"Damn that reaper!" Shiro shouted in frustration. After the battle, he had retreated to his lair somewhere in the mountains. Inuyasha had been waiting for his return and, upon Shiro's appearance, he'd greeted him overzealously. Much to Shiro's annoyance.
"You got a hit on the wolf," Inuyasha said. "You got the Black Dragon."
"Stop being so damn optimistic all the time," Shiro growled. "I only got one of the eleven demons I needed."
Inuyasha picked up on his master's vibe and grumbled, "And now the DWMA is aware of your plan to make a demon army."
A sly grin stretched across Shiro's face. "Perhaps… but I think that's for the best. After all, we hardly needed eleven other demons to overthrow Death alone."
"Then why are you trying so hard to get more demons?" Inuyasha asked. "They'll just be more mouths to feed when we do overthrow them."
"They probably won't serve me in the flesh, but in spirit," Shiro continued. "Now the Reaper thinks that he knows what I'm planning, but in truth, this is only a distraction."
Inuyasha looked confused. Shiro sighed exasperatedly.
"Don't you get it?!" he hissed. "The only one standing in our way is that damn wolf. As long as the power of Death is split between the Reaper and his son, they'll be easy kill in a real fight. But that wolf…." His hands began to tremble in anger.
"There is no way we could defeat Ame so easily," Inuyasha said. "She's an ultimate being."
"That's a lie," Shiro said bluntly. He raised his head with another of his demonic smiles, his red eyes glowing in the dim light. "As it is written in the Book of the Moon, she's the ultimate embodiment of innocence. All I need to do is defile that power, and she will lose her immortality." He let out a short laugh. "Hey, maybe she'll just kill herself! Wouldn't that be easy?"
Inuyasha suddenly felt a bit… guilty? He was just so suddenly aware of how malicious Shiro really was, and that he'd do some pretty bad stuff to Ame just for world domination. Inuyasha shoved that feeling back; he had made his choice to serve the demon lord, and so he shall until the end.
Ame's Training is Going Well; Let's Have a Tournament!
Ame bounded around the training room, shooting bullets and arrows in rapid succession. The bow was horizontal on her shoulders. She nocked an arrow and pulled the string back with the tip of her tail, just as Gekigami did. The arrow flew right between her eyes and hit the last target dead center.
Ame straightened herself and shook her fur out.
"Very nice," Kid praised quietly as he entered the training room.
"That's enough for now," Sid agreed. "You did well today, Ame. I'm proud of you."
He ruffled her hair slightly in reward. He used to do that to Blackstar and figured Ame would appreciate it when she did well. Ame beamed at him.
"Thank you for your time," she said, resuming her human form and lowering her head. "Can I get some lunch now?"
"The cafeteria's open," Sid said, pointing to the door. Ame skipped around them and left without a care in the world, almost like she'd forgotten her encounter with Shiro. "She's done well, Kid. I don't think you have to worry about her holding up against the demon lord any time soon."
"Yes, I can tell," Kid said. "Thanks for taking your time to train her like this."
"No, I don't mind at all," Sid said. "You should reward her; she's done so well."
"There it is," Kid said. "The hamartia. Did Ame bug you about it?"
"She did mention that you're the kind of man that would reward her for things like that," Sid shrugged. Kid twisted his lips into a disgusted grin and wrung his hands in frustration. "Well, if you still want her to practice, we're hosting a paintball tournament this weekend."
"Paintball?" Kid asked.
"Yeah; all the students are coming. I think it'd be fun for Ame, plus it might be fun if you want to."
Kid sighed. It was just too much like his father to hold something as frivolous as a paintball tournament when the Demon Lord was on the loose.
"Sounds good," he said. "When should we be there?"
Kid didn't try explaining paintball to Ame on Saturday, or even tell Ame where they were going. He just told her to come to the school. They arrived at the second campus, where there were plenty of obstructions and a wide range of forest to run and hide. It was the ideal battleground.
The other students were already there, both EAT and NOT students. Miss Marie, Miss Azusa, and Sid were all gathered in the center of the clearing. They would be supervising the event.
"Settle down, students," Sid said calmly. "I think it's time for us to begin."
"Are we all here?" Marie asked. "Okay, whoever's not here, speak up."
There was an awkward silence as the students considered this…
"Seriously?"
"Alright, everyone," Sid decided to take over before anybody said anything else stupid. "Welcome to the summer paintball tournament. Let's just establish something first. You're only allowed to use paint given to your team, no rocks or anything like that. I'm sure some of the older students remember what happened the last time that happened."
…
"So let's not do that this year," Sid said. "Azusa will divide you all into two teams. I'd advise you to stay on your team, but spies will be spies. Just don't do anything reckless, or you'll be disqualified. There will be two rounds today; one this morning, then one this afternoon after lunch. Don't stress about the first round; it's just practice for those who don't know what they're doing."
Maka was able to pretend he wasn't talking about her.
"The second round will be all-out, every man for himself war, understand? Any idiot who's not in the know about the rules by then will be eliminated or used as bait. So, don't be an idiot. Azusa?"
Azusa gave a slight nod and began divvying the teams up evenly.
"So, Ame, do you know what we're doing?" Kid began.
"Yes! I love paintball!" Ame cheered. Kid blinked and shook his head in confusion. That couldn't be right.
"You do?"
"Yeah! I've gotten really good since I took up long-range training."
"Uh-huh," Kid nodded. "Um, Azusa? I have reason to believe that you should put Ame on the team with all the unfortunate kids that don't know how to play."
"Why?" Azusa asked. "Do you think she'll be a good teacher or guardian?"
"Well, sure," Kid lowered his voice slightly. "But she'd destroy them if they were on the other team."
"A legitimate point," Azusa agreed. "I'm dividing it evenly. I'm putting you and Ame on separate teams in the hopes that having one god on each team will keep things even."
"Sounds good," Kid nodded, glancing at Ame. He suddenly feared for his soul.
"So, Maka, I'm surprised you showed up," Ame was speaking with Maka before they were sent to their teams.
"I thought I'd try it," Maka admitted. "Soul had a lot of fun last year. Besides, I know if anything happens, he'll will be on my team to protect me."
Something suddenly snapped inside Ame. Her eye twitched and she held up her thumb and forefinger in the shape of a gun.
"BANG!" she yelled, making several other people turn to stare at her. "Soul Eater has been shot."
Maka suddenly feared for her soul.
Ame regrouped with her assigned team as they were given the designated vests and paint guns. She analyzed her teammates, trying to pinpoint the liabilities. She might as well get used to working with them during the practice round.
"Hey, Ame," Kim greeted with a wave. "Looks like we're on the same team."
"Yeah, that's good," Ame said. "Is Jackie on our team?"
"No, they separated us, which is really too bad," Kim frowned. "What's the deal? I mean, almost everyone else got to stay with their partners."
"Hey, guys," Kilik waved and they waited for him, Ox, and Harvard to catch up.
"Looks like Maka's on the other team, then," Ame said.
"Huh? How do you know that?"
"It was divided equally, so there will be an equal amount of noobs on each side. We were all selected on our strongest suits; Ox has his intelligence, which could be matched by Maka, and Blackstar and Kilik are both at the top athletically. Kid and I are both equal in the sense that we are gods. One of each has been put on each team with their partners to maintain the balance."
"…"
"You've been living with Kid too long," Kim finally uttered in annoyance.
"Is everybody ready?" they heard Sid call over the hill. "It's every man for himself out there!"
"I thought this was a practice round," Ame thought idly.
"Let's go get them," Kilik said, bolting behind one of the obstructions on the battlefield.
Ame waited for the others to join him. Ox and Harvard stayed deep in the trees to avoid getting hit and spot any sneak attacks. Kim moved forward with Ame and hid behind the farthest obstruction down to cover the others.
"Blackstar will come plowing through here any minute," Ame said. "This may just be a practice round, but he'll be easy kill-or-be-killed. Ha."
"Gotcha," Kim nodded. "He'll only be able to hit one of us if we both fire at him, so give it all you got."
"YAHOO!"
"There he is!" Ame shouted, diving out from behind her cover to shoot. As expected, Blackstar went straight for their strongest player, Kilik. Ame shot at Kilik in rapid succession, missing him by an inch and distracting Blackstar for the split-second it took for Kim to shoot at Blackstar. But of course, Blackstar wouldn't be taken out that easily.
"Dang it," Kim said.
"Are you trying to kill me?!" Kilik demanded. "Come on!"
Meanwhile, on the other team, Maka had insisted on staying behind to back the others up strategically, but Soul had charged into the battlefield at once. Tsubaki stayed behind to guard Maka, and neither of them was surprised that Crona stayed with them too.
"Why are all the wimps on this team?" Maka asked.
"You're forgetting that Kid and the Thompson sisters are very experienced with guns," Tsubaki said. "And a lot of NOT students were put on the other team. I guess they put us all together to protect Crona."
"Hey, Ame!" Soul called. "Eat this!"
He dodged Ame's shot, shooting in the general area that Ame was moving in. The paint missed her, and Kilik quickly shot at Soul while he was out in the open.
"I'm out," Soul said indifferently. He joined the others on the sidelines.
"I don't know how to handle this," Crona said simply. "I just don't. What if Ame gets us?"
"She's not going to get us," Maka reassured.
"Guess again," Ame's voice sounded from right next to her. She and Ox had sneaked up behind their shelter, and they were pointing guns at both Maka and Tsubaki. Before the others could protest, they fired.
"I guess we're out then," Tsubaki said. Crona was trembling with fear, but Ame gave him a wolfy grin.
"Chill out, Crona," she said. "It's just a game. I'll buy you a juice later."
"Ame," Ox scolded. "You're the most fickle teammate, you know that?"
"It's just a practice game," Ame said defensively.
"Yeah," Ox agreed. "After this round, the real war begins."
BLAM!
Ox and Ame collapsed from the sheer force of the paintballs splattering against their backs.
"Zombie dead," Kid said. "Sorry to one-up you, Ame."
"Then why are you rubbing it in?!" Ame demanded.
"Time's up!" Azusa called. "Round one is over."
Soul Eater
"This is it, guys," Harvard said as they waited in a group in the trees. The second round was about to begin. They were about a mile away from the other team's hideout. The battlefield had spread over the entire campus. There were designated shelters that a team could conquer for a hideout, as well as cases of ammo and other spoils to find and take.
"As soon as they blow that whistle, it's all or nothing," Kilik said.
"We need a real battle plan this time," Kim added. "The last game was child's play. We can't just go rushing in like that, but we can't just wait for them either. The battlefield is larger this time; they'll be able to surround us. We need to have people on all sides. We're playing until the other team gets eliminated, so if we're able to keep and protect even our useless players, we'll win the war."
"Kilik," Ox said. "You're our strongest player. You need to take the lead with the others. Harvard and I will go with you. Ame, form a defensive team to keep the NOT students and Kim safe."
"Why do you think I need saving?" Kim asked.
"Don't worry, my love, I will protect you," Ox told her. Ame put her face in her hand in shame.
Her ears perked as she heard the whistle blow.
"There's the signal," Ox said. "Let's do this."
Ame stood upright and reloaded her gun.
"Let's be bad guys," she said.
"Ame, can you take a safe trip on your own to scout out some supplies?" Ox asked. "Like ammo or some bigger guns? These won't last us for long. You can meet us on the battlefield."
"Got it," Ame nodded.
"I'll go with you," Kim said, raising her gun slightly. "I could get some exercise."
Ame and Kim travelled about three hundred meters from the others before Kim admitted she just wanted to get away from Ox for a while. They searched in silence. Ame decided to take to the trees so she could get a better view on things. She looked around and spotted a group of kids searching near a leaning structure. Ame slid to the ground and tackled Kim down before they could detect them.
"There's a raiding party just ahead," Ame informed quietly. "They're around a shelter, so I think they're the defensive group guarding something."
"Should we fall back?"
"I think we can pick them off, if we're quick," Ame said. "And get in on the goods."
"Okay, let's pillage some things," Kim said, lifting her gun. "I'll sneak in. You try to throw them off in the opposite direction, maybe we could get an edge."
Will our heroes be able to do this? Find out in the next episode!
I decided to focus on Ame's special training just to get it all on the table for future chapters :) Wouldn't want her getting hurt in another brush-up with the Demon Lord, would we? And I just wanted there to be some normality for everyone given everything that's happening. And I kinda wanted you to forget all about the first important scene. XD