Kid found Ame in the music room, staring out the window at the setting sun. He needed to talk to her. She raised her head and watched him as he approached. She grinned and wagged her tail, expecting him to smile and pet her or something. His face remained somber.

"Ame, I want to know what he meant," he said. Ame frowned. "He said that I'm not immortal if I'm human. What did he mean?"

"Why didn't you bring this question to someone else?" Ame asked darkly. Her voice had changed again; she always sounded more mature when she was serious. It was almost like she was a different person. "Sayo probably could have told you, let alone your father."

"I want to hear you tell me," Kid replied. "I want to know the truth."

"… Fine," Ame shifted her gaze to the sunset. "Tell me, what are humans made of?"

"Made of?" Kid thought about it for a minute. "Water, carbon, ammonia, lime, phosphorous, salt, saltpeter, sulfur, fluorine, iron, silicon, and trace amounts of 15 other elements."

"So in short, dirt," Ame said, getting to her feet and turning around to face him. "And dirt is below animals. There is a theory that humans had evolved from primates. If that were true, then wouldn't Hanagami, the monkey god, be the strongest god in the Zodiac? Wouldn't he be the ultimate?"

"Stop stalling, just tell me what I want to know," Kid said. He was tired of everyone keeping him in the dark about these things.

"I can't," Ame said.

"Why not?"

"I just can't," Ame growled.

"So now you're keeping things from me again?" Kid demanded. "Is this what our partnership is, Ame?"

"Just drop it!"

Kid sighed irately. Even though the Puppet Master had been defeated, it still felt like there was more evil to be fought right around the corner.

The Ultimate God; If We Can't Trust Politicians, Who Can?

Ame and the others were on the balcony, eating lunch like they did so much of the time. They didn't eat together quite as often anymore because everyone was so busy of late. Ame enjoyed what time she could spend with the seven people that had introduced her to the human world. It was hard to believe that only two years before, she'd been living in a small cave in the forest, never setting foot near a human city.

"Where'd you go this weekend, Ame?" Maka asked. "We missed you."

"My presence was requested at party in England," Ame said. "It was so dull that I could hardly stand it. There are way too many people like Kid there."

"Hey," Kid said.

"D-don't you enjoy being with other humans?" Crona asked. Ame smiled at him kindly.

"Of course I do. As a goddess, I must make the humans know I care, even when I can't help. However, we're getting some controversy lately," she said the last bit with disdain.

"I knew we would," Kid shook his head.

"What are you guys talking about?" Tsubaki asked.

"Since Ame's the embodiment of Madness, we've been expecting her to get some doubtful nay-sayers," Kid explained. "They think she isn't fit to be god and whatnot. Basically the same things we thought when we first met her."

"Does it really matter?" Soul asked. "I mean, it's just idle gossip. Ame lives off of praise and everything, but what can a few doubters do to her?"

Kid sighed. "This is actually something that we're not supposed to talk about. You saw what the Puppet Master did to her by simply doubting her because she's a wolf. You see, we are gods, but things are different than what they were eight centuries ago. Now we have a more political position; it's not as absolute anymore. If the humans don't find us fit to be their leaders, they could…."

"Overthrow us," Ame whispered.

On the way home from school, it happened. It wasn't thunder, and it wasn't a tremor. It was a full-blown earthquake in the middle of Death City. The ground shook so badly that Ame actually lost her balance. The sound made her ears bleed, but she didn't know if it was supposed to be a bang or a crack. Was this the sound of the earth screaming? She could hear the sound of people shouting, including the others in her party.

Kid collapsed beside her, and she protectively put an arm around him and covered his body with her own. She kept an eye on her surroundings, trying to remain calm. Liz and Patti were still right next to them, with Nagi and Rin. Rin had a bit of blood on his fur, but he seemed to be doing fine otherwise. Buildings were crumbling and people were fleeing.

This was probably an aftershock from an earthquake outside of the region, but to see buildings tremble and break and people run and scream was still horrific.

When Ame and Kid got home, they flipped on the television and began watching the news.

"Earthquakes have been claiming the lives of thousands around the globe. It's almost as if these things occurred under the influence of Amaterasu herself."

"What did you do?!" Kid demanded.

"I didn't do anything and you know it!" Ame demanded, getting to her feet.

"What kind of controversy is this?" Kid demanded. "What makes them think that any old natural disaster is your fault?"

"What kind of people are they?" Ame asked. "What did I do to them?"

"They're news people, Ame," Kid said. "This is how they operate. Casting blame first chance they get."

"Whatever. I'm hungry."

"Don't you care about the world?" Kid called after her as she trotted into the kitchen to get some comfort food. She was probably feeling low, anticipating the sudden decrease in worshippers she'd have. Kid turned back to the television as a new talk show came on.

"Amaterasu is a good goddess," the woman said. "Although I don't know anything of her past or why she waited so long to make herself known, she doesn't do things like this without reason. Also, she can cause natural disasters, but she can never kill someone with them. Most of these people should still be alive if this were the work of Amaterasu alone."

"Is it possible that now that Amaterasu and Death the Kid are cooperating with each other for the first time in history that they are using their powers against humankind?"

Kid wasn't quite sure what he was watching. What is all this about gods killing off or enslaving mankind? He felt his eye twitch a bit as he watched the show cut to commercials. This was very bad. It was only a few hours later that Lord Death had called them and said they would be meeting in the Death Room early in the morning to meet with some government officials that wanted to… speak with them. 'Speak' was probably code for every form of harassment decently known to man in order to get information on something they didn't know.

Soul Eater

Ame didn't like getting up early. They had to be at the Death Room by 6:45 before the interview at seven. Ame got dressed and stayed in the kitchen whilst Kid buzzed around unhappily, fussing over this and that as he went.

"We can't be late," he said, tugging at his tie. "Ame, what time is it?"

"6:08," Ame replied. Kid paused and looked up at the clock.

"Ame, it's already 6:40! Why didn't you tell me you can't tell time?!" he demanded, grabbing her by the collar and bolting out the door.

In the Death Room, Lord Death noticed how flustered the two of them were.

"You two need to calm down some," he said. "If we're nervous, then surely the humans will get suspicious."

"Shinigami," Ame asked. "What time is it now?"

"6:44," he replied.

"No, it should be 6:09!"

"Um…" Lord Death looked at Kid. "Kid, do you know what she's talking about?"

"Ame can't tell time," he explained. "If this is the best chance we've got at leadership, then we're screwed."

"Just remember not to say anything stupid, Ame," Lord Death said. "Both of you just need to speak only when spoken to and please don't say anything that they don't need to know."

"Like I spilled strawberry jam on my pajamas?" Ame asked, sticking her tongue out the side of her lips.

"I mean it, Ame, this is serious."

The room was quiet for a moment before the government people finally arrived. Well, person; it was just one guy in a black suit with a tape recorder in one hand. Ame put on a straight face and looked down. She didn't want to make eye contact with him; something just wasn't right.

"Welcome!" Lord Death said. "Glad you could make it."

"I've been sent to discuss the crisis with you," the man said. "So let's skip the formalities, shall we?"

'Skipping formalities in front of a goddess?' Ame thought. 'How rude.'

"I am recording," he continued. "Anything you say can and will be used against you if we see fit."

'What? Are we under arrest?' Kid thought. He would have said it out loud if it wouldn't have made their situation worse.

"Alright then," Lord Death nodded. "Shall we begin, then?"

"The people are concerned that you aren't responding to the earthquake that split the country last night," he continued.

'No, they're not,' Ame thought. 'They want to know if I'm that powerful.'

"Unless you do something about it, the people are sure to question you," he continued. "You, your son, and… Amaterasu must get a grip on things, or else bad things will happen."

He said Ame's name with disdain, as if he didn't like her being there.

"We know all that," Lord Death said in a serious tone. "Now why don't you tell us what you really want to know?"

"What I want to know is what's going on," the man said. "If Amaterasu does have as much power as she claims, this could be her doing. I hear that you haven't known her for long. How could you trust her?"

"We have expert meisters with great lie-detection abilities—"

"But are you sure that's enough?" he pressed. "Ame isn't human; she's an animal. Also half alien. How are you sure our attempts to reason with her aren't futile?"

"Don't speak about Amaterasu that way," Kid spoke in a hard, defensive tone. "Just because we're gods doesn't mean we have complete control over the earth. Amaterasu is just as clueless as we are about this whole thing. If the people rely on you, why are you trying to rely on others? When the Kishin was running loose, at least people tried to help—"

"Kid," Lord Death warned. Kid didn't finish what he was going to say. "I'm so sorry about my son. He won't do that again."

"That's right," the man said, frowning at Kid. "You shouldn't speak to your elders in such a manner."

"Everyone should put effort in," Kid mumbled. "If you're questioning our efforts, I can show you what a death god can really do."

The man didn't take any more from Kid. He took a step forward and smacked Kid so hard that he fell to the ground. Ame flinched. This wasn't righteousness, this was madness!

"You'd better watch your mouth, little reaper," the man warned. "I can consider what you just said a threat to human society. Kid is seen as an unstable leader. We can use that against you."

"Please," Lord Death tried to maintain the peace. "Don't hold this against him. He was merely trying to explain that we know no more than what we're saying, and that you are unjust to think otherwise."

"It's too late, Lord Death," he said. "The people question your actions, and anything said or done will be accounted for. That is our job."

"What exactly do you want?"

"We just want the peace that civilians deserve," the man replied with a grin.

"Liar," Ame suddenly growled. The others glanced at her, surprised at her sudden outburst.

"What was that?" the man asked, as if he didn't quite catch what she said.

"You're a liar," Ame repeated, raising her head to glare at him. "Saying you're doing this for the people, when you're only going to scare them."

"Would you like to question our actions?" the man seemed to be mocking her. "How about if we went to the media? What will they think?"

"Go, then," Ame challenged, her eyes wide and staring into him. "Let's all go to the media. I'm sure they'd love to hear all about you cowering behind gods that you can't honestly blame. Leave Kid out of this and fight me!"

"Is that a threat?" the man asked.

"Ame, what are you doing?" Kid asked.

"Absolutely," Ame said. "I want everyone to know that if I wanted to end the world, I would burn the entire place up with a single brush stroke. If I wanted humans to suffer, I would stop time and bring them in one by one." She was stalking towards them now, her shoulders low almost as if she were crouching. "I would torture them, violate them, and you would only watch. My family and I have nothing to do with these earthquakes, so keep your lies to yourself."

"Ame!" Lord Death said. "Enough."

"That is enough, Ame," the man nodded, smirking. "I believe I've just been threatened by a savage wolf god. And all on record too. I'll bring this to the media promptly."

Ame lost it. For a split second, she was in her wolf form. Kid only saw a flash of white before the man yelled in obvious pain. When Ame backed away, Kid could see the man gripping his left hand, which was bathed in red and dripping blood all over the floor. The man glared at Ame, who was in her wolf form, the broken tape recorder at her forepaws.

"You will regret this," he said. "You will all regret this! You will all be taken down, mark my words!"

Ame kept a steady glare on the men as they left. She glanced at Kid before turning and leaving.