Ali and Ian moved to their second target in patrol. There beast was an amphibian looking demon with eight tentacles, red skin, sixteen beady yellow eyes, and shark-like teeth in its mouth.
" Okay, Ali, if we work together we can stop this thing," Ian said.
" Your right, maggot," Ali said, but something about her sounded off. " On the count of three. One...two...THREE!"
Ian ran up to the beast. He pulled out his vial and splashed it with water, shouting, " The power of Christ compels you! The power of Christ compels you!"
It inadvertently affected the Evil Soul. The water just dripped down the Evil Souls face with no Ali coming in to help him. When Ian wondered where she was he looked back and saw her just looking at the blade of her kunai as if looking at her reflection in a mirror.
" A-Ali...?" The Evil Soul made a shrieking noise from its mouth as its teeth spinned around in circles. It was going to eat him. " Ahhhhhhhh!"
Before the Evil Soul could eat Ian a bullet was heard firing. Ian and the Evil Soul both looked up and saw Death the Kid standing above him. In his hands were two small pistols.
The Evil Soul backed away as Death fired both guns at it. Death landed gracefully on his feet, pointed his guns at the Evil Soul, but stopped even he got a look at his eyes. His beautiful, sixteen eyes, symmetrical eyes.
" Kid, what are you waiting for?" Liz shouted inside one of Kid's guns. " Hurry up and shot the thing already!"
" I can't. Doing that would go against my morals."
" Eh, no it won't," she lied. " That Evil Soul has nine eyes eye's on the left."
" Nine and eight eyes? That's asymmetrical. This thing...it's disgusting!" Kid took out both his guns out and pointed them at Evil Soul, shouted, " Disgusting! Disgusting! Disgusting!"
Kid fired from both guns at the Evil Soul. It exploded on contact and in the aftermath a red seed of ectoplasm giant chromosomes appeared. It was a soul. Kid grabbed the soul and shoved it into a gun.
" Eh, thanks for saving me." Ian smiled. " If you didn't show up I don't know what I would have done-"
" You..." Kid turned around and glared into Ian's eyes. The sight of him made Ian nervous. Kid however smiled and grabbed Ian's hands. " It's you. My symmetry equal. It's good to see you again."
" Umm, are you okay? What's this about symmetry?"
" Think of us as Siamese twin brother's. For I am..." Kid threw both of his guns in the air and they transformed into Liz and Patty. Kid jumped on Liz's shoulders, then Patty jumped on Kid's shoulders, where all three stood together in perfect harmony. " Death the Kid. What do you think? Do you like it?"
" What's, ah, not to like, Kid?"
" Now if you'll excuse me I must report back to my father."
" Bye, little chocolate," Patty waved at Ian. Her warm smile made him fluster. " Bye."
" Take care, whatever your name is," Liz said.
Before Ian could say another word Liz and Patty both transformed into guns and were caught by Kid. Kid ran away with both guns in his hands and disappeared in the darkness. The entire time Ian watched Kid walk away Ali walked up behind him. Her eyes were surrounded by darkness, and she had an evil smile on her face.
" Looks like somebody has a new boyfriend. Why were you getting chummy without me?"
" Ahhhhh! Ali!" Ian jumped like a scared cat at the sight of Ali. But when he managed to contain himself, he remembered something special. " Hey Ali, why didn't you help me like we planned? If we worked together we might've won."
" Because I don't like you. I don't like having you as a Meister. I thought this would be the perfect way to get rid of you and I could get a different Meister. Maybe one who actually has testosterone and doesn't scream like a girl."
" So scary."
" You better get ready, sunny. There's still a long night ahead of us."
XXX
" Ahhhhh!" Ian screamed at the top of his lung running from a "demon". " Help! Please, Ali, help me!"
" Why do I need to save you? It's only a cat."
Ian was running away from a cat. A black cat. Ian believed they were an omen of bad luck. Which was ironic because almost all cats in Death City were black. Ian ran, taking out Ian pulled out a small vial filled with holy water and started spraying it at the cat.
" The power of Christ compels you! The power of Christ compels you!" When that didn't work Ian pulled out a bible and started reading from it. " Thou must not harm thy neighbour or thy self. Oh, I can't think straight! Ah!"
Ian jumped on a lamppost and crawled up it like a caterpillar. The cat raised its paws up and growled at Ian. Ian cried at the sight of the cat and kicked his legs.
" Tsk. Why do I have to have such a useless Meister?"
Suddenly the cat stopped chasing after Ian and scampered away. Ian was surprised by the cat leaving him. That's when he saw how it ran straight to Soul and Maka who happened to be passing by. The cat jumped into Maka's arms and she stroked its fur.
" Hey Ian," Maka said, her voice was vague with the cat purring in Maka's arms. " Hey...Ali."
" Hmrph!"
" Nice to see you too. So, how is the soul hunting going?"
" Terrible. We can't even get one soul because my Meister is so pathetic. He's useless, he's an idiot, and every time I look at his face I just want to stab him in the eyes."
" I'm...useless..." Ian cried.
" Uh-huh," Soul shrugged. " Tell me, did you get your medication at the Salty-Bitter-Cherry-Department?"
Ali didn't say anything. She just took out one of her kunai knives, then she threw it right into Soul's forehead. The moment it touched him it went right through his head and blood dripped out. How Soul survived...Ian just didn't know.
" Ahhhhhhh!" Soul ran around and screamed trying to pull his kunai out. " Maka, get it out of me!"
" Er, I don't think that's such a good idea," said Maka. " Ali, I know you are angry-and trust me nobody wants Soul to be hurt more than me-but if you keep acting that way no one's going to like you."
" Like I care. If that's all you want to talk about, maggot, let's go-maggot?" Ali looked everywhere but she couldn't find Ian anywhere. " Hey, where did he go?"
" He left," Maka replied. " He left after you called him useless; in tears. You may not like having Ian around, but a real Meister like Ian is suppose to take care of their Weapons."
" Ahhhhh!" Soul continued to scream. When he ran up to Maka this time she pulled the kunai out of his head. Soul dropped his tough guy act and rubbed his head as wavy white tears comically dripped from his eyes. " Ow. Ow. That's going to leave a scar."
" That idiot! Doesn't he know it isn't safe to be alone at night? Well, aren't you two going to go after him?"
" Why should we? He's your Meister. Take some initiative for once, Ali. Go after him yourself."
" Grrrrrrr. Fine! I don't need you two! I don't need anyone! I'll just do things myself."
Ali ran away from Soul and Maka and ran into the darkness looking for her Meister Ian. The moment she left Soul walked besides Maka. Surprisingly there was no hole in his head. Maka dropped her cat, dropped her tough girl act and pouted.
" Do you think I was being a little rough on her. I know deep down she deserves some punishment, but maybe I was being too rough on her. Maybe we should help her find Ian."
" Relax," said Soul smiling. " Ali may not have a thought in her head other than to kill, but she always pulls through in the end."
" I guess your right, partner. But I'm worried. What if they run into this great terror I've been hearing about?"
" If they do... there's only a one in a hundred chance they'll survive."
XXX
Ian was running through the streets of Death City, in tears, thinking about what Ali said to him. After much running, Ian tripped on his own two feet and collapsed face first on the ground. He feared he may've hurt his tibia. As Ian stayed laying on the ground he thought about how " useless" he really was.
" Am I really no good as a Meister? I don't even know what it takes to be a Meister. And I can't even take control of my Weapon. Maybe I should just leave now and go back to living with my sister, her husband, and my niece. And maybe I should just go to a normal school. Maybe one that doesn't have people trying to kill me."
Ian heard crying in the streets. He raised his head off the ground and saw a young girl no older than ten crying on the streets. Ian, who wanted to be a reverend when he grew up, got off the ground and walked up to the girl trying to help her.
" Little girl, is something wrong?"
" Y-Yes..." the girl cried. " I lost my kitty cat."
" Really? Aww. That's too bad. But don't worry. I'll help you find it."
" R-Really?"
" Of course. I always like to help those in need." Ian got on his legs and knees and let the little girl climb up his shoulders. He was giving her a piggy back for her small legs. " Just don't leave my sight. Okay."
" Thank you, big brother." The girl licked her lips. Her tongue was black, long, and when it touched her lips sharp teeth grew out of her regular teeth. " Thank you..."
XXX
Ian followed a little girl in distress without any knowledge of what might happen. Ian was a good soul-his not being from Death City and all-and he wanted to help someone anyway that he could.
" Are you sure your cat went through this way?" Ian asked the little girl.
" Kitty always likes to come here," the girl replied. " It's easier for him to catch his prey in the dark."
" Really? Your cat really hunts in the dark? Of that's right cats have those kinds of eyes that help them see in the dark. Hehe. I guess I've been distracted what with the whole I nearly died twice today that I forgot."
Ian followed the little girl to what looked like an abandoned building. When Ian raised his face and looked at the windows he saw a shadow of something moving inside.
" Hmm. It must just be the curtains." That was what Ian thought at first but as he looked closer he saw something scary. A hand. What seemed like a ghoul's hand on the other side of the window. " This isn't happening. This is all just a dream."
" Can you please come with me," the little girl said. " I don't really want to come in there alone. "
" Uh, okay. Just don't go too far ahead."
" Don't worry. I'm not going anywhere without you."
XXX
The inside of the building was just as spooky as being outside. Not only were the walls closed together and confided him but there were so many boxes everywhere. And as Ian looked closer he saw something small scurrying away from him.
" Umm...I don't think we should be here. It doesn't look very clean."
" What's the matter? Aren't you going to help me find my cat? You promised me that you would help me find my cat didn't you?"
" I know I did. But something doesn't feel right. Maybe we should just leave this place and see if this cat of yours went somewhere else."
" Come on. She's probably scared somewhere-"
" Wait, I thought you told me your cat was a he. Now suddenly it's a she? What's going on-"
" Get down!"
Ali jumped up from behind Ian and threw one of her kunai straight towards the girl. The kunai went straight into the little girls head. Ian was the first one to scream when the blade went through her skull.
" Ali! What are you doing?"
" I'm saving your dumb ass! What are you doing hanging around an Evil Soul?"
" Evil Soul? What Evil Soul. She's just a little girl."
" No she's not. Just look at her."
At first Ian didn't see anything that looked like an Evil Soul. But as he looked closer he saw green skin inside of the little girls head. Her eyes glowed bright red as she laughed wickedly through her mouth.
" It's too bad. I was only one soul away from becoming a fully awakened being. But now I have no choice but to kill both of you and eat your souls. "
Something strange happened to the girls body. It started to become big, her stomach expanded out, and finally she exploded. In the remains of her body Ian noticed large chunks of skin.
" Ali...Ali..."
" Stop breathing so hard. You'll hyperventilate."
" This can't be happening. This just can't be happening!"
" Well it's happening, doofus. The sad truth is that these Evil Souls will always do whatever it takes to get whatever they want. Even if it means killing a small child they'll do it just so they can get what they want."
Ali felt something heading straight for her. Without a moment she fell to the ground with Ian in her arms. As she fell the shadowy image of the green scaled beast came at them, but jumped over them and ran right back into the darkness.
" Getting through this isn't going to be easy. Especially with a weak Meister like you. Here's the plan. The next time he jumps I want you to stand up."
" Stand up? Why?"
" Because your going to be a distraction. I want you to take a blow from this thing while I stab it in the head. It's dead, you get to look cool, and I get to help myself to a nice tasty soul. Everybody wins."
Ian did exactly what Ali told him to do. He stood up waiting for the beast to attack him. Ian was scared. He wasn't as fearless as a Meister should be. And when Ian was shaking so much he was going to pass out he was rammed from behind by the giant demon.
One thing didn't go as Ali planned. Just when Ian was pushed the giant monster sliced him with it's sharp claws straight through Ian's chest. Everything was slow. He could see Ali's scared face, the face of a monstrous being smiling snidely at him, and he could see his blood covered over the beasts' fingers.
" IAN!"
Ian fell on the ground, his body hit the floor, dead. When a person died their soul would leave their bodies. Something small started poking out of the hole. The beast licked it's lips looking at the soul it was about to devour.
" Finally. My one hundredth soul. I can't wait to devour you-"
Something strange happened. Both Ali and the beasts flinched at the sight of dark light glowing from Ian's open wound. In the laughter they also heard the sound of someone laughing. Like a corpse raising from the ground Ian stood up. For the first time since Ali met him...he had a deranged look on his face.
" I've been coped up in that body for far too long. And I'm hungry. Now I can feast on the flesh of some Evil Soul."