groaned and his body began to fade and die. His shape peeled and unraveled, revealing a shimmering red object that slowly drifted downward. It was a small orb that emitted a faint glow. Splotches of darkness pooled at the bottom of the orb, muddying the crimson light that weakly reached out to stain the ground. The top of the orb shimmered like smoke. Sonic and Shadow landed nearby, with Shadow having already exited his weapon form.
"Felt like I was slicing a pepperoni pizza ," Sonic joked in celebration.
Shadow approached the red orb and plucked it from the air; its plump shape wobbled a bit when he grabbed hold.
"This'll be my 99th soul…" Shadow lifted the orb to his mouth, opened wide, and swallowed it whole. A noticeable gulp and a relaxed sigh soon followed.
"Any good?" Sonic asked.
"A bit burnt," Shadow replied dryly.
Sonic laughed. "We better report in!"
The two walked down the street for some time, eventually arriving at a small kiosk. It resembled a phone booth, containing a touch screen panel.
"Welcome to the Demon Weapon Meister Academy Network. If you are currently experiencing an emergency requiring weapon meister assistance, please press the red button to bypass this interface."
After a brief loading screen, a few options popped up. Sonic tapped the dialer and typed 42-42-564.
"Please wait while we verify your identity,"
The screen shifted to reveal a live image of Sonic as the device scanned him in real time. He held up two fingers to form a peace sign and stuck out his tongue while his picture was taken. A loading screen popped up for a few seconds before the voice returned.
"Welcome, [Sonic]. Lord Death is not available at this time,"
"Figures," Shadow stated flatly. He leaned his back against the left side of the booth and crossed his arms.
"Your message will be analyzed and a response will be generated. Please state your message after the tone.
"Hey Egghead, it's me-" a loud beep rang from the monitor. After a moment of stunned silence, Sonic sighed. Shadow exhaled from his nose in amusement
"Hey Egghead, it's me. Shadow and I just got our 99th soul and we're supposed to get clearance and all that before moving on so...uh yeah."
Another loading screen popped up, this one lingering for a greater time than the last. Sonic tapped his foot impatiently until the voice started again.
"Congratulations [Meister: Sonic] on collecting your 99th soul," The sound of a party blower played while a confetti effect appeared on the screen.
"Man, we didn't even get real confetti?" Sonic complained before the automated voice continued.
"Your current objective is to provide [Weapon: Shadow] with a Witch's soul. Our goal here at the DWMA is to aid Meisters with the process of training weapons to become Death Scythes. Once a weapon has 99 corrupted souls, and the soul of one witch, that weapon will become a death scythe. Please continue to the nearest witch at your earliest convenience and retrieve their soul. Your mission status and permissions have been updated. Thank you for your continued efforts, and good hunting."
"Glad that's over with," Sonic sighed. "Hey, I should call Tails and tell him!"
Sonic clicked to bring the dialer on screen once more. Text popped up on the screen instead of numbers: CALLS WILL RESUME AFTER AD.
"Progressive insurance can save you hundreds by bundling your-"
"On second thought, I'll let him know in person,"
Sonic exited the phone booth and continued down the street with Shadow following close behind.
Now that Freddy was out of the way, the night had grown quiet. Sonic walked with his head held high as he savoured the feeling of triumph. He occasionally glanced over to Shadow who was now walking at his left.
"I figured you'd be at least a teeny bit excited," Sonic held his index finger and thumb close together to supplement his statement. "We're so close to making you a death scythe!"
Shadow glanced over to Sonic, then just as quickly turned away from his meister's attentive smile.
"I just," Shadow paused for a moment before starting again. "We've never been up against a witch before. They'll be on a whole other level,"
Sonic chuckled a bit and gently nudged Shadow with his elbow.
"If I have you watching my back, there's nothing to worry about. Besides, our biggest hurdle at this point is actually finding one!"
Shadow's expression relaxed a bit, but he kept his focus on the path ahead.
"I guess you're right,"
Sonic knew Shadow well enough to tell that he wasn't getting the full story, but he decided to stop prying. Despite being one half of the pair's weapon-meister duo, he really didn't know much about who Shadow was before they teamed up. They'd made so much progress in a short amount of time, why make a fuss? He did however, know how to read Shadow's feelings better than anyone else they knew, and that was enough for Sonic.
"Okay, if I were a witch, where would I be hiding? In a dark alley, or in the outskirts of town? Maybe in a swamp or something?"
"We could just wait until the DWMA provides us with a lead," Shadow proposed.
"Or you could just look right behind you," came a sly voice.
Sonic and Shadow turned around and jumped backward defensively. The voice had come from a cloaked woman now joining them on the walkway.
"Where did she come from?" Sonic asked with surprise.
"I heard the racket you made fighting off that hideous monster earlier," she said, a smirk showing on her tan muzzle.
"How did she sneak up on us?" Shadow hissed defensively.
"I'm adept when it comes to stealth," The woman pulled back her hood to reveal that she was a bat with white fur. Her eyes, lined with blue eyeshadow, were alluring and contained a hint of impishness. "I'm Rouge the Witch. It's lovely to meet you,"
"I'm Sonic. Sonic, the Scythe Meister," Sonic smiled and pointed a thumb at himself.
"Don't be so casual at a time like this!" Shadow complained.
"Oh my, what an interesting weapon," Rouge began to float, inspecting Shadow from the air.
"Don't come any closer!" Shadow's command didn't phase Rouge in the slightest.
"I sense a strange power. You're quite unique, aren't you?" The witch pondered.
"Yep, Shadow's one of a kind. Strong too!" Sonic proclaimed.
Shadow's face burned with frustration and embarrassment.
"Sonic! Focus on fighting!" He quickly changed to weapon form. Sonic grabbed hold and pointed the heel of the scythe up at Rouge.
"And I'm gonna need your soul to make him into the ultimate death scythe,"
"Then you're going to have to catch me first," Rouge chuckled in response. The witch rose higher into the air, gliding her way over the rooftops and into night.
"Bring it on!" Sonic shouted, giving chase.
New chapters for this story will be published on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. I'm posting this story on Wattpad as well.
This story is based on my flawed recall of the Soul Eater anime with some pretty obvious Sonic-centric changes alongside new scenes and plotlines. Sometimes the story will follow the plot of the show. Sometimes it won't. No knowledge of the Soul Eater franchise is needed prior to reading this story. Same goes for the Sonic cast since this is an alternate universe. I will do my best to describe characters and situations for the uninitiated. I hope you'll enjoy reading.
