Synopsis |
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As Black Star and Kid's madness-influenced battle slowly allows the two to realize what it is from the Black Mass that they desire, Liz Thompson realizes how important Kid has been to her life, and the lives of their friends. |
Salvage (Part 7) is the seventy-eighth chapter of the manga Soul Eater. It is collected as part of Volume 19. Liz's flashback is adapted as part of Episode 6 of the anime Soul Eater NOT!.
Featured Appearances[]
Characters
Spartoi inside the Book of Eibon
Spartoi outside the Book of Eibon
- Gangster (flashback)
- Thompson mother (flashback)
- Masked evil human (flashback)
Techniques
Locations
- Book of Eibon
- Chapter 7: Greed
- Hidden Section
- New York (flashback)
- Death City
- Gallows Mansion (flashback)
- Death Weapon Meister Academy
- Death Room
Plot[]
The Book of Eibon, Hidden Section[]
Again in the shadowy water, Death the Kid, although still influenced by madness, is surprised to see the Black Mass is trying to tempt Black Star into madness as well. The Black Mass repeats its question: which kind of power does Black Star desire? The ninja mocks the question, claiming all he wants is not to lose anyone, to defeat his enemies regardless who they are or what they do. Black Star simplifies his answer: "Power is power."
With that explanation, Black Star attacks Kid, refusing to be defeated by any god. Fighting back, Kid reiterates his desire to create symmetry by turning all existence into nothingness. Shocked, Black Star mocks Kid's plan, calling it "the same as what I'm doin'." Kid disagree, finding Black Star's definition of power to be "sloppy," unlike Kid's organized definition. Black Star retorts that the result is the same, regardless the means of achieving it.
Tired of the debate, Kid performs the move Death God Taijutsu: "Made Crime" Stance. The attack knocks the air out of Black Star, sending him crashing into what appear to be cliffs in this underwater world. Yet still Black Star smirks: while he can tolerate Kid's fixation in symmetry, but he refuses to believe Kid feels only nothingness. Remembering his feelings of battling and defeating Mifune, Black Star attacks Kid again as he yells at Kid to remember Liz and Patty: would he sacrifice his partners as well to turn the world into nothingness?
As the fight continues, Kid asks how Black Star can debate him, when the ninja himself will have nothing left after he obtains power itself. Black Star responds that he will determine his next goal when that time comes: for right now, he just wants to discover who is the strongest, even as he thinks Kid, under madness, is hardly "god material." As Kid reassures that he is still a shinigami, Black Star says, "That's exactly it--right now you're exclusively god," whereas before Kid also had the potential to "sink[] to the most miserable pathetic excuse for a human there is." Black Star clarifies by example: after the loss of Brew, when he had challenged Kid to fight him and kill him like the shinigami he is, Kid refused, simply punching him but not killing him. When Kid corrects Black Star that he kicked, not punched, the ninja retorts that Kid is showing his true self, the person who is so concerned with details that of course he would preside over both life and death, not just nothingness. But now Kid is too afraid to face those details: he wants to create nothingness and be done with bothering to try.
The Book of Eibon, Chapter 7: Greed[]
Kilik Rung and Blair remain with their colleagues. As Tsubaki Nakatsukasa says they all depend on Black Star to bring Kid back, Patty Thompson looks concerned for her sister, as Liz Thompson remembers her past.
New York (The Past)[]
The Brooklyn Devils are trying to escape from gangsters accusing the Thompsons of a double-cross. Yet the sisters are saved by the arrival of a boy fixated on creating a "perfect world" and amazed to meet such beautiful young women. While Patty is complimented, Liz tells her younger sister not to be so gullible when they hear this kind of compliment so often. The boy introduces himself as a shinigami, and having heard of the Thompsons' infamy—and beauty—wanted to see Liz and Patty for himself to confirm this truth.
Liz then realizes that a shinigami likely is wealthy, and with that money Liz could give Patty all the care that they desire: an impressive house, adorable outfits, copious amounts of food, warmth baths, and cozy beds. Kid asks whether the Thompsons will join him. Patty defers to Liz, who agrees, claiming they will live as well as Cinderella.
As they depart, Kid becomes much more serious, as does the crafty Liz. She remembers her and Patty's mother, "the prettiest prostitute in town [...] who passed her beauty on to her daughters" but who abandoned the sisters. Whereas Kid was born into wealth, Liz and Patty deserve their chance at such fortune: Liz will manipulate every bit of money out of this obnoxious reaper and encourages a willing Patty to follow her plan.
Gallows Mansion and Other Locations (The Past)[]
In the next days, Kid wields the Thompsons in combat against at least one evil human, and the sisters adjust to their new meister's emotional outbursts and fixation on symmetry. Yet at Gallows Mansion, Liz and Patty cannot stop laughing at this goofy kid. Liz realizes she has never heard Patty laugh so much before. Liz realizes that she used to think she and her sister would be able to laugh so hard on their own, without needing anyone after having been abandoned by their mother: they did not need anyone else. But now this reaper has interfered with their lives, and for the better, Patty's happiness a sign of it. Liz concludes, "Maybe the shinigami did take our lives after all."
The Book of Eibon, Chapter 7: Greed (The Present)[]

As money rains in the Greed Chapter, Liz is awaken from her daydream, and the scene returns to the present. After all she has been through with Kid, she claims she no longer cares about money: she only wants Black Star to bring Kid home to them. Liz realizes everyone—her friends here in the Greed Chapter, their peers Maka and Soul trying to find their way back from the Sloth Chapter to their colleagues, Kim Diehl and their classmates who provided entrance into the Book of Eibon, and Death and Spirit Albarn who authorized this mission—all want Kid home. Liz breaks down crying, comforted by her sister and Tsubaki.
The Book of Eibon, The Hidden Section[]
Back in the Black Mass's domain, Black Star admits he may be using madness to be the strongest warrior, but Kid's fall into madness makes him into a joke. Black Star refuses to lose himself in the madness, and as he speaks, he realizes his next goal. He and Kid turn to the Black Mass, who awaits the answer from both young men as to the nature of power that they desire.
Trivia[]
- Black Star's remarks about not losing himself to madness may allude to the lyrics to his theme song in the first anime, "Black*Star (Never Lose Myself)."
- The Thompsons' nickname, the Brooklyn Devils, is an allusion to a 1950s South Brooklyn gang.[1]
- Kid and Black Star debate the phrase "kateba kangun, makereba zokugun," which translates as "If you win, you're the government army; if you lose, you're the rebel army," the equivalent of saying that might makes right,[2] or that history is written by the victors.
- Liz's fantasy about Patty experiencing a wealthy life, including her attire, meal, and comfortable bed, is adapted at the beginning of Episode 6 of the anime Soul Eater NOT!.