Chapter 1: Asura Returns

There's a difference between harassment and criticism. Review if you wish, but since people are so picky over the tiniest details after this there will be no author notes. If you have something important to say please PM me.

Death the Kid waited impatiently outside the Death Room. It had been nearly a year since Asura had been defeated, and nearly everything had been peaceful. That made Kid nervous. Now, he had been called out of his classes to the Death Room on urgent business, which he still had not been informed of. His weapon partners Liz and Patti had come with him, as always, but Maka and her weapon Soul Eater were also there. No doubt they had been called down on the same matter as Kid had.

Soul was close to becoming a Death Scythe again, and Maka was determined to make it happen within the month. Last time Kid had checked Soul had consumed 92 Kishin Eggs, leaving seven more and a witch soul before he would complete his transformation. Kid smiled. He was quite close to creating Death Scythes out of Liz and Patti as well, though he'd been procrastinating recently. Each of his weapons had 88 Kishin Eggs. That number's symmetry was so perfect he couldn't bring himself to defile it, even for the sake of creating two Death Scythes.

Kid's thoughts were interrupted when Liz elbowed him, drawing his attention to the door to the Death Room opening. Kid stood immediately, followed by Liz and Patty. Maka and Soul were already at the door. As soon as it opened the whole way the five of them went inside, prepared to hear the urgent news that required their attention. As they made their way inside just as they were almost out from under the guillotines Maka stopped dead in her tracks, Soul, Kid, Liz, and Patti piling up like a car accident behind her.

"Hey Maka keep mov-" Kid cut off his irritated words as he saw what had stopped her. In front of them sat a figure that embodied terror itself. Bound from head to toe, all but his eyes covered, was the Kishin, Asura. "As- Asura?!" Kid held out his hands and without a word Liz and Patty transformed into dual pistols. He aimed his weapons at the Kishin, Maka beside him already holding Soul in the form of a Scythe.

"Oh, hi, welcome everyone!" The chipperness in Lord Death's tone contrasted deeply with the presence of Asura, though it was completely expected. "Father!" Kid exclaimed, "Please tell me he isn't real… He's dead!"

"Hmm?" Shinigami-sama tilted his head. "Oh! Yeah, well you see, it's very difficult to kill a Kishin," he explained, "but it's even more difficult to kill a Shinigami. Seeing as Asura is both, you can imagine the difficulty of the situation." Kid's facial features twitched slightly.

"What do you mean he's a Shinigami?" Maka asked before Kid could. "I thought you and Kid were the only ones."

"Hmm?" Lord Death scratched his head as if contemplating what she meant. "Oh, yah, well that is partially true. Miss Albarn, do you know how Kiddo-kun was born?"

"Huh?" Maka was clearly confused as to why that was important, as was Kid himself. Of course, Kid already knew how he was born, but it seemed irrelevent. "I uhh... I don't think I do know." She blushed and looked down.

"Ah yes," Lord Death said, "well Kiddo wasn't born, exactly. You see, Kid here was a part of my soul that had been seperated. He is, essentially, an extension of myself. And adorable extension if I do say so myself!"

Kid looked down. 'This is not the time for your revelry, father,' he thought. Maka seemed confused, but Kid feared where this was going. "And all Shinigami, then, would be created the same way," Kid said out loud. His father nodded. "So the Kishin… Asura is my brother?" Again the God of Death nodded. Kid sighed. He'd seen where this was going shortly after his father had mention how Kid had been born.

Still, he kept his twin pistols trained on the bound form in front of him. "That changes nothing," Kid said grimly. "He is still a Kishin. He has to die, no matter what I have to do he will die."

"Hmm, yes, well," Lord Death spoke up, "I was thinking the same thing when he showed up. I hit him with a Shinigami Chop as soon as I saw him. I'm not so sure about what to do now, though. Not since he surrendered." Maka gasped beside Kid.

"He surrendered?" she asked with disbelief. "I assumed you'd captured him. Why would he surrender." Kid had the same questions, though he chose not to ask them idly. He knew that his father only explained things that he wanted to, regardless of if he was asked or not.

"Hmm, yes," Shinigami-sama said, "well why don't you ask him? He's actually been quite talkative since he got here." Kid lowered his weapons to his side and stepped forward, kneeling directly in front of Asura. He grabbed his face roughly and tilted his head up to look into his red eyes. Now that he thought about it, it made sense that they were brothers. It irritated Kid that the vile Kishin had gotten such perfectly symmetrical stripes in his hair while he was stuck with the three uneven abominations in his own.

"Then tell me, Kishin Asura," Kid said softly to the man in front of him. "Why did you surrender?" Asura stared into Kid's eyes, some form of desire in them. More than likely it was a desire for destruction.

"It's gone," Asura whispered, his eyes still locked with Kid's. "She took it away. My madness is gone… but it's trying to come back. Please, help me!" The last sentence was a scream filled with desperation. Kid backed away and allowed Asura to slump over, his chin resting on his chest. "Help me," he whispered again.

Kid was inclined to assume anything this man said was a lie, but he couldn't doubt his own senses. Even since entering the Death Room he hadn't been able to sense the Kishin's ever-present madness wavelength. In fact, his soul seemed to be calmer as well. By no means was it normal- it actually greatly resembled his father's soul- but the traces of madness in it were few and far between. Kid looked to his father. "He's telling the truth," he said in disbelief. "We have to help him… we have to help my brother!"