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 Twelve: Deploy Spartoi; Madness Within?
The air crackled with energy, like static electricity from a television screen, as Maka attempted to channel her wavelength into Soul's scythe form in her hands, as well as the device around her torso, but, once again, the wavelengths lashed against one another and forced the resonance to prematurely shatter. She gritted her teeth angrily and sighed, sweat beaded on her brow.
"Dammit," she growled. "This isn't working!"
"Calm down," Kai snapped, the dragon head on her chest rolling its eyes. "Just focus on my wavelength."
"We've been doing this for too long with no results," Soul replied agitatedly. "Face it, this isn't working, genius!"
Kai sighed, trying to think of a way to make it easier. As he did so, Soul's red eye turned loathingly and enviously to the second weapon on his Meister's person.
Kai's 'dragon-charger', as he had dubbed it, took the form of a dragons head mounted on the chest of the wielder, held in place by two bindings which led over the shoulders, and a further two which melded into a single binding about the naval, leading up into the underside of the head. On this column was a single eye, which remained closed from the start. On the user's back sat a small turbine, the spine of the central spindle facing upwards, but the blades remained immobile. Kai's tongue audibly clicked as he finished thinking.
"Can't be helped," he conceded. "Soul, change back to human state; if Maka can use my power on her own, maybe it will be easier to integrate it into your Weapon form as well."
"What?" Soul asked, refusing to change. "Like hell I'm going to-" Suddenly, Maka growled, slamming Soul's blade into the rocky terrain before her. "Hey! Maka, what are you doing?"
"Enough arguing, Soul!" she snapped. "If you won't transform, I'll just stop using you for now. We have to get this learnt and developed before we fight again, and this might be our only chance to get it right." Soul blinked, then sighed, changing back. He sat on the floor, arms crossed as he watched the duo train.
"Fine," he replied. "I'm still not sure about it, but if you're cool with it, I guess I'll just have to sit back and watch." He offered Maka a smile, to which she smiled back, stepping back to prevent her wavelength from impacting Soul as she resonated with Kai.
"Thank you, Soul," she said, before closing her eyes to focus. "Alright, Soul Resonance."
"Matching Soul Revolutions," Kai informed anyone listening. The eye under the dragon head shot open, the iris bright red. "Souls matched, commence soul charge."
The blue illumination of Maka's soul appeared around her. Almost as soon as the turbine started up, a series of red electrical pulses shot out of the dragon-charger, spiking into the soul wavelength and enhancing its magnitude threefold while keeping it stable. Once it achieved the maximum level, the red energy subsided as Kai analysed the soul levels.
"Soul Revolutions at ten point six revolutions per second," he concluded. "Total exertion, forty three percent." The dragons head turned to Soul slightly. "Now, Soul, try joining the resonance pattern with Maka."
Reluctantly, Soul transformed, falling gently into Maka's gloved grip. The change was almost instantaneous, the blade of the scythe becoming marred by bright blue light and expanding into a huge, spiked mass of energy. As it levelled out, the energy formed a huge Witch Hunter, the great power it exerted on the air evident to all who laid eyes on it. Blue static crackled around the trio as they resonated in synchronous. It was terrific, amazing. It was...
It was too much for the Weapon to cope with. He cried out, his scar throbbing as if he was being ripped in two along the division in his own flesh. Startled, Maka's grip slackened, causing a great explosion of energy as the Witch Hunter destabilised around Soul's blade and dispersed into the air. The shockwave knocked Maka head over heels, Kai still attached and resonating with her, while Soul forcefully transformed back into his human form. The dust cloud kicked up obscured everyone from each other.
"Shit," Kai groaned, the eye on his weapon state closing before he changed back, standing beside Maka, who was struggling to come to terms with what had happened; her eyes were wide and panicky after the experience. "I wasn't expecting that."
"Where's Soul?" Maka asked quickly. "Soul! Where are you?" Silence. Time ticked by; a second, ten, a minute. She could take it no longer. Without a thought, she ran into the smokescreen. "Soul!"
It did not take long to find Soul; his form lay slumped in the crater where his Weapon form had practically exploded. He was scorched and beaten up, face down in the dirt. Rolling her partner over, Maka gasped and flinched back; his shirt was stained red in the same places she knew his scar was.
"Oh no..." she mustered, falling to her knees beside him. "Soul..."
"What?" his reply finally came; his voice was raspy and cracked, but it was clear he was trying to play down his injuries once again. "You're acting like this is a big deal... that's not cool, Maka."
"It's not cool to make your Meister think you're dead either, Soul," she scolded, but her tone was full of relief, though there was a thick edge of sorrow to it as well. She was silent for a moment, then, "You're hurt." Soul chuckled slightly, pulling himself gingerly up.
"No shit, Captain Obvious," he grunted, receiving a slap on the arm from his partner. "It's nothing."
"Nothing?!" Maka practically shrieked. "Soul, you're bleeding! A lot! You could have torn your scar open!" Soul's eyes went wide, though were not on Maka.
Again? he questioned silently. What's going on with that scar lately? Does it mean something?
"It's not like I intended on doing that," he replied gruffly. "It was just... a shock, I guess."
"You guess?" Kai asked sceptically. He had appeared behind Maka while the duo were talking. "What happened when you lost it?" Soul thought back to the moment, the searing pain and a brilliant light in his eyes. When he told Kai and Maka this, the former sighed exasperatedly, running a hand through his hand. "Great, just fan-bloody-tastic."
"What? It's not that bad," Soul replied. The Kishin Weapon stared at the Deathscythe as if he had sprouted a head from his elbow.
"Don't you know anything, idiot?" he snapped. "Those are signs of soul rending; that should not have happened at that level of power!" Soul raised an eyebrow, making Kai sigh again. The Kishin Weapon pinched the bridge of his nose. "You don't even know what soul rending is, do you?"
"I do," Maka's voice was dark and resentful. She turned to face Soul, her eyes as dark as her tone, tears filming her irises, her voice taking on a new sadness. "It happens when a soul is put under too much pressure in resonance; it starts to rip the person apart in body and mind, resulting in an unstable soul." Soul still looked a little confused. "It's the first step in making a Kishin without consuming human souls." Soul's eyes widened.
"What?" he asked. "Why hasn't this happened before? We've gone much further than this before now!"
"Something must have been holding you together in that time," Kai reasoned. "That, or something has destabilised your equilibrium." Soul thought back, and came to a realisation.
"That Clown," he said. "The Madness it radiated must have done it; that was when it first happened."
"What?" Soul turned to his Meister, who was staring back at him in disbelief. "You mean... You didn't tell me, and it happened before?" Before Soul could even think of a way to remedy his error, Maka was gone, running away from the spot where they stood at full pelt, her eyes blurred by her tears.
"Maka!" Soul shouted after her, but she was gone by the time the words came.
The scythe turned to Kai, who sighed and gestured his head for Soul to follow her. As he watched the duo leave the room, he could not help but feel worried about this turn of events.
"Typical," he mumbled. "Every time something good happens, there's always bad round the corner." He looked over to the other side of the room, his eyes drifting from Kid, who was practising with Liz and Patty, to Black Star, sat cross-legged on the ground with Tsubaki in resonance, then to the sky, a look of sadness evident on his face. "Time's like this, I really wish you were here..."
Deciding there was nothing more he could do, Kai transformed into his sword form, blade impaling the ground, and began a self resonance to enter his own world.
Inside of Enchanted Sword
The assassin gritted his teeth as he took a moment to breathe. His ninja sword was not Tsubaki; it could not transform, nor could it resonate with him, but his opponent had no such problems; it was its own weapon. The Will of the Nakatsukasa Clan's sword was its own, its body borrowed from Tsubaki. As such, it was agile and lethal, as well as powerful.
This isn't going well, Black Star observed, noting the wound in his left arm. At this rate, will never know the truth about this sword. Mifune's words echoed in his mind.
"Black Star," the samurai had said. "In order for a swordsman to be great, he must know his sword's every strength and defect and memorise them to heart. A great man with a sword he can not understand will always fall to a weaker foe if they know their blade."
The Will moved again, lunging forth with great speed and forceful intent. As Black Star leapt forward to meet it, he felt himself slow and stumble; the water under his foot had given under him, and threw him off rhythm, making it impossible for the assassin to do anything beyond parry the strike. He took the left-handed punch in the jaw in full swing, then swung his left palm into the awaiting solar plexus, his wavelength shooting into the pressure point like an electrified spike into the core of his opponent. It coughed, backing up winded, but Black Star advanced quickly, cutting into the right arm with his short sword. As he did, a spark of yellow jumped from the wound to the sword, changing it to its Kusurigama mode. He gritted his teeth as he backed away, his plan scrapped due to this change of tool. The Will chuckled as it straightened up and turned to face the boy.
"You seem surprised," it noted. "I am one with Tsubaki now; is it not obvious that your weapon should change under her influence?"
"That's an underhanded technique," Black Star growled back. "Your God does not approve of such a style." The Will snorted.
"My God?" it questioned. "I have no God, you little fool; Gods are for mortals and fools such as yourself. I transcend the need for a God." It cocked its head. "Surely you are not serious that you are a God among humans; I am centuries old, and have faced many mortals stronger than you, and they all have succumbed to my power."
"You think of me as weak?" Black Star challenged.
"I think of you for what you truly are, Black Star," The Will replied bluntly. "You see, while you parade around, proclaiming yourself to be the most powerful of all, I know the truth, and that is that you are nothing without my power and Tsubaki's. It is your dependence on others which makes you weak."
"Shut your mouth!" Black Star spat, launching his left scythe at the beast, but it deflected the strike with ease. "I will not be berated by a creature like you!"
"Then prove your strength to me, foolish child!" The Will barked. They both lunged forward, stirring the water beneath them as they headed for another collision.
Shibusen Balcony
Soul had been running all over the school, trying to find his Meister, but so far he had been without luck. He hurriedly ran up the steps of the north staircase, taking them three at a stride, and soon made it onto the third floor corridor.
"Dammit, Maka," he murmured. "Where did you go?"
"Hey, Soul!" came a voice. "Long time no see." Soul turned to the speaker, who turned out to be Kilik, the Pots perched on his shoulders. "What's up, man? You look worried about something."
"I can't explain now, Kilik," Soul sighed, rubbing his head. "I have to find Maka." Kilik looked surprised. "Have you seen her?"
"I saw her running down the hall like ten minutes ago," he replied. "She ran into a bunch of first years and didn't even stop to help them pick up their things; I thought something was up at the time, but she was gone before I could react." Soul nodded. "I don't know where she went after that." Soul's shoulders slumped at this.
"Ok, thanks, man," he said as he took off once again, leaving the Meister blinking in confusion in his wake.
Soul ran through the hallways and peered into the classrooms he passed, searching in vain until he reached the last place he could look; the balcony overlooking the grounds of Shibusen. Stopping at the railing, the Deathscythe looked around the grounds frantically, but the ash blonde Meister who wielded him was no where to be seen in the area. He clenched his jaw tight shut, gripping the railing tightly with white knuckles.
"Dammit," he growled, before rearing up. "DAMMIT, MAKA! WHERE ARE YOU?!" He huffed, letting his frustration out. And then he heard it; a stifled sob followed by a sniffle. Turning around, Soul found her, her knees hugged to her chest, her forehead resting on them. Cautiously, Soul moved forward, crouching before her guarded form, a hand coming to rest on her shoulder. "Maka..."
The change was instantaneous; she lunged, her arms swinging towards him with balled fists. Her first hit struck him in the chest, the second following suit. Her repeated strikes landed without fail, but her force was weak behind each punch, meaning Soul could easily withstand the hits from his Meister.
"You stupid bastard!" he heard her shouting as her onslaught continued. "Stupid! Moron! Idiot! Jerk! Bastard!" Slowly her punches became slower and weaker, her shouts lessening in volume and ferocity, until she was knelt on the ground, leaning on Soul with tears seeping from her eyes. "You... you dummy..."
Soul gently wrapped his arms around her shoulders, allowing her to let out her anger and sorrow into him.
"Why do you... have to hide these things from me?" she managed to choke out. "Don't you trust me, Soul?" She looked up, her eyes sad as they glistened in the fading sunlight.
"Of course I trust you," Soul replied calmly. "I've never doubted you, Maka; not since I met you. But every time I am suffering by my own doing, every time I am injured doing what I want to do, you beat yourself up over it."
"This isn't like last time, Soul," Maka cried. "You didn't get hurt protecting me; you're risking becoming a Kishin! It's more serious than you're making it out to be." Soul sighed, then went on.
"That's not going to happen," he replied, still as calm as before. "I know I can get passed it, be as we were before now, but I can't do it alone. I need you, Maka Albarn, I need my Meister by my side to be the Weapon I know I am."
Maka stared at Soul, her mouth slightly open with surprise, silent for a few moments as she soaked in his cool image and calmly-spoken words. He was right, she realised, that they could get passed any obstacle in their way together, just as they always had done. Finally, she smiled, her mouth closing as she did, and hugged Soul around the chest.
"You're right," she replied. "We'll get though it." Soul carefully helped her up, the duo still unknowingly locked in each other's embrace. "Let's see... This started when we met the Black Clown... You were fine against the Kishin, and he had a similar level of madness."
"Maybe its the little demon?" Soul suggested. "When we fought the Kishin, I could feel him stirring within me, but now I can't tell if he's even still there."
"Hm... Kai did say something must have thrown off your resonance pattern," Maka reasoned. "Maybe he balanced out your madness?"
"If that's the case, I'd better find a way to get him back..." Soul murmured. A cough caught both their attentions.
"I'm not interrupting, am I?" Kai asked from the doorway. "Only, I can't help but notice how... 'close' you two are." The partners realised what he meant and pulled apart, blushed furiously, much to the Kishin Weapon's amusement. "Anyway, we're going in a couple of hours; make sure you're prepared to leave and at the main gates to Death City by then."
With that, the man left, leaving the Scythe Meister and her Weapon to make final preparations of their own before their dire mission.
Sorry for the delay, I've been screwed over several ways this last fortnight.
I'll post again as soon as possible, but I can't tell when that will be, especially with multiple other things needing my attention.
Any-hoo, I'll bid you adieu for now. Please let me know what you thought of this chapter, it helps me greatly.