Spoilers: after the Anime and sort of from Manga chapter 62/3. You have been warnied.
Warning(s): Possible swearing, mild/medium gore level potential, fluff.
Pairing(s): SoMa, possibly some TsuStar and/or KidxLizxPatty
Brief: With the Kishin defeated, what new threats will rise up to face the heroes from Shibusen? Will Kid's words of warning when the Kishin was killed come true sooner than they thought? And can the Madness be eliminated completely before it consumes the world?
Disclaimer: Atsushi Okubo owns Soul Eater, not me.
Chapter Five: Spartoi's Newest Recruits; A Kishin Weapon in Shibusen?
Kid, Liz and Patty stood by the main entrance of the school, Kid watching his fellow Meister as he awaited the new advisor's arrival. He knew exactly what the young assassin was doing; he had done exactly the same thing on Kid's first at the school too.
Why on Earth did father openly admit that there was someone coming in today? he wondered to himself. It's not like there was any news of it in school, which means that Black Star would not have heard about this until it was too late to interfere like this. Could it be that he wanted to have him fight this person, or has father just had a lapse in judgement? The young Grim Reaper sighed, unable to determine which just not; he would pass judgement on his father's actions when the fighting had taken place.
"When the hell's this guy gonna get here?" Black Star yelled obnoxiously. "Man, this is worse than when I challenged you to fight me, Kid!"
"In fairness, you now know about my compulsion with symmetry, Black Star," the Deathscythe Twin Pistol Meister replied levelly. "Besides, at least this time you have Tsubaki as your Weapon and not Soul like when you did challenge me."
"The great Black Star still defeated you, Kid!" Black Star protested adamantly.
"By default after I had a lapse in symmetrical balance, as you know by now," Kid sighed back. "One can hardly call a victory by default a victory."
"It's still technically a victory!" Black Star let out a raucous laugh, proclaiming that he had surpassed the gods in that moment, much to Kid's annoyance.
"There really is no reasoning with him when he's in this kind of mood," Liz sighed, one hand on her hip as she watched the blue-haired Meister laugh. Her attention was drawn by a black cloth appearing over the edge of the stairs, bobbing as the wearer traversed the final steps. "Hey, Kid, is that the guy you're waiting for?"
"Hm?" Kid looked up and followed his Weapon's gaze. The person had just stepped over the final stair and stopped on the spot, gazing at the five students gathered there. "Tell me, are you the advisor my father sent for?"
"Your father?" the person asked, the deep tone telling them it was a man. "Oh, you must be the infamous Death the Kid, which makes the two girls beside you the Thompson sisters, right?" The pair of Weapons looked surprised by this, but his eyes fell upon the other two people present. "Judging by that tattoo on your shoulder, you must be Black Star, the Dark Arm Meister, and I guess that the girl with you is your Weapon Tsubaki. Tell me, is Spartoi meeting me here or something? And if that is the case, you appear to be one pair down."
"Shut up, lowly peasant!" Black Star roared, pointing an accusatory finger at the advisor. "I, the great Black Star, am not here to welcome you to Shibusen! You are walking on my ground without first asking me, which I take as insolence! I demand that you bow down to your god or prepare to fight me!"
"Oh, is that so?" the man asked, removing his cloth mask and allowing the tails to flow behind him in the breeze, flipping his arms out of the cloak and throwing the material behind his shoulders. "In that case, I accept your challenge, 'god'."
"Careful, Black Star," Kid warned. "We don't know his capabilities, or even if he is a Weapon or a Meister."
"Pah, like I'm worried about that," the arrogant young man scoffed. "Doesn't matter who or what he is, he'll go down just like anyone else I've come across! Tsubaki, ninja sword mode!"
The Dark Arm nodded, transforming into the short blade with it's black markings snaking over the blade and her Meister's arm.
Liz, Kid and Patty stood at the sidelines to watch the fight, taking in the newcomer's appearance. He wore a black travellers cloak with a separate cloth sash which acted as a mask. Beneath these, he wore a grey t-shirt with a red skull logo emblazoned onto his left-side chest, along with a pair of dark denim jeans and thick black boots, which Kid suspected were of an ex-military variant. From this, the group could see that he looked fairly muscular, not as much so as Black Star, but probably more so than Kid himself. They could also see the juvenile looks of the brown-haired man, and, judging by the fairly short hair, which was spiked up on top, the steely brown eyes and the minor facial hair around the chin, deduced he was about sixteen or seventeen, but not much older than them at any stretch.
"Well then, let's get started," the boy said, taking no moves to change his form or take a defensive stance. "However, before that I should introduce myself to 'the great Black Star'. My name is Kai Friel, and it's nice to be fighting you today."
"Shut the hell up!" Black Star yelled, running forwards. "Talk is for the weak! Now, take action!" The assassin moved in to perform a Soul-Force attack. "Let's see how you like Black Star's Big Wave!"
The fist extended towards the target with it's usual speed, precision and power without Kai making any move against him, but his hand abruptly shot upwards and caught the fist in mid travel. Unfazed, Black Star released the built-up power of his Soul-Force attack, creating a forceful electric shock over the area.
Kai splayed his fingers and the electricity faded, instead replaced by a visible blue ripple between where their hands met. Black Star froze, shocked by this reaction, while Kai grinned and sent his own force into the assassin, the gentle push of his arm sending him skidding back to where he had started with a series of red sparks fluxing through the open air around them. Black Star looked up, his eyes full of killing intent as he ran forwards. This time, Kai moved too, swinging a powerful kick in towards Black Star's head, but the strike missed and the ninja sword swung down on the shin, slicing into the material and heading for the skin but stopping abruptly and bouncing off.
"What's going on?" Liz asked. "Shouldn't he be bleeding?"
"Something isn't right about this guy," Kid mused. "Liz, Patty, transform immediately!"
"Gotcha!" Patty chimed in, transforming with her sister into their Weapon forms.
Kid fired a few shots from the pistols, forcing Kai to back off from his attack and take up an evasive run, the shots following him a bit too slowly to hit.
"Hey, Kid!" Black Star shouted. "Stop trying to upstage me!"
"You're an idiot, Black Star!" Kid replied over the gunfire. "Hurry up and get him while I distract him!"
The assassin grinned to his friend, activating Speed Star and appearing before Kai, another Soul-Force charged. The impact came shortly after Maka, Soul and Lord Death arrived at the entrance of the school, and the same thing happened as last time, the blue ring which exploded out of the impact and the red sparks in the air after the collision was forced apart. Maka raised an eyebrow at this strange move.
"Lord Death," she said. "What was that move Black Star used just now? It doesn't look like it did anything to help him."
"Black Star was attempting to use Soul-Force, Maka," the Grim Reaper replied. "That ring is a move that his opponent used known as Counter Spin, and the red energy is from his own Soul-Force attack."
"Who is that guy anyway?" Soul asked, squinting at the boy who was moving with rapid speed in the battlefield, making it hard to see him properly.
"That, Soul," Death went on. "Is the advisor I told you about. His name is Kai Friel, and he used to go to this academy. He left a couple of years ago, now that I think about it, but he stayed in touch when he could." The masked man turned to Maka. "Maka, I want you to do something. Could you use Soul Perception and observe the battle without getting involved?"
"Sure," Maka nodded, her eyes lighting up a brighter green as her ability activated.
Gazing at the battle, she could see Black Star's loud soul working with Tsubaki's quieter one, as well as Kid's hectic soul working with Liz and Patty's more docile ones. Her eyes fell upon Kai, and a frown extended over her face. She could see a red soul with a pair of short dragon-like wings attached to it, but something was odd about it. Encircling the soul was a black and red electric energy which resembled a dragon with two wings, two arms and a long tail, which appeared to be flying around the soul. As if noticing her staring at it, the creature wrapped it's tail around the soul and hissed at her, wigs unfurled intimidatingly.
"What is that on his soul?" she asked, but her question was not answered. The look on Lord Death's face told her that she would get the answer for such a question in time.
Black Star tried another Soul-Force, but again Kai's Counter Spin nullified it. From her position, Maka could clearly see Kai's soul change to match Black Star's in power and density, but the Wavelength he gave off was the opposite of Black Star's, telling her that was how he did it. Kid fired upon Kai again, trying to reduce his movements so that Black Star could strike him, but the strange boy change his course, running at Kid directly. This change of tactic took Kid by surprise, and he took the kick in full swing, spinning away.
"Kid!" Liz's voice echoed as he flailed, and he quickly realised that his Weapon had fallen from his grip. Unable to stand the asymmetry of himself, Kid threw Patty into the air. "What are you doing, idiot?"
"Shut up, Liz," Kid begged. "You know I can't fight with only Patty!"
Before she could transform or offer a swift rebuttal, Liz's Weapon form was grabbed mid-sprint by Kai, who aimed the barrel of the Death Eagle at Black Star and fired a single shot, shocking the assassin as he took the blast head-on. Smiling, Kai fired another blast, this one aimed at Kid, but the young Reaper was ready for it and dived aside quickly.
"Huh, revolutions are point three two off per cycle," Kai mused.
He shut his eyes, a red aura surrounding him as a stream of electricity pulsed from Liz's pistol state. The pistol started to glow dark blue and extended up Kai's arm, forming a large cannon with Lord Death's mask on the off-side. The resonating form of the Weapon looked no different to before she became a Deathscythe except that there was gold plating with black marks instead of the usual silver chrome, and instead of three spines on the upper arm, there was six split by an angle of about sixty degrees. The Weapon solidified and Kai took aim on Black Star as he ran at him, a ball of orange energy lighting the barrel.
"Liz, jam your Wavelength!" Kid demanded.
"I'm trying, but it's not working!" Liz snapped. "He's overridden my ability to break resonance!"
"Dammit," Kid ground his teeth. "Just what the hell is this guy?"
"Black needle charged," Kai muttered, a red heads-up display projecting from the Weapon and in front of his eyes. "Resonance stabilised, target locked." The HUD showed a pair of circles which overlapped over Black Star's sprinting form. "Fire Death Cannon!"
The blast was huge, much larger than what it had once been, and it barely missed the young assassin, exploding a few feet behind him, but the blast force caused him to stumble. Abruptly, Liz returned to her normal state and transformed into her human form, Kai discarding her and running at Black Star. He struck him in the back with a Soul-Force, sending his grip loose and allowing Kai to capture Tsubaki in his hand. Black lightning pulsed over the Weapon as Kai stabbed the ninja sword blade into the ground, a series of black tendrils threading through the ground and grabbing Black Star by the ankle, raising him from the ground and restraining him effectively. Kid was about to grab Patty and Liz, who had transformed in the midst of the disruption, but two more tendrils grabbed the pistols in mid-air and a third grabbed Kid.
Kai looked up, his eyes glowing red as he observed the situation. His eyes fell on Lord Death and a smile graced the left corner of his mouth.
"Long time no see, Lord Death," he said. "I see the school hasn't changed a bit since I left."
"Yeah, we've been pretty busy, you know," the headmaster replied, walking forward with Maka and Soul a few steps behind.
"So I hear," Kai moved his left arm and the tendrils lowered the four student to the ground before he then relinquished his grip on Tsubaki, who instantly transformed and ran to Black Star's side. "How did that go?"
"Quite well, actually," the Grim Reaper nodded. Kai walked toward the masked man and the Scythe Meister behind him. "Kai, I would like to introduce the last members of Spartoi, the Death Scythe Soul Eater and his Meister Maka Albarn." Kai's eyes, which were no longer red, widened in surprise.
"Ah, the legend herself," he smiled. "I take it you are Kami's girl, right?"
"Y- You know Mama?" Maka asked, surprised.
"Of course," Kai nodded. "She was the one who brought me here five years ago from the Witch Facility."
"Hey, where's your Weapon, dude?" Soul asked, disinterested with the past. Kai gave him a blank look. "You're a Meister; surely you have a Weapon partner, right?"
"Oh, I see your misunderstanding," Kai chuckled, shaking his head. "It's the other way around, actually." He looked at Lord Death. "You didn't tell them, did you." His tone said it was a matter-of-fact, not a question.
"Well, no, I didn't," Death rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "I thought you might like to instead."
"Fair enough," Kai shrugged. "You see, I'm not a Meister. I'm a Weapon; a Kishin Weapon."
Maka's eyes went wide and her skin paled upon hearing this. It was beyond her how her mother would bring a Kishin Weapon to Shibusen, or why Lord Death would ask one to come there. Soul clenched his fist, ready to fight if needs be.
"Or rather," Kai elaborated. "I was meant to be. You see, when your mother found me, I tried to kill her. It was her anti-Demon Wavelength which stopped me and reverted me to this. Even so, I was given the ability to force resonance if I need to, to utilise other Weapons as and when I need to, and to be an autonomous Weapon. Then again, you have those abilities too, even if they are dormant."
Maka blinked, her brain processing the information, but Lord Death clapped his hands and caught everyone's attentions.
"Alright, then," he announced. "Let's continue this in the Death Room, shall we?"
The group walked into the building and through the corridors, Black Star still feeling the sting of defeat at his own Weapon's hand, Tsubaki trying to apologise to him, Kid and the Thompsons trying to process what had happened as best they could, and Soul walking with a disinterested look. His red eyes drifted to Kai, who was walking beside Maka, talking between them in low tones. A pang of hurt and jealousy coursed through him as he saw his Meister with another Weapon, but he hid it as best he could, not wanting to make a scene. Maka looked sheepishly at Kai, then returned her gaze in front of her.
"Thanks," she said in a mumble. Kai looked at her, right eyebrow raised in confusion. "You know, for helping me yesterday."
"Oh, that," Kai replied, shrugging. "I've been tracking that guy for a while now. That damned Ferrum Muros Wavelength doesn't help, but if I get close, I can deal with him."
"Yeah, about that," Maka said, thinking back to when he had saved her; the red sparks and the sudden lift of the Wavelength's effects. "What did you do to him yesterday?"
"You mean the flash when I kicked him, I take it." Maka nodded, her inquisitive eyes set on him. "It's simple, really. I have a short-range nullifying Wavelength, which I can focus into my legs to force a particularly tricky entity to deactivate it's effects over an area. Obviously, it doesn't work well on the Anti-Demon Wavelength, nor does it on a full nullifying Wavelength, but there you go."
Maka nodded, and the pair of them walked in comfortable silence for the rest of the journey. Once they were safely inside the Death Room, Lord Death turned to the group and addressed them all. Along with the nine of them was Crona and Stein, who had arrived moments before they had.
"Well, everyone, I have an announcement!" the Lord of Death said boisterously. "I have decided to allow both Crona and Kai onto the Spartoi team, as I feel that their abilities may prove to be useful. I want you all to return to the Deathscythe Training area and work in the teams which Stein allocates to you. Is that clear?" No objections were heard, so Steain took over.
"Alright, Black Star and Tsubaki," Stein said. "I want you to work with Crona to help him with his swordsmanship. You can draft in any help you want, but make sure that training still only takes place in the Deathscythe training zone. Kid, I want you to perfect your resonance with Liz and Patty, and try not to have a repeat of last time, whatever you do." Kid blushed a little and looked away, ashamed of himself for not controlling the blast. "That leaves Maka and Soul. I want you to work with Kai on advanced aerial combat and manoeuvres. This could be important, so pay close attention to what he tell you."
Soul clenched his fist at this, but he did not speak up, knowing that the lesson could be important.
"Good," Lord Death said. "In that case, good luck with your training, everyone!"
Yeah, I was writing something for Bleach, but I couldn't help myself, so I wrote chapter five over the last couple of days.
Hope you like my OC, and I hope that you enjoy what is to come.
Anyway, reviews are appreciated, as usual, otherwise I'll post again soon (hopefully).