[EVENT]

[soul_mods]

Characters: OPEN
Location: Death City
Rating: PG
Time: September 26, past noon
Description: The city is under attack; the Return of the Sand Muks; the return of something more auspicious; and Dude, why are our hands glued together?

Comments

[daddyscythe]

This wasn't supposed to happen.

This wasn't supposed to happen, damnit!

Spirit stared up at the two women hovering over him with his one good eye, expression of hurt on his face. They were familiar faces despite their vicious, twisted features. Two witches under Shibusen's protection, two girls Spirit had thought were friends. Sure they were cabaret girls in the city, but they were good girls, and they were harmless.

Had been harmless, anyway.

"Risa! Arisa!" he called again, and would have said more if he didn't have to dodge the sharp claws extending from their fingers. It surrounded him like the sharp bars of a cage, and he nicked his leg on one as he stepped back and back again, deflecting the rest with the blade his arm had become. Spirit was stronger than they were, should be able to eliminate them even without a meister (where was Stein? Vaguely, he noticed the alarm blaring in the city, the sound of invasion), but how could he when these were friends?

"You should really stop! Think of your parole!" They weren't listening. Their expressions were closed to him, twisted in vicious bloodlust, one he had seen on many witches before. It was odd, though, how powerful they were right now. Arisa and Risa had been helpless witches, that was why Shibusen had taken them in the first place, but identical claws out and eyes large and dilated, they didn't look and feel all that harmless anymore. Spirit gritted his teeth as a claw went through his shoulder and staggered back, before deflecting the rest of the new attack.

He knew in theory that he should kill his enemies before they killed him, but he had always been too kindhearted for his own good. With a quick glance at the communicator on the ground, too far away to reach, he leaped back and made as if to run away instead, the two hovering over him in pursuit as he dashed through the street. It didn't do much but buy him some time. Spirit would think of something, or Stein would come. Whichever came first.

[kandescence]

It was no short distance from the Communal to Death City's red light district, and even on a normal day it was hardly a straight shot. Even the most direct path required darting through alleys and down backstreets. Months ago, back when that sickly fog had clogged the city for days portending the coming of the Shadows, Kanda had made his way along much the same route. Only then he had been with Heine, and he hadn't been racing the clock.

He hadn't been needing to dash around sand constructs either. But that was what today required. It had fast become apparent, as the trio ran, that merely being on the street made them targets for the lumbering humanoid shapes. And it became apparent just as fast that they didn't have time to stop and battle them if they could help it. And if they couldn't--well, it was no accident that Kanda now had Yuuri in his hands.

The swordsman spared the occasional glance towards Winry, but his primary focus was on the path ahead: they were getting close now, and he picked up speed.

And then, as they rounded a corner and onto a broader street, he caught sight of something ahead: three figures. One man ahead, and two women giving chase behind. The bright shock of red hair identified the former, making the identities of the latter two easy to guess.

They were half a block away, but with the momentum he had built Kanda knew that he would catch them easily.

Without breaking his stride, he leaped up onto the low wall of an adjacent building's courtyard and then launched himself into the midst of the group, giving a fierce warning shout as he did, "DEATHSCYTHE!"

He should land between Spirit and his pursuers, the strike he'd readied designed to cut across the shoulder of one of the witches as he passed.

[a_r0yal_flush]

The sand constructs hadn't taken long to find them during their dash from the Communal. Yuuri knew that they wouldn't have had a chance without defending themselves, and he hadn't hesitated in transforming to his weapon form at the first sign of trouble. He wasn't about to let anyone else die because of him.

His power flowed through Kanda as the more gentle side of him slept and the Maou took over. With their combined power, the partnered pair were able to fend off the irritating sand constructs. Such creatures were nothing in comparison to the monstrosities they'd dealt with in the future.

Watching the scene as Kanda landed between Spirit and the attacking pair. While he remained silent, there was nothing but determination as his meister struck out towards the witches.

[endthiscycle]

Winry was a little bit behind the two, but she kept up surprisingly well despite her tired state. Once this was all over she knew that everything would come crashing down around her. She could feel the strain it caused Miranda as well but her partner was strong, and whenever a sand construct came to close to them they were able to fend them up and knock them away with a shield.

When Spirit and the two Witches came into sight she felt her heart leap up into her throat--he was still alive, they weren't too late. That hardly saved him, there was still the threat of the Witches but it was something.

Winry pushed her legs harder to run faster, hopefully to get past the Witches while they were distracted by the suddenly appearance of Kanda. Keeping Spirit alive was the most important thing here so she'd get in front of Spirit, and immediately put up a shield.

[daddyscythe]

Spirit had a plan. A very bad plan, but a plan nonetheless. He'd corner the two of them first and find a way to knock them out. Spirit hadn't attacked them yet, but he had seen what they were capable of when they were given the parole and it didn't amount to much. He should be able to handle it, should be able to snap them out of this before they hurt anyone else--

DEATHSCYTHE!

He skidded to a painful halt at the call, and looked up just in time to see a familiar but long-unseen figure get in between him and his attackers. "Kanda?!" he cried both in surprise and at the injury dealt on Risa as the witch screamed at the cut blooming over from her shoulder to chest. She wasn't very strong. Surely she'd die from such a thing!

And then Risa started laughing, the sound like nails on a board. Her chest was a disturbing color of black. Even more disturbing was that the injury was healing itself without pause, natural enough in a witch but never this fast. Still she did not say anything, expression still vicious and bloodthirsty, and only set to Kanda with her claws, distracted from her original target.

Risa was distracted, but not Arisa. She threw herself in Spirit's direction, claws ready to gouge his heart and eyes out -- might have succeeded in Spirit's distress, too, if Winry had not appeared with a shield in time. Arisa slammed into the shield with a surprised and angry shriek, not sounding at all like her usual self.

"Winry?! Wait, no-- They're not-- They're friends!"

[kandescence]

"No, you idiot. They're--!" But whatever else Kanda was planning to say, the words were cut short in the shift out of his attack posture.

He had seen witches in the future time. He had seen them cut down on the battlefield. Seen them die. They did not go gently nor easily. But they did not bleed black.

Only now wasn't the time to think about that or to wonder what it might mean.

Kanda jumped back several steps, out of range of the the witch's first swipes, as he got his footing and brought Yuuri around for the next strike. For a beat, he watched, gauging the rhythm of her movements. If he could avoid having to deflect those claws with the blade, he would do so, but he didn't doubt that it would come to that. He couldn't be certain what they might do to Yuuri though, and if they didn't have to find out that would surely be the best.

"Ready?" he said quietly to the weapon, not really waiting for an answer before rushing forward for another strike aimed at what appeared to be an opening by the witch's left hip.

In the back of his mind, he registered the shield going up to protect Spirit, and that Winry and Miranda were behind him now along with the second witch, but the center of Kanda's focus was on the one in front of them. Take her out first and then they could deal with the other.

[a_r0yal_flush]

He could feel the taint of the blood against his blade, but that wouldn't stop him from defending Spirit with Kanda. The energy he absorbed through the first swipe caused his weapon form to begin glowing with energy - the same glow that began to spread around Kanda's hand and down along the meister's arm.

There seemed to be something different about these witches, but that wouldn't stop them from defending Spirit. Too much was at risk if they failed now, and he would never allow for that future to unfold. Everything they had worked towards in the future would have been for nothing.

"I am," the Maou said moments before Kanda was rushing forward to attack again. Justice would prevail!

[endthiscycle]

Winry had wondered in the past how a Witch--even two had been able to best a Death Scythe. After seeing what Death Scythes were been capable of first hand she just couldn't wrap her mind around it. Especially when considering that Spirit was suppose to be the most powerful of Death Scythes.

Well, seemed she had her answer now. It wasn't lack of power that had killed Spirit. It had been his heart.

Here was proof of the very thing she had begun to realize since coming to Death City, that which had finally made her decide to join the fray. Sometimes the people with the best intentions, the ones who wanted to help as many as they could and believed there was good in everyone, were the ones who did the most damage. That or they ended up dead like her parents--in Spirit's case, both.

"I'm sorry Spirit, but these Witches would have cast this entire world into hell. Please stay behind me." Winry knew she and Miranda wouldn't be able to beat this Witch, especially not in their state, but hopefully they could keep her distracted long enough for Kanda and Yuuri to finish the other one off.

The shield flickered for a bit, allowing Winry to step through. It was time to put all that training from Stein and Ran Fan to real use.

[daddyscythe]

Cast the world into hell. Spirit didn't understand the words, was hardpressed to believe Winry, and yet-- these kids knew something he did not, came from somewhere none of them had still figured out. He stared in despair as Winry stepped forward to meet Arisa, his usually lovely friend now a bundle of rabid anger and matted hair.

Arisa shrieked practically at Winry's face, before pulling both hands back to lash out at the girl with razor sharp claws. She wasn't thinking, only determined to press forward and attack, kill everyone in her way. The claws extended, clearly to impale Winry and Spirit behind her.

Risa, on the other hand, was the faster of the twin witches. She snarled at Kanda, expression uncomprehending, her senses having been swallowed whole by the black blood long ago. Gone was her shining, pretty features, replaced instead by this creature. She had the same long claws as Arisa, black as her blood. But where Arisa would shoot them, Risa would rather come up close to claw the face off her targets. She attempted this on Kanda, dashing in quickly in bare feet and the dress she usually wore in the Chupa♥Cabra.

Spirit struggled to his feet, weak from a punctured lung and numerous other injuries but still sensible. The kids wouldn't survive an encounter with two powerful witches on their own. As deathscythe, it was his duty to protect them. Personal friendships shouldn't have a place in a war. Kanda would last longer, so Spirit made for Arisa, his entire arm changed into a very large, black blade.

[kandescence]

The witch might be fast, but Kanda's speed had always been one of his keenest strengths, an art which allies and enemies alike remarked on.

Dropping to one knee as they drew near in their mutual charge, he somersaulted forward, blade poised and set to reach the opening he'd seen while bringing his body beneath the attack she'd aimed. But he knew it wouldn't take her long to round on him again even if his strike did hit her deeply, so he didn't wait to see if she would falter.

Instead, jumping to his feet again, he ran two strides farther towards the wall he'd first launched himself off of, drawing her slightly further away from the group and jumping up on top of it to give him the advantage of height. If she wanted to fight him and Yuuri along the top of it like a balance beam, he would be fine with that too.

[a_r0yal_flush]

They may have been normal once, but now their opponents were nothing but creatures twisted with darkness that needed to be put down. While spilling blood was not in his nature, the Maou would make exceptions for times like these. He kept a watchful eye on the witch's movements. While he knew that it would be a wasted effort, the weapon wasn't willing to leave anything in this battle to chance.

[endthiscycle]

Another shield went up, but this time it was only a flat square in front of her so as not to expend the energy needed for something fuller. The Witch had her bested as far as brute strength and speed went but her mind seemed completely lost, and so her movements were thoughtless and predictable. That was the only advantage Winry had over her and she was worrying more and more just how long she would be able to keep this up.

That was went Spirit appeared and she started a bit, trying not to let herself be distracted but in his condition--!

"Death Scythe! Please be careful!" This could all be for naught if he got in over his head. She readied herself to shield him if need be, but she didn't think she could cover both of them anymore.

[daddyscythe]

Risa shrieked shrilly at the attack again, stopping short to snarl at Kanda -- damn fast little insect, must rend and devour -- and attempting to follow the boy's movements. She couldn't reach him in time before he leaped away, and she stopped only long enough for her new injury to heal. Risa didn't like it. At the back of her mind, she knew her expensive blouse was getting ripped apart.

She hovered up to Kanda's height -- more like hurled herself up -- rushing for Kanda with her claws out to lash at him. This time, her claws veered off in different directions, her control poor but their sharpness still true.

"Take a rest, Winry," he gritted out, aware that Winry must be tiring from the strong shield she had put up. Arisa's attention was on him now, and for once that day, there were no hesitation in Spirit as he made to strike her in a large, sweeping gesture. Blades formed and protruded from his arms, so he could follow it up more quickly with another strike more agile than one would expect from a half-dead Spirit. Arisa blocked the first strike, screamed when the second caught her by the waist, and was flung back spitting and hissing. Black blood leaked out of her wound, her glare at him murderous.

[kandescence]

Perhaps he should have expected that a witch would be able to fly, but it wasn't what Kanda had anticipated. He had no choice but to bring the sword up to parry the attack, the length of the blade coming between the chaos of claws and himself.

But even though he was quick to put distance between them and their foe once more, his attention was now on Yuuri, wanting to assure that he was all right despite having had to block the attack.

Without waiting, Kanda had jumped backwards off the wall, now putting it between them and the rest of the group. Of course he knew that the witch would follow, and he and Yuuri were now inside this small paved courtyard, but the wall wasn't high, so they were hardly cut off and Kanda was already preparing to meet Risa's next strike even as he took advantage of that slim moment's respite.

[a_r0yal_flush]

The twisted creature this witch had become needed to be put down. Whatever attempts of intimidation the monstrous form was attempting was wasted. Neither himself nor Kanda would back down from this fight. There was far too much at stake to allow for this attack to continue as the witches had planned.

He felt the scrapes along his blade as Kanda raised his weapon form up to parry. The damage was less than superficial, and it would do little to slow him down. While he didn't say anything, the Maou allowed it to be known that no serious damage had been taken from the parry.

[endthiscycle]

It was indeed taxing but Winry still seemed incredibly reluctant to just stand back and let the others put themselves in dangerous. Spirit knew what he was doing though--she remained a safe distance behind letting the shield down and watched his work. Her eyes went over to where Kanda and Yuuri were to see how they were faring.

The Witch was still alive and now in the air but Kanda didn't seem any less for wear than he had when they first arrived either. A part of her tensed when they moved further away, slightly worried that they might go out of the range of Miranda's shield but she knew her priority was Spirit. If they did she just had to accept that until the Witch Spirit was dealing with was taken care of.

She turned her attention back to Spirit and the Witch and frowned, thinking, silently communicating with Miranda and nodded. Spirit had told her to rest but there was still a way she could help. For now she didn't want to expend their energy unless absolutely necessary so she waited to see--find an opportunity in which they could use a shield on Arisa. Not to protect her, but to trap her and keep her from moving away from Spirit.