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 Six: Advanced Training Begins; What is a Soul Wavelength?
Soul's venomous crimson irises drifted to Maka as she laughed at something, the dark-haired young man beside her smiling lightly and chuckling with her. He felt his blood boil with envious jealousy upon seeing this, detesting that his Meister was with another Weapon, especially one such as Kai; it was bad enough that she was enjoying his company, but the fact that he was a Kishin Weapon was all the more annoying to the young Deathscythe.
"Alright, shall we begin our aerial combat lesson now?" Kai asked, but Maka raised her hand as if she were in a classroom, making him waver slightly. "Uh, yes, do you have a question?"
"A couple," Maka nodded. "I wanted to know what that strange thing around your soul is, and also what your Weapon form is."
"Ah, that," Kai nodded curtly. "I'll be honest, I thought you would have raised that point with the others present, but no matter. When your mother rescued me with her Anti-Demon Wavelength, it didn't purge me entirely of my darkness. That thing, as you so aptly called it, is the remnant of my darkness, something I am capable of using to fight with as much power as I need without losing myself to it; something which is quite useful now that I have some control over it.
"As for my Weapon mode, my full form is actually limited, but I can take the shape of a sword as my primary form or a dragon-styled armour as secondary. It's sort of useful to have multiple forms; means I'm useful in more than just one situation."
"That makes sense," Maka nodded. "Alright, let's get started."
Kai nodded and moved forward behind Maka, but Soul cut him off, pushing him back. Maka whipped around, seeing her Weapon stood between herself and the Kishin Weapon, his body tensed and in a pugnacious stance, ready to attack if needs be. Kai cocked his head.
"What's up?" he asked. Soul clenched his fist tighter.
"Stay the hell away from my Meister," Soul growled. Maka stepped forward.
"Soul, don't-" she started, but Kai raised a hand.
"It's alright, Maka, he has a right to question me," he responded, before turning his gaze to Soul. "What seems to be the trouble, Soul?"
"You know exactly what I mean," Soul growled, a large blade growing along his forearm and jutting out a short way from his hand. "If you want to be Maka's Weapon, you'll have to kill me first. I am not gonna give up my Meister without a fight, even if my opponent is stronger than me!"
"Soul, this is-"
"Maka, it's alright," Kai interrupted. "Soul, I understand your dilemma, but there is no need to worry; when they made me, I synchronised with a Meister and became bound to them, so no only she can use my full potential; the stuff which even I can't use myself. I'm flattered you thought that I was trying to take your partner as my own, but the fact remains that I cannot change Meister so freely, so you can put your mind at rest."
"You expect me to believe that?" Soul asked. Despite his doubtfulness, he seemed to visibly relax. "What guarantee is there that you aren't gonna try it?"
"I guess I cannot prove it to you without you meeting my true Meister, but I assure you that I am not lying." Kai smiled reassuringly. "If you still doubt me, then hit me, I will allow you a free hit on me. However, if you continue to persist with this after that, I will have no choice but to fight you, Soul, and I don't want to do that."
Soul's resolve wavered as Kai said this, and more so when Maka stepped forward and placed a hand on his shoulder. The look in her eyes begged him to stop his actions silently, melting his anger away. Reluctantly, he retracted the blade into his arm and eased up.
"Fine," he relented. "I guess it wouldn't be cool if I attacked you like that."
Kai nodded in approval, but reared back a little as the female Meister brought a rather large text book crashing down upon the young Deathscythe's head, leaving a very large dent in his cranium.
"Ow!" Soul yelled, rubbing his head and whipping round to face Maka, who gripped the book tightly, ready for a second swing if needs be. "What the fuck, Maka?"
"That's for doubting me," she replied, her tone low and deathly. "Even if he can bend his soul wavelength to match mine, there's no way that anyone can change my mind of who I want as my Weapon." She smiled at Soul, who was staring incredulously back at her, but his features softened and eased into a half-smile back. Behind the Deathscythe, Kai cleared his throat, drawing their attentions to him.
"Sorry, but have you learnt about advanced soul mechanics?" he asked, a frown on his face. Maka shook her head. "I thought not from that sentence." It was Maka's turn to frown.
"What's wrong with saying that you can bend your soul wavelength?" she asked.
"It's not accurate," Kai said bluntly. "I'll tell you what, I'll explain how it works; at least then maybe it will make this next training easier. Interested?" Soul looked disinterested, but Maka nodded eagerly. "Alright, explain to me what you think of when you hear the term 'soul wavelength'."
"Well," Maka replied, thinking carefully with her right index finger resting thoughtfully on her lips. "I suppose it's a fluctuation in power between two fixed points on a spectrum. The wave that a Meister creates can be matched by a Weapon, which increases the overall soul energy a pair can have."
"Where did you learn that?" Kai asked. Maka shrugged.
"Sid-sensei recommended this book to learn about it." She held up the book in her hand, revealing the cover 'Soul Physics for Beginners', to which Kai rubbed his temples in response.
"Sid, huh? I swear that guy has a hole in his head sometimes," he sighed.
"Actually, he has one now," Soul pointed out. Kai looked up and gave him a dumbfounded look.
"Seriously?"
"Yeah, he ended up impaled on a miniature statue of Liberty through his head," Soul nodded. Kai chuckled satirically at that.
"Huh, kinda fitting when you think about it," he said, before shaking his head. "My point is that Stein clearly hasn't taught your class about more advanced techniques for single partners, which requires a knowledge of advanced soul physics and the mechanics of souls. Basically, the basics are fine to grasp the facts, but once you need to be more advanced it becomes completely useless and falls apart. For starters, the idea of two waves of equal frequency and amplitude enhancing one another is ridiculous, as it in fact cancels each other out, which makes that the synapses of how 'Counter-Spin' functions. Also, the wave idea is two dimensional; it goes up and down and also forwards, but that means that soul perception would only work directly in front of the targets, making that more like how a 'Soul-Force' works.
"In reality, souls emit a sort of tail behind them. It's impossible to see it with Soul Perception alone, but it's there. The outer shell of the soul houses a powerful energy centre, and this is what makes that tail by forcing the energy through a slit in the outer shell. As the outer shell rotates, the tail whips around it, and can be drawn in closer when it spins faster. The amplitude of the wave comes from the fact that it forms a circle around the soul as it spins, which gives an oscillation between two fixed points of power and therefore gives a range from, say, one to minus one. When two souls match wavelengths, it means the strength of their soul energy being displaced and the number of rotational cycles per minute are equal, and the ripples meld together and emit their own pulse, which is how Soul Resonance works. Make sense?"
Soul gave Kai a blank look, the information going right over his head, but Maka just nodded. It dawned on her that the philosophy of the idea made more sense the way Kai phrased it than the way she did. She frowned a little, feeling a little outdone by this, but she soon lightened up when Kai smiled and patted her shoulder.
"It's alright, not many people realise that, in all fairness," he said. "Hell, were it not for my abilities as a Kishin Weapon, I wouldn't know it either." He backed away from Maka and thrust his hands into his pockets. "Anyway, let's get this training done."
The Scythe Meister and her Weapon both nodded their agreement to the Weapon, taking up their position with Soul in Maka's gloved grip, ready to resonate when prompted. Far away from the group of three stood a certain boisterous assassin holding a black-bladed katana and a meek purple-haired boy with an equally dark blade, though this one was adorned with silver spiked metal strips and a white stripe trough the centre. Black Star smiled up at Crona reassuringly.
"That was good," he said, giving the boy a thumbs up. "You need to swing harder if you want to cut the great Black Star, but you're getting the hang of it!"
"Thanks," Crona mumbled a little shyly. "Uh, didn't you say there was someone you asked to come here?"
"Huh?" Black Star thought a moment before it dawned on him what Crona meant. "Oh, you mean Mifune? Yeah, he should be here soon. Now, let's go again!"
"Sword Fang," came a gruff voice from somewhere out of their vision. "Horizontal Line Attack!"
The sound of metal striking metal echoed over the room, and three objects glinted in the air as they launched forwards towards Black Star. The assassin smirked a little, then ducked the first object, dodged left from the second and brought the Enchanted Sword into the third, forcing it into the stone formation to his right. Looking at the item, Black Star confirmed that it was who he had expected; the silver, well-kept blade, the rectangular, dull-sandy coloured tsuba and the orange-red wrapping around the hilt of the deflected object all pointing to a certain 'Sword God'. Sure enough, as he turned to face the newcomer, his eyes fell upon Mifune, his huge twin sheaths hung over his shoulders, although three swords were missing from the right-most of these, and his third, normal scabbard hung at hip left hip as always, the sword being sheathed into it as he walked over.
"Yo, Mifune, you're late!" Black Star yelled at the man, who chewed on the piece of straw hanging from his mouth, a disinterested look on his face.
"Settle down, Black Star," he said calmly. "I had to make sure Angela was in safe hands before I came here. I must admit, I was a little conflicted about the idea of leaving a witch with a Grim Reaper, but he seems to not mind it."
"Yeah, Lord Death's pretty cool with kids too, Mifune," the assassin nodded. "Anyway, enough about the midget, do you think you can help me train Crona?"
"I can try," the swordsman complied, setting down the large sheaths behind him and stepping forward. "Tell me, what does he know?"
"The basics; you know, thrusting, jabbing, over-head swings."
"What about defensive techniques?" Mifune's eyebrow raised questioningly, and Black Star's blank look told him all he needed to know. "I see, so you taught him about attacking without how to counter an opponent or even how to parry. It's best we start there, else the more advanced techniques will be next to useless in his hands. Now, let's-" The samurai stopped short, spying the sword in Crona's grip. His eyes grew stern and cold. "That blade... So, you wield the Demon Sword known as Ragnorok?"
"Yes?" Crona asked, a slight edge of fear to his voice under the glaring gaze of the Samurai, who abruptly turned on his heel after a brief time.
"Teach him yourself, Black Star," Mifune said finally, his tone cold. "I cannot teach any who wield that blade."
"Wait, Mifune," the assassin said firmly, pressing his left hand to the man's chest and pushing him back. "What the hell are you talking about? Are you saying the 'Sword God' can't deal with a Demon Sword?" Mifune's eyes were stern, but Black Star could see an undertone of sadness about them too.
"Black Star, do you know what happened to Angela's parents?" he asked. The blue-haired boy shook his head. "When I found her, she was alone in that house, bodies and blood everywhere. I had assumed that they had been killed in the crossfire between her untamed powers and the thugs sent to kill her, but there was no sign of them in there. It was not until later that I found out about what had happened;" The samurai paused, looking Black Star in the eye. "They had been slain five years prior to my arrival, by that accursed Weapon." Black Star backed off a little, shocked by this strange news. "That, Black Star, is why I cannot teach the wielder of that Weapon; regardless of who wields it, Ragnorok is a Weapon which causes only misery."
"Um, e- excuse me," Crona said, walking forwards, Ragnorok no longer in his hand. Mifune looked down at the boy, eyes still dulled with pain. "I'm sorry for what happened, but Ragnorok has been inside of me for more than five years." Mifune's eyes narrowed at this. "A- And at that time, I was in Medusa's captivity..."
"You're saying that it is not possible?" Crona nodded a little timidly. "I do not believe that, however I do believe that the wielder was not someone of your description. Therefore, I will attempt to teach you, but I will not hesitate to disable you if the need should arise. Do you understand me?" Crona again nodded in agreement with the man. "Good. In that case, I want you to observe myself and Black Star as we spar. Take particular note of how we block and counter attack."
As the swordsman and the assassin locked blades and began to show the young Demon Sword Meister the basics of sword defence, Maka and Soul drifted into the air, using Maka's combat flight form as opposed to the transport state, the pink, feathery wings flapping every-so-often to keep her stable in the air. She gripped Soul tighter in both hands, eyes darting left and right.
"Do you see him, Soul?" she asked, turning around as she heard the air move, but seeing nothing.
"Not yet," her scythe replied. "Take it easy; focus your Soul Perception for him."
"I'm trying, but I can't get him," Maka frowned. "It's almost like he's using a Soul Protect."
Abruptly, the air above them shifted, and Maka looked up at their adversary. Kai stood in the air above them, a pair of dark grey, dragon-like wings with shadowy crimson, leathery panels in them and an ebony, curved spine on the top of each. His right hand had vanished, and in its place was a long, menacing-looking sword blade, the silver glinting venomously as he raised it and swooped downwards on them.
"Here he comes!" Soul informed his Meister.
"I see him!" Maka replied sharply, raising Soul and bring the blade into a collision course with Kai's, sparks flying off of them as they clashed and Kai continued passed them.
The Kishin Weapon turned swiftly in a wide circle and came back around on them, swinging in and opening up the pair to a third strike, which he stopped short, the point just in front of Maka's throat. He backed off a little and sighed.
"Good, but not good enough," he said firmly, his voice adopting a stern tone. "You're not moving when you attack or counter, and that's leaving you open to attacks. If you did that on the ground, you would be dead in no time, and it's no different in the air. Also, you are resonating at too slow a rate to sustain balanced flight in combat, so try to speed it up."
"Hey, it's not easy to speed up resonance all of a sudden from what we're used to," Soul rolled his eye as he responded. "Besides, we're working as hard as we can; our resonance is maxed out."
"At only thirty nine revolutions a second?" Kai questioned. "Stable combat flight requires at least forty five per second, else more powerful moves could destabilise the flight capabilities or create a negative spin on the attack, which would cause a potentially fatal backfire."
"So what the hell are you at?" Soul barked back, becoming angered by Kai's incessant reprimanding of their attempts.
"Forty eight point nine per second," the boy shrugged, touching down on the ground. "This won't work like I was planning, come down for now." The floating pair touched down and Soul transformed back into his human form. "Alright, I can't help you with this until you can increase your resonance rate. What I want you to do is focus on getting your maximum output up by fifteen percent, twenty if you can get it that high." With this said, Kai turned on his heel and walked towards the doorway, hands in his pockets, wings retracting into his shoulders as he went.
"Hey, get back here!" Soul shouted. "Where the hell are you going?"
"To see a certain professor who is clearly not teaching you the right damned syllabus," was Kai's only answer as he left the large doorway and vanished from sight. Maka frowned a little at Soul's behaviour, before then smacking him on the head.
"What the hell was that for?" Soul whined, clutching his head; even without a book, Maka's hand was a lethal weapon in itself.
"Why are you acting like this?" she asked, her tone laced with an undertone of confusion and anger. "This isn't like you."
Soul opened his mouth to reply, but promptly closed it and looked away, hands in his pockets.
"It doesn't matter," he returned, still not looking at her. "Let's just get this training done as soon as we can."
Maka still doubted his words, but it was clear that Soul did not want to tell her what was bothering him, and, having known him as long as she had, Maka knew that his 'coolness' complex and his stubbornness would not let her get through to him any time soon; it was better to persevere with their training and not to pry.
"Fine," she shrugged it off. "Transform into a scythe and match my wavelength."
Shibusen Corridors
The sound of plastic discs rolling over the floors emanated off of the walls, a gradually loudening rumble of a fast-moving chair growing closer to the brown-haired boy warned him of the impending arrival of the very person he was looking for. Abruptly, someone burst round the corner, the raised metal rail in the floor colliding with the wheels beneath them and making them tumble to the floor, spinning away from the chair. Kai placed his foot on the back rest of the chair, frowning and shaking his head at the man below him, who was cranking the screw head in his own.
"Seriously, you're still getting around like this?" the boy questioned as an audible click came from the man.
"Of course," Stein replied. "It's much more fun and faster than walking."
"You're such a child."
"Anyway, what brings you here?" Stein's eyes fell upon Kai, a steely seriousness about them.
"Why did you pair me with Soul Eater and Maka Albarn?" Kai replied levelly. "I could understand it if it was advanced battle physics or something like that, but their resonance rate is far too low to maintain aerial combat in an advanced state."
"That is exactly why I did," Stein replied, looking at the ceiling, for he was still sprawled out on his back and on the floor. "I knew that their level of resonance was not high enough, so I thought that you of all people could help improve that level."
"Be that as it may, I need a direct link to emulate a Soul Resonance and improve it," Kai glared. "Besides, it's not permanent in the first place." Something seemed to click into place in Kai's brain. "Wait a minute, what the hell are you doing in the corridors?"
"I am part of the teaching staff at Shibusen," Stein said, standing up and reaching for his chair. "I don't have to answer that question to a student." He gripped the chair and tried to pick it up, but Kai's foot remained in place.
"I'm not a student, dumbass," he growled. "I'm technically a Spartoi member and advisor, which puts me at the same rank as you. Now tell me what you're doing; it's the middle of third period, so you should be in class right now, yet you're moving at high speed towards where the Deathscythe Training Room is, which leads me to believe that it's something important."
Stein was silent, wrenching the chair out of Kai's grip and sitting upon it. He leant over the back of the chair and cranked his screw again, then gestured for Kai to walk beside him. The boy rolled his eyes but did so, using a pair of wings which sprouted behind him to follow instead of his legs, just in case the professor made a run for it.
"I was talking with Lord Death in the Death Room about your little friend," the grey-haired man said, pulling a cigarette out of his lab coat and lighting it as he rolled along the corridor, producing a stream of white smoke behind him. "Azusa-san contacted us a little while ago, she said that there have been issues in East Asia involving a rather high-profile magic tool facility which has been made to rebuild some of the ones which were lost in conflicts with our students. Also, there has been an increase in Madness in Western Europe, and there has been an unusual amount of activity in the Saharan town of Niglesh. Lord Death has ordered that Maka and Soul be dispatched to the European incident, Black Star and Tsubaki to the magic tool facility, and Kid, Liz and Patty to Niglesh to investigate the occurrences there. You are to help Crona train in sword techniques along with that man who Black Star asked to help him."
"I see," Kai nodded. "At least it will be something more worthwhile than this current training." He eyed something in Stein's hand, realising that the man had been holding it the entire time. "What's that?"
"Lord Death also thinks that the Spartoi group should be wearing a uniform to help identify them while out on missions," Stein replied as they entered the training room, ignoring Kai's mutter, which sounded like 'more like paint a bloody bullseye on them', and heading into the room itself. "Everyone, get over here now! We have a new assignment!" The group gathered and Stein handed each group a file about their missions, explaining in loose terms what was to happen. "Kai and Crona will stay here and train together while the rest of you complete these missions, so be sure to finish them as quickly as possible. One last thing," Stein opened the item in his hand, a fairly small black case, with Lord Death's emblem printed onto it. "You are expected to wear these uniforms at all times now to show that you are part of the elite which is Spartoi." He lifted out a cellophane-bound bundle from the case to show the uniforms to everyone.
The group stared at the item in Stein's hands and gaped. Soul, however, just frowned at the item, a sentence forming inside his head and quickly coming out of his mouth, the six words breaking the silence left by the arrival of the garments;
"You've got to be kidding me."
Ok, this took quite a while, as I have been trying to meet a deadline for my electronics coursework, so I'll apologise for that now.
Hope there's enough apprehension about this story;; it doesn't seem to be getting very much attention, but that may be paranoia on my part.
Anyway, as always, any reviews are accepted and taken with much gratitude, and I will try to post again soon.
Also, it is my sister's birthday soon (14th March), so there may be delays caused by this time frame, but I will try my best to get the next chapter ready and posted as soon as possible.