Chapter 16 – God Defiant

Sai Summers / Death the Kid

***

Sai

I stretched out my back and arms. Sleeping – what little sleep I had gotten – on the couch had caused me to cramp up.

I kept hoping this would be over fast. I hadn't figured out how to handle the left turns' issue, yet. Black Star's ego wasn't high enough on my list at the moment to put a lot of consideration into. If he wanted to have issues, he could have them some other day.

"This is stupid." I muttered aloud.

Stein and Sid, the blue zombified instructor in charge of Meister Arts, were officiating the duel. Somehow Stein had managed to drag a rolling desk chair all of the way outside, and was sitting in it backwards. A little part of me wished he'd fall over – I had heard it was amusing to watch.

Black Star was chatting with Tsubaki about thirty feet away.

And I was impatient.

"Hey little man, can we get this over with?!" I shouted at him, waving my arms.

***

Kid

"She's trying to psyche him out by calling him small." Soul muttered. "Good luck with that."

I had to agree with him. "I don't think you can 'psych' out someone like Black Star. He likes himself too much."

Soul took a bite of an apple he brought with him, and I looked at him.

"You know, she's right, you are going to end up fat." I mentioned offhandedly.

He eyed me. "Watch it, bean pole." He threatened through a mouthful.

I sighed. "And with that attitude, I'm quite sure you two are related."

***

Sai

I stared Black Star down. "Do you ever get tired of talking about yourself?"

He laughed. "Of course not! I am the man you surpassed God. I really am that impressive."

"You really should stop insulting Shinigami-Sama. It'll end up getting you struck down someday." My eyes glanced in Kid and Soul's direction; they were engaged in conversation.

Black Star laughed, noticing the direction of my gaze. "That 'god' is nothing!"

I had no idea what god he was talking about. The "God Concept" in and of itself bothered me greatly.

He grinned, noticing the discomfort on my face. "I hadn't taken you for a religious girl."

I scowled, placing my staff in front of me. "I'm not. I just know my place."

"Ha, and my place is among the stars!" He announced.

"Ugh. Good lord, you can be so annoying." I droned.

***

Kid

"Black Star has a twisted sense of god. Half of the time I can't figure out if he's talking about my father or…" I scratched my head in confusion.

Soul rolled his eyes. "He knows jack about religion. I always assume he's talking about some ambiguous concept he saw on television."

I chortled. "I'll have to keep that in mind. But he does have some strange idea that because I have the physics of a shinigami, I'm somehow the god he needs to beat to 'surpass God.'"

Soul appeared to be considering the concept. "Hmm, I never did ask you about that. So you don't consider yourself a god in the Western religious sense, I take it."

"God, no." I told him with a snort. "Pun intended."

I paused. "Besides, I would like to think that the Almighty God is somehow more impressive looking than me."

Soul chuckled. "You're right, bean pole."

I was annoyed. "Would you stop calling me that?!"

***

Sai

I held him down by leaving my foot just below his throat. "Like I said." I huffed. "You have no right to say you are above God. God will send someone to teach you the hard way then."

He was holding onto my ankle, trying to push me back.

"You may train harder than me. You might even have been training longer than me." I flinched as he squeezed my Achilles' tendon. "But your ego will cause you to lose!" I twisted away from his grasp and kicked him in the jaw, kicking him a feet few away.

Black Star came up to his feet with a thud on the paving stones. "Heh." He wiped his face with the back of his right hand. "My ego fits me. Maybe you should stop pretending you don't have one."

I slid back several feet, and I could feel a growl in my throat. "Excuse me?"

"You like to pretend you're not special. You act like you're embarrassed about it. I bet you really enjoy getting to stand out."

I was defiant with my words, but my will was weakening in my current state. "Out of this group, I think standing out your job. I'll leave that desire in your hands."

"Never want to talk about you, do you? That selflessness is all an act!" He charged at me. I was able to block his fist with the staff, but I became off-balance, and fell backwards, landing on my right side. Black Star landed a kick, and I felt myself go rolling across the courtyard.

***

Kid

"There's only one major problem she has in a fight." Soul stated matter-of-factly.

I assumed Soul was joking. "Her attitude?"

He sputtered and a piece of apple flew from his mouth. "I promise, I won't tell her you said that."

Embarrassment set in. "You were being serious. I apologize."

Soul bit off another piece of his apple. "Amazingly, yes. Anyway, she can't collect souls."

I couldn't help but stare at him in disbelief. "You're lying." I told him, drawing out the last word.

He shook his head, and looked disappointed. "It's not known why, but she can't consume them in her current state. Some sort of error in her abilities."

I watched Sai argue with Black Star. It wasn't much of a physical fight as a battle of egos. "She can do so much, but not the one thing that's necessary. It's a pity."

He shook his head hard this time. "Don't feel bad for her. She'll get pissed at me if you do. I'm not really supposed to say anything. And Stein's helping her, so we hope it can be…acquired?" Soul appeared thoughtful. "I'm not sure if that's the right word. But find whatever the trigger is, I guess."

I shrugged. "Shibusen would be the right place to learn it, I suppose."

He nodded. "It's a lot safer for her to be at Shibusen, anyway. In Iceland people thought she was a witch."

"Because she can't collect souls?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

Soul rocked on his heels. "More because she just can't change her body into a weapon without help. And seriously, if you didn't know what or who she was, wouldn't you have thought that?"

I frowned. "I'm not sure that's a valid question for me, but a lot of people I can imagine it being true. People have enough trouble dealing with the Weapon concept to begin with."

Soul looked at me in thought. "Just curious; why would that not be a valid question for you?"

I blinked at him in confusion. "I am a Shinigami after all."

Soul raised an eyebrow. "And…?"

Somehow, not even I knew the answer to the question at hand. "Um…and I like to read?"

Soul smacked his forehead with his right palm. "In other words, you're just a nerd who can tell the difference based on a book."

I bit my lip. "Pretty much."

***

Sai

I had been lucky in that he didn't toss me into the wall, so I was able to pull myself back to my feet. I used my staff as a crutch. I could feel a sense of vertigo, and I wondered how much longer I could fight while exhausted.

I would try a different technique to end the fight.

Black Star was in front of me. He grabbed the left shoulder of my sweater and pulled me towards him. "Are you even trying?"

My eyes burned. "No." I snuffled. "I don't want to."

He scowled. "What?"

I hung my head. "I'm not special Black Star. I'm not. Please just…just let this go. You win. You've already defeated me mentally."

"You're fighting like this duel doesn't matter. It's insulting."

"This fight doesn't matter." I muttered.

He released my sweater, and I sunk down on the ground.

Black Star's force was firm. "Every fight should matter. If you go into the field like this you'll never gain a single soul. Or you'll end up dead."

"There are worse things than death, Black Star." I told him, staring at the ground.

He grabbed my sweater again and yanked me to my feet. He was visibly upset. "Never say that! Nothing is worse than not existing! You can always try to fix things when you're alive. It's too late when you're dead!"

I blinked at him. He was right, but I couldn't figure out how it to be true. It didn't matter though – I had the answer to a more pressing problem.

"No matter what you do when you're alive. As long as you stay that way you can try to make amends." He released me and I stood up.

His thoughts and gaze seemed to be far away.

Using his emotions had failed. I would have to hurt him, it appeared.

***

Kid

"Poor Black Star." Soul muttered.

I was confused. "What do you mean? Sai was just sitting on the ground."

"She was trying to see if she could just have him concede. Looks like she failed." He explained.

It didn't look like Sai was making any effort to defeat Black Star to me.

***

Sai

I pulled my staff behind my back, and whipped it to the front. The ringed head connected with the left side of Black Star's head with a thud.

He returned to reality quickly. "What the hell did you did that for?!" He yelled, going into a rage.

I put my arm down and the staff shimmered out of existence.

I grinned at him. "I originally thought you were a very shallow person. But that kind of pain and emotion can only come from experience."

Black Star stared at me in confusion, holding the left side of his head.

"It's been a long time since I met someone so sure of themselves. When you're not sure of who you are, it's tough to interact with someone who is."

He made a sour face. "Thanks Maka."

I giggled. "Oh no, I'm most certainly not her."

I opened my eyes wide, and I watched Black Star's face contort in confusion.

***

Kid

I watched Black Star's face light up in confusion. "Is she doing something to him?"

Soul stuffed his hands in his jeans' pockets. "He can see the markings in her eyes. The black and red saw-tooth pattern."

"The same as on your blade." I noted.

"It's our family pattern for Weapons. She can produce it in round objects, so we call it the Razorblade Halo on her. Done in her eyes it's a sign of the weapon being internalized. She adds the strength of her weapon into her physical frame and…"

Soul was cut off by a grunting noise.

Sai had handed a right-hook between Black Star's eyes and he flew back. He landed a solid ten feet back, with a thud and a groan.

***

Sai

"What was the real point of this Black Star?" I yelled.

He looked up at me from the ground. "I wanted a rematch."

I was growing agitated. "I don't want to fight with me friends! Why are you making me do this?"

I could see a touch of realization in his face.

***

Kid

"I'm surprised she didn't charge after him and kick him." I noted, watching Sai languish in circles around the fallen Black Star.

Soul watched intently. "He's faster than her at this point. Sai needs to make sure he doesn't get back up. She's sacrificing speed for brute strength and heavy defense."

I was somewhat confused. "What do you mean 'heavy defense?'"

Soul looked at me. "It sounds stupid, but ever run straight into a wall?"

"I have, actually." I told him with a grimace. "So her frame is strengthened, I take it. As a result she's stronger, but slower."

Soul put his arms behind his head. "Can't have everything, I guess."

Sai kicked Black Star on his left side, and we went rolling across the courtyard.

So that was why I wasn't able to push her out of the way yesterday, I realized.

***

Sai

I stood over Black Star, who sat up and looked dejected. "Can I stop kicking you about now? I'd like to get on with the rest of my day." I told him, with my hands on my hips.

He crossed his arms across his chest and sulked. He was a little scraped up, but didn't have any real injuries. It could take us all day to really injure each other, and I really didn't feel like spending time doing that.

His attitude was amusing, and I decided to exploit it. "If you'd like, I can tag out to Kid and he can finish kicking your…"

"That won't be necessary!" I heard from my right. Stein had rolled his chair over to us. He stood up, pushed his glasses up on his nose, and adjusted his stitched lab coat. "I'm calling an end to this. You've done enough damage to the courtyard these two days. The win is yours, Sai."

I sighed. "Thanks Professor Stein."

The three of us were joined by Soul and Kid at my left.

Black Star stood up, brushed himself off, and then smirked at me. "Since the fight's over, how about those left turns?" He asked, playing innocent.

I looked at Kid's face – it fell abruptly. His eyes grew large and he wandered away aimlessly.

"Kid…" Soul started to say.

"Heh. I win." Black Star stated defiantly, full of pride.

I looked back at Black Star, glaring.

"Screw you." Was the only response I could come up that wouldn't land me in Shinigami-sama's office.