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.
A/N: Sorry about the delays to this, guys and girls. If you read my Bleach story Darkest Side of Me, you will already know that I have been held up by exams, which are now done with for me. Sorry again, but it was something which had to be done, monotonous and crappy as it was. Now, I hope you enjoy this update :)
Chapter Eight: Battle the Madness; A Dark Truth Revealed?
England
The quiet night was broken only by the sound of the air rushing passed for the young Meister and her Weapon. Soul gazed down at the streets beneath them as they headed for the source of the madness in the area. It was unusual to see his homeland from the sky, especially after how long it had been since he had last been there. Considering how cold it was compared to Death City, he noticed that Maka seemed to be showing no signs of feeling the chill.
"Are you sure this is the place, Maka?" he asked plainly after a short while. They had been flying over the small town and the surrounding area for almost half an hour, yet they had found nothing. Maka huffed from her position atop Soul's Weapon form.
"Of course I am, Soul," she replied. "It's not easy to find this thing; the displacement of the wavelength is chaotic and all over the place; it's as if it lingers where it touches."
"Whatever," Soul rolled his eyes. "Can we stop flying around aimlessly? If we do find who or what ever is causing it, we'll be too tired to fight them if we keep this up."
"You have a point," Maka conceded, her feet lowered to the rough ground of a country road. Maka stepped her left leg over Soul's handle and swung him upright again. "You might as well change back for now."
"Alright," the scythe nodded, glowing blue and changing back into his human form. He stretched a little, then shoved his hands into his pockets. "So, which way is the Madness strongest?"
"Over here," Maka replied, leading Soul by a couple of paces, her twin-tailed trench coat swaying behind her as she moved.
Soul eyed his Meister from behind, silently admiring her form in her uniform, and not for the first time; the journey had been long, and he had managed to steal a few glances at Maka, her clothes and hair wind-swept as they glided over the sea. He had been almost saddened that her old uniform was gone, missing the tighter attire slightly, but he had quickly been swayed when he noticed how the new clothes made her look more grown-up and accentuated her figure discreetly. He could not see Maka's face, who suspected that someone was watching her, as she smiled deviously. It made her feel good to be looked at by Soul when he thought she had no idea, and felt the need to snap her Weapon out of his trance.
"Soul," she said, her tone of mock irritation, something she pulled off very convincingly. "I swear, if you don't stop staring at my butt, I'm going to Maka-Chop you into the ground."
"Pft," Soul replied, looking away and repressing a blush, though Maka never turned to him. "As if a cool guy like me would want to stare at you. You must be imagining things."
Maka was about to snap something back, but the wavelength she was tracking shifted abruptly. Her eyes widened as she came to a stop. They had walked into a forested area around the country lane, the road giving way to a worn and tired-looking stone foot bridge over a fast-flowing river a few feet before them. Over the bridge, the grassy verge and the beaten path veered upwards sharply into a hill. No one was visible on the hillside, but the sensation of Madness felt strongest there. The wind blew, rippling the grass blades covering the hill as the two watched it. Despite being unable to sense souls and not being in resonance with Maka, Soul could feel the Madness reacting with his Black Blood, stirring the source of his own Madness.
The grass rippled like the surface of a pond when a stone is thrown into it, the circular waves extending outwards further and further as they grew stronger. Something began to rise from the centre of the ripples, a head shrouded in dark liquid which slowly peeled and fell away as it rose up. Maka tensed as the being stepped out of the ground, resisting the urge to be sick at what she saw. The creature, whatever it was, was a disfigured mess to put it nicely; the twisted and tangled-up body looked to be a work of many bodies twisted tightly into one like a rope, the multi-shaded abdomen flaring out into an over-sized torso. The arms were mismatched; the left one thin and gangly, ending in a clawed, humanoid hand, the right bulkier and covered in a sickle-like blade from the mid-upper arm down, overlapping a small right hand by almost a foot. The lower body was just as much a mangled mess as the rest of the body; the hips were too narrow and should have meant that it could not stay upright, though this was not the case. Furthermore, the legs were spindly and looked pathetically weak, ending with a spine, acting like a hoof for each leg. Finally, Maka saw it; the disfigured head mounted on an unnaturally lengthy neck. The face seemed to be hidden behind a porcelain mask of sorts, and the head hidden beneath a strange crescent-shaped hat of sorts. The features of the mask were simplistic and looked to be the work of an inexperienced craftsman; the eyes were mismatched, the right eye a single circular opening, the left a hastily hacked-out slash in the face above the cheekbone, though a second, shallow scar went vertically through it toward the ear, the nose a red bulb protruding like a wart from the face, and the mouth had no lips, revealing off-coloured but otherwise normal teeth. The disfigured and deranged-looking creature moved forward towards them, lumbering to the foot of the bridge and stopping on it's side before it. Maka and Soul moved to the opposite edge of the bridge, Maka watching the creature intently while Soul glared at it to hide his unease from the sensation.
"Who are you?" Maka asked clearly and firmly, her voice harbouring a great authority. The creature cocked it's head, as if telling her to introduce herself first. "I'm Maka Albarn, three star Scythe Meister, and this is my Deathscythe, Soul Eater. Now answer me, who are you?"
"Foolish child," the thing spoke. It's voice was fairly harsh and a little mechanical in sound, like rusty cogs grinding against one another in a worn out machine. "The question you should be asking is not who am I, but what am I. Is it not obvious that I am neither human nor Weapon or Meister?"
"What does that make you, then?" Soul growled. "A witch? A Kishin?"
"Oh no, my dear scythe," the creature sighed. "Allow me to clarify; there's a terror that can't be seen. It lurks in the shadows, following you and driving you insane, yet every time you look, it has disappeared. I am a terror that can be seen, and that can be just as terrifying as that which cannot be seen."
"What are you talking about?" Soul was beginning to get frustrated by this being.
"I am the existence which surpasses the Kishin Asura, the very tool he used to hide his weakness from the world. I am Madness Incarnate, but I am known by most as the Clown."
"What are you doing here?" Maka asked, seemingly unfazed by the Clown's words, though Soul could feel her wavelength shift warily. "You are in Shibusen controlled territory, spreading Madness throughout the area. We have come on behalf of Spartoi to take your soul."
"I see," the Clown nodded, grinning maniacally. "Those are big words for such a small Meister. We'll see if you can back up your claims with your actions, though, have no fear."
Before she could react, Maka felt a searing pain in her side. The Clown had lunged, catching her off-guard and cutting into her right side with it's claws, lopping off a segment of her coat and leaving a set of crimson stains in the remnants and her blouse. The Meister winced and held her wound to stem the flow of blood. The Clown swung it's right arm, attempting to cut her again, but her body was impacted by Soul's as he blocked the attack and was forced back under the force, his right forearm edged with a blade. Both students skidded to a halt and Soul turned to Maka, concern in his eyes.
"Can you fight, Maka?" he asked, keeping up his guard. Maka ripped off her coat and tore the sleeves off, tying them around her middle to apply pressure to her wounded abdomen.
"Of course," Maka nodded. "It's just a scratch, that's all." Soul grinned.
"Good. Let's go then!"
The Weapon transformed again, becoming the simple yet eccentric scythe once more. Maka gripped the metal staff and spun Soul, focussing her soul on his and meshing their wavelengths. With focus on the job at hand evident in her eyes, Maka tightened her grip on Soul's handle with both hands and took up a defensive stance. She knew this would leave her on the back foot, but lunging into the attack against an enemy of unknown skill would be suicidal, leaving this as her best option. The Clown made no movement to attack for a moment or two, then clasped it's red nose between two fingers and pulled it away, the extremity coming away with ease and instantaneously replaced by another. Maka blinked as the Clown threw the nose at the Scythe Meister and her Deathscythe, but quickly recovered, swinging Soul so that the flat of his blade took the hit and rebounded the nose away. The discarded body part smashed through a tree, struck the bridge, causing a large crack in the floor of it, and bounced back towards the Clown. The creature grinned and leaned to evade without looking, watching as the nose neared the young Weapon and Meister pair. Maka swung again, but was taken by surprise as the Clown gave a simple command to the air and poked the tip of it's existing nose.
"Activate," it said, the nose on it's face lighting up red.
The nose illuminated an intense orange and started to whine slightly as it came nearer to Soul's blade as it swung in to intercept. Just short of hitting the blade, the nose nose abruptly exploded, the forceful, fiery ball which came from it singing Maka's clothes in place and charring Soul's golden binding a little. The eye in the binding clenched shut and Soul yelped at the sudden attack. The partners skidded back from the force, allowing Maka to check on Soul.
"Are you ok, Soul?" she asked. His reflection appeared in his blade, revealing that he too was slightly singed by the attack.
"I'm fine," he grunted. "That was a dirty trick... This Clown's really starting to bug me."
"Then let's finish him off quickly," Maka said firmly. Soul nodded, knowing what she meant.
"Let's go! Soul Resonance!" they shouted together, their wavelengths merging and synchronising.
Soul's blade lit up blue and grew massively, becoming the double-bladed scythe of Witch Hunter but with the binding shining in gold and the eye at the centre shimmering red. Maka took in these changes and smiled slightly. The new resonance form suited Soul perfectly.
"Witch Hunter!" Maka yelled, running at the Clown with the Weapon in her hands primed.
Sahara Desert
The sandy landscape flew by beneath the skateboard as it hovered over under it's master's orders. The cloaked figure atop the board gazed out as the plains began to give way to the sight of a rather tall dune, the golden irises under the mask he was wearing lighting up slightly.
"Kid," a metallic voice whined. "Are we almost there?"
"I can see the edge of the field around Niglesh now," Kid replied. "We'll have to go by foot in a moment, girls."
"Great," Liz's voice sounded significantly more relieved than before. "Spending this much time in Weapon form kills my back."
"Hot..." Patty whimpered.
"Here we are," Kid announced, touching down on the verge of the sand dune surrounding Niglesh. Beelzebub spluttered out and dispersed into Kid's hand as the field cancelled it out. He eyed the village before them, releasing his pistols and allowing the sisters to transform. "Well, it seems to be a nice enough place."
"Yeah," Liz nodded, stretching herself out to rid the irritating aches in her body. "But it doesn't really look all that advanced; what's causing the interference field?"
"That is one of the things we're here to find out," Kid replied plainly. "Father was saying that there has been a high amount of movement of unknown intent in Niglesh, suspected to be the work of witches. Now, let's get to the bottom of this and get out of this desert."
"Hot..." Patty whimpered again, though her tone implied she agreed with the plan.
The trio reached Niglesh quickly and found themselves in a fairly quiet town. The buildings all had torn draperies and cloth overhangs hung off of them as if mauled by wild animals, and some had chunks of stone dislodged from their walls. The shade the buildings cast over the streets was much needed for the Thompson sisters, and even Kid was pleasantly pleased with it, removing his hood and mask and allowing the cool air to embrace his skin. His golden irises passed over the streets as they walked until a voice caught them off-guard.
"Hey!" the rough voice barked. "You fellas new here?"
Kid turned to face the owner of the voice; a man in a street-side shop. The man had dark skin and somewhat unkept dark hair. His face was stubbly from a lack of shaving, though it was clear he had shaved in previous weeks, and his clothes, though they appeared they should be vibrant in colour, were rather dull and faded, even ripped in places. Kid suppressed the need to amend the man's symmetry and cleared his throat.
"We are from Shibusen," he corrected. "My name is Death the Kid, three star Twin Pistol Meister. These are my Weapons, Liz and Patty Thompson." Both Weapons nodded to the man, whose face lit up at this.
"You must be here for our 'incidents', right?" the man asked. Kid said nothing, but the man went on anyway. "I am Agni Kadar, humble shop owner. Please, come in. We have much to discuss, and you look as though you could do with a drink."
Kid was hesitant, but this man, Agni, seemed to have noble intention, plus the promise of a drink had the overheated Patty in a stupor of longing. He nodded with a courteous 'thank you' and led his Weapons inside. Agni set down three bottles of water for the travellers and all of them sat around a small table in the back of the shop. The room was sparsely furnished with only the table and a few chairs, but it was pleasant.
"Tell us about these 'incidents' you spoke of," Kid said calmly, ignoring Patty as she guzzled her water down.
"It all started a few moons ago," Agni began to explain. "People came running into the streets, screaming of torture and pain which could not be found. By the morning, they were dead in the streets, their innards torn out and their bones broken." Kid cocked his head at this bizarre incident. "If it helps, I have seen one of them up close; they had some sort of burn on their hand and a black substance seemed to be leaking from it. On top of that, their eyes were heavily contracted, I think they may have been fully constricted even though they were in the dark."
Kid started to think. Constricted pupils, a black substance on the skin and a burn on contact with this substance... This sounds like the effects of Black Blood, but why would it burn the person it touches... I'll have to investigate this; if Black Blood is allowed to stay here, our enemies may get wind of it and turn it against us.
"You say this has happened for the last few days?" Kid asked Agni, still fully in thought.
"Closer to a week now," Agni amended.
"And has anything changed around that time?"
"Well," Agni hesitated, thinking about this. "There was that strange ruin they uncovered a few days before this started." Kid's interest was piqued.
"What ruin?" he asked. "Could you take us there?" Agni nodded and stood. Kid rose to his feet too. "Girls, we have a ruin to investigate." As they walked out of the building, Liz shuddered beside her Meister.
"Great," she whined. "A ruin which will probably be full of monsters and ghosts..."
"Sis is scared!" Patty yelled between boisterous laughs. Kid sighed and rubbed his temples.
"Cut it out, Patty," he said softly before turning to Liz. "There's nothing to worry about; as long as I am here, I won't let anything harm you," He looked at Patty, who had stopped laughing and now stared at Kid as they walked. "Either of you."
Liz and Patty both smiled at their Meister, knowing he was becoming more and more responsible, developing the traits of the Grim Reaper who would be needed to look after Death City when Lord Death finally stepped down. They took pride in this as they approached the strange temple at the heart of the incidents.
England
Maka and Soul lunged, the former swinging the latter with great force into the Clown before her, but it caught Soul's handle in it's blade, which had opened like a pair of jaws. It clamped down and Soul cried out in shock and pain, but he quickly snapped out of it, gritting his teeth.
"Maka!" he shouted. "Do it now!"
"Right!" she replied with a nod, bringing Soul downward and impaling the Clown's legs on the glowing blade. Unable to run, the Clown took the next attack full on to the chest as Maka punched it, her Soul Wavelength lashing out at the creature. It roared as she release a Soul Force, letting go of Soul and wrenching it's leg free of the blade, leaving half still on it. "Are you alright, Soul?"
"I'm fine, Maka," Soul replied, shaking it off. "Don't let him recover, hit him with everything we've got!"
"You got it!" Maka said, swinging Soul again in a downward arc. "Figure Six Hunter!" The blade tore into the fiend, causing a spray of black out of the wound in it's chest and abdomen. Maka's grip changed, shifting her right hand back to gain extra leverage. "Letter 'U' Hunter!" Again the strike ruptured the Clown's body, but this time the spray of blood never came. Soul's blade dripped with blood, yet it had not sprayed out of the Clown. "What the-"
"Bloody Slicer!" the Clown shouted out, releasing a dense blade of blood at Maka, who raised Soul to block. The blade struck but turning to liquid on contact, spraying Maka in it and coating the floor too. "Now you're mine, girl. Bloody Needle!"
Maka screamed in pain as the blood on her arms and stomach became jagged and pierced her flesh. She jumped away in time to dodge the pool on the floor, tearing the needles out with her left hand and ignoring her injuries.
"Dammit," Soul growled. "He's got the same abilities as Crona with his blood."
"I noticed," Maka replied. One of the needles had grazed the left side of her face, a trail of blood surged down from the shallow cut, barely missing her eye. "At this rate, we won't be able to make it."
"Then stop using Witch Hunter," Soul said firmly. "Let's step it up!"
"We don't even know if we can still use that since you ate your demon," Maka chided. Inside his Black Room, Soul clicked his tongue.
"I can still get to the Black Piano," he told his Meister. "Maybe I can still use it." Maka sighed audibly; they had no real choice.
"Alright," she relented. "But if this fails, you had better not blame me!"
"Like I would do that," Soul responded with a grin as he sat on the stool and lifted the lid off of the dusty keys. "How uncool do you think I am?"
Even Maka was grinning now. She closed her eyes and waited for Soul's dark melody to guide them into the battle again.
Sorry this update took forever, guys and girls.
I've been a little busy with exams, but they're dealt with now, so I'm back in the game.
Anyway, not much else to say but read and review; I like feedback :)