36I have very bad news. Sigh. This fic will be suspended for the time being, along with another one. Hate me if you wish. But it must be so. I can explain~ I have WAY too many fics to juggle right now (six of them, six) and I really only have time for about three. I can squeeze in a fourth because I type fast. But six? Sorry. No can do. I took on too much, and you guys are paying for it. a thousand apologies. Flame me. Bash me. I don't care. I probably deserve it.
On that depressing note, enjoy the latest chapter! Which will also be the last chapter for the time being! D: I'll leave it on a cliffie so you'll be sure to come back once I update, though ;) if you really want the next chapter, add this to your Story Alert and it'll be up sometime late April/early May. Yes that's a long time, hopefully long enough for me to finish the other four. Yay! *dances up and down*
So again, sorry. But I hope you'll come back in a month or so when I'll have time again! ^.^
~DeaththeKidKat
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Soul Eater POV
Kid watched carefully from the middle cone on the front of the DWMA, surveying all the students who passed by below without noticing him. For he'd conjured up a few of his special skull-shaped shadows that concealed him – all those below would see was the usual shadows that dappled the DWMA, barely visible today because of the overcast, rainy gray sky. It was time to do some investigating of his own.
"Liz, Patty," the reaper breathed, taking two gleaming silver guns from his pockets. "Ready?" Two girl's faces appeared on the barrels, both nodding – one enthusiastically, one reluctantly. Quietly Kid dropped them, and they flashed purple into human forms, melting into the crowd easily. Show time.
"Okay, Tsubaki," he continued in a low voice. BlackStar had agreed to the plan – his weapon would go with Kid and the Thompsons; the young reaper would be surveillance from above, while the three girls would drop from his pockets, transform, and infiltrate the crowd. Soul, Maka, and the spiky-haired assassin would carry out their parts of the plan separately. Kid allowed himself a small grin as he reached into the small backpack he wore and withdrew a shining silver ninja sword from the middle pocket. Carefully holding her with both hands – symmetry must be preserved – the meticulous meister let go and watched as the small yellow flash expanded into a tall, ponytail-toting girl who slipped into the tangle of people and disappeared, unnoticed.
We're ready, Kid announced through the Resonance Link he and his team were keeping up carefully. It required lots of concentration, but there were three reasons he was the one on the spike. One, his two-toned golden eyes allowed him to focus in on small details, and he could pick out the tiny things like a hawk. Two, the shadows he summoned allowed him to be the only one easily hidden in plain sight. And three, his powerful soul kept the rest of them connected – which was why he was the only one staying still. It allowed for better concentration.
The young reaper heard another voice reply, got it. Me and Soul are at our stations. Maka.
Ha! The great BlackStar is also ready!
BlackStar, be quiet! Tsubaki hissed. If you're not careful you'll end up shouting that out loud and giving us all away.
Oh, right. Sorry, Tsubaki! I am an assassin! I will dissolve into the darkness…
Good. Now stay dissolved. Honestly… his weapon sighed, exasperated.
Far above them, the flock watched, amused. All of them were circling, weapons in hand and at the ready. There was no telling who they'd find. Since resonance was still hard for them, the six inexperienced meisters were listening in through Kid, whose wavelength was immensely strong and very flexible due to him being, well, a Death God and whatnot.
Their mission? Infiltrate and survey the DWMA. To Kid's utter frustration, his father seemed to have figured out the person who had cast this 'curse' on them, but was withholding the information. Apparently he wanted them to 'find out on their own – it would make them stronger.' The younger reaper wanted nothing more than to at least try to blast his father with a Death Cannon. It probably wouldn't work, but it was a great way to relieve stress. But not tension. Ah, well.
Alright, we're on the move! Liz said. Patty thought-giggled hysterically. The giraffes are in place!
Patty, concentrate! Kid scolded his weapon. We're supposed to be inconspicuous.
The younger Thompson thought-giggled again. Sowwy, Kid! Let's go, sis!
After everyone was in position, Kid gave the signal to begin. Patty, you and Liz are our distraction. BlackStar, second distraction. Tsubaki, wait in the crowd and keep a lookout. Maka and Soul, you're watching from outside the crowd. Keep tabs on everyone. We're going to find our curse-caster. Flock, just… wait. If things get sticky, I'll inform you. As soon as we've got a suspect, report to me and I'll find them. Ready to go?
Yep! Patty trilled. There were murmurs of assent from the others, along with some grumbling along the lines of 'stupid bossy reaper… I should get the spotlight…'
Said 'bossy reaper' sighed. BlackStar, you are getting the spotlight. Everyone will be focused on you while the team finishes the mission.
Alll-RIGHT!
A chorus of sighs followed, then the link fell silent as the mutterings of the crowd below began.
"SIS! GIRAFFE, GIRAFFE! LOOKIE!"
"PATTY, GET OFF THE RAILING! WHAT IS THAT THING DOING HERE?"
"I TOLD YOU, IT'S MY GIRAFFE! I'M GONNA BREAK IT'S FRICKIN NECK SOON! AFTER I PLAY WITH IT!"
"HOW ABOUT NOT!" Liz' tone had dropped somewhat as she proceeded to drag her sister away from the live giraffe standing nonchalantly outside the DWMA, in the courtyard. However, their argument continued rather loudly until one drowned it out.
"YAAAAAAHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
Now the real show began. A war for the spotlight between Patty and BlackStar, with a 'furious' Liz caught in the middle. The poor bemused giraffe stood by and watched the humans bouncing around, the little blonde chasing the spiky-haired assassin as he yelled about surpassing God and being in the spotlight, while the girl cackled madly and declared the many ways she could break her new friend's neck. The elder Thompson kept up the act by standing still and screaming, rather unsuccessfully, to get them to 'stop.' Although none of the trio had any intention of doing so. The students milling around, some laughing, were suitably distracted. More were still coming up the steps and joining the throng, staring at the antics as if they were something new. Which they were not.
"Tralala~" a certain purple-haired neko sang as she pranced up the stairs, half-hidden in the surging mass of people. With the sight of what was going on, she transformed into a cat with a poof of purple. Kid spotted her immediately.
Tsubaki, Maka, Soul, there's Blair! And she just transformed, the minute she saw BlackStar and the sisters.
Why would she transform? Maka asked, confused.
Kid's grim reply made perfect sense, unfortunately. She's done something wrong. Or well, not wrong, but something that somebody's rather upset with. And I have a feeling I know the upset person.
You do? BlackStar questioned, clueless as ever. He was met with several sighs.
Yes, the reaper replied patronizingly. ME. Idiot.
Oh. Right. So Blair's the one who cursed us? BlackStar seemed to be wrapping his head around that tiny detail.
Definitely an idiot, Soul grumbled. I'll kill that cat.
I thought that was my job! Maka protested.
Shut up, fat ankles. Soon Soul was passed out with a rather sizable dent in his head, with a beyond furious Maka standing over him tapping a smoking book to her palm. Aggressive much? the weapon groaned as he woke up. Ack, wait, that was a thought, didn't mean to- too late.
Kid gritted his teeth. Maka… it's rather hard to hold all our souls in resonance when you're fighting… Looking up, the scythe meister saw the young reaper swaying slightly on his spike. Wait. She could see him? That wasn't good.
Uh, Kid? she asked frantically. I think you should come down now. Our resonance isn't important anymore.
Have to… keep it together… Kid groaned. We don't know if… she'll fight back… all the talking was just wearing him down more. The reaper might have an extraordinarily strong wavelength, but he wasn't indestructible. Nor was his supply of energy endless. Now that she knew what was going on, Maka could feel the strength in his soul seeping away. And the worst part was, she could feel herself growing stronger. All of their souls were literally sucking the life-force out of their teammate, and he was letting it happen so that their resonance would stay stable. It wouldn't for much longer. BlackStar! Liz! Patty! Tsubaki! Get Blair, keep her down. Knock her out if you have to. Soul and I are gonna help Kid, the pigtailed blonde ordered. Then she gestured impatiently to Soul, who transformed reluctantly into a scythe, and started to climb the nearest pillar quickly. She reached the spike on the right, and shuffled onto the base so that she could leap to the middle one. Hang on a minute, Kid. Hey, Max! She finally remembered the flock. Could you give us a hand?
Sure, no problem. Max' reply was faint, and Maka realized with growing horror that their connection was failing. We're coming in. The leader of the flock wasn't leader for nothing, she knew how to react in a crisis. Streaking down at sixty miles an hour, she flared her wings and landed lightly next to Kid, just in time to catch him as he passed out. Nudge appeared on her other side and grabbed the unconscious reaper's other arm, and together they lifted him up and discreetly brought him to the balcony above. None of the students had noticed – they were too busy gasping and betting on the furious fight raging in their midst. BlackStar had leaped on Blair and was roping her with shadows that the angry neko kept blasting away with pumpkin cannons. Patty had set Liz on stun, not kill, and was cackling and firing volley after volley. Tsubaki was in Enchanted Sword mode, but would transform suddenly to kasarigama, to ninja sword, and back again, keeping her meister on his toes. Fortunately the assassin had trained like this, so it was Blair who was confused. Finally they managed to pin her down and Patty got a lucky shot – Blair went limp.
Come up here! Maka said, and cursed. Their connection was still going! Kid was strong, no doubt about that – he was keeping up resonance while unconscious. They had to wake him up.
"Kid!" the scythe meister hissed. "Wake up now!" She slapped him for good measure and the reaper surfaced with a gasp, like he had been drowning or something.
"What the hell… Maka…" he swore, chest heaving to take in more air. "What's going on… oh. Sorry for worrying you… like that." With a shake of his head and a deep breath, Kid carefully terminated their resonance link. He seemed to immediately relax and fall asleep, this time more peacefully. BlackStar, Liz, and Patty flew up over onto the balcony, carrying the limp body of a purple cat. The blue-haired assassin threw his sword over his shoulder, and Tsubaki transformed back and landed neatly. They looked down at the two bodies, out cold.
"Ha. Wonder what Lord Death will say to this," Soul snorted.
An explosion, angry roar, and flash of black and white answered their question.