Whilst Black Star picked himself off the ground, Soul and Tsubaki were still gaping at Noctis.
'Come on guys,' Noctis pleaded, 'just ignore my appearance. The fight's started so let's just see how this plays out'
'But you look so much like-' Tsubaki started.
'He's right Tsubaki, now I see why he was nervous, but you should go help Black Star-' Soul interrupted, only to be interrupted by a charging Black Star.
'That was quite a move! But can you dodge this? SPEED STAR!' Black Star screamed, rushing at Noctis at an incredible speed.
Wind rushed through Noctis as Black Star zipped past him, Noctis smiled despite himself. Super sonic speed? That hardly seems fair, but Noctis had been in the same situation before. He closed his eyes and felt the ground with his soul perception. The trick to fighting fast enemies was, NOW! He sidestepped to his left, just as enemy was about to punch him, tripping Black Star and sending him on a non-stop trip to the ground. Tsubaki gasped and rushed to Black Star's aid.
'Reflexes, sorry' Noctis offered.
'This should be interesting' Soul said, casually walking towards Noctis.
Black Star made it back onto his feet and summoned, a high bounce ball? No, Tsubaki?
'No more mister nice guy, Noctis!' Black Star screamed, slamming the orb onto the ground. Noctis was instantly surrounded by an extremely thick layer smoke.
'Smoke bomb, sweet' Noctis thought.
Black Star still stood before him, a short sword in hand. He was cautiously circling Noctis; green eyes staring straight at him.
'Green eyes?' Noctis speculated. 'Black Star has blue eyes…'
Noctis stopped his train of thought instantly, he knew Black Star's game now. Without warning, he elbowed the air behind him, catching something straight in the jaw and crashing it onto the ground. It was Black Star.
'Two out of three, Black Star. Time's running out. Mess up one more time and it'll be my turn to come and play' Noctis offered, playfully, earning a smirk from the already recovered Black Star. The 'Black Star' that circled Noctis earlier transformed into Tsubaki once again.
'Hah! I was just giving you a fighting chance. Unfortunately for you, play time's over. Tsubaki, enchanted sword mode!' Black Star exclaimed, much louder than Noctis was comfortable with. Instantly, two black tendrils engraved themselves into Black Star's face. Tsubaki had transformed into a black sword; crackling with devious black lightning.
'So, this is your most powerful skill; the demon sword. I'll have to end this quickly' Noctis muttered. 'Soul, it's show time'
'Really? You're tired of showing up Black Star all by yourself?' Soul said, sarcastically. 'Guess I could use a stretch'
Soul disappeared into a stream of light, which then rushed over to Noctis. An image appeared in the meister's mind: a scythe. He caught the stream of light and began twirling it with both hands. When he did so, Black Star faltered, surprised at the sudden gale storm that his foe produced. Amidst the scythe manipulation, Noctis found his perfect grip: a back hand grip where he held the blade as an arm guard.
'Colour me impressed, Soul. You're a death scythe already' Noctis said.
Black Star stared in disbelief and Soul was quiet.
'Is there a problem?' Noctis offered.
Soul took a while to suppress his awe but eventually said: 'Noctis, you handled my scythe form at the speed of sound. And your wavelength is...so quiet'
In that instant, tendrils of shadows rose from beneath Black Star; a wave of black fire circled the assassin's position. Without warning, they came straight at his opponent like a thousand deadly swords. Noctis couldn't block this without giving away his identity. It was then that he noticed that one tentacle was shaped thicker than the rest, he got an idea.
'Hey Soul, ever wondered what it's like to be a shuriken' Noctis asked.
'Why would I- WHOA!' Soul responded, interrupted when Noctis threw him straight over the incoming darkness.
Noctis ran straight at the dark onslaught and disappeared as soon as he touched the thickest tendril he could find. Black Star gasped; he missed? But how? A sharp pain struck his left rib that almost threw him off balance. It was a punch came from none other than Noctis; engulfed in an aura of shadow.
Tsubaki's upper half hovered above her weapon form, mouth agape at the gravity of Noctis' skill.
"You tried to use shadows to try and fight me? It's impressive for someone of your skill set, but I've been there and done that" Noctis remarked, casually raising his hand to catch Soul's scythe form, without even looking up. "Shame though, I imagined that you'd be tougher".
In an instant, Black Star disappeared from his ground position. A fist collided with Noctis' back, followed by an explosion that sent him flying. He flipped in mid-air and landed on his back, scythe still in hand. It wasn't over yet, Noctis realized, as a darting figure appeared in his peripheral vision. Black Star, it had to be. As soon as Noctis stood up, the figure delivered a round house kick to his jaw, five punches to the stomach and an uppercut to the chin. Noctis had to escape somehow, so when opponent threw his last punch at him, Noctis jumped over Black Star's head and used a double footed kick to propel him forward and make Black Star lose his balance.
"Noctis, are you alright?" Soul asked.
"I feel like I might pass out soon" Noctis replied
"Cut the whining. I can tell your lying" Soul suddenly said.
"What? That guy packs a punch!" Noctis said quickly, Soul was onto him.
"That's not the issue here. As a Deathscythe, I can tell how you're feeling. Your wavelength doesn't have a dent and your heart is beating like you've only been doing five star jumps throughout this whole fight!" Soul replied, still in disbelief at his own statement.
"Well, um… What are you getting at?" Noctis asked, now worried that Soul was about to make him forfeit the fight. Amazingly, Soul started to chuckle.
"Incredible. Everything that Black Star's thrown at you has felt like some kind of massage. Even that wavelength he attacked you with through his fist? That felt like a tickle to you didn't it?" Soul asked.
Noctis was speechless. Soul had him all figured out and he barely even used him for the fight!
"Well, yeah. But-" Noctis started.
"Save it, Noctis. All I want to see is you in action with a weapon. I can't wait to see what you're really made off" Soul interrupted, smugness in his voice.
Despite himself, the newcomer smiled; Soul wasn't worried about the extent of his powers at all. Then he noticed Black Star staring at him with an angry flame in his eyes.
"You're trying to take the spot light, aren't you, Noctis?" Black Star said, but it was barely audible.
Soul sighed, "I forgot, he gets angry whenever people say that he's weaker than they thought. He's definitely angry now".
"But I won't let you! This stage is for the man that will surpass God! Tsubaki! Get ready for Soul Resonance!" Black Star screamed, right on cue.
Where Black Star once was, a gushing cylinder of black erupted, like a fire hydrant gone mad.
Noctis sighed. "I really wish he didn't yell his intentions before attacking, you know, to get me thinking"
"We've got other things to worry about, he's about to use his most powerful technique!" Soul reminded him.
That snapped Noctis awake, for once. "Alright, time to keep my end of the bargain. Soul, you ready for soul resonance?"
"No sweat" Soul replied coolly.
"It's OVER!" Black Star yelled, transforming his wall of shadows into a thousand ninja swords. He sent them rocketing in Noctis' direction.
This time, without interruption from his once gawking friends, Noctis spun his Soul-scythe above his head and then into a guard position. In unison, meister and weapon both yelled: LET'S GO, SOUL RESONANCE! In doing so, Noctis' power flowed into Soul, making Soul gasp. He didn't contribute anything to the resonance yet, but…
Maka was agape at what just unfolded. Sure she expected Soul to be a worthy partner for the new guy, but she couldn't believe what she was seeing. The cute grey aired boy had dodged almost everything that Black Star could throw at him and now, in his hand was…
"Genie hunter!" Noctis exclaimed, summoning his complexly angular scythe.
Just as fast as he spun his scythe, Noctis slashed, sending a beam of blue energy that cut off the storm of swords; almost as if they'd never been there in the first place. Black Star came back into view; eyes wide and panting like a mad man. Noctis swung the wavelength infused scythe again; the shockwave was heading straight for Black Star. To Noctis' surprise, Black Star dodged at the last possible moment, causing said dodger to laugh while out of breath.
"Ha! (pant) You missed! (pant)" Black Star exclaimed, trying to recover his breath.
"Black Star look out!" Tsubaki screamed.
Black Star looked up fast enough to see Noctis in the air, two seconds away from striking him with genie hunter. With shaking arms, Black Star was able to raise the enchanted sword, enough to keep Noctis' scythe attack at bay.
"I won't. Lose" Black star muttered between gritted, straining teeth.
"Game over, but thanks for playing" Noctis said, reaching out and touching the surface of Tsubaki's blade form.
When green lightning cackled upon contact, Black Star's heart began to race. Noctis infused his wavelength into Tsubaki's blade form, stunning her and knocking it out of Black Star's hands. With one final kick to the gut, Noctis' sent an explosive wavelength through his leg; knocking Black Star into unconsciousness.
Soul transformed back into his human form and knelt beside Black Star.
"It took a lot for you to hold back in the fight, huh?" Soul asked.
"I don't know what you're talking about" Noctis replied, kneeling next to Tsubaki's (returned to human form) sleeping body.
"You used genie hunter like it was first instinct, you teleported while Black Star was taunting your feint slash, you knocked Tsubaki out with your soul wavelength AND you coordinated you wavelength through a kick! I've only ever seen them done with punches!" Soul exclaimed.
"So what?" Noctis pushed, trying to test the extent of Soul's observations.
"My point is, you could've ended the fight in two seconds but you were holding back for so long. You even put Tsubaki to sleep," Soul paused before saying, "You are such a softy".
At this, Noctis clenched his fist tightly and tried to hide his blushing face. He was about to argue that he wasn't soft, but ultimately decided against it.
"Come on; give Black Star a lift back to the portal thingy. I don't want to risk him waking up and thinking that the match is still on. I'll carry Tsubaki." Noctis said, finally.
"A ladies man too, eh? Whatever you say" Soul said, smirking.
Noctis sighed "Just do it and wipe that ridiculous smirk of your face. I'm just being nice to my next partner. Or do YOU want to be her knight in shining armour?"
Soul just laughed good naturedly, "Touche Noctis", hoisting Black Star onto his back, giving him a piggyback ride to the portal.
Noctis then realized that he couldn't do the same with Tsubaki; he did not, under any circumstances, want her bust to even come close to his back. He also realized that he'd never carried a girl before. Now this was definitely embarrassing, it was too late to call Soul back now since he was already half way to the doorway. He carefully slid his left arm beneath her knees, but he realized that doing so would put Tsubaki in an uncomfortable 'V' position. With no other choice, he hooked his left arm between the mid-section of her thighs, supported her back with his right and fully stood up. She was extremely light despite her femininely muscular build. Noctis had no problem catching up to Soul (who seemed to have tired while carrying Black Star), but a few things were bothering him. The first was the worry that his left arm would slip, meaning he'd have to catch her by the butt, as well as the fact that in her sleep, Tsubaki somehow snuggled her head on Noctis' neck.
"Man, this situation isn't cool at all" Noctis remarked.