The Pinnacle of Soul Control!

A Quiet Night By The Campfire!

Ash was crouched down closer to the lake. He was careful, trying not to get any sand on his pants. He was using Xander to brace himself against the ground as he tried to keep an open eye on the bushes. Any kind of clue that would give him a hint as to where their attackers were hiding. He still didn't anything. The fact that he couldn't see their souls was worrying him beyond belief.

"Hey! Ash!" shouted Xander, "What are we waiting for? Why don't we charge in and take the fight to him? All of this waiting is making me sick!"

"Have you ever heard the saying 'The meek will inherit the Earth'?" asked Ash.

"Yeah," said Xander, "I've heard of it. Why?"

"Do you know how they are going to do it?" asked Ash again, "its because people like you are going off and getting killed by doing stupid things like that."

"Look someone is coming out of the bushes!" shouted Xander.

"You weren't listening to me, were you?"

"Look!" shouted Xander.

One of Michael's arrow whizzed through the air, aimed straight at the man's head. The man looked over in that direction. He pulled the hood of his robe off of his head revealing his dark green hair. The arrow, a foot away from his body, suddenly lurched to the side burying itself in the sand a couple of feet behind the man.

He brought both of his arms up and above his head and stretched. "Boring."

Ash smiled, "looks like you are going to get your wish, Xander." Ash got up onto his feet and bolted off towards the man.

"Pop Quiz!" shouted the man, "If you are facing an opponent who is obviously stronger then you A) drive in recklessly, B) run away, or C) stand still."

Ash brought his arm back and fired a single punch aimed at the man's gut. The man leapt into the air avoiding the devastating blow. He spun around in the air, simultaneously bringing his leg around and into Ash's head. Ash tumbled to the ground.

"Sorry," said the man as he landed back safely onto the ground, "but A is not the correct answer." He dashed off towards Melody and Shi. "Neither is C." He brought both of his palms into Melody's gut and tossed her. Melody went flying through the air. Thankfully, she landed on the soft sand and the damage from the fall was minimized.

"Crap," said Melody, "I wasn't expecting him to be this fast. I thought Michael's arrow would've nailed him." She looked over at Michael, who from the look on his face, was thinking the same thing. He pulled back on his bow's string and prepared another arrow.

The man leaned back and chuckled. "That won't work against me. You see, I've created and perfected a new way to utilize my Soul Wavelength. If you makes you feel any better you can take another shot at me." Michael didn't pass the opportunity up, he fired another air. It got close to the man, but once again about a foot away it veered and slammed into the sand.

"You see," said the man, "most people use their Soul Wavelengths by pumping large amounts of it into their opponents. I, on the other hand, use it by simultaneously pumping small amounts of it out of my body at various and numerous points. This creates a sort of shell around my body composed of my Soul Wavelength. It's the pinnacle of soul control. Any soul based attacked aimed at me is immediately either deflected due to conflicting soul wavelengths or absorbed due to similar soul wavelengths."

"Here's a pop quiz for you," said Melody as she brought Shi around. Shi's long lengthy rope wrapped around the man's leg tying him to the spot, "when you are fighting with me as your opponent do you A) stand around and talk or B) get your butt whooped?"

"The correct answer is C," said the man as he bent down and grabbed a hold of Shi's yo-yo form, "I hurt you immensely." There was small spark of energy as his hand came in contact with Shi's body. That small spark traveled all the way Shi's thin string and right into Melody's hand. Melody screamed and immediately dropped Shi.

"Melody," shouted Shi, "what's wrong?" A look of concern was on its face on the reflection of the yo-yo.

"I shot my Soul Wavelength into her body using you as a medium," said the man, "I used you as a weapon to harm your own partner. But now I am down with you." His leg suddenly started to spark again. All of a sudden, Shi was blown out of his weapon form and it skidded across the sand in his normal human form.

"Once again," said the man, "a failure of epic proportions. You've failed two pop quiz's in a row. Perhaps, it is time for some academic punishment." He brought his hand all the way back and more sparks began to fly from it. He was just about to bring it down when Ash made another swing with Xander. The man ducked to the side and rolled away.

"It looks like you failed basic combat," said Ash, "never, ever turn your back on your opponents."

The man reached back and grabbed a hold of his hood, which due to Ash's latest attack was cut in two. "I'm actually quite hurt by what you did to my hood. I got it while it was on sale, but I still paid at least 10 dollars getting it."

"You are acting like it was actually cool," said Xander, "it made you look like an old man about to use the bathroom."

The man chuckled, "it did, did it? Well, I guess its off with it then. I don't want the new kids to think I'm not hip now, do I?" He threw his robe off revealing his trim figure. His upper body was covered by a muscle shirt and jeans covered his lower half. He quickly reached out and grabbed Ash. His left hand held him firmly by his head, while his right was wrapped around Xander. "Now, let me just show you how 'hip' I can be."

"Stop it," shouted a young woman as she emerged from the bushes. "Saul! You unhand that boy right now. You…you…you swine!"

Saul looked over at her and then back down at Xander and he released him. "Of course! After all, I'm not too into manhandling little boys."

"You could've fooled me," said Xander in a low mutter.

"See, Michael only old people say swine," said May as Michael quickly ran up next to Melody and Shi. Michael sighed. May generally brought old comments like that up.

"Saul, let's just forget about testing these guys and move on to the mission," said the woman, "we've already lost enough time as it is."

"You gotta stop babying people, Rochelle," said Saul. "These people are man enough to handle a couple of Soul Wavelengths, am I right? Or am I right?"

"Whether you are right or not gives you no excuse to do things like that!" shouted the woman, "You've got to calm down and give people an actual fighting chance."

"Oh, sure," said Saul as he brought his arms up, "I'm sure someone like you would say that! I'm just doing my job! And I got a freakin' Death Scythe breathing down my back!"

"Death Scythe?" asked Ash, "are you two…are you two the people we are supposed to team up with to complete the mission? The Prison Jar mission?"

"Yes," said Rochelle with a sweet smile on her face, "we are here because we want to help you!"

"She is," said Saul, "I'm getting paid."

"Oh, come on," said Rochelle, "look at these kids! You can't honestly say you don't want to help them in the slightest, can you?"

"Let's see," said Saul, "I don't want to help them in the slightest…what do you know? I can honestly say it!"

"Stop acting like a little kid!" shouted Rochelle.

"Stop acting like my mother!"

"Are you two dating or something?" asked Xander.

"Huh?" said Rochelle, "me and him? No. We are not dating, we are just partners for this one mission."

"Besides," said Saul, "she doesn't swing that."

Rochelle's face turned beet red. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm saying you switched teams…you went from hot dogs to melons…puppy dog tails to everything nice," said Saul, "stop me when you get the picture."

"I have not!" shouted Rochelle, "I just can't find the right guy."

"That's because you are too busy looking in the woman's locker room," said Saul.

"Let's just drop it and attend to the children's medical needs," said Rochelle as she turned away from him and dropped down to check on Shi and Melody.

"See," said Saul, "a real woman wouldn't let a man win an argument like that. She would've kept fighting until the man apologized."

"I don't think a real man would've brought up that conversation to begin with, right May?" said Michael defending Rochelle. His partner remained silently though. The previous fight still playing around in her head. He should've guessed. May's not a big fan of losing.

"I don't think we can make it to the Prison Jar today," said Rochelle as she leaned back onto the sand. "Saul overdid. These kids are going to need a good night's rest. If we try to carry them and keep moving, we'll probably just get killed by the witches."

"I say we leave them," said Xander, "its what they would want us to do."

Michael scoffed, "yeah, what did Shi again? I think it was something like 'Leave him. Leave him to die an honorable soldier's death!' I say we follow Shi's own advice."

"I agree," said Saul, "that's three for leaving them."

"THIS IS NOT UP FOR DISCUSSION!" shouted Rochelle.

"I say we leave her, too," said Saul.

(-Later that night-)

The gang had quickly created campfire to start off camp with. Guard duties were quickly assigned. Michael and May would watch for the first two hours, then Saul for three hours, then Rochelle for three hours, and Ash and Xander would be up for the last two hours. Giving the kids a total of eight hours while Saul and Rochelle each got seven.

Michael was diligently keeping an eye on the fire. May had been dozing off nearly all night. She said it was because she was used to twelve hours of beauty sleep, instead of eight. Apparently that was lunacy from where she came from, but Michael didn't care. It just gave him more time to appreciate the peace and quiet. Or at least it would, if it wasn't for the fact that May kept waking up every couple of minutes, sweating.

This was probably the eighth time she woke up. She was dressed in a black nightie, but she had an oversized coat with it to protect her from the cold. She also had on a pair of fuzzy slippers. Normally, she would have on a black night mask, but she refused to put it on until their watch was done.

"Any problems," asked Michael. He was dressed in a pair of gray sweats and a white T-shirt. Nothing more, nothing less. He asked that question despite the fact that he already knew what her response was going to be.

"No," said May. Michael called it.

"Don't forget. I'm your partner," said Michael, "if anything's wrong with you, I'm here to help you."

"Nothing's wrong," said May as she turned her head away in a pretend fit of anger, "I'm just upset that I don't have my bed or my cotton sheets with a hundred thread count. I don't have my make-up table for when I get up in the morning nor do I have my alarm clock or anything like that."

"Not to mention that Shi or Xander might grope you in your sleep," said Michael with a small chuckle.

"THANKS A LOT!" she said as she took her shoe off and chucked it at him.

"Hey," said Michael, "I'm being punished too. Now I have that image in my head." He tossed her shoe back to her. "Just try not to look hot in your sleep."

"Have you seen my body?" asked May standing up and performing a turn, "I always look hot."

"Sure," said Michael as he looked away, "now what was your nightmare about?"

"I don't remember," said May lying. "But I'm sure my next one will about Shi!"

"I'll be sure to tell Shi that you've been dreaming about her."

"Her?" said May, "I thought she was he from the way he was always groping Melody."

"I don't know what Shi is," said Michael, "I just know no self-respecting guy would have hair like that and dress like that."

"So, as a result Shi is a lesbian?"

"Whatever helps me sleep at night."

"Our watch is almost up."

(-With Saul of his watch-)

Saul was laying on the ground. Sound asleep. He didn't bother to keep a lookout for the witches, it would just be a waste of his time to. He'd just catch a couple of extra Z's before sunrise, be well-rested and whatnot.

(-With Rochelle on her watch-)

"Stupid Saul," murmured Rochelle as she prodded the fire. She found him sound asleep laying on the forest floor. "I don't know why I was paired up with him for this mission. I would've preferred almost anyone else! Anyone! Calling me a lesbian…talking about leaving those injured kids…what a…an…a…pig!"

"Maybe that was too mean for Saul…maybe it was too mean to the pigs…"

(-With Ash and Xander on their watch-)

Xander was stretched all the way on his back. The thought of possibly sneaking into May or Melody's tent was dancing around in his head. Maybe a quick peak? No, Ash would tell. He was sitting a couple of feet away on an extremely large pillow.

"Why do you have that ridiculous pillow?" asked Xander. He was dressed in just his underwear. Some boxers and a muscle shirt.

"Excuse me for not wanting to get my pants dirty by sitting on some old log or on the dirt," said Ash. He was dressed from head-to-toe in light blue pajamas with yellow ducks all over them.

"Okay…that explains the pillow," said Xander, "but why does it have pink lace?"

"It's the only one I had at home that clean enough to bring with me," said Ash, "all my other ones are in the wash. Bad luck."

"Okay," said Xander, "tell me again why you bought those pajamas."

"I didn't," whined Ash, "um…my…my mother bought them for me when…um…I came out to Death City. She didn't want me to wear something that she didn't approve…so, um…I have to wear these."

"Suuuurrrrreeeee," said Xander, "and you swear you are not gay."

"Hey!" shouted Ash, "you were the one that when we met…"

"DO NOT BRING THAT INCIDENT UP EVER!" shouted Xander. "You are too carry that incident with you to your grave. And if you ever tell anyone about how we became partners I will make sure you go to your grave a lot sooner then you'd like."

"Eep!" shrieked Ash as he buried himself into his pillow, "fine. Fine, I'll never tell anyone about how we met."

"Good," said Xander, "I still have nightmares about it."


A quiet night before the chaos of hunting down the Prison Jar. Some good laughs with Saul and Rochelle (not permanent partners). Rochelle Richochet is the work of Outstanding Anime. Also for those of you who were kind enough to submit teachers thank you. But...why do all of them have to be weapons? Meisters are cool, too.

The 'contest' is no longer continuing so for those of you who do not want to review any more…you don't have to (it is still appreciated though!) No, now, both stories will continue until…I think it was September 3rd that I planned on (cause after that Summer vacation is over). Then…something will happen…maybe…I don't know I REALLY wasn't planning on these two stories both getting the same amount reviews.

Other then that have fun imagining how Ash and Xander met!