Soul Eater X Blue Exorcist!- Rise of the Yokai Ch1

Turkmenistan, Central Asia. In the middle of the Karakum Desert lies a Shinto Shrine surrounded by a ring of tall red Torii gates. Now in most cases, one would consider this holy ground, but not in this case, no. This was in actuality a sealing shrine, one that had stood for centuries and never once fallen. But that fact would soon be broken on this night as a cloaked figure was pacing through the cold dunes of sand toward the shrine until they approached the biggest Torii which served as the entrance. The figure then raised their hand and whispered a few sentences of tongues as a wall of sparking light appeared within the gateway which bore a large symbol of four diamonds each placed at one of the corners of a larger diamond which had a kanji for 'Yokai' on it. The light jolted and blurred before it shattered like a pane of glass as the figure stepped through the Torii and into the shrine at the centre of the circle. They took a deep breath before placing their hands together, lacing all but their middle and index fingers and joining their thumb tips before they began to chant.

"Recludere portas inferi et furorem! Recludere portas inferi et furorem! Recludere portas inferi et furorem! Recludere portas inferi et furorem! Recludere portas inferi et furorem!" they muttered rapidly as the shrine began to tremble and quake and cracks began to form on the floor and ceiling of the tiny building. The paper talismans burned and turned to ash and the cracks grew larger as blazing fire erupted from below at which point the figure stopped chanting before they raised their hand which had a mysterious tattoo on the palm before they cried out "FRATRES, VENI FORAS!" before they slammed their hand against the centre which caused the cracks to split into full blown crevices as the figure hurried out of the shrine until they stopped about half a yard away from it which was now crumbling into an enormous gaping hole that swallowed the ruins and Torii gates as it widened and stretched across the desert before coming to a stop at the figure's feet who gazed into the fiery pit that now lay where the shrine once stood. Despite their face being obscured their trembling shoulders and mirthful chuckling revealed that their objective was complete before the ground began to shake and then...FOOOOM!!! A massive horde of shadows erupted from the pit. A legion of screeches, laughs and roars emanated from the mass which began to spread out across the sky splitting off into hundreds of individual pieces as twelve landed before the figure morphing into twelve individual silhouettes of various sizes. Until finally a truly tremendous shadow emerged from the pit which towered above them all as it let out a deep dark laugh which shook the heavens.

"HUAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! FREE, AT LAST."

XXX

The next morning, in Death City Nevada, the principal of Death Weapon Meister Academy, Lord Death is sitting in his room, sipping some tea and surveying some papers for applications. He sighed blissfully as he took another sip and gazed as the cloud coated ceiling of the Death Room. It had been a rather slow week for the academy as kishin egg attacks had been rather low, but on the plus side this allowed for his students to get some extra time into their training and studies.

"I wonder.." he said to himself. "It's not too often we get these moments of peace in the world from the kishin. Even we need a break once in a while. Then again, we can't let our guard down. You never know when trouble may come around, or how much of it for that matter."

"LORD DEATH!!" the Reaper flinched before he saw Sid come dashing into the room in a frantic state.

"Oh no, looks like I jinxed myself." Lord Death muttered. "Sid, what's going on, you look like you've seen a ghost."

"But, my skin's blue-what am I saying?! We're in trouble! Big trouble!" the Zombie said.

"What kind of trouble?"

"I've received several reports from our other branches around the world. People are under attack from hordes of monsters!"

"Kishin Eggs?"

"No. The meisters stated there wasn't any shred of humanity in their souls. Even kishin eggs retain at least a slither of their former nature."

"Witches perhaps?"

"I don't think they're responsible either. There's something else. One of our members from the Central Asian branch found a rather disturbing sight in the Karakum Desert not long after the monsters were sighted." Lord Death froze at the mention of the location as he gently set down his tea cup.

"Sid." he said slowly. "Was this sight, by any chance, a large gaping hole filled with burning gas?"

"...Yeah...how did you know?" Sid asked as Lord Death stood up his voice losing its goofy tone indicating he'd grown serious.

"This can't be. The seal was meant to be foolproof." he muttered with a hint of panic "You're right, Sid, we are in very big trouble." he then went to his mirror and began dialing a number.

"What do you mean? What's this about a seal? What's going on with these creatures?!"

"A very old enemy I never thought I'd hear from again has returned, Sid, and with it an army of beasts the majority of mankind believe to be legend. Yokai."

"Yokai? Aren't those like demons?"

"Not quite but they're just as dangerous. They're a race that exit between earth and hell and are particulalry difficult to handle. This is an enemy we've grown too used to being without. As such I have no choice but to call upon an old...well I hesitate to use the word 'friend' exactly, rather accomplice more like but an ally nonetheless." Lord Death concluded as he finished dialing and the mirror began to ring.

XXX

HERE WE GO! GREAT! EXCELLENT! WORK IT! SUPER!

"Oh yeah! I'm really cutting this rug now! Am I right, Amaimon?!" meanwhile on the other side of the world at True Cross Academy, Tokyo Japan, a certain eccentric Demon King is in the middle of playing a dance pad video game. he had deep blue hair with one lock that stuck upright and curled into a spiral at the tip and slightly pointed ears. This was the director of the institution, Mephisto Pheles, alias Samael, also known as The Demon King of Time and son of Satan. Now one would think a person with such identities would be the last to be put in charge of an academy for exorcists, but contrary to his Father, Mephisto turned out to be quite the fan of Earth and humanity or 'Assiah' as his species named the realm of mankind. Not only that, he was quite the otaku to boot, loving all things from Japanese culture such as the game he was engaged in.

"This game's boring. Let's play Mortal Kombat again, Big Brother." Mephisto stumbled on the dance pad when he heard this which almost botched his score as he turned to his left with a disgruntled look on his face. Floating upside down and munching on some pocky was a second Demon King. This one had green hair with a cone shaped point on top and slight bags under his eyes. This was Mephisto's younger brother, Amaimon, or The King of Earth. While he was quite loyal to the former, Amaimon was much more of a loose cannon especially when it came to fighting.

"You only ever want play that. You're going to burn out its novelty." Mephisto argued against his choice of game.

"Seeing a man get his head ripped out and face eaten off will never be boring for me." Amaimon replied cooly to which Mephisto sighed.

"Of course it wouldn't." But before he could continue his game, DING-DONG-DONG-DING! Both demons jumped when they heard an unfamiliar bell ringing throughout the room, well to Amaimon it was unfamiliar. Mephisto on the other hand stood still in shock for a moment before an amused smile crossed his face.

"Oh my. Now this is quite the suprise." he chuckled as he removed his large white top hat and picked up the pink umbrella which lay beside his desk.

"Big brother?" Amaimon spoke as Mephisto placed his hat base up on the floor and circled the tip of his umbrella over it.

"Ein, zwei, drei~!" he recited before Poof~! Pop~! A tall gold framed mirror leaped out of the hat and landed before him which the ringing appeared to be coming from. "It seems an old friend is calling me. You won't have met him." he noted to Amaimon who blinked curiously with a half-eaten pocky between his teeth. Mephisto put his hat back on before he tapped the mirror which caused the ringing noise to stop and the surface to glow white before the image of Lord Death came into view. Mephisto stared at the Reaper for a few moments before he snerked.

"PFFFTHAHAHAHAHAHA!! AHAHAHAHAHA!!!" Lord Death's eye holes drooped in annoyance as Mephisto clutched his chest. "Wha-What the heck are you wearing?! Did you decide to try the chibi look?! What's with that mask?! HAHAHAHA!" WHAM! A large white hand suddenly came through the mirror and hit Mephisto around the head knocking him to the floor with a comical dent in his noggin.

"Whereas you haven't changed one bit, Mephisto." Lord Death 'glared' as the latter got to his feet smiling as though nothing had happened.

"Oh come now, Shini. Where's that sense of humour, old buddy old pal?"

"Brother?" the two looked at Amaimon. "You know this...whatever?"

"Oh where are my manners? Amaimon this is Lord Death, the Grim Reaper, or as I call him 'Shini'." the Reaper grunted at the mention of his nickname. "Shini this is my Little Brother, Amaimon, King of Earth."

"Hello." Lord Death greeted him who only stared at him as though he were a puzzle. "Unfortunately, now isn't the time for chitchat. We have a serious situation on our hands."

"Oh?"

"...The Gates of Hell have been opened...Shuten Dōji is free." Mephisto dropped his umbrella before his face changed to the rare expression of horror and then to the second rarest expression of anger.

"Impossible." he murmured. "All who know the properties of the seal are dead. And you know full well I wouldn't be behind it."

"Of course not. Honestly I'm suprised I had to call you, I figured you would be first to know." BAM! The door suddenly flung open and an exorcist hurried in giving Amaimon barely enough time to morph into a little green hamster.

"SIR PHELLES! It's a disatser! We just got word from the True Cross Order! The Yokai seal has been broken an-" the man stopped talking when he saw the director and Lord Death. "Oh, you already know."

"About a minute ago to be precise." Mephisto muttered before turning back to Lord Death. "What are we gonna do?" he asked.

"Well if your memory serves you well, there is a solution. But we'll need reinforcements this time." Mephisto nodded before he faced the late informant.

"Send word to Instructor Okumura and his students. I want them all here in my office pronto! Have him bring Shura as well, she'll definitely be needed."

"Yes Sir!"

"And I expect you'll gather your group as well." he added to which Lord Death nodded.

"You still have the key?" Mephisto smirked as he twirled a golden key with the Reaper's mask as the head around his finger.

"Don't you know me at all, Shini?"

"Sometimes I wonder."

"We'll be in Death City soon enough. Toodles." with that the mirror was sucked back into Mephisto's hat and Amaimon changed back from his hamster form.

"Shuten Dōji?" he asked the name.

"He's the ruler of the Yokai realm and a truly ferocious villain at that."

"Is he as powerful as Father?"

"I don't know. But we'll know his true strength this time around, as it's clear the method we used to defeat him last time is out of the question." an ecstatic grin tugged at Amaimon's lips as he sniggered.

"Does this mean I can have some fun with him?"

"I wouldn't understimate him if I were you." Mephisto scolded. "It may be the last thing you ever do."

XXX

Meanwhile, back in Death City, Maka and co were down at the basketball court engaged in one of their Saturday games. The teams consisted of Maka, Crona, Black Star, Liz and Spike vs Soul, Kid, Tsubaki, Patty and Shino, while Alex and the Six Feathers were sitting on the sidelines having played the last round. Currently the teams were tied and there was only five minutes left.

"YEAH! Give it to 'em, Shorty!" Alex called to Maka. "I've got ten bucks riding on you winning!" a tick formed on the scythe meister's temple.

"If I weren't at risk of getting my pigtails cut off I'd lose on purpose for you betting on me." she gritted her teeth.

"Well then get ready for short hair, Maka cause there's no way in hell I'm getting my eyebrows and legs waxed." Soul retorted with a grin as he bounced the ball before passing it to his meister. "Play ball, rookie. Try not to double dribble this time."

"Oh now you're gonna get it!" Maka took off with the ball in tow as the group of friends broke into a clamor of either cheering or instructing their respective team mates. Patty tried to block Maka's path only for her to lob the ball towards Crona before Ragnarok emerged from his back to catch the ball and pass it down to him. The demon swordsman smiled for a moment but soon screamed when Patty came barreling towards him roaring like a hungry lioness. In a panic he threw the ball away unintentionally towards Shino who almost grabbed it until Black Star grabbed it in midair.

"No dice, cowboy!" he laughed before he began to spectate himself. "Black Star's in range of the hoop! He goes up with his shooting star hook!" the assassin curved the ball towards the goal as the others gasped. But just as it was about to land in the hoop...Fwip~! A little ball of blue fire appeared underneath the ball, grabbing it as it did so, before it flew across the field and slamdunked the ball into Maka's team goal. Everyone stared in shock at what had happened before Alex broke the silence.

"You owe me ten, Jason." he muttered.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!!" Black Star roared before he turned his gaze towards Kutaro. "WHAT'S THE IDEA YA LITTLE FIRESPITTER?!!"

"I didn't do it!" the young elemental defended himself as the little blue fireball hovered into the centre of the court as everyone gathered around it.

"...What is it?" Spike wondered as Patty tentatively poked it gently causing it to quiver and let out a mix between a whistle and purr.

"It doesn't burn." she said to the others as the flame floated over to Kutaro as it 'stared' at the fireball above his head before it flew around him a few times until, a pair of eyes and a little mouth appeared on the surface of the flame and it giggled.

"Nihihihihi!" It chittered before it flew through Kutaro's body like a ghost causing him to laugh.

"It tickles!" he chortled as the flame creature continued to play with him.

"Maka? You getting anything on this living matchstick?" Liz asked.

"I...I don't know. It's not human but isn't kishin either, or even witch. Logan?" Maka turned to the Six feather's leader.

"You got me. I've never seen a creature like this before. At first I thought it might be a will o wisp but they're formally human, this creature isn't."

"Whatever it is, it sure is friendly." Vanellope said who was now also palying with the mysterious creature. But just then the group heard a voice calling to them.

"Hey you lot!" They looked up to see Sid approaching them.

"Hey Sid, what's happening?" Soul greeted the zombie.

"A lot actually." He replied. "Lord Death needs to see you all now. Something really big's come up."

"Something big always happens when we're the ones being summoned." Jason muttered.

"I wonder why that is?" Alex asked throwing a 'suspicious glance'.

"Well let's go, no time to drag our feet." Sid said as he lead the gang back to the DWMA, the mysterious little flame tailing after them before it hid inside Kutaro's turban.

XXX

Going back to True Cross Academy Mephisto sat at his desk drumming his fingers impatiently whilst Amaimon was still snacking, before a knock came to the door. Mephisto momentarilly lifted his hat as Amaimon turned into a hamster and jumped into the hat before his brother put it back on.

"Come in." he called as the door opened revealing a group of seven teenagers (five boys and two girls) and a young woman.

"Sir Phelles, you summoned us." said the boy leading the group. He had dark brown hair, blue eyes and three moles on his face, along with a pair a glasses. This was Yukio Okumura; the youngest exorcist of only fifteen years of age. He was also the teacher of the other teens accompanying him.

"And it better be worth it calling us in on the weekend!" snapped a boy with black hair, slightly pointed ears and suprisingly a long tail. This was Yukio's twin brother, Rin and as you can probably tell by his attitude he wasn't quite as eager to be present. Little known fact about the ears and tail: Rin also happened to be the half demon son of Satan. Yes the Satan, though this secret had been kept strictly amongst his brother, friends, Mephisto and the higher ups of the True Cross Order.

"Cram it, Okumura! If it means extra credit I'd give up a Saturday or two if I were you! Thank god I'm not!" Rin sneered back at the third male of the group who appered to be a year older than him with a stoick build and brown hair with a large blonde mohawk running down the middle. He also had a number of piercings in his ears and a 5 o'clock shadow goatee. His name was Ryuji Suguro, and also Rin's rival.

"Hey take it easy, Bon. Let's not go tearing up the Director's office." a boy with buzzcut hair and red glasses, known as Konekomaru Miwa, tried to quell the argument between Rin and Ryuji. Bon, happened to be the latter's nickname which Koneko, along with the final boy present, often referred to him as. His name was Renzo Shima, with pink hair and brown eyes. He, Koneko and Bon had known each other since childhood and were often seen as a trio of sorts.

"Well whatever we've been called for, let's just pray it won't be as bad as our trip to Kyoto." he muttered to which one of the girls fo the group chuckled. She had long dark purple hair tied in twin ponytails and red eyes, though her most noticeable feature was her small oval shaped eyebrows. She was the shrine maiden, Izumo Kamiki.

"Knowing those present, I wouldn't hold your breath, Shima." she cautioned him causing him to groan hopelessly.

"Can't you let a guy dream just a little, Izumo?" he whimpered only for her to turn her nose up at him.

"Th-There's nothing to worry about, Shima." the last child and other girl spoke up. "Sir Phelles wouldn't have called us if he didn't believe we could handle it. Whatever mission we're being sent on, we'll do it together. And there's always a chance you could be right." comical tears of joy fell from Shima's eyes due to the blonde, green eyed girl's supportive words. Her name was Shiemi, Moriyama and close friend to Rin and Yukio.

"You couldn't be more right, Miss Moriyama." Mephisto grinned at her burst of confidence before he glanced at the older woman of the group with fiery red and yellow hair, green eyes and slightly plump lips. What's more she was only wearing a bikini top on her front which showed off the strange red tattoo running down to her waist. She was Shura Kirigakure, an upper first class exorcist (higher than Yukio) and also rin's mentor. "And thank you for coming out for this, Shura, I appreciate it." she sucked her teeth at Mephisto's gratitude.

"Whatever. It's pointless arguing with you anyway. So what's this all about?" Mephisto rolled his eyes before he spoke.

"We'll be taking a little trip to the other side of the world, kids. To the land of red, white and blue."

"America?" Yukio clarified.

"That's right. We'll be doing a little...collaborative project, with another school in Nevada. They're known as the Death Weapon Meister Academy." a few brows were raised among the crowd at the mention of the name.

"I think I've heard of them before. They're like us, right?" Bon asked.

"From a certain point of view. They aren't exorcists though and the demons they hunt are known as Kishin; born from humans corrupted by the sin of eating innocent souls for power." 

"Yeah it's all coming back to me now." Shura murmured. "They also fight by partnering with humans who can morph into weapons."

"That's correct." Mephistopheles confirmed. "We'll be spending a fair amount of time with them, so be sure to pack plenty and be back in hour. That'll be all." The group blinked as they tried to process all they'd just been told.

~~~One Hour Later~~~

The two exorcists and six exwires soon returned with their essentials. Although now an extra member had joined the group, in the form of a black and white cat with big green eyes and a pari of stubby horns on top of its head. Not only that but it also had two tails instead of one and it was currently sitting on Rin's shoulder. His name was Kuro, a cat sidhe who used to be the familiar of Rin and Yukio's adoptive Father, Shiro. After his untimely death, Kuro became Rin's familiar, one reason being that the latter coudl udnerstand him being half demon himself. The little cat yawned prompting Rin to scratch his ears enticing a purr before Mephisto stood up from his desk.

"Well you look like you're all ready to travel. Let's be on our way then." he smiled as he ushered the group aside so he could reach the office door.

"Uh, you never mentioned exactly how we're going to get there." Rin pointed out. "Did you book us all plane tickets or something?" the demon chuckled at him in response.

"Under normal circumstances perhaps, but that won't be the case this time around." he then heald up the golden, skull-tipped key before placing it in the offic door's keyhole. A small click sounded and the door swung open before Mephisto stepped through, but instead of the school hallway being on the other side, instead there lay the open street of a town none of the others recognised as they followed throug, having watched the spectacle in awe. Mephisto grinned as he looked up at the sky, noting the large laughing sun which loomed overhead.

"Welcome, one and all, to Death City."

To be continued...