A/N: Hey guys! Thanks so much for your reviews to the previous chapter. I really appreciate all the support for this story. Enjoy this next installment for the tournament arc (which will be 4 chapters long and the last major story point before the plot starts to get going), and thank you for reading.

Also, heads up. I'm not writing every single fight, because that will make these chapters way longer than they should be. I'm just writing the important/interesting ones.

People wondering how long this story is going to end up being—I have no intention of writing anything that has more chapters than the anime has episodes. So that's my maximum cap. It could end anywhere before that, though. I'm not a fan of dragging out stories longer than they have any reason to be dragged out, but I also like taking a break from the plot every once in a while to show the characters being kids and having fun (and the adults being adults and adult-ing?).

Review Responses:

OfAllTheShizz, thank you! I'm glad you enjoy the OCs and Mifune! I finally finished reading the part where he dies in the manga and I'm almost sorry I didn't keep it in, but I figure people survive in animes all the time when they should be dead, so whatever xD. Also, you'll be happy to note that I finally figured out how Crona fits into all of this, but sadly he won't be a factor until much later. Hope you're still reading when the time comes, though.

fanficlove2014, Clark has some interesting issues. Glad you liked reading that fight, because that was one of the most fun for me to write! If Clark and Vayne entered the tournament, they would probably do pretty well, but Clark avoids tournaments on principle because…well, he doesn't really have an off button. And is also class rep and has a nice guy reputation to uphold.

AmyNChan, I'm glad you liked it! Clark's family issues will be explained at some point, but probably after the tournament. And I'm glad you caught on to the Kid vs. Shinigami thing! The kids definitely have a very different perception of him than their parents do, that's for sure. It might have been a little soon to show Clark's competence, but I just really wanted to write that fight scene, so glad you enjoyed it!

falcongod 145, no spoilers~ Thanks for reading!

mercer heller, thanks! I'm glad you liked it!

monkey , thanks for your comments on the drawing. I passed them on to my sis and she says thank you as well. As for Rei and Ayame, they don't even realize how shippy they are, mwahahaha.

king haley, there will definitely be a villain. I can't tell you who it is because spoilers, but I will tell you I've already been moving some people in place for the plot. But I wouldn't exactly say there will be a new kishin. Thanks for reading!

Disclaimer: I don't own Soul Eater.


CHAPTER NINE

Death Fest Pt. 2; Stand Up and Fight!


Rei stepped out into the ring as the whistle blew, ducking his head to shield his eyes from the sudden glare of the desert sun. Around him, the arena rang with the cheer of the crowd, not the deafening roar of a full stadium—that would come later, during the finals—but still more considerable than he would have thought it would be. He swallowed, trying to force down the uneasiness in his gut as he walked across to the center of the ring, Ayame behind him. She was looking around, taking in the crowd, but he didn't. He had a feeling that if he actually did look up and see who was cheering for him, he might actually be sick.

Instead, he kept his gaze fixed ahead of him, stopping the same time as his opponent did. Sid was officiating the fight, the zombie standing between them, but giving them ample distance. Xiaoying stopped a few feet away from him as well, standing with an air of confidence as Seth sneered at them from behind her. She was dressed in a black qipao modified to allow her to move easily, a silver dragon coiling its way along the side of her skirt and her dark hair pulled back into a ponytail. Rei hadn't seen the need to wear anything different from what he normally did.

There had been two matches before this, and already the brackets displayed on the two screens around the arena had been updated, their fight highlighted now as, on the grass field bracket, Richard and Grayson advanced to the next round.

"So you did show up," Xiaoying said. "Seth and I had a bet."

"You lost me some money, Evans," Seth said. "I was sure you were going to run home to Mama, but Xiaoying thought you'd show your face before you surrendered."

Behind him, Ayame tensed, shooting him a look. Rei sucked in a breath, understanding. Ayame had warned him before this not to let them get to him.

"Enough," Sid said, drawing the banter to a stop. "Fighters at the ready."

"Seth," Xiaoying said, extending her hand to him. He transformed in a flash of light, becoming a bladed wheel, black steel forming a wave pattern around a leather handgrip that made up one side of the circle. She caught it in her hand, holding it in front of her as she sank down into her stance.

Rei unclenched his fist with what felt like entirely too much force of will, holding his hand out to Ayame. "Ayame," he said.

Ayame nodded, transforming in a flash of blue light. Her default form, her kusarigama mode, formed in his hands, the chain settling around him. He took a stance as well, scythe blades held out to either side of him. It was an offensive stance, one that told Xiaoying he meant to attack. She raised an eyebrow at that but said nothing.

"Remember," Sid said. "There are only two rules to this tournament. The first and most important, that no outside interference is allowed. The second, that the fight stops when the whistle blows. Fighters ready? Begin."

Rei charged forward, slashing at Xiaoying. At the same moment, Sid disappeared, tunneling beneath the colosseum and reappearing on the balcony a moment later.

Rei started with a slash to Xiaoying's chest with the right-hand scythe, keeping the left-hand scythe at his side to defend if necessary. She retaliated by swiping her ring upwards, bringing Rei's scythe up with it and knocking it out of the way as she stepped in, nimbly slashing at his chest. Rei's eyes widened and he jumped back, blocking her follow-up strike with his left-hand scythe. He grit his teeth as she pushed forward over their crossed weapons, unbalancing him, and jumped back to gain some distance.

Xiaoying didn't give him time to catch his breath, though. She spun, throwing Seth in the air, then immediately rushed in behind her weapon, aiming a knee-strike at the bottom of Rei's chin.

Rei's eyes widened and he immediately jerked his head back, avoiding the knee strike but very nearly getting caught by her ring, which hooked around behind him and came at him from behind. He managed to knock it out of the way with one of his scythes, using the other to swipe at her head. She ducked beneath it, but he hadn't been intending to hit her. He threw himself to the side as she pulled away from him, attempting to gain distance again.

Xiaoying swayed back and down away from his strike, then straightened up and caught Seth in one hand as he rebounded, coming back to her. Rei's eyes widened as she ran towards him again, leaping into the air and raising Seth for an overhand strike. His hands tightened around the grips of his kusarigama scythes. He blocked her strike, hooking the blade of his scythe around her ring's flat, but Xiaoying simply twisted her body around, kicking him in the side while he was otherwise occupied.

His eyes widened as he suddenly went flying, the impact knocking the wind out of him as he struck the ground hard, sliding against the colosseum's tiles before finally coming to a stop.

"Rei!" Ayame shouted as he grit his teeth, pushing himself to his feet.

"She's fast," Rei muttered under his breath, looking from left to right as Xiaoying circled him, moving quickly enough that he was having trouble tracking her movements. She let Seth fly, the ring spinning in the air as it sailed around Rei, moving behind him. Before Rei could fully track its flight path, she rushed in, this time aiming a palm strike at his sternum.

"Rei, behind you!" Ayame warned, as Xiaoying's palm came rushing in.

"I know!" Rei said, swatting her arm out of the way with his own before her strike could connect. He threw himself into a slide, sliding beneath her outstretched arm and straightening up behind her as Seth tore through the air where he had been standing a moment earlier. She caught Seth with one hand, spinning to face him, and Rei's mind raced as he tried to think of how to fight her.

She was strong and quick, skilled both with her hands and her weapon, and Rei knew that he wouldn't last very long in an extended engagement. To make matters worse, with a projectile weapon like Seth, she could essentially attack him on two fronts, distracting him with her hand-to-hand strikes while her weapon flew in for the kill, Seth's unpredictable flight path making it difficult to predict where he would strike. If that wasn't enough, they were fighting in the colosseum, an essentially open space. There was no way for him to go to get away from her, no place he could go to hide and regroup.

Nothing for it then. He'd just have to end this quickly.

"Ayame," he said, charging forward to meet her.

Ayame nodded, sinking down into her own stance, her hands spread apart from her.

Kusarigama form would be the best way to deal with Xiaoying, because it was the only one of Ayame's weapon forms that would allow him to attack and defend at the exact same time. His mind flashed through the way he had defeated Clark and Vayne in the spar as he rushed at Xiaoying. He only hoped that her weapon operated on the same principles.

As she slashed at him, he brought Ayame's right-hand scythe down, hooking it through the ring and slamming it down onto the ground. Xiaoying's eyes widened as she was suddenly unbalanced, and he stepped on the flat of Ayame's scythe blade to keep it there, leaping up and slashing at her with the left-hand scythe before she had time to react.

It was almost perfect. And then she smirked, and Seth's blade caught on fire.

The heat of the flames washed over him, searing his foot through his shoes and Rei let out a shout of pain. He heard Ayame shout his name as he recoiled in alarm, but before he could register what happening, a blast of wind followed the flames, Xiaoying pulling Seth out of the ground with a deft hand and swinging it at him. The wind and flames followed Seth's blade, the wind reaching him first and knocking him backwards.

He let out an involuntary shout as he was thrown back with sudden violent force, tumbling to the ground. Xiaoying followed him, wind and flame curled around her bladed ring in equal parts as she raised it over her head and made to slam it down.


"Rei!" Cori shouted, nearly jumping out of her seat.

Maka's eyes widened in surprise and sudden fear as Rei was thrown back, landing on the ground with enough force to crack the colosseum's tiles. She watched, horrified, as his opponent rushed towards him, her fiery ring raised overhead as she made to bring it down. She knew in her head that killing blows weren't allowed in this tournament, that Sid was watching closely and would stop the fight if it looked like anything untoward was happening, but the sight still made her heart stop.

And then a blade pierced the cloud of dust around Rei and she saw him, Ayame's katana form in his hand as he blocked the blow. He looked like he was struggling to move, but he managed to block the strike, and the knot in her chest eased slightly. He pushed hard against the sword, slashing, and managed to knock Xiaoying's strike off-line as he rolled out of the way, jumping up to his feet before she could recover. He gripped the katana in both hands, getting into a defensive stance.

"Hah," Soul said from the other side of the twins, and Maka realized he had been holding his breath as well.

She recognized what Rei was doing, switching from the versatile but short-ranged kusarigama to a longer weapon that gave him more reach without sacrificing maneuverability, but the flash of pride she felt that Rei had figured all of that out in the heat of the moment did nothing to ease the worry she felt. It wasn't helped as Rei blocked another one of Xiaoying's strikes with his sword and she dropped down and swept his feet out from under him with her own, throwing him to the ground again.

He rose to one knee, shaky this time, and tried to stand up. Before he could, Xiaoying twisted around, kicking him in the face dispassionately and sending him flying. Maka felt as if she was the one that had been kicked as Rei landed on the ground several feet away, onto his back. He rolled on his side and braced his hand underneath himself to push himself up, but his shoulders twitched, rising an inch off the ground before coming back down.

"No! Rei!" Cori did jump out of her seat then, grabbing hold of Annie's hand with her own. "Come on, we have to cheer for Rei!"

Maka didn't even try to stop her as she ran towards the railing in front of them, stopping only when she could look over its side and down into the arena below. "Rei!" she shouted loudly, her hands cupped around her mouth. "Rei! You can do it, Rei! Come on, Annie! You too! Cheer for Rei! Rei!"

Annie looked around frantically, her eyes wide as her sister started shouting beside her, yelling into the arena as if she could change the tide of battle with the sound of her voice. And then Annie's own voice piped up, soft compared to Cori's, but there nonetheless.

"R-Rei," she said, then louder. "Rei! You can do it, Rei!"

"Rei!" Cori shouted, their voices overlapping with each other.

"Rei!" Annie said.

"Rei!"


"Rei! Rei! Rei!"

Rei grit his teeth as his name rang through the air, his hands shaking as he tried to force himself to get up. His head rang from the kick, his body refusing to obey him. He felt suddenly nauseous, his vision swimming. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Sid move, descending from the balcony and landing on the ground with the air of someone about to call a fight. He felt the crowd swell, anticipating a victory, and he redoubled his efforts because he couldn't let it end here. He couldn't be done just from that.

Ayame wasn't done. He could hear her in the back of his mind, trying to speak to him, her voice overlapping with all the others.

"Rei!" someone shouted, and clarity exploded suddenly, the world coming back into focus. He could hear now, could hear individual words in the swell of the crowd, could hear Ayame and two, smaller voices saying his name.

He pushed himself up, his breath hitching as something in his chest protested the movement. The crowd's roar swelled and he saw Sid take a step back, but he didn't care about any of that. His eyes moved over the crowd, searching for the voices he had heard.

Annie and Cori, his sisters, were standing in the stands looking down at him. Behind them sat his parents, both of them already half out of their seats. His mom was still taking the video she had promised, but it looked half-forgotten now, her eyes only on him. And somewhere, not far behind them, dressed in a vampire outfit and looking worried, was Vayne. The others were there too, he knew, although he couldn't see them. Clark, Morgan and Cassie would be back at the haunted house, but they were in the stands with Vayne too, cheering for him in spirit.

"Everybody's watching Rei," Ayame said. "Your sisters are calling you."

"Yeah," Rei said, sucking in a breath as he straightened up fully and turned to face Xiaoying. "I hear them. Let's not let them down."

Xiaoying blinked in surprise as she saw him stand up, and then to his surprise, she tilted her head towards him, a gesture almost like respect. Flames erupted from along Seth's blade again, the wind warping to surround them, and she sank down into a stance. She darted to the side, moving to flank him, then twisted around, throwing Seth again.

Rei shifted his grip on Ayame's hilt to a one-handed grip then ran, not at her but at the blade she had thrown, at the ring spinning through the air that banked suddenly to meet him.

"What are you going to do?" Ayame asked as he ran.

Something stupid, he thought, but he didn't have time for words. He didn't have much left in him. There wasn't much left to do but hope that this stupid plan of his worked. Seth cut through the air, wind and flames trailing behind him, and went into a dive as he approached him, sweeping horizontally across the ground. Rei ran towards the spinning ring until the last possible moment, then leaped up in the instant before Seth's serrated edge struck him, stabbing Ayame's katana form down into the ground.

The blade sank into the space in the center of Seth's ring, slicing into the tiles and remaining pinned there. Rei let go of her hilt and felt an instant of separation as he landed on the ground and continued running, heard Ayame shout for him as she spun around in her soul space, her eyes wide in alarm as she called his name.

"Rei!"

He ignored her, his breath coming out in a huff as he continued to run, running at Xiaoying. He spared a glance behind him to see Seth lying inert on the ground, to hear his own voice calling out to his meister. His guess had been correct, then. Seth's weapon form was like Ayame's shuriken form in a way—he could alter his path when he had been thrown, but only when he had momentum to begin with. He couldn't throw himself. Which meant as long as he was pinned to the ground, Rei had a little bit of time, about as much time as it took him to take his human form again and start running for Xiaoying. He heard a telltale ringing sound from behind him as Seth did exactly that, followed by a second one and the sound of a thud as Ayame literally swept him off his feet.

That was all the attention he could spare for that side of the field though, because Xiaoying had rushed at him at the same time as he rushed at her, and she was faster than he was. He saw the look of confusion in her eyes as she moved to strike. She knew he could never beat her in an unarmed fight, knew that he knew that, and wondered what he was playing at.

He didn't give her time to wonder for long.

"Ayame!"he shouted, his hand extended back towards her.

"Roger!" Ayame shouted back, standing over Seth's prone form. Before the other weapon could react, she transformed in a flash of light, weight and power slamming into his hand in an instant. He ducked beneath Xiaoying's strike, then darted around her, looping Ayame's chain so that it wrapped around her waist and pulling both scythes taut to keep her pressed against him.

He hooked one hand around her waist to hold her still, using the other to point his scythe blade at her neck. She went rigid. Across from her, Rei could see Seth picking himself up off the ground, his eyes wide as he stared helplessly at his meister. Rei held fast, not giving her any room to move as he looked around, scanning the stands for Sid.

He met Sid's eyes. The zombie stared back at him, then raised his hand to his mouth, blowing the whistle.

The crowd erupted into cheers.


Sid lowered his whistle from where he stood near the edge of the ring, watching as Rei released Xiaoying without a word, Ayame reverting back to her human form. He kept an eye on them, watching for any signs of trouble, but Xiaoying simply nodded at him, her face expressionless as, on the screen, Rei and Ayame's names advanced another round. She said something to him that made him nod and say something back, his expression serious, then said something else that made him pale, gesturing at her weapon and turning to leave the field. Sid watched as Rei and Ayame left as well, his eyes on the meister's retreating back.

His mind moved carefully through the fight again, taking note of Rei's movements. They had been unrefined to be sure, but he'd moved decisively, taking note of his opponent's strengths and adjusting to that.

Quick, quiet, tactical, Sid thought, feeling the beginnings of a smile come to his face as he stepped forward to prepare to officiate the next match. Just the sort of skills a DWMA covert agent might need.

He made a mental note to mark Rei down for special training.

After all, that was the kind of man he was.


Vayne walked past the small line of people waiting outside Class Moonless Night's haunted house, a small smile on his face as he made his way back from the tournament arena. Rei's method of victory had been interesting as usual, but a win was a win, and he had to admit that Ayame had managed to get Rei to take a lot more initiative than he ever did. Although, Vayne thought, with a small grin as he thought about his best friend, maybe he'd have been more successful at getting Rei to do stuff if he was also a pretty girl with big violet eyes.

He'd have to tease Rei about that later. He smiled at the thought, his good mood enough to let him walk straight through the doors of the haunted house without flinching and into the lobby where Clark waited, ushering guests into seats at the café/waiting area with a gracious smile that said nothing about how tired he actually was. The café, thankfully, wasn't actually all that scary. Vayne thought he could handle it.

"Oh, you're back," said Clark as he approached, looking up from escorting a pair of girls from one of the first-year NOT classes to their seats. "How did it go?"

"Went well," Vayne said. "Rei and Ayame won. The first round's wrapping up right now, so I thought I'd go get back to work. You're up."

Clark grimaced, looking past Vayne to the line of people still waiting behind him and at Ophelia, peeking out from behind the haunted house's curtained off backstage area and gesturing at him. "I can't right now. I'm sorry," he said, adjusting his glasses. "Go find Morgan and let her go instead. I think she's about ready for a break. She should be back there somewhere."

"Back—back there?" Vayne asked, the color draining from his face as he looked behind Clark at the entrance to the haunted house. Morgan didn't have a cellphone, and even if she did, the signal in the dojo was spotty at best. Someone would have to go in there personally to get her, but Vayne—. "Can't you go?" Vayne asked, trying his best to work the note of pleading out of his voice. "I mean, I would go get her but I'm—uh—I'm really busy at the—."

Clark glanced at the people coming in from the door and then back at Vayne, the strain in his eyes clear from behind his glasses. "Come on, Vayne," he said, keeping his voice low so that the customers couldn't hear it. "Please?"

Vayne stared at Clark, curling his hands into fists, but he already knew it would be no use. His meister looked about ready to crack, and guilt warred with his fear until it won. He exhaled all at once, forcing his fingers to go slack.

"Alright," he said. "Okay. I'll go find her. I mean, how hard can it be? It's just a haunted house, right?"

Clark let out a relieved sigh. "Thank you," he said, then swept past Vayne, heading for the line. "Sorry, excuse me."

That left Vayne alone with the haunted house. He shuffled up to the entrance, peering into the darkness beyond, and suddenly didn't feel so sure of himself. He glanced over his shoulder at Clark, but his meister was already greeting a new group of people with that same gracious smile on his face, gesturing them over to a set of tables. A scream rose up from somewhere inside the haunted house, setting Vayne's hair on end.

Come on, Vayne, he told himself. Man up. It's just a haunted house. You can do this.

He took a deep breath, gathering up as much courage as he could with the motion, and then stepped into the house.


"Aaaaah!" Vayne screamed, running down the hallway at full-tilt before bursting into a brightly-lit room. "It's going to eat me!" He took cover underneath what looked like an examination table, covering his head with his hands. After a moment, a figure approached the table, peeking underneath it. Vayne squeaked and jumped back, moving his hands to cover his eyes.

"Oh, hey Vayne," said Jonas, nonchalantly. "Thought you were part of the next group and got really confused, since Gav said he was still leading them through the cemetery."

"J-Jonas?" Vayne asked, peeking from between his fingers.

He blinked and lowered his hands, realizing that Jonas's costume didn't actually scare him. The smaller boy was dressed in a white lab coat and a dark sweater, a pair of oversized glasses on his face and his hair whitened with baby powder. If anything, his costume looked familiar. Vayne stared, then felt another chill that had nothing to do with the haunted house.

"Jonas," Vayne said. "Don't tell me you actually dressed up as Professor Stein."

"Noooo," said Jonas, drawing out the word in the sort of way that people who had something to hide did. "No, don't be silly. That would be stupid. I'm just a mad scientist. You know, 'It's so coooool!'. What am I talking about? You don't watch anime. Uh—here, let me help you up."

He extended a hand towards Vayne. The weapon hesitated, then reluctantly took it, letting the other boy pull him up to his feet.

"This isn't so bad," said Vayne, looking around the room. It looked just like any ordinary laboratory might have, and thankfully Vayne didn't find labs scary. Yet.

"Not yet," said Jonas, grinning. "But do you wanna see what I can do with the lighting?" He reached for a button.

"No!" said Vayne, a little too quickly. "Uh—I mean, no. You don't have to. I'm—uh—just passing through."

"Aww," said Jonas, reluctantly pulling his hand away. He pouted. "Fine. At least let me show you one of the tricks Professor Stein taught me. It's not scary at all, I promise."

"Well…" Vayne weighed his options. On one hand, every minute spent wasting time here was a minute during which Rei and Ayame's next fight might start, with no one in the stands to cheer for them. On the other hand, every minute spent in here was a minute not spent dodging the horrors that waited outside. "Sure, why not?"

Jonas grinned, walking over to a workbench filled with brightly colored vials of chemicals and poring through a stack of printed sheets that someone, probably Stein himself had given him. "Let's see here…" he said. "I add a little bit of this to a little bit of that, and…"

The room began filling with fog, mist spilling from the vial in Jonas's hands and pooling ankle deep at Vayne's feet. Vayne glanced down at it as it began to rise up, impressed in spite of himself. "Hey," he said. "That's pretty neat. You'll have to teach me that some—."

Something behind him cleared its throat. Vayne froze and whirled around sharply, jumping back as a dark shape in the fog resolved itself.

"Aaah!" he shouted, his arms transforming into dark blades as he pointed them at the creature, squeezing his eyes shut and turning away. "WITCH!"

Morgan, dressed in a violet and cream corseted dress and a black witch's hat, was decidedly not amused. "Vayne, it's me," she said, her eyes narrowed at him.

Vayne opened his eyes a crack, the tips of his blades trembling. "M-M-Morgan?" he asked.

"Yes," said Morgan, exasperated. She rested her hands lightly on her hips. "I'm dressed as the witch from the story, remember? The one who 'trapped people' in the haunted house? You helped write that story."

"Oh," said Vayne, relaxing slightly. "R-Right. Sorry about that." He straightened up, his arms becoming normal again. "Uh…so what are you doing here?"

"Lydia said you were looking for me," Morgan said, frowning at him. "After she told me how you beat her with your shoe and ran off screaming something about demons." She glanced down at his feet. "I'm surprised you actually took your shoe off to do it."

Vayne followed her gaze, looking down at his feet, one in a shoe and one in a sock. He looked back up at her guiltily. "She jumped out of a wall at me," he said.

"She stepped out of her hiding place to ask you what was going on," Morgan said. "A hiding place that you helped build." Morgan sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose with her hand and looking away. "Never mind. What do you want?"

"Um…Rei and Ayame advanced to the second round. Clark says you can go take a break if you want to watch the fights. He can't right now."

"Alright," said Morgan. "Fine. Thanks for letting me know. Next time, please tell Clark to send literally anyone else. I'll head out now."

"Great," said Vayne, rubbing at the back of his neck as Morgan stepped past him, walking towards the exit. "Um—and Morgan?"

"Yes," said Morgan without looking back, her tone sharp. "You can come with me."


Angela smiled to herself as she walked past the brightly colored booths that were set up just behind the school, a particularly loud thud ringing through the air as someone was slammed to the ground in the tournament match going on in the grass field nearby. She walked with her hands clasped behind her back, feeling a thrill at being on familiar ground again, around the students and staff of the DWMA. She always liked coming back to Death City, especially after extended assignments. The place always felt like home.

A group of students raced by, cotton candy and snacks in hand as they ran towards the colosseum. Angela stepped aside, letting them through. Her mind automatically replaced them with herself and Shelley when they were younger, their friends as two shadowed figures racing along behind them.

"Doesn't it bring back memories?" she asked, glancing at her partner behind her.

Shelley didn't respond immediately, following the students' movements with her eyes, and Angela felt a sudden surge of guilt. Of course her partner wouldn't want to be reminded of their days at the DWMA, especially not after the incident with Micah a year ago. Honestly, for a diplomat, she could be so insensitive sometimes.

"Shell…?" Angela asked, frowning in concern.

Shelley said nothing for a moment and then she blinked, some of the darkness retreating from her gold eyes. "It's nothing," she said, looking away from the students. "I'm fine."

"But—" Angela began.

"I said I was fine," Shelley snapped. "Please, can we just not talk about it?"

"I—." Angela opened her mouth helplessly, then closed again. "Alright," she said, sighing. "If that's what you want."

"It is," said Shelley.

"I'm going to go get some funnel cake," said Angela, pointing at the vendor not too far from them. "Do you want some?"

"Yes," said Shelley with a sigh. To Angela's relief, she relaxed just a little, some of the tension leaving her shoulders and back. "That would be nice."

"Alright," she said, turning towards the vendor. "Just wait right here, and I'll—." She stopped, turning her head as she caught sight of something out of the corner of her eye. A girl dressed in dark violet, wearing a pointed hat. Dark hair and pale skin. Dark eyes. "Shell?" she asked as the girl swept past her, joining the crowd headed towards the colosseum.

Shelley turned to watch the girl as well, adjusting her glasses with one hand. "A student of Class Moonless Night, probably," she said. "My mother mentioned that they were doing a haunted house for Halloween. Her Soul Response seems entirely normal."

Angela frowned at that. 'Seems'. 'Seems' could mean a lot of things. But she didn't want to worry Shelley with what could be nothing, considering everything her partner had been through lately. So instead she sighed, looking away from the girl but keeping her in her periphery. "They're still doing witch costumes at haunted houses?" Angela asked. "That's offensive, you know."

"I'm sure they didn't mean it that way," said Shelley. "You could talk to them if you like."

"No, it's alright," said Angela, affecting a tired smile. "You know how it is. No one likes a diplomat."

Shelley gave her a wry smile in response, one that didn't reach her eyes. It didn't make Angela feel better about her partner's state of mind, but she knew better than to press that particular subject now. "So about those funnel cakes," she said, turning back to the stall. "Wait right here."

She started walking, keeping the dark-haired girl in her sight until she was far enough away from Shelley that her partner couldn't see her too well through the crowd. Keeping her back turned towards the weapon, she touched her hat, tilting it back as if adjusting it but actually lifting it just enough to allow Pascal to slip out from underneath it, the chameleon dropping to the ground at her feet.

Angela fixed the girl's face in her mind, transferring it to Pascal as best as she could, then nudged the chameleon in the girl's direction with her foot. "Go on, Pascal" she said, keeping her voice to a whisper. "Track."

Pascal blinked up at her, then scurried off into the crowd after the girl, taking on the colors of his surroundings until he was invisible. Angela sighed, brushing her hair out of her face as if she had only been adjusting her hat, and turned to the funnel cake vendor with a smile.

"Two funnel cakes, please," she said.


"You lost?" Grayson asked, incredulous. "How could you lose?"

Xiaoying stared at him as he strode up to her, he and Richard fresh off the field from their victory in the semi-finals. A pair of NOT students were already at work taking down the ropes that had cordoned off the grass fields from the rest of the festival, the sun already beginning to fall asleep as the crowd slowly began approaching the colosseum for the finals. She met Grayson's eyes, her own gaze steady.

"Turns out they weren't as weak as you said they were," she said.

Grayson's eyes narrowed dangerously. "What are you implying, Xiao?" he asked, stepping closer to her.

"I'm not implying anything," said Xiaoying. "So back off. You don't scare me."

"Ugh, if you could do one goddamned thing right in your life, Xiao—." Grayson began.

"Hey!" Seth stepped up, putting himself between Xiaoying and Grayson and glaring at the other boy. "You don't get to talk to my meister like that."

Grayson glared back, meeting Seth's eyes. The weapon didn't back down, didn't flinch, but the wind around him began to pick up, threaded through with the first touches of heat. Richard stepped forward, placing a hand on Grayson's arm.

"Hey, come on," he said. "Calm down. This isn't worth it."

Grayson held Seth's gaze for a few moments longer before he took a step back, scowling as he looked away. The screens displaying the bracket flashed as the colosseum's semi-final match ended. He spared them a glance. Rei Evans and Ayame Star. Somehow the Evans kid and the Star brat had made it to the finals.

Ayame Star's eyes flashed into his mind again from the first day of class, the time he encountered her and her sorry excuse for a meister on their way to the dispensary. There had been something in those eyes, something fierce that had stopped him cold for an instant. He scowled, not liking the feeling or even the memory of it.

He was strong, the strongest student in the school. He wasn't scared of that girl. And he definitely wasn't scared of what Evans became when he was with her.

"Fine," he said, turning away. "Whatever. It doesn't matter. We're just gonna crush them in the finals anyway. Come on, Rich."

Grayson walked towards the colosseum with the crowd, not sparing Xiaoying or her partner a second glance. Richard eyed Xiaoying and Seth for a moment before nodding, turning to follow him.


Rei sat on the bench beneath the stands in the colosseum in the last few minutes before the finals began. He stared down at his hands, thinking back to the day's first match, the one with Xiaoying and Seth.

"You fought well," Xiaoying had said on the field, in the moments after their match had ended.

"Thank you," Rei said, still out of breath as he nodded at her. "You fought well too. It was close."

"Yes, it was," said Xiaoying. "I may have misjudged you. It won't be enough to beat Grayson, though. I'm almost sorry about that…"

He clenched his fists, feeling his heart pounding. Despite being the first, that match had been his hardest match of the day, but he knew that wouldn't last long. He had seen Grayson and Richard's last tournament win and the memory of it nearly destroyed whatever confidence he had managed to gain.

Nearly. Because despite his own misgivings, despite everything he hadn't been sure of when they started, they'd made it this far. And he knew Ayame wanted to win. He knew it meant a lot to her. He drew in a breath, slowly relaxing as he straightened up. He could do this, he thought. Probably. Maybe.

"Five more minutes until the Death Festival Tournament final match," a female voice said over the P.A. system. "Fighters, return to the colosseum."

He could hear the crowd already, an almost subliminal hum coming from the stands above him. Rei took a deep breath to calm his nerves, trying to imagine that he was somewhere else, anywhere else.

Just another match, he told himself, even as his brain fed him memories of all of the times Grayson and Richard had picked on him since first coming to this school. That time two years ago when they'd tossed the book he was reading into the toilet and laughed at him when he yelled at them for it. Or that time last year when they'd teased him for coming here with his mother and held him against the wall when he threatened to complain. He never did. He felt his heart rate increase just at the memory.

Just another match…

A hand landed on his shoulder, a presence dropping into the seat beside him. This time, Rei didn't jump, just accepted the bottle of water Ayame had passed him and took a sip as if it could calm his nerves. She didn't say anything to him, watching the tunnel that led out into the arena, drinking her own water.

"Everyone's here," Ayame said after a while. "Vayne, Morgan, Cassie. Even Clark. I don't know whose running the booth right now, because they all came out here to cheer for us."

"Really?" Rei asked, capping his water bottle.

"Yeah," Ayame said.

"Then I guess we shouldn't let them down." He exhaled, setting his bottle of water aside. Somewhere over his head, the announcer gave the one minute warning.

"We can do this, can't we, Ayame?" he asked.

"Yeah," Ayame said. "We can do this."

"Alright." He took note of the confidence in her voice, tried to convince himself that he felt it too. He took a deep breath and got to his feet, extending a hand towards her. "Then let's give them a show."

She smiled at him, taking his hand and letting her help him up. "You got it," she said. "The people are gonna want to see their queen, after all."

They stepped forward as the announcer called them, walking into the light.

And stopped as an explosion rang out through the air, the shockwaves rattling the arena as alarms started blaring.


Two minutes earlier…

Somewhere in the depths of Class Moonless Night's haunted house, in the last hour before the house closed its doors for good, one Jonas Kosir, one-star meister and all around jokester had an idea. An idea to close the haunted house with a bang. If two or three chemicals could make a scary effect, he thought, looking with glee at the various brightly colored vials Stein had allowed him to use, what would happen if he mixed all of them? Like a true mad scientist would do.

He reached for two of the nearest vials, pouring them into a beaker without checking the recipes first. To that, he added a third—

"…Oh, son of a bitch."

The beaker flashed white, the explosion catching him off-guard as the shockwave threw him back, slamming him into the makeshift walls and expanding to consume the dojo. Someone started screaming as the wave of light tore through the ceiling, roof tiles and plaster clattering down to the ground in its wake.

He stared up at the hazy night sky through the hole where the roof had been, smiling bemusedly to himself as he lay there in the wreckage, the sprinkler systems engaging around him and alarms blaring.

Huh, that's funny…he thought, his vision swimming.

I wonder what happened to the ceiling…


A/N: Seth's weapon form is based off of the wind and fire wheels, a pair of Chinese weapons that ordinarily come in…well, pairs, but in this case because Seth is a lone weapon, they've been merged into one.

Don't worry, the fight will happen. There just might be…complications~ Next chapter will explain it, I promise!

Don't mix random chemicals you guys. It's not good for you. Trust me. I am mad scientist. It's so cooooool.