Chapter 4: And The Next Challenger Is…

"Oh my gosh, we were AWESOME out there, Kale!" Chrona boasted as they walked side by side. She threw up her hands behind her head and grinned as wide as she possibly could. "Like any other could have done that. HA! Helloooooo, this is why we were chosen! We're naturals!" They'd received their first mission as a brand new Deathscythe and meister team, one that Kidd felt they could easily overcome, and that they had. Kale shook his head as Chrona continued to brag. "I say we should go get some food! I'm starving now!"

Sure, the duo had spent some time training, but this…. this was the real thrill, actually doing something to a real enemy that none of their other friends could. The kishin's magic was just enough that any other student would have had trouble, but not enough that those two couldn't overcome in their new abilities in comparison to the witch they had to defeat.

Kale, like always, had very few words to say. He sent a smirk her way, though. "Yeah, sure." He had to admit, he felt pretty accomplished too. Only, he wasn't going to scream it out loud in the middle of the forest like his partner. The road where they parked his car wasn't too far ahead, but not quite in sight. It was because of safety that Kale felt they needed to draw it much closer into the woods rather than openly on a public road.

However, the two heard a rather unusual rumble in the leaves beyond their own steps. Had somebody… followed them? Kale stopped in his stride, grabbing a hold of Chrona's arm to stop her too. The weapon gasped quietly in return, holding her breath. No, they weren't alone at all. They weren't any of the lucky ones who couldn't detect souls, but they could both feel it in their bones. Someone was watching…lurking… waiting for them to continue on further.

Kale wouldn't have it. He couldn't just lead someone uninvited into their institution. "Come out already!" he shouted, nudging Chrona's arm he still held in his hand.

She'd gotten the hint well enough, and transformed back into her weapon form. Kale gripped the rolled chain tightly, his fingerless black gloves protecting his hands from the metal. Her form was that of a long-chained golden nun-chuck. At the end of the two grips, about an inch wide, a strip of silver circled around, complementing the thin silver blades that ran along each lock of the golden links of the chain itself. When looked at closely enough, one would notice numbers, one through twelve, read in a rather fancy Old English font, evenly spread around it so the spaces between each character were consistent.

Their stalker suddenly appeared before the two, gracefully stroll towards them. "So this is the newest pretty little Deathscythe they have now? Testing out your skills?"

"Kale….. " Chrona exclaimed. In a quick few seconds, they found the witch standing elegantly in front of the two, in close range enough to attack. It was really her. A rogue they'd labeled her, a witch that was banished long ago for deceitful acts and seen as a threat to her own kind, though she'd done nothing punishable for death yet. When she left the witch's town for good, the woman had disappeared, never to be seen again or ever able to be traced down. She was then deemed open game if her actions judged her to be a threat to treaty terms and her death would go forgotten and unpunished.

Liv was her name, and quite beautiful she was, really. Her black, sleeveless, slender silhouetted dress accented her figure as the bottom flare by her ankles swaying with each step. Her hair was long, and dark enough to match what she had worn. Overall, she gave a very elegant image in a dark way.

Chrona shifted back to her human form, standing beside her partner with a determined gaze. "Go back to where you came from! We mean no harm if you don't!"

"You look oddly familiar…." the witch replied, shifting her eyes to focus on Chrona. She closed her eyes for a second, in thought, chuckling to herself. "Oh yes, I know you now… the daughter of Death Scythe, Soul Eater Evans. Why, I had no idea you'd become one of them now." Them… at that very word, her voice shifted to something almost threatening, as if spoken from a spiteful heart.

Within a split second, a shield of razor sharp curved needles came racing towards them in the image of claws of a rage animal. Chrona instantly transformed and Kale threw the chain out widely to his left, sweeping to the side while keeping a hold of a single end with his right hand as it swept across the projectiles, deflecting them away so they did not damage him. The chain whipped around behind him and he thrust his left hand across his body, catching the second end.

"That was a quick one, Kale! But we're going to have to be faster than this! We've done this before!" The meister had barely dodged it, managing to receive only one scratch upon his left cheek. Suddenly the witch shot herself straight towards them. Her hand stretched outward, her nails extending like freshly sharpened curved blades twice the length of her hand itself.

He was on top of the defense, however, whipping Chrona's chain around in a loop till it formed to a circle with each end extending past the circle boundary. He pulled the loop hole tight around her bladed nails just quick enough to stop them from piercing his face. Pulling each end further to tighten the loop till it became a straight stretch, he pushed her attack away, forcing some distance between the two again.

Reversing back to the offensive, Kale threw one end of the weapon at the witch, catching her arm and pulling it back so quick that the arm containing the blades tore off mid-way. One would think that this alone would put a damper in her fighting; however, her smile did not drop. In fact, she was rather amused, her eyes never ceasing to shift from her opponents.

"I'm impressed..." Liv shot a wide grin. "It doesn't change the despise I have for your kind, though! The time of Deathscythes is over!" Shadows formed around the torn limb end as she held it outward. Soon, the shadows created a circling mass, and it began to shrink down to the shape of an arm, her arm, in fact. "You see … I'm a fast healer." Once the shadows disappeared in an array of smoke, it appeared as though nothing had happened, as if her arm had never been removed from the beginning. The skin was scar-less and the tissue solidly attached again.

Kale stood breathless, Chrona still in weapon form. 'I… I don't believe it… immortal?' Chrona asked in shock. She began to wonder how they were going to come out alive now. What trouble had she encouraged on what could be their last day of action?

'No… not immortal… Chrona…. Do you remember, in your historic vampire novels, where they regenerated missing body parts?' Kale inquired. Typically, he didn't bother to read as much as she, so for him to recall such a thing at this very moment obviously meant something useful. Furthermore, the question confused her as to what his point was arriving to.

'Yeah, where you have to chop of their- wait… now I know what you're getting to. We have to decapitate her…' Chrona's focus fell off her book and turned back to the battle.

'Right!' He rushed back towards Liv, swinging the chain in variations of loops and jerks, forcing the witch into dodging his swift continuous attacks. Perhaps with this, he could pull himself and Chrona close enough to her blind side, allowing him an open opportunity to ring it around her neck when she would least suspect it. Despite his swift attack, Liv still managed to dodge each swing around. Kale once again, caught the attacking end, stopping his pursuit to distract her. "Her speed is too much for us in this state."

Liv's figure vanished from in front of the meister and weapon as she grew even more excited in battle. Shadows flashed all around them throughout the surrounding bushes and trees, disappearing and reappearing in various spots that were too unpredictable to attack. Mischievous giggles were heard from every direction, echoing about. "Where am I now? Which one is the real me?"

"This is….more challenging than I thought it would be… time to get a little more serious." The reflection in the nun chuck ends reflected Chrona's smile. Both nodded. In a jump of energy, they revved up their power, matching each other's wave lengths. "Soul Resonance!" In a simultaneous shout, their souls were now connected, allowing them to think in the same pace.

The massive number of seemingly realistic duplicates attacked at once to the center where the weapon and meister still stood in their re-energized state. With each swing of his weapon, Kale's attacks went through each copy, as they vanished. He had no choice but to attack every image that approached him. Liv's soul could be sensed in every cloned body and risking the chance of waiting for the real one to expose herself could potentially lead to their passive death.

As he swung Chrona about in attempt to eliminate who was the real Liv, the clones turned into withering shadows of dust one by one as his weapon slid through them. As the number narrowed down, the pair noticed one in particularly simply standing and seemingly focused to a larger degree. That had to be the real one! Now Kale ran towards the witch, ready to strike and sever her head free from her body.

Liv knew she'd been found, though, leaning back just far enough so the sharp blades along the chain's handles flew horizontally over her face. Backing up quickly in the realization they were more capable than they appeared, the woman chanted a few words. Two kishins appeared out of thin air just behind her.

Chrona confidently laughed from her metal form. "Kishins? You're summoning kishins to attack us? We're far beyond that!"

The two kishins doubled to four, though. Which doubled to eight. Then to sixteen. Thirty-two. Sixty-four. The meister had counted as each duplicated itself. The sight made Kales eyes open wide. A dopple-ganger!

"You see… you want to know how I've managed my own as a rogue? Let's just say… I have protection, unlimited protection…" Liv began to laugh madly as the kishins she'd summoned circled the pair in layers, ready to attack at once. They may have been good against one, or a few, but very unlikely had they ever faced an army like this alone! The witch couldn't stop cackling in the humor of her opponents' suddenly shaken nerves.

The pair "Kale, I'm not saying that we're going to lose, but… just in case, I want to thank you for never leaving my side. I'll never forget what great partner and friend you've been!"